Legendary drummer for The Who, Keith Moon, was born in Wembley, Middlesex in 1946. He started playing the drums as a part of the Sea Cadet Corps (SCC) and soon afterwards his father bought him a drum kit. The Who had already been around for a couple of years before Moon joined them. They had a drummer called Doug Sandom (who also worked as a brick layer), but they'd been told they weren't going to get a recording contract until they got a better drummer. Moon joined the band in 1964.
Of course, Keith Moon is famous for a hell raising lifestyle that finally killed him, but we at Suffolk Drum Lessons are primarily concerned with his drumming. Keith is famous for playing Premier drums, in fact his first kit was of that make. He may not have sat quietly playing party poker or chess when not drumming, but Keith is still recognised a great. In March of 2011, Rolling Stone Magazine picked him as number two in their list of the Best Drummers of All Time.
The other great from the 70s has to be the masterful John Bonham. While Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were both from Greater London, Bonham and Plant were Brummies. They both played in Band of Joy in the mid to late 60s before they joined two of the New Yardbirds to form Led Zep.
Bonham started with Premier drums, like Keith Moon, but started using Ludwig drums when recommended them by the drummer of Vanilla Fudge, a lesser known bunch of US rockers. As well as his Premier drums, Bonham used Paiste Cymbals and Remo drum heads. Both Moon and Bonham were 32 years old when they died.
Just to throw in another slightly more unusual 70s drummer, one that most of tend to ignore, let us consider Phil Collins. Yes, Genesis was positioned firmly in the middle of the road during the 80s and 90s, but do bear in mind that when Phil moved from drums to lead vocals after Peter Gabriel left the band in 1975, he was replaced by Bill Bruford and Chester Thompson - two exceptionally talented drummers. So, Rock On Phil. | 