Maximum R&B: The 'Orrible 'Oo

[Susan Foreman]

May 20, 1966. Due to play a gig at the Ricky Tick Club in Windsor, Townshend and Daltrey grew tired of waiting for Entwistle and Moon to arrive, so they conscripted bass player Colin Strandring and drummer Geoff Brown of the opening act, the Jimmy Brown Sound

They took to the stage and started their set, but when Moon and Entwistle finally arrived in the middle of the show, a fight broke out

Townshend whacked Moon on the head with his guitar!

Moon and Entwistle then quit the band, but rejoined a week later!!

[Susan Foreman]

May 23rd, 1969 - 'Tommy' is released

The Who's 'Tommy': 50 Years Ago, Pete Townshend Turned Childhood Trauma Into a Classic | Billboard

My second favourite Who album

Why The Who’s ‘Tommy’ Remains A Masterpiece | Udiscover

But not everyone liked it: 'Branded “sick” by DJ Tony Blackburn and banned by the BBC at the time, it told the story of a deaf, dumb and blind boy who is molested by a paedophile uncle – an experience which he does not actually dislike – and goes on to found a messianic movement.'

The dark side of Tommy | Express

[Susan Foreman]

May 25th, 1969

The concert with Led Zeppelin opening for The Who was a bit of a disaster. Zeppelin hogged the stage and their set over-ran. Because of that, and the fact that there was a 12o'clock midnight curfew, The Who, who were premiering 'Tommy', had to cut quite a lot out of their set

Townshend was certainly not in a good mood. Before they started 'Tommy', he said, with heavy sarcasm aimed at Zeppelin: "We've got a lot of time tonight so we'd like to play the majority of our latest album. It is a Rock Opera which is on release at the moment. A departure from normal. Not as much of a departure for you as for us. It's called Tommy."

At the end of their set, when the crowd kept pleading for more, Pete had another dig at Zeppelin, saying: "I have to go to men's room. It's been a good evening. We're gonna finish off tonight with a song which kinda works better on stage than on record. Before we go we want to give you another remind of what Led Zeppelin did to you this evening. Sorry about me spattering and spitting all over the place, but...anyway, this was not meant to insult anybody. This is Magic Bus."

[Susan Foreman]

Television advert for the double compilation album 'The Story Of The Who', circa 1976

Voiceover from John Peel

[Susan Foreman]

May 31st, 1976 - The Who play a concert at the Charlton FC ground The Valley. The volume is recorded as being 120 decibels 50 meters away from the stage, making it (at the time) the loudest concert in history, and gaining the band a place in the Guinness Book of Records

How the Who Become the World’s Loudest Band | Ultimate Classic Rock

[Susan Foreman]

Another television advert

This one comes from 1978 and is for the 'Who Are You?' album

[Susan Foreman]

As featured in the film

'Quadrophenia Alley' in The Lanes in Brighton...

...and if you want to visit it, here is the location...

...And what happened there?

[Susan Foreman]

June 3rd, 1966

The Who play a concert at Grona Lund Amusement Park in Stockholm, Sweden in front of 11,000 people

This was the first time that Keith used a kit with two bass drums

[Susan Foreman]

Roger Daltrey, as Judas, singing 'Heaven On Their Minds', from a 1996 production of 'Jesus Christ, Superstar'

[Susan Foreman]

June 11th, 1974

While The Who were playing a concert at Madison Square Garden in New York, Ken Russell was in Portsmouth and Southsea filming the 'Bernie's Holiday Camp' sequence for the film version of 'Tommy'.

Somehow a fire started on the South Parade Pier, which was being used as a location, burning it down.

Ever the maverick, Russell included footage of the blaze in the finished film

The History of South Parade Pier