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Old 4th March 2021, 10:50 AM
Susan Foreman's Avatar
Susan Foreman Susan Foreman is offline
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Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Childhood home of Billy Idol - Orpington
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'How Many Friends' 'is a bitter, piano-based song. Being surrounded by sycophants who never say what they really mean is the theme behind this song


"I'm feelin' so good right now
There's a handsome boy tells me how I changed his past
He buys me a brandy
But could it be he's really just after my ass?

He likes the clothes I wear
He says he likes a man who's dressed in season
But no-one else ever stares, he's being so kind
What's the reason?

How many friends have I really got?
You can count 'em on one hand
How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
That love me, that want me, that'll take me as I am?

Suddenly it's the silver screen
And a face so beautiful that I have to cry out
Everybody hears me
But I look like a fool now
With a cry and I shy out
She knows all of my friends
But it's nice to find a woman who's keen on living
Now I think I've reached the end
I wonder in the dead of night - how do I rate?

How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
That love me, that want me, that'll take me as I am?

It's all like a dream you know
When you're still up early in the morning
And you all sit together to watch the sun come through
But things don't look so good
When you could use a bit of warning
Then you know that no-one will ever speak the truth about you

How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
That love me, that want me, that'll take me as I am?

When I first signed a contract
It was more than a handshake then
I know it still is
But there's a plain fact
We talk so much shit behind each other's backs
I get the willies
People know nothing about their own soft gut
So how come they can sum us up
Without suffering all the hype we've known
How come they bum us up

How many friends have I really got?
You can count 'em on one hand
How many friends have I really got?
How many friends have I really got?
That love me, that want me, that'll take me as I am?"


With Roger sounding as bitter as ever in a final slab of self pity, 'In A Hand Or A Face' is pinned together by a repetetive three chord riff but, as an album closer, it's below par and rather anonymous highlighted only by Pete's lively solo and a short drum break.


"Ain't it funny how they're all Cleopatra
When you gaze into their past
When you find out about their birth signs
You realize there was no need to have ask

All the history of a soul in torment
Ingrained in a hand or a face
Ain't it funny how they all fire the pistol
At the wrong end of the race

I am going round and round
I am going round and round
I am going round and round
I am going round
Going round and round

There's a man going through your dust bin
Only this time he's looking for food
There's a tear in his eye, you don't know him
Oh but you know what he's going through

Ain't it funny that you can't seem to help him
Feelin' sick as he staggers away
Is it weird that you hate a stranger
Can a detail correct your dismay

I am going round and round
I am going round and round
I am going round and round
I am going round
Going round and round"


To promote the album, the band toured Europe and North America, playing 79i dates between October 3rd, 1975 and October 21, 1976. This was the first time that the band had used a laser show during their concerts. However, it was an eventful tour! The opening show in the US leg of the tour, in Boston on March 9th, 1976, came to an abrupt end when Keith collapsed on stage after playing only two songs ['I Can't Explain' and 'Substitute']. The following day, which luckily was a day off, he seriously injured himself and nearly bled to death. Following their show in Miami on August 9th, Keith was hospitalised for over a week. Keith's erratic behavior was very worrying, and Pete, John and Roger believed he would not be able to finish the tour. Ultimately he did manage to play the remaining shows, but these became the final public concerts he would play before dying in 1978

During May and June 1976, the band played a short UK 'festival tour', where they appeared at three UK football grounds with tickets costing £4:00:
May 31 - The Valley (Charlton Athletic football ground)
June 6 - Celtic Football Club Glasgow
June 12 - Swansea City Football Club .


It was the show at Charlton which resulted in the band getting an entry in the 'Guinness Book Of Records' as the loudest band in the world. The sound level fifty meters from the stage measured an earsplitting 127 dB!

The setlist for this show was:
  • I Can't Explain
  • Substitute
  • My Wife
  • Baba O'Riley
  • Squeeze Box
  • Behind Blue Eyes
  • Dreaming From the Waist
  • Magic Bus
  • Amazing Journey
  • Sparks
  • The Acid Queen
  • Fiddle About
  • Pinball Wizard
  • I'm Free
  • Tommy's Holiday Camp
  • We're Not Gonna Take It
  • See Me, Feel Me
  • Summertime Blues (Eddie Cochran cover)
  • My Generation
  • Join Together
  • My Generation Blues
  • Won't Get Fooled Again



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