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Maximum R&B: The 'Orrible 'Oo Use this thread to discuss anything Who releated Formed in 1964, and consisting of vocalist Roger Daltrey (b. 1944), guitarist Pete Townshend (b. 1945), bassist John Entwistle (b. 1944, d 2002) and drummer Keith Moon (b. 1946 2, 1978) the band became the faces of the fledgling mod movement - strange when you realise that each album release moved them further away from the R&B sound: My Generation - R&B A Quick One - Pop The Who Sell Out - Psychedelia Tommy - Hard rock Who's Next - Progressive rock Quadrophenia - Heavy metal The Who By Numbers - Melancholia Who Are You - Rock They are as well known for their on (and off) stage antics as they are for their music: backstage fights, destroyed equipment, entries in the Guinness Book of Records as 'the world's loudest band', cars-in-swimming-pools, exploding toilets etc! At time of writing, the surviving members of the band have just started their umpteenth 'farewell' tour, entitled 'Moving On'. For this, they are using a full symphony orchestra on stage with them |
Do we really need a thread dedicated to one band? |
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It's basically a thread where Susan posts pictures and vids no doubt. What do forum members think? Is it a thread you'd contribute to? |
No worries If this dies a death, so be it |
Life on the road with Keith Moon! A selection of his most (in)famous pranks 10. For The Who’s UK tour in 1967, their opening band was The Herds. Moon, with the help of bassist John Entwistle, rigged the gong used by drummer Andrew Steele so that every time Steele tries to bang the gong, Moon and Entwistle would pull on the rope and the gong would move out of his reach. 9. In 1969, Moon and Larry Smith of the satirical rock group the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah went to a Marks and Spencer shop. Smith was the first to go and asked for their most durable trouser. After it was shown to him, Moon entered the store and offered to help Smith test the trouser’s durability. They both took one leg and ended up tearing it into two pieces. The staff called the authorities and just in time, their limo driver arrived and said, “Are those one-legged trousers? They’re just what I’ve been looking for!” The driver paid for it and each leg was even packed separately. 8. Moon became friends with actor Oliver Reed because of Tommy. In 1975, during a red carpet premiere, someone threw a lemon curd pie and hit Reed in the face. Then, someone handed him a note that read: “Pie in the Face International. You have been selected by Mr. Keith Moon to become a member.” There was also a certificate with this message written on it: “You are a member, sponsored by Keith Moon.” 7. This didn’t happen just once. When they’re in small villages, Moon liked to make false announcements from his car. He either used police bullhorns or installed speakers in his vehicle. These “announcements” ranged from harmless to that which could likely cause panic e.g. possible tidal waves. 6. Keith Moon wasn’t above going the extra mile when it came to his practical jokes. The guy always went all-out even if that means dressing up as a bald vicar. In stark contrast with his costume, he would shout obscenities at old ladies and basically traumatize them for life. 5. Moon once staged a fake kidnapping with the help of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. And let’s just say it looked so real that the authorities caught up with them. 4. During their appearance at The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour on September 17, 1967, he loaded his drum kit with more explosives than his “usual”. The explosion almost blew the band off the stage – it singed Townshend’s hair and affected his hearing. Another guest, actress Bette Davis, fainted after the explosion. 3. On August 25, 1972, Moon sought Pete Townshend’s help to carry the waterbed into the elevator and send it down to the lobby. But it burst before they could remove it and released huge amount of water into the hallway. Realizing he’s about to be in big trouble, Moon went ahead and called the manager to report the “incident.” He claimed that the mattress burst and in the process, destroyed his expensive clothes. Apparently, Moon’s an impressive actor as well because by way of apology, the manager moved The Who to the Presidential Suite. 2. In 1970, he and former Bonzos frontman Viv Stanshall had to wear Nazi officer uniforms for a photo shoot. They didn’t take it off while drinking and even wore the same costume for a few days. That’s not even the worst part. They decided to hire an open-top Mercedes and take a trip to a Jewish neighborhood. 1. He became obsessed with cherry bombs and as The Who toured around the world, Moon made his mark on each hotel by destroying the toilets using the explosives. He once said, “All that porcelain flying through the air was quite unforgettable.” The Insane And Tragic Life Of Keith Moon | Society Of Rock |
May 17th, 1969 - 'Magic Bus' at the Fillmore East in New York |
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From the sublime... Iron Maiden cover 'My Generation' as a 'b' side to the 'Lord Of The Flies' single. Vocalist here is Blaze Bailey, and his voice fits the song. I can't see Bruce being able to do this as good as it is here. Musically, it's very punky and different to the usual 'twin guitar, galloping bass' sound they usually have Patti Smith comes up with 're-imagined' lyrics from the album 'Horses'. Musically it's very sloppy, but it embraces the punk enthics perfectly ...to the ridiculous Hillary Duff's take on the song is awful. It's so polite it could be played on a Sunday afternoon at a vicars tea party. The famous stutter is gone, and the most famous lyric has been hideously altered. 'Hope I don't die before I get old'! Indeed!! Lone Star come up with a Spanish version entitled 'Nuestra Generacion' which isn't bad. Released in 1966 it was one of the first covers of the song, and benefits from the authentic 1960's sound, but at the end of the day, it's nothing more than a curio |
Quadrophenia (1979, Franc Roddam) The Who's paen to Mod writ large. If indeed the parent record was their 'last gasp' (Townsend's words .... ) it's easy to see why they returned to it to follow Tommy as such. Jimmy is an idealistic young modernist chap. Fuelled by speed and vodka, he careers through life without any anchors, barely registering at the work he endures in order to pay for a new whistle ;). It all comes to a head at Brighton during those infamous riots .... Still a joy to behold Hard to believe Carver was only 16 etc .... A film I will never tire of watching .... :nod: |
Although the 'Quadrophenia' movie is good, the LP it is based on is much better. It has become my favourite one of their records, and on first hearing, I was really surprised at how 'heavy metal' is it Unlike the film version of 'Tommy', the music is very much in the background, either being hear on the radio or as the soundtrack to individual scenes - the band don't appear in person at all The film also changes the ambiguous ending to the record. In the movie, Jimmy, disillusioned by his life, and feeling let down by everything and everyone around him, steals a scooter belonging to the Ace Face, takes it out to Beachy Head, and drives it off the cliff-top. On record, however, he steals a boat and sails out to a rock in the middle of the sea. It starts to rain, the boat drifts away, and JImmy is left stranded, contemplating his life As Townshend has stated, it was the last truly great Who album. The two releases from the original band the followed ('The Who By Numbers' and 'Who Are You') have some good songs, but are missing that certain je ne sais quoi. 'Quadrophenia', however, showcases a band that were at the top of their game Because of the extensive backing tapes and sound effects, the tour to promote the album in 1973 was very problematic. Everything was mechanical in its timing. There was no room for improvisation and Keith had to be on his best behaviour. Disaster struck during an infamous show at the Newcastle Odeon on November 5th when the tapes got hideously out of sync during the song '5:15'. Townshend went into meltdown... Sound engineer Bob Pridden was dragged on stage from the wings and he was physically beaten by Townshend. A guitar was smashed and wires were ripped out of the equipment. Amplifiers went flying. Roger, Keith and John, along with the audience, stared at him, wondering what on earth he was doing. By then, the theatre management had realised that something was going seriously wrong, and they dropped the fire curtains. The audience sat in darkness for about 20 minutes until the band reappeared with Townshend still in an awful mood. He was swearing at the crowd, and they replied in kind! The show restarted, but instead of continuing with the remainder of 'Quadrophenia', they instead played a 'greatest hits' set, ending with the usual destruction of guitars, amps and drums. They left the stage to thunderous applause! The rest of the tour continued without incident Although the album was still represented on tour, usually as a short medley, it wasn't played again in full until June 1996 when it was performed in Hyde Park as part of the Prince's Trust 'Masters of Music' benefit concerts. The band were billed as TED [Townshend, Entwistle, Daltrey] instead of The Who, and they were joined by some special guest stars – Gary Glitter as the Godfather, Phil Daniels as both the Narrator and Jimmy, Trevor McDonald as the newsreader, Ade Edmindson as the Ace Face / Bell Boy and Stephen Fry as the hotel manager. A subsequent tour of the US and UK followed, using many of the same guests, although Billy Idol replaced Ade and P.J Proby took the role of The Godfather. A DVD of the concert from Dayton, Ohio was released as 'Quadrophenia And Tommy Live' although this is not considered to be a good show A further tour entitled 'Quadrophenia And More' started in November 2012 with a stripped back band, without any guest singers or announcements, playing the album in its entirety. These shows included additional video projections, including Keith singing his parts from 'Bell Boy from a concert in 1974 and a bass solo from John during '5:15' from a concert in 2000. A DVD from this tour was released to great acclaim |
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!! |
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 |
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." |
Television advert for the double compilation album 'The Story Of The Who', circa 1976 Voiceover from John Peel |
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 |
Another television advert This one comes from 1978 and is for the 'Who Are You?' album |
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? |
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 |
Roger Daltrey, as Judas, singing 'Heaven On Their Minds', from a 1996 production of 'Jesus Christ, Superstar' |
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 |
June 15th, 1979 - the film 'The Kids Are Alright' is released in New York. UK fans had to wait another 9 days, until June 24th, when the film was released over here Often described as 'the best music documentary ever made', it's well worth seeing even of you are not a fan of The Who https://i.pinimg.com/736x/f6/45/19/f...e1cd042aa8.jpg https://www.originalposter.co.uk/upl...mainphotos.jpg https://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/OTU4WDEyO...lcwHXa/$_1.JPG http://www.thewho.info/photogallery/...r8-The_Who.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/736x/41/14/83/4...0ebe445ceb.jpg https://d9nvuahg4xykp.cloudfront.net...5510979047.jpg |
June 18th, 1967 The Who perform at The Monterey International Pop Festival in Monterey, California. Pete confronts Jimi Hendrix before the show and demands The Who hit the stage before he does since Hendrix will also smash his guitar. If they follow him the crowd will think The Who are stealing Hendrix's act even though they were the ones who originated it. Hendrix plays his guitar and coolly ignores Pete. John Phillips of The Mamas and The Papas finally decides it with a coin toss. The Who will play first but despite this, They face another disadvantage Hendrix does not. Their penny-pinching managers have sent them to the festival with rented equipment and amplifiers incapable of conveying the power of their act. Their performance is spotty but no one forgets the ending of "My Generation" with Pete and Keith engaging in a riotous instrument bust-up captured by D.A. Pennebaker's cameras and later featured in the movies Monterey Pop and The Kids Are Alright After the show The Who hang out with Mama Cass who ply them with the best of the Bay Area's hallucinogens. Hendrix sets his guitar on fire and smashes it leading Cass to tell Pete, "He's stealing your act!" Pete replies, "No, he's not stealing my act, he's doing my act." |
June 20, 1967 - The band return to London following their appearance at Monterey. Keith swallows some STP (2,5-Dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine [standing for "Serenity, Tranquility and Peace"], a new drug he was given at the festival. Pete doses himself as well. The result is a long and terrifying trip that takes almost a week to completely wear off, leading Pete to permanently swear off psychedelic drugs |
June 25th, 1971 - 'Won't Get Fooled Again', one of the great rock songs, was released as a single in the UK. It reached #9 in the charts Clocking in at 8.35, the song originally appearing as the final track on the 'Who's Next' album. It was edited down to 3.36 and released in preference to the song 'Behind Blue Eyes' which the group felt didn't fit their established musical style Full version Single edit Single 'B' Side |
26th July, 1964 - The band play The Refectory in Golders Green, London...and receive their first ban! After being requested to turn their amps down, they respond by turning them up! They never play this venue again |
June 28th, 1967 - Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are found guilty on drug related charges. Jagger was sentenced to three months' imprisonment for possession of four Benzedrine tablets he had purchased in Italy, and Richards was sentenced to one year in prison for allowing cannabis to be smoked on his property. In a show of solidarity, and to raise money to help with their bail charges, Pete, Roger and Keith assemble at De Lane Lea Studios in London later that evening to record covers of 'The Last Time' and 'Under My Thumb'. As John was away on his honeymoon, Pete played both fuzz-laden lead guitar and bass Released as a single, the double 'A' side reached #44 in the UK chart |
July 1st, 1991 - Pete, Roger and John meet to decide on a song to record for inclusion on the Elton John tribute CD 'Two Rooms'. Roger presses for 'Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)' and ultimately gets his way The Who do not record it together. Pete and drummer Simon Phillips record their part at Eel Pie Studios, but producer Jon Astley is displeased with Simon's work and replaces it with a programmed drum machine. The track is then sent off to Revolution Studios for Roger and John to lay in their parts Although John has more than a decade of life left, this track will sadly end up being the last thing he ever recorded with the band in the studio |
July 3rd, 1964 - As 'The High Numbers', the first recorded single by the band is released on the Fontana Records label. The singles 'A' side is 'Zoot Suit', and it is backed with 'I'm The Face' Derek Johnson, writing in the New Musical Express says: "The High Numbers are highly topical with their novelty lyric about male attire, 'Zoot Suit.' Medium twister, but with an inconsequential tune. Harmonica leads into broken-beat unison vocal on 'I'm The Face.' Compelling styling, but weakish material." Record Mirror, however, gives the single a rave review, describing 'Zoot Suit' as "an ultra-commercial blues-flavoured dance tune that grows and grows on you." Only 1,000 discs are pressed and although members of the bands fan club write to pirate radio stations, using assumed names on multiple letters, asking for the songs to be played, the single fails to get airplay or generate sales |
July 6th, 1962 - Under the name The Detours, an embryonic version of The Who play a show at the Paradise Club in Peckham. This is thought to be the first show they ever played The line-up of The Detours consisted of Colin Dawson (lead vocals), Roger Daltrey (lead guitar and trombone), John Entwisle (bass guitar and trumpet), Pete Townshend (rhythm guitar) and Doug Sandom (drums) After about five weeks, The Paradise Club was invaded by members of a rival club in Peckham who started a fight and smashed up the premises. As a result The Detours lost the booking |
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Very good |
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They should stick to playing the classics because that song is pretty damn poor, and it’s nothing to do with the fact it was filmed on a phone either! |
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When the band go out on tour and there is new material available, Pete, the composer and artist, wants to play the new songs, while Roger, the vocalist and performer, thinks that they should stick to the old songs, and play a 'greatest hits' package Some people will say that this indicates a band who are stuck in the past, while others will say it's a band giving the people what they want! There is nothing out of the ordinary about this, and many bands who have been going a long time seem to concentrate on their older back catalogue:
You may find it hard to believe, but the quintessential Who song, 'My Generation', is not a mainstay of their live set. I have seen them a number of times, and they have only played it once. The songs that they have always played are '5:15', 'Love Reign O'er Me', 'Who Are You?', 'Pinball Wizard', 'Baba O'Riley', 'Won't Get Fooled Again' and (surprisingly) 'You Better You Bet' |
If I went to watch them, I’d be more than happy to not hear My Generation, give me Baba O’Reily, Won’t Get Fooled Again, Who Are You, most of Tommy etc any day over that song! |
I looked at their discography a while ago and noticed they'd only released one record since 1982 and that was in 2006 - 13 years ago. So basically everything they play is going to be classed as old music or Heritage if you want to be posh. Just going back to Susan's Kiss reference. It's only their last album they aren't playing anything from, an album they toured extensively at the time. As for Maiden, the Legacy tour was one of their 'classic tours' - the ones they do when not supporting an album. When they tour an album they certainly give a large bulk of their set to said album. (I know, i've grumbled about it in the past :lol:) |
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July 13th, 1985 - The Who re-group on stage for the first time since their *cough* 1982 "Farewell Tour" to perform at the Live Aid concert. Bob Geldof, the organizer of the event, effectively blackmails the band into reuniting, threatening to tell the press "The Who would do nothing to help the starving children of Ethiopia" if they refuse to perform. Roger tries to make a demand that Kenney Jones not be used as drummer but is overruled. The bands participation is on and off up until the day of the concert. Geldof later says "it was rather like getting one man's four ex-wives together." Seventy-five thousand attend the concert and over 100 million worldwide watch on television the greatest rock acts Britain can muster. Well all except The Who! The satellite feed to both the U.K. and the U.S. goes down during "Pinball Wizard", but they would probably have preferred the blackout due to the fact that after only 20 minutes of rehearsal (!) they give what is consider a lackluster performance. John is particularly unhappy as his bass malfunctions and he has to retune halfway through "My Generation." Pete attempts an air kick and ends up falling on his posterior. Pete had written a new song, "After The Fire," for premiere at Live Aid but it is dropped as there wasn't time to rehearse it Later, at the end of Paul McCartney's set, Paul and Pete lift Bob Geldof onto their shoulders. At the end of the concert, The Who join all the other acts in singing the British Live Aid anthem, "Do They Know It's Christmas." Audio only, taken from a US radio broadcast |
10 points to anyone who can hear any resemblance to 'My Generation' in this! It was included on the CD single re-release of 'Generation' in 1996 |
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