The World’s Most Infamous Hotel Stay?

Forty-two years ago – on August 23, 1967, drummer Keith Moon spent his 21st birthday at the Holiday Inn in Flint, Michigan following a concert by his band, The Who. The stage was set for one of the most legendary collisions between the hospitality industry and a touring rock ‘n roll band.  What started with a warm birthday greeting on the hotel’s sign eventually devolved into the world’s most infamous hotel stay.

Keith Moon - Welcomed at the Flint Holiday Inn; before his global ban...

A little background on the changes that occurred in 1967 for the young and/or uninitiated:

1. The summer of 1967, was transitional for rock ‘n roll – The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band on June 1 – a recording Rolling Stone Magazine called “the most important rock & roll album ever made…”
2. The world’s first massively attended rock concert, the Monterey International Pop Festival ran from June 16-18, 1967 in Northern California, attracting 200,000 over three peaceful days. The event introduced American audiences not only to The Who, but Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Otis Redding.  “The Summer of Love” followed with 100,000 hippies flocking to San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district.
3. The Who have arguably been called the godfathers of hard rock, but were the undisputed pioneers of instrument destruction.  Their performance of “My Generation” on the prime time Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour – filmed three weeks after the incident in Flint – provided a literally explosive introduction to prime-time American audiences (things start disintegrating around the 4:00 minute mark.)

4. Keith Moon was the drummer for The Who.  As Jeff Weiss of Stylus Magazine put it, “if Moon wasn’t the best drummer in rock history, he’s certainly its most original.”  Raving Tales of Keith Moon Insanity written by Andy Secher and originally published in the January, 1979 issue of “Hard Rock” magazine provides a good perspective on his escapades.  Never prone to moderation, he died in September, 1978 at the age of 32 of an accidental (and massive) drug overdose. For trivia buffs, Keith was also the inspiration for the manic Muppet drummer “Animal.”
5. Holiday Inns, in 1967 was the world’s largest hotel chain, with nearly 1,000 properties – comprised primarily of roadside motels.  Its “Great Sign” was not only an icon for the company, but the travel industry as a whole in the 1960′s.

And the rest, as they say, is rock & roll (and hotel industry) history…

It may be best to look at the events of August 23, 1967 as one would a chemical reaction… A list of the ingredients provides some insight into an inevitable recipe for hotel chaos and destruction:

• Hyperactive kid with destructive tendencies celebrating a major birthday
• Lingering post-concert adrenaline rush
• Motel with swimming pool
• Lots of money
• Lots of presents (mostly alcohol)
• Lots of girls
• Large birthday cake (containing girl)
• Lincoln continental limousine
• Unsuspecting hotel staff
• More alcohol…

And a brief synopsis of the timeline:

• The Who, on their first North American tour, open (ironically) for Herman’s Hermits at Flint’s Atwood Stadium.
• Concert ends a bit before 10:00pm
• Band and entourage return to motel
• Much festive imbibing and celebrating ensues
• Lots of clothed and partially clothed party guests can not resist the inviting waters of the conveniently located (parking lot facing) swimming pool
• Property fire extinguishers are emptied
• Toilet explodes in hotel room
• Drum company wheels huge birthday cake into main dining room
• Girl jumps out of cake
• Keith dumps whole cake on a group of party goers
• Food fight spreads from dining room into hotel lobby
• In ensuing confusion, Keith misplaces his clothes
• Police arrive – Party in full swing
• Keith suddenly decides to leave party in great haste
• Keith jumps into Lincoln Continental & releases handbrake
• Car rolls backward through fence and into deep end of swimming pool
• Keith greeted at gunpoint by police as he surfaces
• Keith makes second attempt at quick exit from the party
• Slipping on cake, Keith falls and knocks out front tooth
• Police apprehend Keith and escort him to dentist before heading to jail
• Dentist discovers that in his current state, Keith had no need for Novocaine; repairs tooth
• Keith spends night in county jail
• Next day, chartered plane flies Keith to The Who’s next tour stop in Philadelphia

Gary Flinn has a nice recap of the evening’s festivities on his Flinn’s Journal site that covers the history of Flint http://home.comcast.net/~steelbeard1/flinn122307.htm.

The total damage bill ran $24,000 in 1967 dollars (Approx. $132,000 today.)  Reports include the record company buying the “damp” car from its irate owner.

After the events of that evening, several things permanently changed within both the hotel and entertainment industries:

• Touring rock ‘n roll bands were introduced to a new and entertaining hobby to pass time between shows
• The Who were banned for life from performing in Flint, Michigan
• Holiday Inn declared what is believed to be its first and only global lifetime ban on The Who from all future hotel stays in any Holiday Inn, anywhere
• Hotel operators discovered that promoting a celebrity visit was best after departure unless security was enhanced
• Hotel architects made it considerably more difficult for motor vehicles to interact with swimming pools
• Insurance carriers dramatically increased premiums for third party property damage coverage on concert tour policies
• Hotel accounting departments dramatically increased credit requirements for touring rock ‘n roll bands
• Band road managers dramatically increased the amount of petty cash on hand to handle unforeseen talent-related incidents

Keith’s assault on the travel industry continued throughout his career – from uninvited drumming sessions in 747 cockpits, to casting televisions out of hotel windows, hatcheting hotel room furniture to kindling, and that perennial favorite, blowing-up toilets… His creative off-stage pursuits inspired a generation of rock musicians.

Reflecting the cultural changes triggered in the late 1960′s, as the boundaries of rock ‘n roll debauchery gradually expanded, sadly, some of the personalization and innocence of traditional innkeeping was lost. These days, direct interaction between celebrities, the hotel staff and other guests is rare. While I am sure most hotel owners and management companies don’t share my nostalgic sentiment, those days (that continued through the 1980′s,) despite the destruction, were a lot of fun.

Note: Clarification for historians and/or fans interested in making a pilgrimage to the site – the former Flint Holiday Inn is now the Days Inn Flint-Frankenmuth‎ located at 2207 West Bristol Road. This fact somehow eluded VH1 during a 1999 special where they mistakenly filmed segments at the Flint Holiday Inn Express.  The good news was that Holiday Inn took advantage of the VH1 special’s publicity to formally lift its lifetime ban on The Who.

Here’s a clip of Keith’s last concert performance – May 25, 1978, with The Who still at the top of their game, playing Won’t Get Fooled Again at Shepperton Studios for the film The Kids are Alright. An appropriate anthem reflecting on their generation’s loss of innocence.

Cheers Keith – Happy Birthday. (As Rest In Peace really does not suit you, I hope you are having fun…)  Long Live Rock.

Related posts:

1. Marketing Your Hotel or Resort in a Web 2.0 World – Presentation at HFTP Annual Convention

Tagged as: history, Holiday Inn, hotel, rock 'n roll, room damage