I bought this book in the 1980s and in America was called “Full Moon” and in the UK it was called “Moon the Loon”. It was written by Dougal Butler, Dougal was Keith’s personal assistant. Dougal doesn’t try to justify Moon’s actions, he just tells the stories that are now legendary.
The book will have you physically burst out laughing at different parts of it. Keith left a trail of wrecked cars, wrecked drums, wrecked hotel rooms, wrecked nerves, wrecked bars, and many smiles.
Dougal doesn’t try to tell Moon’s life history. If you want Keith’s life get Dear Boy, a terrific and thorough bio on Keith by Tony Fletcher. Full Moon highlights the tales of Mr. Keith John Moon…Patent British Exploding Drummer. It is a very quick read at around 250 pages. The audio version is approximately 9 hours long.
Butler worked for Moon for ten years and was right there during much of the craziness. He was behind the wheel of Moon’s AC Frua 428 as it flipped end-over-end through a field off Chertsey Lane after Moon decided to grab the shifter and downshift at around 120 mph.
The book also touches on Moon’s long-suffering wife Kim who endured all the craziness she could and finally leaves Keith. He had the ability or curse of not being able to be embarrassed…this a fun book to read. It was originally published in 1981. It was a collector’s item for a long time but it was republished in 2012.
The audiobook format is read by British actor Karl Howman, a friend of both Moon and Butler, who features in some of the book’s stories and is thus well familiar with the subject matter. Karl reads it in a cockney voice and it fits perfectly.
This book will not give you a history of The Who…just some great stories of my favorite drummer.
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You are right this book was one of those books that had me laughing out loud while reading it. I got it in the early 80’s- still have it but haven’t read it since the first reading- over 35 years ago. Maybe I’ll dig it out. Fun book full of nutty stories… I think I will now celebrate Keith’s life with a ‘cold bevvy’
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That would a an appropriate way! I have the book and I got the audio version. It is really funny because it is read by someone who knew him and with a thick cockney voice.
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That book is so old I am surprised there is an audio version out- sounds like a fun listen!!
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The Full Moon book was going for big bucks around 10 years ago…they republished it in 2012…It is!
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This is a gem. The book was written soon enough after the events happened, to make the stories vivid. It’s not a decades-later memoir, which would inevitably be a curated repackaging of key stories.
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I can never get enough of this book. I have the paperback book and the audible version. You are right, I never thought about it that way but it was soon after he passed that this came out.
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Good evening, i found your blog very unique and interesting, cool pictures and great content, the looks interesting, i was born on 1991 so it’s really good to find some information about what happened in the world before i came here, thank you so much for your share🌺
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Thank you for reading. You were right…it was in my spam folder. I’m glad you want to know about older things. I like things older than me…I grew up in the eighties but I like the sixties and seventies.
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Keith Moon was a great musician as well as a great showman – the good die young!
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