A list of the "10 Craziest Drummers Ever," complete with illos

At Esquire, Miles Raymer has a top-ten list of the Craziest Drummers Ever. I'm not normally a fan of listicles, but this is more than mere linkbait. And the illustrations by Jeremy Wheeler are fantastic! Above, his Keith Moon.

There's no evidence that Keith Moon of The Who provided the inspiration for the Muppet drummer Animal's notable incivility, but it makes enough sense that the rumor's been going around for decades and doesn't show any sign of going away. His drumming talents were immense, and his capabilities for wreaking havoc were even greater. He one-upped Pete Townshend's guitar-smashing by periodically rigging his kit with explosives and detonating them at unexpected moments. He was the first person in recorded history to throw a television out of a hotel-room window. He once accidentally drove over and killed his chauffeur, which is sad and terrible, and yet also about the most perfect embodiment of the collision of vast wealth and an unchecked id that Moon embodied, and which generations of rock stars have tried to achieve.

The rest of the list is here.

Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

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5onthe5

If someone wastes their talent and ability by choking on their own vomit after a liquor and junk food binge… It makes me not want to celebrate or iconicize their “craziness”.
- C W
  
  It doesn’t take “craziness” to asphyxiate, you know.
- EH
  
  Choking on someone else’s vomit, on the other hand…
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  They party to death so that you don’t have to. Think of it like a crop sacrifice.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=13001904 Jeremy Sweeney

I know it’s foolish of me to expect Esquire to know anything about music, but this just reads like the usual isolationist Rolling Stone nostalgia-worship. All safe, predictable choices.
- abstract_reg
  
  So… who would you add? (Pointing out how bad a list is with out suggesting an amendment isn’t really making a point at all.)
http://libertyviewmagazine.net/ Tod Westlake

After Ginger Baker and Keith Moon, who else is there, really?
- bruceburbank
  
  Gene Krupa? Dave Lombardo? The guy from Danzig (at least in Danzig’s early solo years, don’t know if he’s still in the band)? The guy from Helmet (of the Meantime era)? Or about a thousand other crazier drummers if this author knew anything about music or had done any research whatsoever.
  - http://libertyviewmagazine.net/ Tod Westlake
    
    Never listened to Danzig, Helmet, or Slayer. Did Krupa have a rep as being crazy? I’ve never heard that, but you’re probably right. Topper wasn’t nuts, just strung out, from what I’ve read. While we’re talking obscure, how about Ted from the DKs? Or Johnny “Vatos” Hernandez from Oingo Boingo? Keith and Ginger, on the other hand, are/were certifiable. They eclipse the rest, imo. It’s a pretty weak list.
  - L_Mariachi
    
    John Stanier (of Helmet, later Tomahawk and Battles) is an excellent drummer but he doesn’t act crazy at all. Neil Peart and Buddy Rich are conspicuously absent from this list though.
UncaScrooge

I feel like Robert Wyatt deserves an honorable mention here, even though he survived the crazy.
- http://www.facebook.com/richard.assar Richard Assar
  
  Robert Wyatt’s drumming for Soft Machine was, to me, out of this world. Was going to post this and then saw your comment. Glad someone else stated this also.
http://twitter.com/wi_ngo wingo shackleford

They forgot Carmine Appice of Vanilla Fudge.
- EH
  
  That’s because he’s the Rod Steiger of rock drummers.
http://www.facebook.com/matthew.urso Matthew Urso

i guess no band after the 80′s had a decent drummer? how bout Danny Carey?
- franko
  
  by the time you get to the 90s, it’s pretty much all been done.
  - bruceburbank
    
    Babyland, Gilman St. 1998
    
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRWqVgwxCgg
- L_Mariachi
  
  It’s not a list of decent drummers, it’s a list of crazy drummers.
Johnny La Rue

What, no Neil Peart?
- EH
  
  Crazier than Robert Fripp, that one.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_OAUXAA362EXWLYVMPJOKLFB5JQ Incipient Madness
  
  Totally crazy on stage. Rock solid IRL. Even managed to self-treat a years long suicidal episode after two consecutive personal tragedies. Returned after four years to help write Vapor Trails. Returned to touring when he was terrified to do so and learned to love it again.
  
  Pretty much the opposite of a crazy drummer.
10xor01

Shouldn’t it just be the last ten drummers in Spinal Tap?
William Joseph Dunn

Why isn’t Buddy Rich on that list?:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8-uoTD4fMQ
Ben Burger

What about this guy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKsWl1fDzbw
- http://twitter.com/beep54orama B E Pratt
  
  That’s just crazy cool drumming. As opposed to crazy drummer.
geech

Wow, kind of astounded that nowhere in that list or in the comments here or the article is Mick Fleetwood mentioned. I had always heard he was the inspiration for Animal anyway.
bingobangoboy

Why make a “10 craziest drummers” list if you can only think of five crazy drummers?
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000816092324 Paul Cooke

Ginger Baker… once took a bottle thrown from the audience at Glastonbury full on in the face and never missed a beat… I know, I witnessed it… the bottle broke his nose as well, although it’s pretty difficult to tell as his nose was already well battered.
http://twitter.com/zerode zerode

Anyone who has even been in or worked with bands knows that drummer and craziness are kinda… Well, what I’m trying to say is… In any band, you want to find the loose screw? Chances are, it’s on the drum kit.