Doug Sandom

[kcw63@dial.pipex.com]

Doug Sandom was already late 20s/early 30s when The Detours/Who started
making their mark.He,unlike the others, was married with a wife who,as
records show, (quite realistically and pragmatically for the time)
reassured him that playing with a part time rock'n'roll band was not the
way forward in life.There were no precedents to show that British bands
could really make a go of this "rock'n'roll thing",and,with no
disrespect to Doug,we almost certainly wouldn't have experienced The Who
as we've known them had he remained in the band. 
I met Doug Sandom at The Who Convention in London at The Astoria.Having
occasionally pondered Doug's early contribution to The Who for years
(since I came across the band in 1975),I recognised him immediately
in,of all places,the Astoria's Keith Moon Bar. I asked him to sign my
Tony Fletcher Keith Moon biography.Looking back,this was like asking
Pete Best to sign a Ringo Starr biog (ie. possibly slightly
insensitive).I couldn't have met a more gracious man."Is that OK?" I
asked him."I mean,Keith nicked your job."Course it is",he replied."We
were mates."He then proceeded to sign his name in my book.What a star!
When I read the Moon biog later,I noted that Doug only met Keith Moon on
one occasion,and that they had never been "mates".
Doug Sandom may have got a raw deal,but he could never have predicted
the heights to which his group would rise.As far I know,he is not a
working drummer,so pipe dreams of him playing live with The Who in
future should be laid to rest (unless,of course,he's "up for it" and
would relish playing some maximum r'n'b)
As far as I am concerned,Doug Sandom is a "geezer".