Moon initially told his girlfriend Annette Walter-Lax he didn’t want to go to the party. When she told him she wanted to go anyway, he changed his mind and called his dealer who delivered some cocaine.The couple arrived at Peppermint Park, where Annette has since insisted Moon didn’t drink or, if he did, limited himself to just two drinks. While he was still using cocaine, the fact that he didn’t go wild on the free champagne was considered progress.
Other party guests, including Paul and Linda McCartney, David Frost and ex-Faces drummer Kenney Jones (whom unbeknown to everyone would take Moon’s place in The Who) all remember Keith being in good spirits and surprisingly sober. Others, including Led Zeppelin’s former tour manager Richard Cole, remember Moon telling them he planned to wed Annette. Cole: “He said ‘I feel great, I’ve given up everything… except women’. And I’m gonna get married again.”
Unlike the subtle, yet effective, approach of contemporaries like Charlie Watts or the rock solid Ringo Starr, Moon took an entirely different sensibility to the drum kit, inspiring countless future musicians along the way. Add in bassist extraordinaire John Entwistle, and the Who had themselves a rhythm section with the range of an orchestra.
Moon’s short, sweet life came to and end after a night of partying — and to be fair, a lifetime of testing his own limits. Ironically, his death was caused from an overdose of pills that were intended to combat his alcoholism.
The medication was primarily a sedative, only a handful of which would have caused death. Police reports indicate that he took nearly a third of his 100-pill prescription.
“It was a silly mistake,” said Pete Townshend in the 2007 documentary Amazing Journey. “He just always took pills in handfuls, it was just a habit that he had.
” Heminevrin, the prescribed drug in question, disabled his esophagus, which prevented him from vomiting, thus suffocating him. While Moon was no stranger to chemical intake, he never hit on hard drugs, prefering alcohol and pills to be his demon.
Pete Townshend: "... At that time my disillusion with the future of the Who, especially because of the difficulties with Keith, was growing. Towards the end of the summer, the album Who are You was selling well enough without any tour to support it. Keith came to London from Malibu for the vernissage of the Who Exhibition.malibu
He was in great shape: sociable with fans, thoughtful, gentle and charming. He seemed happy.
In August I made a serious attempt to get in touch with Keith in Malibu. Keith drank a lot and I could not keep him behind. Instead of helping him,I end it up involved in her beautiful life and I almost forgot the main reason which for I went to see him.
We wanted him to come home. When I was back in London, Keith called me to find out if I could rent the apartment owned by Harry Nilsson near by the Playboy club in his name: he wanted to go home but he did not have the money.
I talked to Harry:he accepted, but he was also worried. Mama Cass had died in that house. I assured him that a lightning strike does not fall in the same place twice.
