It also helps that the two were ardent drinking buddies and both members of the infamous ‘Hollywood Vampires’ hedonism gang, which is now, of course, the name of the singer’s supergroup alongside Johnny Depp and Joe Perry.(faroutmagazine)
“I think kids love mythology, and I think everybody loves the mythology of what happened in the ’60s and the ’70s,” Cooper reflected on The Mistress Carrie Podcast. “It was an insane period of time. When I picked Keith Moon, it’s only because I could tell you a hundred stories, and Harry Nelson could tell you a hundred more, and Ringo could tell you a hundred different ones because he was that crazy.”
“And he was the best drummer of all time. I consider him the best stage drummer ever, Keith Moon,” Cooper said about his old drinking partner. “He was doing things that other drummers couldn’t even think about doing, and he was Keith Moon. But he was sort of insane in a really sweet way. He was the nicest person in the world. But it was like he’d wear you out. In two hours, you’d be worn out hanging with him.”
One day I asked Keith to tell me where his toilet. He smiled, saying “of course”. I went, and there was no toilet, just a pile of debris, I asked him:
– My God, what happened?
– This cherry bomb was about to explode in my hand and I threw it in the toilet to stop it, he replied
– They have this power then? I asked
– Yeah, it’s amazing!
– How much do you have any? I questioned him then, with fear in his eyes. He laughed and said:
– Five hundred ! (Alice Cooper)
“We used to play with the Who at the Grande Ballroom [actually the Grande Riveria] in Detroit, it held 3000, and we would play and The Who would play, and my drummer Neal Smith would always find out how many drums Keith had and add one! At one point they were both on stage with all their drums and Keith came up and played with us and there was 70 drums,” Cooper glowingly remembered.
Seeing Keith Moon back up Alice Cooper on the drumkit even just for one night would have been something to remember. Unfortunately, the death of Moon would mean that we’d never get to see the two of them go hell for leather on stage together.
After throwing food all over the plane and trying to push his way into the cockpit, Moon passed out, woke up, and began to scream. He then jumped from his seat and played the “Lone Ranger” theme song on the PA system. For his finale, upon landing, Moon stood at attention in the aisle, with his pants around his ankles. The other passengers politely applauded.
