DEAR BOY: THE LIFE OF KEITH MOON by TONY FLETCHER (1998/2005, Omnibus, Paperback, 596pp) ∗∗∗∗∗
Blurb: Keith Moon was more than just rock’s greatest drummer, he was a phenomenal character and an extravagant hell raiser who – in a final, uncharacteristic act of grace – actually did die before he got old. This new edition includes a newly written After word that consiers Moon’s lasting legacy, the death of John Entwistle and The Who’s ongoing career in the new millennium. In this astonishing biography, Tony Fletcher questions the myths, avoids the time-honoured anecdotes and talks afresh to those who where closest to Moon including Kim, his wife of eight years, and Linda, his sister and Annette Walter-Lax, his main girlfriend of the final years. Also interviewed are Oliver Reed, Larry Hagman, David Putnam, Alice Cooper, Dave Edmunds, Jeff Beck, John Entwistle and many others who worked and partied with him. In interviewing over 100 people who knew Moon, Fletcher reveals the truth behind the ‘famous’ stunts that never occured – and the more outrageous ones that did! He also uncovers astonishing details about Moon’s outrageous extravagance which was financed by The Who’s American success.
Keith Moon was one of rock music’s most innovative drummers, but it was ultimately his lifestyle that created the legend. There are more myths surrounding Moon’s alcohol and drug fuelled adventures than surrounds any other rock ‘n roll legend. In his exhaustive and frank book, Tony Fletcher unravels the truth and in doing so creates one of the most absorbing biographical dissections of self-destruction ever written.
Moon’s death at a young age, he was only 32 when he died, was inevitable and yet throughout the pages here Fletcher also demonstrates his impressive capacity for survival. The constant diet of drink and drugs turned a natural eccentric – who was warm, funny and generous – into a wild and often uncontrollable force with a legendary track record in ritual destruction of hotel rooms, a chaotic home lifestyle and a 24-hour party mentality. There were also tragic events, which coloured his personality and brought out a dark side that contradicted his outward joviality and desire to make people laugh.
Tony Fletcher, a keen fan of The Who, is determined to present a balanced view on Moon’s life and doesn’t gloss over the more unsavoury aspects. He lets us in on the real Keith Moon through a series of frank interviews and extensive research. The band largely distanced themselves from the story with Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend unwilling to be interviewed and quotes being restricted to archive material, but the book does not suffer because a greater objectivity is achieved as a result. This version, published in 2005, also contains an Afterword following new interviews that add further clarity(and in some cases uncertainty) to some of the key events in Moon’s life.
With today’s heavily corporate approach to rock music it is difficult for the current generation to understand that when rock was in its infancy it was at its most out of control. If any one book conveys the sheer scale of the wildness of the rock ‘n roll lifestyle in the 1960s and 1970s, then this book is it. If any one person conveys the chaos then it is Keith Moon.