The Who Week on Maidenfans (June 28 - July 4, 2010)

Which band shall we dig into next week?

  • Grunge (Wasted CLV)

    Votes: 3 60.0%

  • Kreator (Albie)

    Votes: 2 40.0%
  • Total voters
    5
SinisterMinisterX

SinisterMinisterX

Illuminatus
Staff member
Nominations are still open. No one nominated any bands last week!

Remember, guidelines for nominations: at least 4 albums, and no obscure bands - pick bands most of us will know something about.
Bands we have done before are eligible again. NO MAIDEN.

My nomination: Rush

And now ... let The Who Week beginulate!

The Who's first single was a rock classic: "Substitute". It was also their concert opener for most of their career (save a spell in the Tommy era when they opened with "Heaven And Hell"). As I saw written somewhere once: "How many bands have a first single so good they can still open shows with it 20 years later?"

How great were The Who live? In 1968 the Rolling Stones put together a (planned) TV special called The Rolling Stones' Rock And Roll Circus. They had several guest performers: John Lennon, Eric Clapton, and Jethro Tull (the only appearance of Tull with Tony Iommi on guitar, but it was faked - only Anderson's vocal mike was live). But it was The Who who blew everyone off the stage with a rendition of their first rock opera, "A Quick One While He's Away". (That video is only the second half of the song, but that's where the good stuff is anyway... DANG! DANG! DANG! DANG! DANG!) In fact, The Who were so good that the Stones shelved the footage out of embarassment, and didn't release officially until 1996. (Of course, it was a legendary bootleg from day one.)

In 1987 I got my first car, popped a tape into the deck ... only to find the eject button was broken. I was stuck listening to The Who's Greatest Hits for the next 9 months. Any normal album, anybody would get sick of after 9 months. But the only song I ever skipped was the 4-minute single edit of "Won't Get Fooled Again".

H save me, I even like Face Dances.

Roger Daltrey could still kick your lily ass. Discuss.
 
I've seen The Who live. Unfortunatly I was 13ish at the time and not a massive Rock fan but even I could appreciate how awesome Daltry and Townshend still were though. Really good concert.

The reason I was there is because my Dad is a huge The Who fan. As a result I've had him listening to them and playing them on his guitar my entire life so I actually know more songs by them than I think I do. Tommy is a cracking record, I think Pinball Wizard is my favourite.
 
I've listened to The Who a lot lately. So far I'd say Quadrophenia is my favourite album - with "The Punk and the Godfather" standing out as the best song. Then of course, I'm a Who novice who's only played most of the records once or twice, so I haven't really formed any real opinions yet.
 
I have to agree with SMX, Roger Daltrey could kick anyones ass.  Amazing.  I was actually thinking about this the other day, that Daltrey at the Superbowl is better than half the singers that are active today.  Great actor, great singer.

I'm also with the Greatest Hits being something I could listen to a lot.  Heck, by now I'd expect that a quality 'Best Of' would have to be at least 3 discs long.  I'm going to listen to the albums I have and write more later.
 
Pointless trivia time: The guy that played the young Tommy in the film, was an old school-friend of mine.

The Who, for me, is one of those bands I may never buy a CD of, but I do enjoy their music.

SinisterMinisterX said:
But the only song I ever skipped was the 4-minute single edit of "Won't Get Fooled Again".
Click to expand...
That song should never be shortened.
 
The Tommy movie wasn't very good, in my opinion ... at least in terms of translating the story to film. Maybe it's because the roster of guest superstars distracts from the story; Tina Turner has a great performance as the Acid Queen, but when I see it I think, "that's not the Acid Queen, it's Tina Turner". Maybe it's because the sets and clothes often embody the worst fashion trends of the 1970s. And maybe it's because, by Pete Townshend's own admission, the story doesn't have a very good ending.

On the other hand ... Ann Margaret taking a bath in baked beans. :bigsmile:
 
I don't own all their albums, but Tommy is my best album...

Will-I-Am said:
...
1. The Who -Tommy : I'm not a huge Who fan but this is my favourite alboum of all time I think. what a density in music, nothing is odd here, what a concept and the lyrics so metaphoric -HUGE !! the first rock opera ever and still the best. Probably the only album in that list that will remain always inside, and probably always on the top...a must for every one

Tommyalbumcover.jpg

...
Click to expand...

Albie said:
Pointless trivia time: The guy that played the young Tommy in the film, was an old school-friend of mine.
Click to expand...

I knew it  :)
 
In 1972 the Golden Earring had the privilege to open for The Who (when they had their hit "Radar Love") and one night Keith Moon had one of his crazy nights again (the story was he bashed through some wall in a dressing room) and Cesar Zuiderwijk, the Earrings drummer was asked by Townshend to replace Moon. But Zuiderwijk wanted to stay with the Earring. Cool story I thought, told by Zuiderwijk himself, on TV last year.

I am quite ignorant of The Who's discography. I need to check them out sometime.
 
I came back from picking up my kids in KC this afternoon, and found a pretty good set of classic rock stations all along the way.  I heard quite a few different Who songs, Squeeze Box, Tommy, and a couple that I don't remember the name.  As I was listening to these, I was recalling the old debate about who was better, Stones or Beatles.  I'm sure it is sacrilege, but I like The Who far better than the Stones. 

I've got about a dozen Who albums, and every one of them has more than a couple good songs.  I couldn't pick a favorite one, because they are all pretty equally good.  Some favorite songs:

My Generation
Long Live Rock
The Real Me
Behind Blue Eyes
Won't Get Fooled Again

Short list, I know; I could go on and on.  One of the groups that I can shuffle all their songs, and never wish to skip one. 
 
Well, even tho the week is over, feel free to post.  I had just been thinking about it more lately, cause I had heard some good Who songs.
 
Live At Leeds is a must-own concert disc.  There is now a "Deluxe Edition" in which they play the entirety of Tommy.  One lesser-known gem is their song "Heaven and Hell," which is a John Entwistle song that apparently never was recorded in the studio yet was a live staple of theirs for several years. 
 
Live At Leeds is one of the best live albums ever, hands down. The entire band was on fire. I have both the original and the expanded version, and the expansion is a revelation. Tommy live was serious rock.

Now if you want to see it on video, you have to go for Live At The Isle Of Wight. That one's also on CD, and I had the CD for years ... got the DVD a couple years ago. And seeing Tommy live was amazing. It might have been one of Keith Moon's best live nights ever on that video.
 
Had to come back to say...

My itunes, on shuffle, just came up with "I'm Free" from the Isle Of Wight CD I just mentioned above. Sweet fancy Moses, does this sucker ever rock.

I gotta watch this DVD again tonight.
 
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