Thomas Scot Halpin, The Man That Filled In For Keith Moon Back In 1973, Dies

It was 1973 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California, and an inebriated Keith Moon had passed out. Pete Townshend asked if there was anyone in the audience who could play drums. Scot Halpin stepped up and filled in for Moon. He would go on to win Rolling Stone Magazine’s “Pick-up Player of the Year Award.” Halpin died on February 9 at 54. For more on the story, click here.

That's the only time that Moon was unable to perform at a concert, which is strange because his drinking really picked up around 1976-77, when The Who were not touring as much.

Keith Moon died in 1978 after attending a film preview with Paul and Linda McCartney of The Buddy Holly Story. He had overdosed on a drug intended to curb his drinking.

Derek Jeter and The Who

The only person as cool as Denzel Washington and myself (haha); Derek Jeter in a new commercial for Gatorade with The Who's "Sparks" playing in the background.

Rockestra Theme

Paul McCartney got together with a bunch of artists to record Rockestra in late 1978. The above video is a performance in London of the "Rockestra Theme" at the Concerts for the People of Kampuchea. The intent of the concerts was to raise money for war-torn Cambodia.

The Who's Keith Moon died a month before the original recording of the song, otherwise he would have been involved. I'm so glad Pete Townshend didn't wear one of those ridiculous looking silver suits that all the others are wearing.

Nonetheless, it's quite an impressive lineup of rockers.

"Lucille" From Rockestra

This is a performance of Little Richard's "Lucille" from the same Rockestra concert which I write about in the above post. I've read that Pete Townshend was particularly thrilled to finally get to perform alongside one of his idols, Hank Marvin of The Shadows.

The Who "It's Not True"

I've been hitting some home runs lately with my recent finds on YouTube. This song is from The Who Sings My Generation album.

It's a video of the band performing "It's Not True" on some show. I've replayed this one at least a dozen times already! The album was released in 1965 and this performance took place in 1966.

I don't think they ever released the song as a single, or if they have ever done it in conert very often either. Anyway, enjoy!

Van Halen Covers "Magic Bus"

On their current tour, Van Halen (with David Lee Roth) have been covering The Who's "Magic Bus." Nice job, guys! Of course, I prefer The Who's version, especially the live one they did on the Live At Leeds album, but VH doesn't disappoint! The above video was done at a Van Halen concert in November 2007.

Van Halen Covers "Won't Get Fooled Again"

Long before Van Halen covered "Magic Bus," they also did a good job with Who classic "Won't Get Fooled Again." Van Halen included the song on their Live: Right Here, Right Now (1993) album. The above video is of the band with Sammy Hagar performing "Won't Get Fooled Again" in the studio. Great job, guys!