Keith Moon explains how The Who got into “astronomical” debt
As the British Invasion became more pronounced in the late 1960s, bands needed to build a more resilient reputation in the industry. Playing songs for those who came to see the band wasn’t enough anymore, and artists from Jimi Hendrix to The Doors were reinventing ways to entertain a crowd from the other side of the pond. The Who may have started as a Mod act in the early days, but getting fans to pay attention took some destruction.
While playing in small clubs, one particular night involved Pete Townshend accidentally hitting his guitar into the club’s ceiling, leaving the neck in half when he brought it down. After getting a great reaction out of the crowd, Townshend made it a habit of tearing down as much of his gear as possible, with nearly every show culminating in him smashing his guitar.
Granted, no type of stage theatrics would outdo what Keith Moon was doing behind the drum kit. Nicknamed ‘Moon the Loon’, Moon was known for being as much of an animal on the stage as he was off the stage, including one infamous performance where he put M-80s into his snare drum, which severely damaged Townshend’s hearing.
All’s fair in love and rock and roll, but Moon mentioned the band being in debt when they were first starting. Speaking to Drum Magazine, Moon wasn’t shy about how much debt the band had in the old days, recalling, “I don’t think it was because of living too well, although Pete and I are spenders. We are extravagant, to say the least. The main things were the instruments. We’d do a show and get £100, but a guitar would be £150, and a drum set £100. The debt got up to £30,000 or £40,000, and probably a lot more. It was astronomical”.
Though Townshend could rely on songwriting royalties for his income, the rest of the band would be earning most of their keep on the road, which was more often than not going towards the damage they caused in the process. Despite the destruction they left in their wake, things started to turn around once the song ‘My Generation’ started to gain traction, blowing up in the US and becoming one of the group’s signature tunes throughout their career.
Even after becoming rock stars, Moon said that they still weren’t getting rich on the road by any means, later recalling, “Believe it or not, it’s only since Tommy that we have started to have a bit of profit. Before that, nothing, and we had to pay back everything we had borrowed. We did a tour of the States with Herman’s Hermits and lost money. We did a tour in a bus, which we thought was the cheapest way of doing it, but once again, the bus came to thousands of dollars”. One way of spreading the wealth around the band came with the release of A Quick One, which had a more balanced songwriting effort from each band member.
Though money was never the primary concern, Moon’s lack of confidence in his drumming became more apparent as the years went on, leading to him relying on substances and eventually being found dead in his room after an overdose. The Who may have been one of the towering giants of early rock and roll, but they had to learn the hardships of rock and roll finances the hard way.
