WE Are Smart

PQleyR said:

I thought the point of having Moon illustrating the article was to say 'you might have thought from looking at Keith Moon that he was out of his mind and couldn't construct a sentence, but it turns out that he might have been secretly quite intelligent'. I wouldn't have interpreted it as a jab at drummers.

Click to expand...

Ya reckon? I don't think it's a jab at drummers as much as having a laugh at the stereotype. Moonie's rep was never about lack of intelligence, just sanity From all reports he had a super quick wit. He definitely thought quickly on the drums.

GRUNTERSDAD said:

It only says steady beat, not perfect.

Click to expand...

It's an interesting result because a lot of bright people are unco and struggle with brain-to-body connections. I sure wouldn't be gatekeeping MENSA based on the ability to play a steady beat!

Pollyanna said:

Bo ... just wondering if music tragics have missed the big picture anyway ... in which case drumming's just a cooler way of missing the point than most ...

Click to expand...

Well, I was thinking in terms of, musicians being so smart in translating what's in their heads to come out through the instrument, but they're so dumb in regular business communications with regular folks that they fail miserably at being able to make a living with it? And because of that inability, are looked upon as being looney, like Mr. Moon.

GRUNTERSDAD said:

It only says steady beat, not perfect. Even mechanical and digital metronomes miss a beat one in a while. As for Moon most of us only saw his chemically induced state so he could have been a genius as far as we know.

Click to expand...

Moon found a way to make millions of dollars with a limited skill set and no formal training.

Sounds like a genius to me! haha

As a young teen he actually had formal training. Teaching Moon the Loon drums... yeah, thát is a challenge. Funny thing is that us drummers are looked down upon generally (by some people, not everybody) as unintelligent, because we play the 'simple' instrument. HA!

The only reason intelligence is more common among drummers is because we're using the same section of the brain that's used to solve problems. Keith moon negated this by all the mind debilitating psycho-actives he was on, great drummer though.

Tommy Lee was just born retarded though, i have no excuse for him or his drumming hahaha.

The Middle C said:

Keith moon negated this by all the mind debilitating psycho-actives he was on, great drummer though.

Click to expand...

Oh yes, Keith Moon was unique amongst 70s drummers in drinking heavily and taking drugs, hence his erratic behaviour. The other, less crazy, players were as pure as the driven snow ... errrr ...

If Keith was born later on - in "more enlightened times" - there'd be a fair chance that the most potent psychoactive drug he'd be taking would be lithium, and if that happened he may not have been the dynamo that he was (although he would have been more popular with hotel chains).