Born in Wembley, Middlesex, England in 1946, Keith Moon started his musical career in 1962, joining The Who two years later. Alongside Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Roger Daltrey, Moon was an important part of the band’s sound. Even though he passed away too soon in 1978 at the age of 32, Moon still is one of the most influential drummers of all time.
But besides playing the drums, Moon also had the chance to sing in a few tracks. In one he was the lead vocalist and in the other two he divided the vocals with Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey.
3 The Who songs which had Keith Moon on vocals
“I Need You” from A Quick One (1966)
Written by Keith Moon, “I Need You” was the first Who song with him as the lead vocalist. The track first appeared on their 1966 album “A Quick One”, which was an album that Moon and Entwistle had more opportunity to write and record. The bassist was the lead vocalist in two tracks, for example.
Unlike most of the other albums of the band, “A Quick One” had songs written by all four members. Townshend wrote four tracks, Entwistle two tracks, Daltrey one track and Keith Moon two. The second song written by Moon for the album was “Cobwebs and Strange”, which was an instrumental track.
“Tommy’s Holiday Camp” from Tommy (1969)
Keith Moon also sang on “Tommy’s Holiday Camp”, which was written by him and was featured on the band’s praised album “Tommy”, released in 1969. But this time he divided the vocals with Pete Townshend. He even appeared singing the song in a scene from the movie “Tommy” (1975), which was inspired by the album.
That album remains as one of the most classic Rock Operas ever made. Townshend got the idea after being introduced to the work of the Indian spiritual master Meher Baba. It was an attempt to translate the teachings of Baba into music. The album performed really well in the UK, peaking at number 2 on the charts and also in the United States, peaking at number four on the US Billboard 200.
“Bell Boy (Keith’s theme)” from Quadrophenia (1973)
The final The Who song that had Keith on vocals was “Bell Boy”, which was featured on “Quadrophenia” (1973), another concept album released by the band. He divided the vocals with Roger Daltrey and even had the opportunity to sing the song live many times when the band toured.
It performed really well on the charts, reaching the position number 2 on the UK and United States charts. Like “Tommy” that record also became a movie in 1979.
The Who carried on after Keith Moon’s tragic death in 1978. Their first invited The Small Faces/The Faces drummer Kenney Jones to join the band. With him, two albums were recorded: “Face Dances” (1981) and “It’s Hard” (1982). Since 1996 it is Zak Starkey, the son of Ringo Starr, who plays the drums. The Beatle and Moon were really good friends. So Zak had the opportunity to hang out with Moon many times when he was young.
