THE WHO

[porcy62]

I was reading this and trying to figure out how to describe my aversion to the Who - when Jack nailed it -

"they had become just another boring arena act."

I see them as somewhat parallel to Led Zeppelin - whereas Zeppelin, to me, is responsible for the "bad white-guy singer tries to wail a tune" syndrome that led us to Aerosmith, The Who gave us hair bands and pre-amp distortion, the kind of loudness I refer to occasionally as "middle class noise" - in other words, the kind of volume that's really just more suburban background music. Never really threatening, just more of the kind of rebellion for kids that precedes business school and Republican registration -

I'll take MC5 any day -

Not really sure if the early Who could be referred to middle class, at least in U.K. in the mid-late sixties.

[JSngry]

I was reading this and trying to figure out how to describe my aversion to the Who - when Jack nailed it -

"they had become just another boring arena act."

I see them as somewhat parallel to Led Zeppelin - whereas Zeppelin, to me, is responsible for the "bad white-guy singer tries to wail a tune" syndrome that led us to Aerosmith, The Who gave us hair bands and pre-amp distortion, the kind of loudness I refer to occasionally as "middle class noise" - in other words, the kind of volume that's really just more suburban background music. Never really threatening, just more of the kind of rebellion for kids that precedes business school and Republican registration -

I'll take MC5 any day -

Not really sure if the early Who could be referred to middle class, at least in U.K. in the mid-late sixties.

The problem with The Who now is the backstory.

Townsend didn't die before he got old.

Good for him, bad for the band.

Unless you're old enough to be able to honestly ignore that bit of backstory (and thank god I am), it casts a shadow like any other backstory.

[dave9199]

I love their back story.

[AllenLowe]

I agree that they themselves cannot be associated, in terms of origin, with the middle class; what I mean is that the kind of music they influenced came from that kind of pseudo-rebellious background.

well, as Cobain said in his diary, "hope I die before I become Pete Townshend" -

(quoted from memory)

[JSngry]

I love their back story.

Absolutely, but for me, it more than kinda ruined what came in its wake...

I mean, really, they could've died/stopped/whatever at Sell Out or thereabouts and left a legacy as hip and fuquitous as any BritRock band ever. That shit has an edge that is honest & real & unsullied by...the ambiguities of success. It is what it is, all the way, no real subtext needed, and it hits hard. If that was all they had done, hey, what's not to love about that?

But noooooo.....

Oh well, that's life. I'll justify later Sonny Rollins & Max Roach from now until the cows come home, but The Who... as much as I like it, I don't care enough about it to do that.

[Teasing the Korean]

You were right, a boring rock band.

Please, please, try to pick up any of the three albums I mentioned. They are absolute gems, especially Village Green.

[porcy62]

You were right, a boring rock band.

Please, please, try to pick up any of the three albums I mentioned. They are absolute gems, especially Village Green.

Promise, but I'll look for vinyls

[Teasing the Korean]

You were right, a boring rock band.

Please, please, try to pick up any of the three albums I mentioned. They are absolute gems, especially Village Green.

Promise, but I'll look for vinyls

Then add "The Kink Kronikles" to that list. It's a double that contains many essential singles, B sides, and oddball tracks from that era.

[AllenLowe]

love the Kinks - "girl friend's run off with my car/gone back to her ma and pa..."

[Quincy]

The Who gave us hair bands and pre-amp distortion,

I've never seen The Who mentioned as a hair band influence. I mean, not to get all literal, but only 1 guy in the band had hair that was hair band worthy. Usually the early '80s hair bands claim to be influenced by glam (Bowie, Bolan, the Dolls) and early metal/hard rock (Alice Cooper, Zeppelin, Aerosmith.) I suppose you could put The Who's rock opera habit as influencing some of the Spinal Tap tendencies of the hair bands though.

[Kalo]

I don't think they've ever topped The Who Sell Out - a masterpiece from start to finish!

Agree 100%. The CD has some great bonus tracks left off the original, to boot!

I agree that The Who Sell Out is by far their finest. Great album cover too, "Pop Art" looking forward to punk.

[Kalo]

You were right, a boring rock band.

Please, please, try to pick up any of the three albums I mentioned. They are absolute gems, especially Village Green.

Don't miss Something Else.

[Parkertown]

Who's Next is one of my desert island rock albums and I never tire of it...

Shawn's avatar is one of my desert island avatars and I never tire of it...

Who 'dat?

[neveronfriday]

well, as Cobain said in his diary, "hope I die before I become Pete Townshend" -

a) He did.

b) If there ever was a guy I would have liked to throw darts at, it was him.

Besides that, I would agree with much of what has been said about the Who, but I mainly wanted to second, third or whatever the Kinks recommendations. IMO music didn't come much better than on those early albums, my faves being Face to Face and, especially, the Village Green one. I still think Something Else is a shaky affair, still quite good though.

Ray Davies had brains, to boot, and that's probably why the Village Green Preservation Society did quite poorly in comparison to what the Beatles and the Stones had on offer.

It stood the test of time and even survived the '68 turmoils. Great album!

Edited November 25, 2007 by neveronfriday

[Quincy]

I think if you were there with The Who from the beginning that it would be natural to lose interest by the time Quadrophenia came around (if Tommy didn't do it already.) If the change in style wasn't enough, if you were the type who paid attention to lyrics you were probably too old for the themes in Quad. Getting kicked out of your parents' house, pining after girls in a pitiful manner, and being overly obsessed with fad & fashion (never mind that Mods vs. Rockers wasn't an American thing) is more likely to be absorbed by a teenager, and maybe a few in their early 20s, but not much further than that. So a lot fans who followed the group from '67 or so were too old for that.

And then just 2 years later you get a mid-life crisis album from a 33 year old. When you wish to die before you get old you go thru this earlier in life. The Who By Numbers is as much a being-famous-is-miserable album as anything else and full of self-loathing. If you're one to find The Who boring at this stage, Townshend beat you to it, as he was terrified of becoming a "boring old fart." From "They Are All In Love," which didn't get played on stage.

Goodbye all you punks

Stay young & stay high

Hand me my checkbook

And I'll crawl off to die

Like a woman in childbirth

Grown ugly in a flash

I've seen magic & fame

Now I'm recycling trash

God I love that woman in childbirth line. Is it any wonder The Who have so few female fans.

[Teasing the Korean]

...Is it any wonder The Who have so few female fans.

Actually, I've known LOTS of women who adore the early mod Who, both their sound and their look.

However, these same women wanted nothing to do with them after, say, "Rock n Roll Circus" or Woodstock.

It's amazing how quickly everyone got so ugly in the late 60s.

Edited November 25, 2007 by Teasing the Korean

[medjuck]

Is Who's Next considered late Who? I like it better than anything before or after. Saw them at their first gig after the death of Moon. In a small bull ring (is that possible?) outside Cannes. Loved it but was with a friend who'd seen them before and said it could never be the same without Moon.

[Teasing the Korean]

I consider everything after Tommy "late Who."

I don't know of another rock/pop band with such a clear-cut dividing line in terms of fan base.

[dave9199]

Here's my guess:

Early: My Generation/A Quick One/Sell Out

Mid: Tommy/Live At Leeds/Who's Next/Quadrophenia

Late: By Numbers/Who Are You/Face Dances/It's Hard

Unclassifiable: Endless Wire (I've never heard this one)

[BruceH]

The Who Sell Out is my favorite album of theirs too, though it's been a long long time since I listened to it. Subtract "Pinball Wizard" from Tommy and you're not left with much. The Limey and Freaks & Geeks gave new resonance to "The Seeker" and "Love Reign O'r Me."

[Chuck Nessa]

Liked Who's Next. Never paid real attention to any later stuff but heard a bunch in stores I managed and on the radio.

[Ken Dryden]

I liked The Who to a certain extent and bought most of their albums, though their output was uneven. Who's Next stands up better than Tommy, while I liked John Entwhistle's sardonic humor, especially in "My Wife." I saw the band live twice, once in 1974 in Baton Rouge (easily the loudest concert I've ever sat through, along with a disappointing effort around Atlanta circa 1987-89.

Their latest effort didn't leave much of an impression, then again, not much in the way of new rock releases do.

[Jazzmoose]

And, I think the Small Faces and the Kinks TOTALLY blow them away.

I think the Kinks pretty much blew everyone away, so I have to agree.

[Hot Ptah]

I saw The Who with Keith Moon live in the spring of 1976, after I had started getting into jazz. I was most impressed with Moon's drumming. He looked tired and a bit overweight, too worn out to rage out of control--but he was a really good drummer. I kept thinking that he had absorbed some jazz into his playing, to my surprise. He held the music together with a much more varied drumming style than I had heard on the records.

[jazzbo]

Amazon.com has deluxe versions of Who's Next and Tommy on sale at a quite nice price right now.