Who are You

I wasn’t always a big fan of the Who until a friend opened my eyes to the excellent lyrics in so many songs written by Pete Townshend and the vocal dynamics of Roger Daltry. I especially loved their album, “Quadrophenia” but also loved countless other songs.

The Who was comprised of Roger Daltry on vocals, Pete Townshend on guitar, John Entwistle on bass and the legendary Keith Moon on drums. The band was formed in 1964 and continued together until the death of Moon in 1978. Their final album, “Who are You” came out in August 1978 and was their biggest and fastest selling album to date, although it arguably wasn’t their finest work. Townshend and Moon were using drugs and alcohol heavily, and there were problems with Moon’s performance while recording some tracks. Daltry had to have throat surgery that year to remove nodules from his vocal cords which delayed recording for the album. After the album’s release in August, Moon attended a party on September 6, 1978 held by Paul McCarney to celebrate Buddy Holly’s death. Moon was found dead the following morning in his flat, having taken 32 clomethiazole tablets (prescribed for alcohol withdrawl.) The band did continue without Moon, but this the final album made by the original four.

The Who had two albums that were made into films. “Tommy” was released in 1975 and starred Daltry, Ann Margaret, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Oliver Reed and Jack Nicholson and others. “Quadrophenia” was released in 1979 and starred Phil Daniels, Sing and Lesley Ash and others.

The Who were famous for trashing their hotel rooms. It is said that Moon, especially, would destroy everything in the room and even dropped cherry bombs down the toilet. He said he did it because he “was bored.” The band would bring cash and give it to the hotel manager when they checked out, so hotels actually welcomed the Who while they toured, sometimes giving them rooms that needed remodeling anyway.

Pete Townshend accidentally broke his guitar in 1964 at the Railway Tavern in London, and he then intentionally destroyed the guitar onstage. This began his famous onstage guitar smashing during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. At the end of a song or performance, Townsend would smash his guitar against the floor, an amp, whatever. It is estimated that he smashed hundreds of guitars. Some believed he did it as performance art, but Townshend said he smashed the guitars out of frustration at himself – he believed he could have played better or performed better – and he found a release of that frustration when he destroyed his guitar.

I believe the Who don’t get enough credit for the impact they had on music and popular culture. In December 1979, the Who became the third band, after the Beatles and the Band, to appear on the cover of Time. The article, by Jay Cocks, said the band had “outpaced, outlasted, outlived and outclassed all of their rock band contemporaries.”

Pete Townshend penned in his song, “Won’t Get Fooled Again” the lyrics “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” He was quoted in 1982, regarding his feelings during Woodstock, “All those hippies wandering about thinking the world was going to be different from that day. As a cynical English arsehole, I walked through it all and felt like spitting on the lot of them, and shaking them and trying to make them realise that nothing had changed and nothing was going to change.” In the political hotbed we live in here in America, I want to throw in here a quick opinion of mine – When the country goes too far left, it reacts by going too far right and vise versa. We desperately need unity and balance. We need to stop being distracted by hot button issues. I dislike all politicians, to me they are all the same. If you really think they are here to serve us, the little people, God help you. As my daughter says, “If you’re looking for a politician to save you, you’re looking in the wrong place.”

Surrounded by people
A real heavy crowd
But inside I still feel lonely now

Should I get away
From the high heels so proud
Is there something different life can show me now

First chance – I blew it, I better start it all again
Second chance – Ooh, I knew it wouldn’t be as easy as they said
Third chance – I’m cut up, life’s like a razor’s edge
Fourth chance – Ooh, I’m all shut up and I’m standing on the ledge

And I’m goin’ down (I’m goin’ down)
Goin’ down (I’m goin’ down)
Goin’ down (I’m goin’ down)
Ooh, down

I’m not a loser
But did I really win?
Can I afford to go through it all again?

I hope I don’t sound
As immature as I feel
But when I get wise, I’ll give you a call, my friend

First chance – I blew it, I better start it all again
Second chance – Ooh, I knew it wouldn’t be as easy as they said
Third chance – I’m cut up, life’s like a razor’s edge
Fourth chance – I’m all shut up and I’m standing on the ledge

Now I’m goin’ down (I’m goin’ down)
Goin’ down (I’m goin’ down)
Goin’ down (I’m goin’ down)
Ooh, down (down)

Love is coming down on me, ooh yeah
Love is burning, teaching, turning out in me
Love is coming down, down
Down, down
Down, down

I’m not a loser
But did I really win?
I’m lookin’ forward to doin’ it all again

Songwriters: Pete Townshend

Everything Comes to an End