At
this time The Who were going through numerous management changes. The Who
met Pete Meaden, a Mod. Under Meaden, the band's name was The High Numbers.
The band dressed like Mods and appealed to Mods even though they were not
Mods. The Mods were amphetamine takers who wore tab collars and Italian shoes
and drove Lambretta scooters. The Mod credo was "clean living under difficult
circumstances.During their summer 1964 residency at the Railway, Pete Townshend broke his guitar against the Railway's low ceiling. A week later Moon started smashing his drum kit when the audience was disappointed when Townshend didn't smash his guitar. Moon stated generally, "When I smashed my drums it's because I was pissed off . . . When you've worked your balls off and you've given the audience everything you can give and they don't give anything back, that's when the *bleep* instruments go."
In August 1964, Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp took over management of the band. In October 1964 The Who again became the band's name.
Soon after,
The Who began a Tuesday residency at the Marquee Club with the poster of Pete
Townshend in full arm swing declaring "Maximum R & B." The Who
signed a record deal which forced them to write their own material. In January
1965, Townshend composed "I Can't Explain" with Moon playing the
drums as if the fate of the free world depended on his performance. The next
single was "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" with Moon's drumming holding
together the innovative feedback from Townshend's guitar.
In December
1965, The Who released the My Generation album with Moon co-writing the surf
influenced instrumental "The Ox." Moon's performance on the record
is still one of the greatest drum performances ever let alone on a debut record.
The drum solo at the bridge of "The Kids Are Alright" was so far
ahead of its time that it was edited out of the American release and wasn't
released in America until 1994's Box Set, 30 Years of Maximum R & B.
Spring 1966 saw the release of the Townshend composed "Substitute,"
with manic Moon drumming that Keith later didn't recall playing at the session.
About this time, Moon moved from a single bass seven piece drum set to a double
bass nine piece drum kit.