zom-zom wrote:You would have to be a total Non-Rocking person, i.e: a Square, to not like The Who. They have done so much cool stuff that it cancels out any bad.

Just for Pete alone, totally NOT CRAP.

For the record, I am a total Non-Rocking person, i.e.: a Square.

Martin Billingsworth wrote:Am I to understand that half of the members of this musical combo have succumbed to substance abuse,

Wow, rockers who had substance problems. How dare they tarnish this honorable profession.

and one of the surviving members is a registered sex offender?

Dammit, I'm not a huge Who fan but this pisses me off.
The authorities asked for Townsend's computer. He gave it up and mentioned that he was writing a book that had child abuse as the subject matter. They authorities said it did, indeed, all check out and complimented him for being friendly and helpful.
This may have been the only time Townsend was ever friendly and helpful, in fact.

I like early Who a lot. The Maximum R&B period. My Generation, Sell Out, etc.
I'm not a fan of the bloated excess, pointy bass period.
Once they felt like 3 minutes was too short for a song, they lost me. Some of that stuff is good, but it can't touch the simplicity of Girls Eyes, Early Morning Cold Taxi, Mary Ann With The Shakey Hand, Substitute, or Can't Explain.

Plus, no The Who, no The Jam, and that would be a damn tragedy.

-A

The Who should have packed it up and quit after Keith Moon died (maybe before ... Who Are You ain't much of an album), but when they were good -- damn! Those early amphetamine overdrive singles, The Who Sell Out, Live At Leeds, Quadrophenia, all that amazing live footage in The Kids Are Alright ... for my money, the Who were one of the very greatest rock bands the UK ever produced, and if they weren't always consistent, their high points were Olympian. And Pete Townsend remains one motherfucker of a guitar player.

NOT CRAP!

..

Last night I read a short story by Jim Shepard called "Won't Get Fooled Again." It's an account of The Who's salad days as told by The Ox himself.

Holy shit. Not only is this one of the best short stories I've read in months, but Shepard nails everything I love and hate about The Who (and rock and roll itself); the brilliance and the bullshit. Some samplings:

Jim Shepard wrote:A certain amount of pride had to be swallowed on each side. We promised to behave and Roger promised not to hit us.

When the clubs were raided it sounded like hailstorms when everyone emptied the pills from their pockets onto the dance floor. The cops went around frisking people, and it was like they were walking on gravel: crunch crunch crunch.

As a boy I had nothing going for me, and Pete was a nose on a stick.

One night at a club, everyone else passed out, Charlie said, "It's exhilarating hearing you lot trash numbers everyone else does so faithfully." I don't think I ever told the rest of the band. If you couldn't stay away, you missed praise from the Rolling Stones.

He told us during on depression, "I'm sulking because you don't worship me for making your lives financially viable."

When he got introspective, it turned into melodramatic dross. If you want my opinion.

Rage in the service of self-pity was what we'd always been about. It was what rock had always been about.

Cry for help? He started his when he was ten. The man broke his wife's nose with his head. He burst into tears at stoplights. He was arrested for disorderly conduct in a mortuary.

Brett, maybe if you read this story, you could at least "appreciate" the Who the same way I "appreciate" Metallica via their spectacular documentaries?

i've been trying out the who of late..
i'll be dammed if i can't find more than 2 songs that i like

i can't explain
and
substitute..

that said...

He was arrested for disorderly conduct in a mortuary.

r0ck1r0ck2 wrote:i've been trying out the who of late..
i'll be dammed if i can't find more than 2 songs that i like

i can't explain
and
substitute..

that said...

He was arrested for disorderly conduct in a mortuary.

Don't even bother with the studio albums. The good stuff on them will show itself to you later. For now, just get the 2 cd version of Live at Leeds, and the dvd Isle of Wight. Then move on to The Kids are Alright 2 disc dvd. There you go. Sorted.

achHem..

the second disk of Leeds is Tommy..
no. no i will not be listening to Tommy any time soon..

perhaps i will find the 7"s for those two songs and leave it at that..

connor wrote:Last night I read a short story by Jim Shepard called "Won't Get Fooled Again." It's an account of The Who's salad days as told by The Ox himself.

Holy shit. Not only is this one of the best short stories I've read in months, but Shepard nails everything I love and hate about The Who (and rock and roll itself); the brilliance and the bullshit.

Brett, maybe if you read this story, you could at least "appreciate" the Who the same way I "appreciate" Metallica via their spectacular documentaries?

Send me a copy, and I'll give it a shot. Anything's possible in a world such as ours.

Brett Eugene Ralph wrote:

connor wrote:Last night I read a short story by Jim Shepard called "Won't Get Fooled Again." It's an account of The Who's salad days as told by The Ox himself.

Holy shit. Not only is this one of the best short stories I've read in months, but Shepard nails everything I love and hate about The Who (and rock and roll itself); the brilliance and the bullshit.

Brett, maybe if you read this story, you could at least "appreciate" the Who the same way I "appreciate" Metallica via their spectacular documentaries?

Send me a copy, and I'll give it a shot. Anything's possible in a world such as ours.

I'll send it out this weekend!