Let's discuss "The Who"

[Gil Bang 25957]

they're better than the doors.  

 

That's all I got. 

[tbone_ 14123]

They invented punk rock

[tbone_ 14123]

Also,

[Nole-4-Life 804]

A less talented Led Zeppelin.

[TexPx 2323]

Rhythm Section:
John Entwistle-Bass
Keith Moon-Drums

Can’t get much better than that.

[Underdog 28633]

My favorite band, finally got to see them a few years ago down in NYC.  

[Al_4_ISU 12463]

A lot of things that are iconic in rock and roll (both good and bad) really came out through The Who.  Smashing instruments, rock operas, and the general mayhem that surrounded Keith Moon.  They were comprised of 4 completely different people with completely different strengths and weaknesses who's synergy created absolute chaos.  They were not as tight as Zeppelin.  They weren't as cool as the Stones.  They weren't as heavy as Sabbath.  But they had an undeniable power, chaos, and vulnerability that cut to the core of what rock and roll should be more than anyone else, IMO.

They aren't my favorite band by any stretch these days, but there was a time when they were, and I still appreciate them immensely.  Live At Leeds is just raw fucking power.

[Dennis Taylor 18822]

Meh

[Napoleon 8679]

10 hours ago, tbone_ said:

They invented punk rock

The Kinks are laughing through their slashed amps as Pete Townsend tries to learn their chords.

The Who are amazing! And they did NOT invent punk rock.👍

[MaxHorn 325]

I'd always liked what I heard on rock radio growing up, and in 1984 I bought my first 2 Who albums: "Greatest Hits" and "Live At Leeds." I put them both on 1 TDK SA90 and that cassette didn't leave my car stereo for my entire senior year of high school. I started UT in the fall of '85 and got a CD player for Christmas. One of my first purchases was the original 2-CD "Tommy' (FYI, that cost me like $32. That is insane). Mind BLOWN. Again, I taped it and that cassette didn't leave my car during my freshman year unless I was playing the tape that had "Under A Raging Moon" on one side and "White City" on the other (hey, it was as close to a new Who album as you could get).

When people ask the eternal Beatles or Stones question, my answer is always THE WHO. My favorite band of all time.

 

[Chad Fuck 17681]

The first real big time rawk concert I ever saw:

Fabulous Thunderbirds

Stevie Ray Vaughn 

The Who

at the Cotton Bowl in the 1989.  Not a bad way to kick off a big stadium show streak.  

Also saw the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney that year.  

[Chad Fuck 17681]

Back in the early 90s I had a roommate and we used to go cruising record bins to see who could find the best deal on whatever vinyl we thought was cool at the time.  He picked up a pristine copy of Live at Leeds, probably at Thirteen Records.  It still had all the original inserts in it (for those who don't know, they are a set list, copies of EMI letters, contracts, etc.).  He rushed home to show me how he'd picked up some "unique" version of Live at Leeds with all this "original" insider stuff in it.  He was pretty crestfallen when I explained there were about a bajillion other people in the world with the same "unique" inserts.  I'll never forget the look on his face.  

[Viper 12109]

 

 

 

[South Austin 52504]

George W. Bush is a fan.

 

[smwhorn 482]

Who's Next,

Top ten of all time.

[UTCzech III 2907]

4 hours ago, Chad Fuck said:

The first real big time rawk concert I ever saw:

Fabulous Thunderbirds

Stevie Ray Vaughn 

The Who

at the Cotton Bowl in the 1989.  Not a bad way to kick off a big stadium show streak.  

Also saw the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney that year.  

Have a copy of that on CD, great Westwood One broadcast, from their farewell tour (um hmm)

[Chad Fuck 17681]

5 minutes ago, UTCzech III said:

Have a copy of that on CD, great Westwood One broadcast, from their farewell tour (um hmm)

No shit?  I'll have to check that out.  

I was huge into SRV at the time, so that was kind of what I'd come for.  The Who was more of "I'd better see these guys before they die" because when you're in 9th grade, you think that shit is imminent for anyone over about 45.  Little did I know it was more imminent for SRV than the guys in the Who.

It was a great show.

[ztejas 43448]

4 hours ago, MaxHorn said:

When people ask the eternal Beatles or Stones question, my answer is always THE WHO. My favorite band of all time.

Yeah I like Who's Next better than any Beatles or Stones albums.

[sheeeit 129]

Fantastic band.  Pete was a pretty conflicted and complex guy but he is a true musical genius.  Daltry is pretty great too but a poor man's Jagger.

[HornPhD 1368]

16 hours ago, Underdog said:

My favorite band, finally got to see them a few years ago down in NYC.  

Mine, as well. When I was in middle school back in the 80s, my best friend’s family had a laserdisc player and we’d watch The Kids Are Alright every weekend. That and Airplane. 

/csb

My brother’s best friend is the drummer mentioned in this article about jamming with Daltrey at a rock ‘n roll fantasy camp:

https://nypost.com/2011/01/22/daltrey-thats-who/

[ztejas 43448]

20 minutes ago, HornPhD said:

Mine, as well. When I was in middle school back in the 80s, my best friend’s family had a laserdisc player and we’d watch The Kids Are Alright every weekend. That and Airplane. 

/csb

My brother’s best friend is the drummer mentioned in this article about jamming with Daltrey at a rock ‘n roll fantasy camp:

https://nypost.com/2011/01/22/daltrey-thats-who/

I was into collecting records for a bit although I haven't bought one in awhile. I do have this - and it's a fantastic live album. 

In rough shape but it was still $13 when I bought it. 

Spotify unfortunately doesn't have it - although this YT playlist encapsulates it. 

 

Edited June 14, 2022 by ztejas

[ztejas 43448]

10 hours ago, Chad Fuck said:

"I'd better see these guys before they die" because when you're in 9th grade, you think that shit is imminent for anyone over about 45.  Little did I know it was more imminent for SRV than the guys in the Who.

Assuming you mean besides the most electric member of the band who died at 32. 

[ztejas 43448]

This is an absolutely ridiculous take. 

 

Someone said they invented punk rock. I don't agree with that. Someone else said they were less talented than Zeppelin. That's probably true. But I'll be damned if anyone ever sounds like these guys again. I mean my fucking God were they something else. 

And... I'm not sure Keith Moon wasn't the greatest drummer that ever lived. 

Edited June 14, 2022 by ztejas

[ConferenceRoom 6141]

@ztejas Watch the movie if you haven't. 

'69 - Tommy

'70 - Live at Leeds 

'71 - Who's Next 

'73 - Quadrophenia 

Those are sandwiched between Sell Out and By Numbers which are fantastic albums in their own right, but those four albums changed the face of rock and roll. Pete Townshend at his creative zenith and the Who at their most battle-hardened stage presence. To consider that Who's Next is just the remnants of a failed album (Lifehouse) in the vein of Smile is sort of staggering. 

 

[TwiceHorn 31470]

21 hours ago, Napoleon said:

The Kinks are laughing through their slashed amps as Pete Townsend tries to learn their chords.

The Who are amazing! And they did NOT invent punk rock.👍

Whew.  The Kinks, whom I also adore, did not predate The Who sufficiently to declare one or the other the "inventors" of punk rock.  They ran pretty much in parallel in their early years, especially considering commercial success.  I do "inventorship" for a living, more or less.

The Kinks were my first concert.  The Who was second.

I was kind of an early musical misfit, not really digging disco, or Elton John, or KISS, or some of the other late 70s bands/groups/artists.  But I dug The Kinks.  And we got cable and The Kids Are Alright was in pretty heavy rotation on HBO or whatever premium channel we had back then.  I wore a groove in that album.  And that whole experience set me up nicely to get into punk and new wave. 

[Chad Fuck 17681]

8 hours ago, ztejas said:

Assuming you mean besides the most electric member of the band who died at 32. 

Well, I was aware of that at the time.  But it also happened before I was born, so like any other teen, it seemed like ancient history.  I was focused on the ancients who were still waking among us.

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

23 hours ago, Chad Fuck said:

at the Cotton Bowl in the 1989.

Saw them on this tour also, but in Foxborough Mass. 

Played the Tommy Album for a warm up. Fucking awesome show.

[ConferenceRoom 6141]

Keith lived next door to Steve McQueen in LA. McQueen hated him. Kind of funny. 

[Gil Bang 25957]

31 minutes ago, ConferenceRoom said:

Keith lived next door to Steve McQueen in LA. McQueen hated him. Kind of funny. 

Fuck, I'd hate him too. 

[Al_4_ISU 12463]

4 hours ago, ConferenceRoom said:

@ztejas Watch the movie if you haven't. 

'69 - Tommy

'70 - Live at Leeds 

'71 - Who's Next 

'73 - Quadrophenia 

Those are sandwiched between Sell Out and By Numbers which are fantastic albums in their own right, but those four albums changed the face of rock and roll. Pete Townshend at his creative zenith and the Who at their most battle-hardened stage presence. To consider that Who's Next is just the remnants of a failed album (Lifehouse) in the vein of Smile is sort of staggering. 

 

When you think about how that run overlapped with the Stones' Beggars Banquet>Let It Bleed>Sticky Fingers>Exile run, it's hard to argue against '68-'73 being the pinnacle of rock music.

[Chad Fuck 17681]

9 minutes ago, Gil Bang said:

Fuck, I'd hate him too. 

At the very least, it seems like he'd likely be an undesirable neighbor.

Watch your pool hole, bud.

[Paul Wesley 3278]

22 hours ago, smwhorn said:

Who's Next,

Top ten of all time.

Yeah, that's definitely a top-10 album for me too.  It begins and ends with two of the iconic album-rock tracks of all time, and the middle is all pretty solid.  I don't think you could be a disaffected, brooding teenager* feeling like you don't fit in, and not be moved by "Behind Blue Eyes."  (*or disaffected young adult, middle-aged dude, or old man).

I was in London a few years ago, and thought, "wouldn't it be cool to see a show at Royal Albert Hall while I'm here?"  So I started looking into my options, and it turned out I could see The Who play "Tommy" in its entirety.  Sat on the 6th or 7th row.  

Keith Moon is to me - by far - the most entertaining drummer to watch live, and one of the most unique.  He just played with such joyful abandon.  He's not going to lock in to some kick-snare pattern for four minutes.  He's going to semi-randomly beat the living shit out of the entire kit for four minutes, and yet it somehow doesn't seem like overplaying... seems just perfect for the song.  

And then pair that with Entwistle's super-human fingers... that's a lot of energy going into those songs.

In 1999, I begged my Austin friends to go to Las Vegas to see The Who play the little club inside Hard Rock Casino.  Just could not get any takers.  If I had been able to talk anyone into it, they'd have been pissed, because we'd have paid a lot for scalped tickets, and Entwistle died there on the night before the show.  

Isolated bass track.  First chorus hits around 2:30.

 

 

[dcbc 14484]

On 6/12/2022 at 11:25 PM, tbone_ said:

They invented punk rock

The Kinks?

[dcbc 14484]

On 6/13/2022 at 9:44 AM, Napoleon said:

The Kinks are laughing through their slashed amps as Pete Townsend tries to learn their chords.

The Who are amazing! And they did NOT invent punk rock.👍

You said this better than I.

[Al_4_ISU 12463]

The Kinks slashed their amps first, and "You Really Got Me"/"All of the Night" precedes "I Can't Explain" (I think) but The Who swam in those waters longer and I think carried on the energy that turned into punk longer.

Within a couple years The Kinks moved on to character studies and dissecting British society, while exploring a pretty diverse and much prettier soundscape, embracing folk, country, etc while The Who were still being as loud as absolutely possible and destroying everything in their path.

I've had obsessive periods with both bands, love and respect both of them immensely, feel that The Kinks are probably the artistically superior band, but I think there's a great argument for The Who in regards to laying the groundwork of punk.

[ConferenceRoom 6141]

 

[dcbc 14484]

Just now, Al_4_ISU said:

The Kinks slashed their amps first, and "You Really Got Me"/"All of the Night" precedes "I Can't Explain" (I think) but The Who swam in those waters longer and I think carried on the energy that turned into punk longer.

Within a couple years The Kinks moved on to character studies and dissecting British society, while exploring a pretty diverse and much prettier soundscape, embracing folk, country, etc while The Who were still being as loud as absolutely possible and destroying everything in their path.

I've had obsessive periods with both bands, love and respect both of them immensely, feel that The Kinks are probably the artistically superior band, but I think there's a great argument for The Who in regards to laying the groundwork of punk.

The Kinks have been an ongoing conversation among a group of my friends for a while.  A lot of their later stuff is great, yet overlooked.  My suggestion to anyone so inclined is to just plug "Kinks" into Spotify and listen to whatever it serves up for several weeks.  For most casual listeners, there likely will be a lot of really good music you either never have heard or never realized was The Kinks.

 

As for who invented punk rock, who cares.  Both The Who and The Kinks are on the list though.

[Al_4_ISU 12463]

1 minute ago, dcbc said:

The Kinks have been an ongoing conversation among a group of my friends for a while.  A lot of their later stuff is great, yet overlooked.  My suggestion to anyone so inclined is to just plug "Kinks" into Spotify and listen to whatever it serves up for several weeks.  For most casual listeners, there likely will be a lot of really good music you either never have heard or never realized was The Kinks.

 

As for who invented punk rock, who cares.  Both The Who and The Kinks are on the list though.

  I couldn't agree more.  The late 70's (and even some of their 80's) albums are littered with gems.

 

 

 

 

 

[TwiceHorn 31470]

7 minutes ago, Al_4_ISU said:

The Kinks slashed their amps first, and "You Really Got Me"/"All of the Night" precedes "I Can't Explain" (I think) but The Who swam in those waters longer and I think carried on the energy that turned into punk longer.

Within a couple years The Kinks moved on to character studies and dissecting British society, while exploring a pretty diverse and much prettier soundscape, embracing folk, country, etc while The Who were still being as loud as absolutely possible and destroying everything in their path.

I've had obsessive periods with both bands, love and respect both of them immensely, feel that The Kinks are probably the artistically superior band, but I think there's a great argument for The Who in regards to laying the groundwork of punk.

Yeah, The Who had the more "subversive" lyrics part of it down.  But they were both thrashers from jump, and The Kinks were a year or so ahead.

The "artistically superior" is tough too.  I suppose as a band, a unit, I might give The Kinks the nod.  But more individual virtuosity from The Who, and I personally love Pete's songwriting.  But Ray's too.

[dcbc 14484]

D/P B/U

Edited June 15, 2022 by dcbc

[Ten Bears 2481]

On 6/13/2022 at 10:29 AM, Chad Fuck said:

The first real big time rawk concert I ever saw:

Fabulous Thunderbirds

Stevie Ray Vaughn 

The Who

at the Cotton Bowl in the 1989.  Not a bad way to kick off a big stadium show streak.  

Also saw the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney that year.  

 

The Biggest Party in HIstory

I saw it in Houston.  My friend won tickets to get on KLBJs Magic Bus to Houston.  Partied on the bus with Jody Denberg and Jeff Carrol.  Tripped balls on shrooms for The Who and all the way back to Austin.  

Good times.

[Chad Fuck 17681]

1 minute ago, Ten Bears said:

 

The Biggest Party in HIstory

I saw it in Houston.  My friend won tickets to get on KLBJs Magic Bus to Houston.  Partied on the bus with Jody Denberg and Jeff Carrol.  Tripped balls on shrooms for The Who and all the way back to Austin.  

Good times.

I accidentally bumped into a woman and spilled her beer all over her shirt.  It was not the kind of woman you want to see with a wet t-shirt.  

[ztejas 43448]

Sort of a Necro bump but recent enough - I'm sitting on my porch drinking beer and my brain sort of started mashing up Won't Get Fooled Again and Jesus of Suburbia by Green Day and now I wish I could hear The Who at their peak do a Jesus of Suburbia cover. 

They're pretty different stylistically but there are a ton of interesting similarities that you can piece together. 

[DougO 5247]

I was a bit late to their overall catalog, other than their hits, which I always enjoyed. 

I'm a big fan. A few of my general thoughts.

Tommy the album is overrated. Quadrophenia is far superior, a masterpiece. Tommy Live is way better than the Tommy album.

The Who By Numbers is one of my favorites, against popular opinion. It doesn't have the smash hits, but it's got really great songs all the way through.

Who's Next, obviously, tough to beat. Even the outtakes were pretty awesome. In fact, they may be one of the best bands ever for songs that didn't make cut on their major album releases.

[DougO 5247]

I went through a Doors phase for a couple of months in the mid 80s. I can hardly stand to listen to them now, save for a couple of tunes.

[ConferenceRoom 6141]

10 hours ago, DougO said:

I was a bit late to their overall catalog, other than their hits, which I always enjoyed. 

I'm a big fan. A few of my general thoughts.

Tommy the album is overrated. Quadrophenia is far superior, a masterpiece. Tommy Live is way better than the Tommy album.

The Who By Numbers is one of my favorites, against popular opinion. It doesn't have the smash hits, but it's got really great songs all the way through.

Who's Next, obviously, tough to beat. Even the outtakes were pretty awesome. In fact, they may be one of the best bands ever for songs that didn't make cut on their major album releases.

Who fans who know know Quadrophenia is the one. 

By Numbers is pretty great. In a Hand or a Face has one of Pete's best offerings. 

 

[jimmyjazz 45952]

I'm such a mega-fan of The Who that my favorite Who song is "Eminence Front".

That probably says exactly what I want it to say.  Never really got the band, but I can totally dig dozens of their tunes.  They just never float to the top of my consciousness.

[rungeflash 322]

 

The Who has inspired countless musicians all over the world. This South Korean gal absolutely gets it….maybe adds in a tasty double kick too

 

 

 

 

 

[Deej 76791]

On 6/14/2022 at 11:23 AM, Al_4_ISU said:

When you think about how that run overlapped with the Stones' Beggars Banquet>Let It Bleed>Sticky Fingers>Exile run, it's hard to argue against '68-'73 being the pinnacle of rock music.

Add Zeppelin I through Houses of the Holy, also 68 through 73.

[ztejas 43448]

1 minute ago, Deej said:

Add Zeppelin I through Houses of the Holy, also 68 through 73.

Velvet Underground and Nico. Dark Side. Harvest (fuck anyone that doesn't like Neil Young). Bowie's first 5 albums.