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The Who net

2 hours ago

Concert of the day

On this date in 1997 The Who play Wembley Arena in London

gettyimages has a photo from this show here:
www.gettyimages.com/license/537660496 ... See MoreSee Less

The Who net

4 hours ago

Radio listing of the day

On this date in 1990 The Desert Sun carried a listing for KCHV's "The CD Spotlight" which apparently featured a Pete Townshend cd ... See MoreSee Less

The Who net

6 hours ago

Article of the day

On this date in 1974 Melody Maker featured an article on Pete written by Chris Charlesworth in which Chris claims Pete is the member responsible for elevating The Who to superstar status.

Image courtesy of www.thewhothismonth.com

Transcription provided by Joe Iannuzzi:

Pete Townshend: March Of The Mod

It may well have been pure chance that produced the most visually exciting guitarist in rock. If Peter Townshend hadn't been born with a big nose he might never have picked up a guitar in the first place, and if he hadn't accidentally bashed his fretboard against a low ceiling in a club at Acton one night long, long ago he might never have developed his peculiar —- and totally original — style of playing.
It was in the earliest days of the Who, when they were probably called the Detours or the High Numbers, that Townshend, imitating Keith Richard somewhat deliberately, spun his arm around propeller fashion, knocked his guitar against the roof and smashed the fretboard.

From that day onwards the Who was born. They were the most violent, antisocial, debt ridden band of the sixties. Then they grew up, became superstars and millionaires but still have a genuine claim to being the most exciting live act in the business

Townshend, too, grew up. He watched and learned until it was time for him to become a trendsetter himself. He lead the Who through stormy waters and watched them conquer the world.

He became one of the most eloquent spokesmen on rock in general, a man whose views are respected by all. He also found Meher Baba which transformed the fighting, angry young man into a sensitive, mature adult and musician.
Few can argue that, in the light of the day, Peter Townshend IS the Who. While his three colleagues undeniably contribute a great deal to his amazing little rock band from London's Shepherds Bush, they would be the first to admit that without Townshend‘s guiding light there would be no Who.

It was Keith Moon who told me, during a rare moment of seriousness, that Townshend was in his opinion, a true genius. Moon spoke in hushed, revered tones and meant exactly what he said.

Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend was born on May 19, 1945, in Chiswick Hospital, in West London. He attended Acton Grammar School and Ealing Arts School. He's said often enough that he was a skinny, ugly youth who couldn't pull birds and whose big nose made him a frequent subject of ridicule among his school mates.
He turned to the guitar, possibly subconsciously thinking that guitarists in groups could pull birds and joined the band that was later to become the Who.

At this time Roger Daltrey was the undisputed leader, the lead guitarist and the lead singer. Pete played rhythm guitar. Some say he always has.

First they were the Detours, then the Who, then the High Numbers and back to the Who again. Their first public appearance was in 1964 in Acton and their decision to change their name back to the Who coincided with the arrival of their managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp.

Practically, of course, it could never work and all that came from the idea were a number of rehearsals at the Young Vic Theatre near Waterloo Station which ultimately resulted in the tracks on their Who’s Next album.

The group themselves were dissatisfied with this record. Townshend obviously felt he could do better, but it did produce a great single in 'Won‘t Get Fooled Again' and a good quantity of other tempting rock offerings. Any other band would have been well proud of this album, despite its bad taste sleeve design.

The Who continued touring and Townshend became one of the most quoted of all rock personalities, simply because he was a good talker. Townshend thinks a great deal about rock and its place in today‘s society; he also thinks about its future and comes up with ideas which, although often impractical, are always interesting.

There was another long delay following Who’s Next, punctuated only with the release of Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy, an anthology album of greatest hits and others. Townshend has stated publicly that this is his favourite Who album because it sums up their career and takes the band back to their roots so well.

Though Who buffs would probably own all the material on the album, it is certainly the most recommended for the beginner. But there still remained the nagging thought that Townshend had yet to produce an album to match Tommy which was, by this time, becoming something of a sore point within the group.

It was generally known that they were fed up to the back teeth with playing the music, even though fans continued to lap it up, and there followed a lengthy period of inactivity for the band. Townshend himself put out a sort of solo album called Who Came First, dedicated to Meher Baba. It was a surprisingly quiet affair

The tracks were as unlikely as the arrangements. There was Jim Reeves' 'There's A Heartache Following Me', apparently Baba‘s favourite commercial song, and a Baba prayer which Townshend set to music.

It was all sweetness and light, a far cry from the violent, prancing figure of the Who's stage show.

The rest of the band went their own ways, too. Roger Daltrey put out his first solo music and had a hit single on his own. John Entwistle stepped up his solo output and talked about a new group called Rigor Mortis which he was forming as an additional activity to the Who. Keith Moon went into films and looning full time.
Then there were faint rumblings in the early part of last year that something was happening at last. There was talk that they'd bought their own recording studio in Battersea because they weren't satisfied with anything else around and that hard work was in progress fitting the place out.

Long sessions were taking place morning, noon and night and Townshend was, for once, refusing interviews in case his concentration on the project in hand wavered.
His attention didn't waver and Quadrophenia was the result, finally burying Tommy once and for all. Quadrophenia is a story of mods and the Who's own background, containing some brilliant rock numbers and far and away the most ambitious production job the group had ever attempted.

Significantly, perhaps. Lambert's name re-appeared on the sleeve production credits, but the whole epic double package was really Townshend's creation.
Lambert was an out of work film producer and Stamp was the brother of actor Terry. Both immediately realised the potential of the Who and immediately cashed in on the mod craze that was beginning to envelop the London area.

They stuck their Who on at the Marquee Club on Tuesday nights, formed a fan club called the 100 Faces (a top mod was known as a "Face") and encouraged the group to self-destruct at the end of their act.

Townshend would ram a Rickenbacker into his speaker cabinet, Moon would walk over his kit and Daltrey - the sharpest looking "Face" of them all — would snap his fingers and boast about the number of pills he'd taken that evening. Entwistle, of course, would just stand there.

There were records, too, all coming from the pen of Townshend who by this time had become the star attraction. Their first hit 'I Can't Explain' was a deliberate rip~off from the Kinks’ chunky chord style.

There was, in fact, a great deal of ripping~off in the early Who. 'The Kids Are Alright’ was a dead-ringer for the Beatles’ 'A Legal Matter' and, to a certain extent ‘Substitute' were pure Rolling Stones, and all the while arguments were going on within the group because Keith Moon wanted them to harmonise like the Beach Boys and Roger Daltrey was after a rhythm and blues/black soul sound.

But Townshend steered a middle course and the Who became a competent if slightly controversial, pop band. They made excellent singles, like 'I Can See For Miles' with a superbly delayed chorus line, and 'Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere' where Townshend began experimenting with the on/off switch on his electric guitar, and using feedback to good effect.

He also wrote what was to become the anthem of the mods and one of the greatest rock singles of the sixties - 'My Generation', still arguably the group's most potent number and important contribution to rock culture.

The classic line "Hope I Die Before I Get Old" will stand forever.

Clues as to Townshend's further capabilities were slipping out as the group sought to establish themselves firmly. Arguments will rage forever about who released the first concept rock album, but long before Tommy was even thought of the Who put out THE first rock opera, albeit a mini-opera, titled 'A Quick One'.

It was the first time a band had recorded two or more songs linked together to form a story, but its significance on rock's future was totally missed at the time.
Concept albums had never been thought of before the Who put out their third album, The Who Sell Out. On this all the tracks on the first side were linked by commercials that sounded like pirate radio stations. Another first for Townshend - again before the world woke up to the fact.

Commercial radio, in fact, had a large hand in the growing acceptance of the Who. Lambert and Stamp were quick to realise the promotional potential of the pirate radio stations and they plagued the pirate deejays with Who singles.

There was Ready, Steady, 60, too, the ITV TV rock show hosted by Cathy McGowan on which the Who were frequent guests and on which Townshend, looking mean and moody, would parade his Union Jack jacket amidst "oohs" and "aahs" from.the strictly mod studio audience.

For all their local London and South East success and their clique following, the Who lost money hand over fist.

Various estimates as to their total red figures run well into six figures, mostly because of guitar damage, and they had yet to crack America where they toured with "bigger" English bands like Herman's Hermits and the Dave Clark Five.
In 1968 the tide turned. Townshend found Meha Babe and began work on what was to transform the Who into one of the biggest rock acts of all time. It also revealed him as one of the greatest creative talents in rock as well as the most visual instrumentalist.

It was Tommy, previewed at generous volume in a live performance before ecstatic critics at Ronnie Scott's London jazz club later that year.

Over three~quarters of Tommy came out of Townshend, including the electrifying ‘Pinball Wizard' and the huge crescendo of ‘See Me, Feel Me' which still remains the best climax to any piece of rock music to this day.

And while the Kinks had tried their hand at a rock opera a few months previously, it was the Who and Townshend who scored supremely, simply because they could put it over live with the most dynamic act in the world.

Townshend had begun phase two of his career. Now he was utterly respected and, unlike in previous years, considerably more approachable. He took Tommy on the road where it was received with wild adulation and in 1969 he was generally voted the most outstanding artist at the legendary Woodstock Festival.

He had also perfected the group's stage act to such a degree that, although perhaps a little predictable, there was really no one to touch them on a live stage.
There was motionless Entwistle, lassooing Daltrey and flaying Moon. But standing majestically to stage right his tail skinny frame angling like rubber, was the most incredible gymnast of them all.

Jumping, spinning, writhing, splitting, vaulting, and leaping as if in a trance, a spinning top whipped by the violence of the music he was playing, sometimes angry sometimes laughing, but always making that block chord in time with the spin of his right arm.

Tommy and that act brought financial rewards at last. They paid off their debts, bought big houses and big cars and slowed down considerably.

And it was at this point in their career that Townshend's great dilemma took control. Having produced what was generally regarded as a masterpiece which elevated the group to the attention of serious music observers everywhere, how was he going to follow it up?

First there was the Live At Leeds album, a particularly good live set on which one track — the extended version of 'My Generation' - will stand out as one of their best recorded works. But it was hardly a follow-up to Tommy, more of a delaying tactic.
Time passed and nothing happened. Townshend himself must have been going through mental torture at this time, knowing that unsympathetic observers were writing him off as a one-shot while he was desperately trying to come up with something new that would stand alongside Tommy.

His first attempt now referred to as the Lifehouse Project, failed although the ideas behind it seemed sound enough.

For Lifehouse, Townshend wanted to involve a bunch of Who fans with the group to such a degree that the whole complement became one big rock group. Then they'd compose together and the resultant action and music would form both an album and a film. ... See MoreSee Less

The Who net

8 hours ago

News of the day

On May 18, 1969 The Observer carried an article titled "A freakish parable" by Tony Palmer. ... See MoreSee Less

The Who net

10 hours ago

Ad of the day

On May 18,. 1967 The Who played the Locarno ballroom in Bristol. Despite John's broken finger (see yesterday's post about this), the group did appear despite rumours to the contrary. ... See MoreSee Less

The Who net

11 hours ago

Ad of the day

On May 18, 1965 The Who played McIlroy’s Ballroom in Swindon ... See MoreSee Less

The Who net

1 day ago

Photo of the day

On May 17, 1998 Roger is at the Cannes Film Festival for the premiere of Mack The Knife, which features Roger singing the title song.

In an interview, Roger says he wanted to become a doctor of Chinese medicine and study herbal medicine and acupuncture. He adds that he never felt that singing and acting were proper careers

Roger's promotional photo for "Mack the Knife" ... See MoreSee Less

The Who net

1 day ago

Article of the day

On May 17, 1979 Rolling Stone magazine published an article titled “The Who unveil plans for New York shows” by Dave Marsh ... See MoreSee Less

The Who net

1 day ago

Concert of the day

On May 17, 1979 The Who play the Pavillon de Paris in Paris, France

Visit our friends at Les Who en France for more information and photos!
www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1358097724218339 ... See MoreSee Less

The Who net

1 day ago

Image of the day

On May 17, 1969 Pete and Roger surrender themselves to the authorities at the Ninth Precinct station for the previous nights on-stage incident. They are released on bail ... See MoreSee Less