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:
- 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…”
- 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.
- 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.)
- 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.”
- 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… continue reading →
