The Detours: John Entwistle, Doug Sandom, Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend; Courtesy of The Who Archives

The Detours: John Entwistle, Doug Sandom, Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend; Courtesy of The Who ArchivesDoug Sandom, who played drums in The Who before Keith Moon joined the band, died Wednesday, one day after turning 89. Pete Townshend revealed the news in a post on his group’s official website.

Townshend reports that Sandom’s son informed him of the sad news.

In 1962, Sandom became the drummer of The Detours, a band founded by Roger Daltrey that also featured Townshend and John Entwistle. In 1964, the group changed its name to The Who, but shortly thereafter, Sandom was fired and Moon was brought in their new drummer.

“If you have read my book Who I Am you will know how kind Doug was to me,” Pete points out in his online message, “and how clumsily I dealt with his leaving the band to be replaced eventually by Keith Moon.”

Townshend continues, “A bricklayer by trade, Doug was an excellent drummer but was considered by our first record label to be too old for us.” 

Indeed, Sandom was in his early thirties and married when he joined The Detours; the other band members were teenagers.

“It was his age and his wisdom that made him important to me,” Pete adds. “He never sneered at my aspirations the way some of my peers tended to do (I was a bit of an egoistic handful sometimes). He encouraged me.”

Pete also notes that although Sandom “took a while to forgive” him after being fired, he “did so in the end.” Townshend adds that while he hadn’t seen Doug often in recent years, “we remained friends.”

Townshend ends his tribute by noting that Sandom “would almost certainly have tried to visit with Roger and me [when The Who played] at Wembley Stadium this year, and we will both miss seeing him.”

Copyright © 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.