What do you think about Chris Holmes ???

[jhale667]

That WAS a pretty good cover.

Townshend reportedly said as much when he heard it.

The reason why it's such a great cover can be summed up in two words: Frankie Banali.

[Golden AWe]

Is he still yellow because of his liver?

[Terry]

The reason why it's such a great cover can be summed up in two words: Frankie Banali.

Banali did a fine job. Actually much more expressive than much of what I heard him do with Quiet Riot. Still, the very proficiency Banali displayed didn't quite match how Moon did it, which sounded like it was by the seat of his pants...fast and reckless almost to the point where it felt like he was gonna go off the rails at any minute and take the rest of the Who along with him...do dynamic tension...like, I can still listen to the Who version today and get that feeling that Moon is right on the verge of losing control even though I know he won't from countless listens, whereas one knows almost from the very start that WASP's version, while powerful, will remain on time and in control.

[kwame k]

I'll tell ya Terry, from a drummers perspective, playing Keith Moon is difficult. Not so much because his riffs are hard but because the man's timing is out of control. You let up in a Who song for one second and you're out of his pocket. There's so many little things going on and one little miss can cause you to lose the whole song.

While many have said Moon didn't have good timing or meter, I disagree. It was because the man had impeccable timing that he was able to tweak the time signature. He plays off the vocals which is like the first rule you learn never to do....walk over the vocals. His timing is perfect for the songs and may speed up or slow down but it fits the song perfectly.

I still find myself learning or hearing new things in his beats.

[kwame k]

The reason why it's such a great cover can be summed up in two words: Frankie Banali.

Great drummer and a hell of a nice guy. The problem was Frankie underplayed so much in QR that people don't really think of him as a great drummer. He is and his knowledge of drums is awe inspiring.

[Terry]

I'll tell ya Terry, from a drummers perspective, playing Keith Moon is difficult. Not so much because his riffs are hard but because the man's timing is out of control. You let up in a Who song for one second and you're out of his pocket. There's so many little things going on and one little miss can cause you to lose the whole song.

While many have said Moon didn't have good timing or meter, I disagree. It was because the man had impeccable timing that he was able to tweak the time signature. He plays off the vocals which is like the first rule you learn never to do....walk over the vocals. His timing is perfect for the songs and may speed up or slow down but it fits the song perfectly.

I still find myself learning or hearing new things in his beats.

The thing that still amazes me when listening to Moon is perhaps not so much what he was doing from a technical standpoint, but what inspired him to do what he did when he did it; his approach...like, what he did was so different from what another typical (even competent) rock drummer would probably choose to do.

If it was that Moon was inspired by Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich and other jazz drummers, rather than conventional R&B drummers, or what, I dunno. Others described his style as that of a drum kit falling down the stairs, but you can hear him play straight time on tracks like 5:15, or the beginning of the middle synth break in Bargain...but he doesn't play it for long, almost as if doing do bored him.

When I listen to a song like Pinball Wizard, it seems like he's all over the place, but he repeats the same off-the-wall patterns throughout the song. Likewise with so many other songs that you know it wasn't accidental. The closest he ever got to an album where the majority of it was in straight time was Who Are You, and from all accounts a lot of that had to do with a combination of the music sort of requiring it and Moon being physically out-of-shape; when I listen to New Song, it's standard time drum-wise to the point of being almost metronomic and very un-Moon-like. Moon doing straight time sounds more odd than Moon racing and running all over the kit.

[kwame k]

The funny thing is....Keith Moon was a huge surf music fan and played in a band called The Beachcombers. Gene Krupa was one of Keith's favorite drummers as was Hal Blaine. He did take drum lessons but I can't remember who was his teacher and for how long.

He took R&B, Jazz, and Rock and infused his own manic personality to create a one of a kind style. Name one other drummer, where you say that's a Keith moon rip-off. I have yet to hear anyone playing his style to this day.

I personally believe that Moon's drumming style comes from his ADD. I agree, that whenever Moon plays straight beats you can almost feel his boredom on tape. He has quite a few songs where he's not all over the place and plays it straight but it's the songs where he lets loose that, IMO, are the best Who songs.

Part of it has to do with the fact he plays to the vocals and was the perfect foil for Pete's straight ahead guitar playing and John's off the wall bass patterns. If you listen to the Who without drums it's total chaos and what makes Moon so special is his way of meshing the two together. He had so much freedom to either play it straight with the guitar or weave in and out with the bass. Having those two guys to play off and Roger's vocals, mixed in with his tendency to show off or his insanity...whatever you want to call it makes him a true original.

It's hard to put into words how difficult playing Moon is. I don't play Moon note for note as I tend to think that would be a disservice to the music and the man. It's not that it's technically hard to play his beats or riffs, when broken down. What's hard is playing with his feel and vibe. To really get into his groove.

As dumb as this sounds it's really easy to overplay Moon.

[binnie]

I imagine that he still thinks he's a rock star, which makes him a dumbass....

[sonrisa salvaje]

I imagine that he still thinks he's a rock star, which makes him a dumbass....

I always thought he was a dumbass for screwing up his marriage to Lita Ford.

Didn't W.A.S.P. stand for We Are Sucky Players?