The greatness of The Who is that they were two contradictory things at the same time. On the one hand was the sheer physical noise they made, an eruption of volcanic force that left bystanders stupefied. But on the other was a purely intellectual force. In their chief songwriter Pete Townshend, The Who had a true rock theorist, probably the first there ever was. And we cared about his theories ...
(Guitar, singer-songwriter, b. 1958) Weller had already written himself into pop history with the feisty guitar pop of The Jam and soulfully commercial groove of The Style Council when he went solo in 1990. Musically and spiritually renewed by live work, Paul Weller (1992) laid strong acoustic foundations for the masterful Wild Wood (1994). This mature collection of songs showcased Weller’s emotional depth and confirmed a songwriting genius not afraid to ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1965–69, 1975–78) After entering the UK Top 20 with 1965’s ‘Whatcha Gonna Do About It’, this pre-eminent mod group – Steve Marriott (vocals, guitar), Jimmy Winston (keyboards), Ronnie Lane (bass, vocals) and Kenney Jones (drums) – suffered a miss with self composed ‘I Got Mine’; they then replaced Winston with Ian McLagan and got back on course with chart-topping ‘All Or Nothing’ and lesser hits before a post-1967 creative ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1965–68) This most striking of London’s ‘mod’ groups climaxed their act with vocalist Kenny Pickett splashing an action painting on to a canvas that was then set alight, and lead guitarist Eddie Phillips pioneered the scraping of a violin bow across a fretboard, most conspicuously on 1966’s ‘Painter Man’, a modest chart foray at home that went to the top in West Germany. After disbandment in 1968, Pickett co-wrote ...
(Vocal/instrumental group, 1972–82) A three-piece from Woking, Surrey, The Jam comprised Paul Weller (guitar, vocals), Bruce Foxton (bass, vocals) and Rick Buckler (drums). Emerging with punk, the band embraced the movement’s energy but scorned its negative aspects. After a promising debut In The City (1977), the follow-up This Is The Modern World (1977) was rushed and unconvincing. Work on a prospective third album was scrapped, prompting a serious re-think of the ...
The Who became embroiled in legal proceedings with their record company and producer. Finally extricated from a restrictive contract, the group launched into a period of creative brilliance, spurred on by Townshend’s eloquence and knack for writing the perfect pop single. Encouraged by Lambert and influenced by classical composers such as Purcell and Scarlatti, Townshend experimented with elaborate arrangements and extended works. His first piece, the spoof ‘Gratis Amatis’, set the ...
January Townshend’s Drug Confession The Who’s hedonistic lifestyle and use of illicit substances were already newsworthy. Their mod fans embraced drug use as part of their lifestyle and it seemed only fitting that a band mirroring its audience should follow suit. Daltrey had already discovered – to his cost – the extent of the problem, and Townshend elaborated on it further when he appeared on the first edition of the TV show ...
January Saville Theatre Concerts With a new record label (Lambert and Stamp’s Track Records) and the lure of America ahead, the year started well. The Who appeared at the Saville Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue for one of Brian Epstein’s Sunday Soundarama shows. Playing two performances on 29 January, the supporting bill included Track stablemates The Jimi Hendrix Experience, who had become the label’s first signing a couple of weeks earlier. This would ...
January Tour Of Australia And New Zealand A promising tour of Australia and New Zealand – with The Small Faces and Paul Jones – turned into a horror trip, as The Who were relentlessly vilified by both press and politicians. Before the band even set foot in the Antipodes, the Fourth Estate was drumming up bile against foreign entertainers, and things only became worse once they were there. Even the Australian prime ...
The band’s decision to continue, with Kenney Jones on drums, raised a few eyebrows. At first they proved the sceptics wrong by demonstrating that The Who were still an unstoppable live force. The honeymoon period came to an abrupt halt at the end of 1979, however, when tragedy struck in Cincinnati and 11 fans died. The new line-up released two albums but neither received the critical acclaim of the group’s previous ...
January Kenney Jones Joins The Who The Who without Keith Moon was hard to imagine. No other drummer in the history of rock music had treated the drums so badly and yet played them so well, turning them into a lead instrument. He was surely an impossible act to follow. Daltrey, Townshend and Entwistle thought otherwise, and quickly decided that they would continue. In December 1978 they announced that Kenney Jones, a ...
March European Tour The concerts the year before had gained critical acclaim. The new line-up, complemented by a horn section, had allowed the band to be less structured on stage, and they set off on another short European jaunt in March. This time, though, the band return to a more rigid set list and some of the previous opportunities for improvisation had disappeared. Off stage, Pete Townshend picked up where Keith Moon ...
January–March Longest UK Tour Despite Townshend’s difficulties, the band announced their longest-ever UK tour beginning in January. Although they could fill the largest venues in the world they chose to play smaller ones at home, and visited towns that had often been missed off their previous itineraries. With a new album about to be released, the set list was reworked to include the first new material for three years. At a charity ...
September It’s Hard It was an apt title for a band on the verge of collapse. The previous September, almost exactly three years to the day that Moon had died, Pete Townshend was rushed to hospital as a result of taking heroin. Only the quick reactions of his driver, Paul Bonnick, saved him. He was a mess and decided that he needed treatment, so he moved back in with Karen before checking ...
After the farewell tour of 1982, Pete Townshend made it clear that he wanted out of the band and a complete break-up followed. Despite misgivings, they agreed to play Live Aid in the summer of 1985 and, although a messy affair, the gig did get the band talking again and the subject of 25th anniversary celebrations were raised. No more was said for a further two years, until Townshend – ...
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David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
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