The death of legendary drummer Keith Moon “shouldn’t have been a surprise” according to The Who guitarist, Pete Townshend.
Moon’s rock and roll lifestyle is well documented and his bandmates were aware of the “dangerous” behaviour which became all too common for the drummer. In an interview with David Sheff of Playboy Magazine, Townshend would say it was an “ironic” way for Moon to die given how much danger he put himself in when leaping from the railing of a Holiday Inn. It was this moment which saw Moon leap blindly into a swimming pool, contorting himself into the body of water “barely”. Townshend would recall the reason behind the staggering moment, believing Moon’s antics brought a “notoriety” to the band which both helped and hurt The Who.
Townshend said: “He did things as dangerous as that. Once, he was walking along with me on the second floor of a Holiday Inn, and he climbed up on the railing and said, ‘Bye, Pete!’ and leapt off. There was a swimming pool down there, but it was at least five yards away. By some miracle, he contorted himself and managed to barely squeeze into the pool. Then he got up and shouted ‘Voila!’
I was the only person there, so who was he doing it for? It’s ironic, since he and I had had several conversations about how we should behave – what was our responsibility and what was good publicity.
“In some ways he saw himself as the Who’s publicity machine. If he could get a front-page story, he’d do it. And it was quite difficult for us because we didn’t want to turn down the easy notoriety he gave us.”
Townshend would go on to say Moon’s death was no surprise and it was merely a “logical conclusion” to how the veteran drummer was living his life. The veteran guitarist said: “It shouldn’t have been a surprise, but it always is when that happens. It was the logical conclusion to nihilism and violence.”
In the same interview, Townshend would suggest it is “terribly painful” to play guitar the way he does. He explained: “It is terribly painful. But I’m used to the fact that there will be pain. I know that I will take my nail off at the beginning of every tour. Still.
“The string gets under the fingernails and rips it off. It’s part of the job. I am playing sometimes and I go does a windmill, ‘Wang, wang, wang, blood’ and then I think, ‘This is it. I’ve arrived.’ It is the place where I should be, like a boxer in the middle of a fight. It’s difficult to hold the pick because it gets slippery. But that doesn’t matter. It actually energises me.”
Not only is it painful to play guitar like Townshend, but he believes it’s “embarrassing” to have to smash his guitars on stage, as that’s what fans expect of him. Though The Who guitarist would make a name for himself through his stylish riffs and explosive on-stage attitude, the requests he would receive later on in the band’s career to break instruments left him feeling a little disappointed.
He said: “Well you have to remember I’m not angry all the time. Even now I occasionally get frustrated on the stage with guitars and want to smash them. I tend not to do it, but the opportunity’s always there. I smashed a guitar on the Psycho Derelict tour and it was great fun.”
“It’s also embarrassing, is what it is. It’s like comedians being forced to use their catchphrase after they’ve become serious actors.” Townshend would also confirm he is sometimes asked to smash the guitars, rather than letting it be a natural part of the performance. An appearance on the David Letterman talk show would be one such moment.
