Keith Moon “lined up for the Olympics”

Perhaps he’ll perform at the Olympic Swimming Pool. In a car…

There’s a great story reported by RollingStone.com that says the London Olympic Committee has approached Keith Moon’s agent to see if the drummer would like to take part in the summer’s festivities?

It is of course refreshing that the Olympic Committee is not being ageist, and is prepared to overlook Moon’s past bad behaviour at parties. In the seventies this included driving his car into a hotel swimming pool.

They have clearly been swayed by the fact that Moon has cleaned up his act considerably in the last 34 years, with his indiscretions being relatively few, what with his being dead and everything.

There’s a terrific quote from Moon’s agent who appears to have taken it all in good humour. “I emailed back saying Keith now resides in Golders Green crematorium, having lived up to the Who’s anthemic line ‘I hope I die before I get old”.  If they have a round table, some glasses and candles, we might contact him.”

There is no truth in the rumour that the same committee have approached the representatives of Jimi Hendrix, John Entwhistle and Jerry Garcia to ask them to reform The Grateful Dead….

There are two Keith Moon books I can recommend to those who like their rock biographies. Dear Boy is a wonderful account of Moon’s life. The author, Tony Fletcher attempts to debunk some of the myths that have arisen around Moon, including the “Car in hotel swimming pool” story. As Fletcher found out however, the trouble is, Townsend insists he saw a car in a swimming pool! It’s difficult to know what to believe…

The other is Moon the Loon. Now out of print, this paperback was written by Moon’s personal assistant Dougal Butler, published in 1981 and gives a very funny account of the great man. Read them in tandem, and there’s a fun and potentially factually accurate account of the great man.

If you’re quick, you might finish them both just in time to see him perform at the London Olympics. I hear Freddie Mercury is on standby…


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14 responses to “Keith Moon “lined up for the Olympics””

  1. mistermarx Avatar

    Personally I think Messrs. Moon and Cobain would clean up at the Olympics. In fact, were they even competing in something as benign and dull as javelin, I for one, most certainly be there…

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    1. every record tells a story Avatar

      I guess it depends upon whom they are aiming their javelins at….?

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  2. garystormsongs Avatar

    Never have I seen anyone else attack a drum kid like Keith Moon – whirling flailing maniacal vortex of absolutely perfect music.

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    1. every record tells a story Avatar

      You are lucky to have seen him – for the rest of us there’s YouTube…

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  3. The Metal Files Avatar

    I think that Moon The Loon book is the one I did a thesis on in 9th grade, Is one of the last lines in the book, “Keith just upped and fucking died”? It was that quote which I used in the oral presentation that got me kicked out of class…twas a Catholic High School. haha

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    1. every record tells a story Avatar

      That is pretty much exactly how the book ends! I can see why the teachers might have objected to your use of that quote in your exam….

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  4. Push Avatar

    That is hilarious. Since Moon won’t be available, I think they ought to ask John Bonham instead.

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  5. mskatykins Avatar

    He he he… 🙂

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  6. The Metal Files Avatar

    sweet. i think i may still have a copy of that book somewhere. i remember it had a glossary of terms in it

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    1. every record tells a story Avatar

      Yes – mainly cockney rhyming slang and dirty words: a precursor of Roger’s Profanisaurus… Including a factually accurate description of what a Berk really means…

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  7. lpon45 Avatar

    I hate to ask how old the Olympics Committee members are. It almost sounds like they wanted to hire “that far-out drummer bloke” they’d heard about in 1964 without checking on him since then.

    Thanks for the tip about the books; I’ve wondered if there was a definitive bio out there. Isn’t there also one called “Full Moon”?

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    1. every record tells a story Avatar

      Haven’t come across that one unless you mean the PG Wodehouse book, which is quite light on drunken drummers in rock bands.
      I plan to unleash a few more rock bio posts in future weeks…

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  8. […] Fortunately it appears that Tony Blackburn was overlooked in the role of musical curator and leaving aside an Olympic themed concert being headlined by Duran Duran tonight in Hyde Park (as Tony Parsons tweeted “Who is running the 1500 metres? Seb Coe and Steve Ovett?”) all is going well. Keith Moon has yet to confirm or deny his appearance however, despite being invited to play by the organisers. […]

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