Pete Townshend has commented on the death of his bandmate Keith Moon: “I was obsessed with keeping Keith alive,” said the guitarist in an interview with the US magazine “People”. Moon was the drummer for the British rock group The Who from 1964 until his death in 1978. He died at the age of 32 from an overdose of clomethiazole – the drug used to treat and prevent alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
Neither rehabilitation clinics nor voodoo doctors could help
“I’ve tried everything,” Townshend said of efforts to help his friend, adding, “I’ve tried to give him money, I’ve tried to starve him. I tried to send him to a rehab clinic. I tried to send him to a crazy guru, to voodoo doctors.” It was clear that Moon was going downhill. In his own estimation, Townshend could do very little – also because his bandmate was a “very complicated character”.
The Real Keith Moon hitting screens soon
Earlier this year, it became public that filming of the long-awaited biopic about the drummer, who died young, would begin this summer. The film has the working title The Real Me and is being produced by The Who members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend, among others.
According to Variety, the film will be directed by Paul Whittington, who has previously directed three episodes of the Netflix series The Crown. The screenplay was penned by British screenwriter Jeff Pope. The film is being produced by the same company that made the two Beatles documentaries George Harrison: Living in the Material World and Eight Days a Week: The Touring Years.
“You have to cast the role entirely based on your eyes”
It has not yet been decided which actor will play the protagonist Keith Moon, but according to Roger Daltrey the cast will be based on the actor’s eyes. “I have to find a Keith Moon,” the singer and guitarist said in a 2018 interview with British radio station BBC 6Music. He continued, “It’s going to be very, very dependent on the actor and his eyes. Because you have to cast the role entirely from eyes because Moon had extraordinary eyes.”
Without a doubt: one of the best drummers in living memory
Rolling Stone ranked Keith Moon as the 2nd best drummer of all time. “The severity with which he smashed drums and hotel rooms made him more of a performance artist than a mere rock ‘stick’ man,” reads a text accompanying the ranking. Moon was known for his extremely dynamic, fast playing and got by almost without the usual hi-hat. Instead, the energetically beaten double foot drum became his trademark.