British rock prodigees THE WHO released their mastestroke single BABA O’RILEY (more than 775 million streasm on Spotify) 55 years ago,
on 23 Octobre 1971.
Pete Towshend said about the song’s inspiration: “The absolute desolation
of teenagers at Woodstock, where audience members were strung out on acid
and 20 people had brain damage. The irony was that some listeners considered
the song a teenage celebration: ‘Teenage Wasteland, yes! We’re all wasted!”
Over 150,000 turned up over the two days to see The Who, Bob Dylan, The Band, Blodwyn Pig, Blonde On Blonde, Bonzo Dog Dooh Dah Band, The Moody Blues, The Nice, and more.
Tickets were 25 shillings, ($3.00). Celebrities who attended include Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, John & Yoko, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Jane Fonder, Liz Taylor and Richard Burton.
THE WHO released their hit single I’M A BOY
on 26 August 1966, today 60 years ago.
The song was originally intended to be a part of a rock opera called Quads, which was to be set in a future in which parents can choose the sex of their children. The idea was later scrapped.
The story is about a family who “order” four girls, but a mistake is made, and three girls and one boy are delivered instead. The boy dreams of partaking in sports and other boy-type activities, but his mother forces him to act like his sisters and refuses to believe the truth.
British rock juggernauts THE WHO released their widely praised, then and now,
5th album WHO’S NEXT today 55 years ago, on 14 August 1971.
It developed from the aborted Lifehouse project, a multi-media rock opera conceivedby
visionary guitarist/songwriter Pete Townshend as a follow-up to the band’s 1969 album Tommy.
The project was cancelled owing to its complexity and to conflicts with Kit Lambert,
the band’s manager, but the group salvaged some of the songs, without the connecting story elements, to release as their next album.
It topped the UK Charts and peaked at #4 in the US.
Rolling Stone said: “Who’s Next, regardless of what you may have been led to believe
to the contrary, is neither the soundtrack to the realization of Pete Townshend‘s apparently aborted Hollywood dream, the greatest live album in the history of the universe, nor a, shudder, rock opera, but rather an old fashioned long-player containing intelligently-conceived, superbly performed, brilliantly-produced, and sometimes even exciting rock and roll.”
TUTV: For me, it’s the album with two of their 5-star
singles (see/hear below) and the stirring ballads The Song Is Over and Behind Blue Eyes on.
Pete Townshend: “When I wrote this song I was nothing but a kid, trying to work
out right and wrong through all the things I did. I was kind of practising with my life.
I was kind of taking chances in a marriage with my wife. I took some stuff and I drank
some booze. There was almost nothing that I didn’t try to use. And somehow I’m alright.”
The song appeared on their debut LP My Generation. It wasn’t a big hit,
reaching No. 41 in the UK and No. 85 in the US, but it became an anthem
for the Mod subculture of Britain in the 1960s.
“Sometimes, I feel I gotta get away
Bells chime, I know I gotta get away
And I know if I don’t, I’ll go out of my mind
Better leave her behind with the kids, they’re alright
The kids are alright, the kids are alright, the kids are alright”
British rock heroes THE WHO released their
9th LP FACE DANCES on 16 March 1981, today 45 years ago.
Despite mixed reviews, the record peaked at #4 on the
US Billboard Charts and #2 on the UK Albums Chart.
The album was originally to be titled simply The Who, but the name Face Dances
replaced it just before release. The phrase was inspired by a friend of Pete Townshend‘s who was rhythmically moving a match between her teeth, an action that Townshend jokingly termed “face dances.”
The album cover features 16 paintings of the band members by 16 British painters,
who were commissioned by Peter Blake, designer of the cover of the Beatles‘ album
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in 1967.
British rock kingpins THE WHO released their single YOU BETTER YOU BET this day 40 years ago, on 27 February 1981. It was the first one without their manic drummer and party animal Keith Moon (1946-1978) who passed away nearly 3 years before. Kenny Jones took his seat.
It was written by Pete Townshend as a love song for his girlfriend at the time: “I developed ‘You Better You Bet’ over several weeks of clubbing and partying. I had gone through a lean period in my marriage and was seeing the daughter of a friend of mine. I wanted it to be a good song because the girl I wrote it for is one of the best people on the planet.”
It went to #9 in the UK, #18 in the US and #4 in Canada.
THE WHO released their influential debut LP MY GENERATION
on 3 December 1965, that’s 60 years ago today.
Rolling Stone Magazine said: “With its ferocious blend of grungy
distortion, rumbling bass and percussion, and brutish vocals, this album
became the blueprint for much of the subsequent garage rock, heavy metal,
and punk.
My Generation positively shoved at the boundaries of popular music.
Townshend’s fiercely original guitar experiments here predate the
innovations of his later American rival Jimi Hendrix.”
Pete Townshend: “The music we play has to be tomorrow’s,
the things we have to say have to be said today, and the reason
for bothering is yesterday.”
John Entwistle: “This band makes sure that we have whole sections of
stuff that are free form so that they don’t know what we are doing next.”
Keith Moon: “Give me a mandolin and I’ll play you rock ‘n’ roll.”
Roger Daltrey: “Rock & roll was the only thing I wanted to get into.”
