Aqualung

Here's a featured artist review on The Who. They are considered to be one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time and still continue to play live. The Who is also considered by many to be the Godfathers Of Punk, with My Generation being the first punk song. They were a group that popularized the rock opera (think Tommy) and were one of the first to extensively use power chords. VH1's Greatest Artists of Hard Rock rank The Who at #8, and they are #9 on VH1's Greatest Artists of Rock And Roll.

Years Active:
1964-Present

Genre:
Rock
Hard Rock
Punk Rock

Line up:
Pete Townshend - Guitar, vocals (1964-present)
Roger Daltrey - Vocals, guitar (1964-present)

John Entwistle - Bass guitar, vocals (1964-2002)
Keith Moon - Drums (1964-1978)
Kenney Jones - Drums (1979-1988)

Live members:
John Bundrick - Keyboards (1979-1981, 1989-present)
Zak Starkey - Drums (1996-Present)
Simon Townshend - Guitar (1996-1997, 2002-present)
Pino Palladino — Bass (2002-present)

Discography:
My Generation - 1965
Ready Steady Who! (EP) - 1966
A Quick One - 1966
The Who Sell Out - 1967
Magic Bus: The Who On Tour - 1968 (compilation. Not live)
Direct Hits - 1968 (compilation)
Tommy - 1969
Tommy EP - 1970
Live At - 1970
Live At The Isle of Wight Festival 1970 - 1970
Who's Next - 1971
Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy - 1971 (compilation)
Quadrophenia - 1973
Odds and Sods - 1974 (compilation)
The Who By Numbers - 1975
Who Are You - 1978
Kids Are Alright - 1979 (Soundtrack to The Who Biography)
Face Dances - 1981
It's Hard - 1982
Who's Last - 1984
Join Together - 1990
My Generation: The Very Best of The Who - 1996 (compilation)
BBC Sessions - 1999
Live At The Royal Albert Hall - 2003
The Who: Then And Now - 2004 (Greatest hits compilation with two never-before-released songs)
Thirty Years of Maximum R&B - 1994 (4 CD set of singles, B-sides, and interviews, commercials, and skits)
The Ultimate Collection - 2002 (2 CD compilation)
WHO2 - Working name for September 2006 release

History:
The Who was formed in 1964 when Keith Moon joined The Detours, comprised of Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, and John Entwistle. This line up released a single under the name The High Numbers which did very poorly. They then fired their manager and changed their name to The Who.

Townshend was The Who's main songwriter, with Daltrey the main vocalist. This created a lot of tension within the group, as Townshend preferred to write deep, thoughtful lyrics, whereas Daltrey preferred to sing poppy, light lyrics. Daltrey sometimes refused to sing Townshend's lyrics, forcing Townshend himself to sing them. Keith Moon, on the other other hand, was a fan of surf music, even more adding to the musical tensions of the group.

In 1965, The Who released the single I Can't Explain, which was very similar musically to the Kinks, another band creating music at that time. The release of this single was followed shortly by the release of a second single, Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere, which is the only song written by a joint Townshend/Daltrey effort. These two singles were followed by the album My Generation, also released in the same year. This album celebrated the mod lifestyle, a subculture of the '60s that celebrated modern music such as R&B and Ska. The following picture is the mod logo, based on the British Airforce logo.



My generation featured the songs The Kids Are Alright and, of course, My Generation. My Generation sings the line "I hope I die before I get old" which helped popularize The Who.

The Who released a number of other singles during this time as well. Substitute, another popular one, had the phrase "I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth" which showed Townshend's ability to write quite masterful lyrics. The single I'm a Boy, also released in 1966, spoke of a boy who looked like a girl, Happy Jack spoke of a mentally disturbed man, and 1967's single Pictures of Lily about maturbation, all of which themes would help develop and showcase Townshend's writing ability.

The Who were quite successful with their singles, but Townshend wanted more. He didn't want The Who to be a band of unconnected songs, but rather an album band, whose albums all had some unifying theme to them. A Quick One, released in 1966, was the first step in this direction, and the nine minute title track is often referred to as a mini opera. This album, however, held the marketing requirement that each member write at least two songs for the album, so it did not have the unification of being primarily Townshend-written. The album was meant to be a Pop Music album, Pop Music being a sub-genre of Pop Art, and the cover features a Pop Art depiction of the band, while the back has humerous blurbs about each band member. Most well-known about these blurbs in Keith Moon's claim that he was into breeding chickens.

Quick One:



The Who Sell Out was The Who's next album, released in 1967. This concept album was almost like a radio station, complete with Who-written commercials, and public service announcements. It also contained a min opera, the song Rael, and The Who's biggest USA single, I Can See For Miles.

At the Monetery Pop Festival, The Who destroyed their equipment after their show, possibly being first to ever do so, and repeated this a year later on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Such antics earned Pete Townshend the honour of being the first musician Rolling Stone magazine interviewed.

In the interview with Rolling Stone, Pete Townshend revealed that he was working on the rock opera Tommy, which would become the first commercially successful rock opera ever, by any artist. This album was mostly written by Townshend, although two songs were written by John Entwistle. One song is credited to Keith Moon, but this was actually another Townshend track. The 74 minute plot of the rock opera goes thus, essentially song by song:

British Army Captian Walker goes MIA during WWI and will probably never be found and, shortly after Mrs. Walker hears the news she gives birth to son Tommy. Seven years later, Captain Walker returns home to find that his wife has a new lover. The captain and his wife murder the lover in front of Tommy. Tommy, due to the trauma, becomes deaf, dumb, and blind. Tommy's subconcious then appears to Tommy as a tall, thin man in silver robes with a long golden beard. Tommy's subconcious teaches him to perceive all physical sensation as music. Tommy's parents, in the meantime, are trying to cure his deaf-dumb-and-blind state, by joining a cult religion. His parents are further troubled by the thought that Tommy is in danger of eternal damnation, since in his deaf and blind state he can't learn about Jesus, and in his dumb state he can't pray. His parents finally calm down a little bit, and start to go out without Tommy, leaving him in the care of his cousin Kevin. Kevin, however, is quite the bully, and torments Tommy, who won't be able to tell anybody about his torments. Kevin gets bored soon, though, since Tommy doesn't really react all that interestingly to the bullying. In another attempt to cure Tommy, his parents take him to a lady who attempts to cure him by giving him hallucinogenic drugs. Tommy switches baby sitters, from the bully, cousin Kevin, to a sexual deviant, Uncle Ernie. Tommy discovers a talent for pinball, and become the world champ, which propells him into fame. The parents, again trying to fix Tommy, take him to a doctor, who tells the parents that there is no physical reason for Tommy's problems, but that his deaf-dumb-and-blind state is psychosomatic. Tommy's mother becomes so frustated at not being able to talk to Tommy that she breaks a mirror. The smashing of the mirror, however, brings Tommy out of his psychosomatically induced state, and Tommy attains almost messianic status. He tries to lead his followers into the state of enlightment that he finds himself to be in. He even builds a holiday camp so he can preach and teach to as many people as possible. Tommy's followers begin to reject him, due in part to Tommy's request that they blind, deafen, and mute themselves to attain enlightment, and due his family's exploitations of the members of his cult. Upon abandonment by his followers, and Tommy again begins to slip into a state of blindness, deafness, and muteness.

This rock opera was a huge lyrical work, and was quite a feat for Townshend. Musically, it is just as complex. The songs are generally based around Townshend's acoustic guitar, with the other members dubbing many different instruments up around it, including bass guitar, drums, organ, and horns. Notwithstanding the heavy instrumentation, most of the songs retain a stark sound, since the other instruments are generally mixed in at a low volume. The album and The Who's performance of much of the album at Woodstock later that year effectually earned them superstar status in the States.

Tommy:



In 1970, The Who released what is widely regarded as the best live rock album of all time, Live at . They also began work on a studio album, which was never released. Most of the material from this concept album (called Lifehouse) was reconstructed for BBC. From the remains of Lifehouse, however, came The Who's next album, Who's Next. This album was probably the Who's most successful album with both fans and critics, and VH1 named it the #13 greatest rock album, with Rolling Stone naming it the 28th. This album was created with the very newly improved synthesizer (which could now be recorded in real time!), and was therefore quite impressive, and was the first hit album to heavily feature synthesizers (it reached #4 in the US and #1 in the UK). This album includes the well-known Who hits Bargain, Won't Get Fooled Again, Behind Blue Eyes, and Baba O'Reily. The synthesizers in Baba O'Reily, sometimes (incorrectly) called Teenage Wasteland, were reportedly created when Townshend put Meher Baba's vital statistics into the synthesizers as random numbers. (Meher Baba was one of Townshend's inspirations.)

VH1 named the cover of Who's Next the #2 album cover of all time.



1973 saw the release of The Who's second and last rock opera, Quadrophenia. It was released with lyrics, and a text and photograph version of the story. This rock opera (more of a monologue, really) details the happenings of two days in the life of Jimmy, who lives in the early '60s during the mod movement discussed early in this featured artist review. Jimmy gets kicked out his home, gets high, and takes a train to the coast, where he psychologically crashes. Finding no reason to live, he instead finds redemption in the rain that pours down on him (Pete Townshend had a spiritual thing for water). Jimmy also has four personalities who represent the four members of The Who. Tough guy Jimmy is Roger Daltrey; Romantic Jimmy is John Entwistle; Lunatic Jimmy is Keith Moon; and Hypocrite Beggar Jimmy is Townshend. Rock fans generally think critical acclaim for this album was over exaggerated and undeserved, but progressive rock fans generally view Quadrophenia as one of the best Who albums of all time.

The Who By Numbers, released in 1975, saw more introspective lyrical themes. It was even considered by one rock critic to be a suicide note by Townshend. This was, however, slightly offset by the inclusion of Squeezebox, another popular Who radio song.

That same year, the movie version of Tommy was released, with Roger Daltrey as Tommy. Pete Townshend won an academy award for Best Original Score.

1978 saw the release of the more radio friendly Who album Who Are You. It was a move away from epic rock, as the only song that came close was a song from an uncompletely rock opera by John Entwistle. It reached #2 on the US charts (with the Grease Soundtrack beating it out for #1), and #6 in the UK. This album was written in response to the growing rift between punk rock and progressive rock, as Townshend tried to keep the two together with the album. This album has some very complicated guitar riffs, probably some of the most complicated Townshend ever produced, along with synthesizers and stringed instruments. On the other hand, this album displayed Keith Moon's increasing sickness, caused by alcoholism, drug abuse, and grueling tour schedules. The drums even had to be taken out of the song Music Must Change because Moon was not able to play the 6/8 time. Moon overdosed on perscription drugs about a month after the release of Who Are You.

Kenney Jones was hired to replace Keith Moon, and in 1979 The Who played a series of concerts in England, France, and the US. They then decided to go on tour in the US, but during a concert in Ohio eleven fans were crushed to death as fans pushed forward for seats, and the band was not told of these deaths until after the show, which only helped to further devastate the band members.

This same year, The Who released a film version of Quadrophenia which was quite a success in England, and a documentary film called The Kids Are Alright. In December of that Year, The Who became the third band (after The Beatles and The Band) to be featured on the front of Time Magazine.

In 1981 The Who released Face Dances, the first studio album made with Kenney Jones on the drums. It was #4 in the US and #2 in the UK. The album cover was designed by Peter Blake, who did the cover of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The album contains one of the few songs whose lyrics were a joint effort - The Quiet One was written by Townshend and Entwistle. In 1982 The Who released a second album with the new drummer, this one called It's Hard. This would prove to be the final studio album released by The Who. Pete Townshend viewed the album as a response to the political tension of the time, whereas Rober Daltrey simply saw the album as a contractual obligation, and fans are also split both in regards to the purpose of the album and, therefore, in overall response to the album. The album did containe a few generally well recieved songs, though. Athena reached #28 on the Billboard Pop Singles charts, and Eminence Front has become one of The Who's most popular and most critically aclaimed songs, to the point that even people who hate It's Hard consider Eminence Front to be one of The Who's best songs ever.

Face Dances:



The loss of Keith Moon had a profound impact on the band's style. Moon's frantic drumming style was replaced by a more pop-friendly style, and the rest of the instruments followed. Pete Townshend began thinking that he wouldn't be able to write for The Who anymore, so they officially went on a farewell tour, which was the highest grossing tour of that year.

After the tour, The Who stopped recording new material, but still made live appearances every once in a while. Townshend began focusing on solo projects. In 1988, The Who recieved the British Phonographic Industry's Lifetime Achievement Award, and the band played a short set in celebration, which would become Kenney Jones's last appearance with The Who to date. In 1990, The Who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. The Who later hired Zak Starkey to be their regular drummer for the other appearances The Who was making. In 2000, The Who went on a USA/UK tour, and in the Concert for New York post 9/11 they were the most heavily applauded group. Later that year, The Who were given a Grammy Lifetime Acheivement Award.

In 2002, just before going on tour, John Entwistle was found dead in a hotel room. He had taken an amount of cocaine that, while not truly an overdose, did cause him to have a heart attack. The Who replaced him with Pino Palladino and embarked on their (somewhat delayed) tour.

In 2004, The Who released two new songs, entitled Real Good Looking Boy and Old Red Wine, and again went on tour. In the spring of 2005 The Who announced that they would released a studio album, which is scheduled for release in September of 2006.

 

Mr. Chainsaw

Can you name a better British Invasion band? I think not...

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"Since we're all going to die, it's obvious that when and how don't matter."
Albert Camus

sooner 32

Hey Aqualung , Thanks for the info although I never was able to see the
"WHO " I remember the Quadrophenia Album ,man you had to have a Surround Stereo System for that great Album !

Jim Colyer

I preferred The Guess Who from Canada, led by Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman.

The Who are vastly overrated. Burton Cummings and The Guess Who from Canada are far superior and should be in the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

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Jim Colyer wrote Save The Planet.

ChrisP

Yeah, you're the guy who supports Bush right? Your stock went through the floor back then, so don't be ragging on anyway now. We already know you've got NFI.

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Insanity admitted...

Locrian

The Who ROCK!
Also btw, the Who recently released a new album called Endless Wire with a single of the same name. It also includes the mini rock opera Lifehouse, wich wasnt able to be recorded before due to technical limitations of the time. Apparently the type of sequencing Pete wanted to us was just to difficult back then. Oh yah, Quadrapinia is great. Can You See the Real Me.

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"We roll tonight. To the guitar bite."
-AC\DC

Aqualung

Thanks for that update!!

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Here we go. Mushu cereal for breakfast with duck sauce.

robjackson01

Hi all
I also like The who. However, I never met this band live. I like the album Endless Wire from this band. This is cool collection.

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Love Songs and Gospel Music Addict

Rock N' Roller

Indeed 'Zee Vhu' reelly rucks., Bork Bork Bork!, Bork Bork Bork! my fefureetes ere-a "Beba Oo' Reeley" und "Vhu Ere-a Yuoo?

Uncut Rubber

On the face of it, it seems like The Who have hardly released a studio album since Keith Moon's death... but I might be wrong.

Nice text, by the way.

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I hope that you will understand I do not mean to cause offence, and that no wolfbirds will be sent upon me as a result of this post.
Yours sincerely, Uncut Rubber

abelincolnish

Good stuff, I love pete

collard

Supergroup.

Entwistle was among the greatest bassist of all time, Moon was probably the greatest drummer ever (dead race between him and John Bonham). Townshend is of course a genius as well, but he's one of several guitarists you can dubb 'a genius'.

The Who Sell Out is my favorite album by The Who. A great and unique concept album. They've released much great material, but The Who Sell Out contains so many fantastic single tracks. "Tattoo", "I Can See For Miles" and "I Can't Reach You", particularly.

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Stringbender

I see that they have some new cd out- first studio recording in years- but of course, it's just Pete and Roger- was wondering if anybody heard any of it and if it's worth the money (think it's a double disk so they want like 24 bucks for it)

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Only with the eyes closed can one begin to truly see.

flavioso

Another group that just keeps on rockin!

99

I can't wait for their new album soon!

TheFuglyOne

My second favorite band ever. Getting In Tune is one of the most uplifting songs I've ever heard.

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All the money in the world couldn't buy back those days