Information AboutThe Who |
The Who are an (guitar), Roger Daltrey (vocals), John Entwistle (bass) and Keith Moon (drums). The Who rose to fame in the United Kingdom with a pioneering Instrument Destruction stage show as well as a series of top ten hit Single s (including the celebrated " My Generation ") and top five Album s, beginning in 1965 with " I Can't Explain ". They first hit the top ten in the USA in 1967 with " I Can See For Miles ". The 1969 release of '' Tommy '' was the first in a series of top five albums for the group in the USA, followed by '' Live At Leeds '' (1970), '' Who's Next '' (1971), '' Quadrophenia '' (1973) and '' Who Are You '' (1978), among others. Keith Moon died in 1978 , after which the band released two more studio albums, the top five '' Face Dances '' (1981) and the top ten '' It's Hard '' (1982), with drummer Kenney Jones , before officially disbanding in 1983. They reformed on several occasions to perform at special events such as Live Aid and for reunion tours such as their 25th anniversary tour and the '' Quadrophenia '' revival tours of 1996 and 1997. In 2000, the three surviving original members began to discuss the possibility of recording an album of new material. These plans were delayed following the death of John Entwistle in 2002 . Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey continue to perform as The Who. In 2006 they released the studio album '' Endless Wire '', which reached the top ten in the USA and UK. HISTORY Early history In their early days the band was known as The Detours. Like many of their British peers, the group was heavily influenced by American blues and Country Music , initially playing mostly Rhythm And Blues . The Detours changed their name to "The Who" in 1964 and, with the arrival of Keith Moon that year, their line-up was complete. However, for a short period during 1964, under the management of Peter Meaden , they changed their name to '''The High Numbers''', during which time they released " Zoot Suit /I'm The Face", a single designed to appeal to their mostly mod fans. When it failed to chart, the band fired Meaden and quickly reverted to The Who. They became one of the most popular bands among the British Mods , a 1960s subculture involving cutting-edge fashions, Scooters and music genres such as Rhythm And Blues , Soul , and Beat Music . The band crystallised around Townshend as the primary songwriter and creative force (though Entwistle would also make notable songwriting contributions). Townshend was at the centre of the band's tensions, as he strove to write challenging and thoughtful music, while Daltrey preferred energetic and macho material (Daltrey would occasionally refuse to sing a Townshend composition and Townshend would thus sing it himself). Moon, not really a songwriter (although he contributed a handful of songs in the 60s), was a fan of American Surf Music . In September, 1964, at the Railway Tavern in Harrow and Wealdstone, England, Pete Townshend smashed his first guitar. Playing on a high stage, Townshend's physical style of performance resulted in him accidentally breaking off the head of his guitar when it collided with the ceiling. Angered by snickers from the audience, he proceeded to smash the instrument to pieces on the stage. He then picked up a Rickenbacker twelve-string guitar and continued the concert. A large crowd attended their next concert, but Townshend declined to smash another guitar. Instead, Keith Moon wrecked his drumkit. Rock and Roll: A Social History The Marquee Club Instrument Destruction became a staple of The Who's live shows for the next several years. The incident at the Railway Tavern is one of '' Rolling Stone '' magazine's "50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock 'n' Roll". 50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock 'n' Roll "I Can't Explain" to Woodstock (1960s) The Who's first release, and first hit, was January 1965's " I Can't Explain ", influenced by the early Kinks hits (with whom they shared American producer Shel Talmy ). This top ten UK hit was followed by " Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere ", which was the only song credited as being composed in a joint effort by Townshend and Daltrey, though Townshend implied Daltrey assisted in songwriting without credit in the liner notes to '' Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy ''. Their debut album '' My Generation '' (''The Who Sings My Generation'' in the U.S.) was released the same year. The album included such mod anthems as " The Kids Are Alright " and the title track " My Generation ", which contained the famous lines "Hope I die before I get old", and "Why don't you all f-f-fade away." Subsequent hits – the 1966 singles " Substitute ", about a young man who feels like a fraud, " I'm A Boy " about a young boy dressed as a young girl, " Happy Jack " about a mentally disturbed young man, and 1967's " Pictures Of Lily ", a tribute to Masturbation , all show Townshend's growing use of stories of sexual tension and teenage angst. More hits followed, including " I Can See For Miles " and the 1968 single " Magic Bus ". Although they had success as a singles band, Townshend had more ambitious goals. He wanted to treat The Who's albums as unified works, rather than collections of unconnected songs. Although Townshend later said that the song "I'm A Boy" was from a projected opus, the first sign of this ambition came in their album '' A Quick One '' (1966), which included the storytelling medley "A Quick One While He's Away", which they later referred to as a "mini opera". '' A Quick One '' was followed by '' The Who Sell Out '' (1967), a Concept Album which played like an Offshore Radio station, complete with humorous jingles and commercials, and which also included a mini Rock Opera , called "Rael" (whose closing theme ended up on "Tommy"), as well as The Who's biggest USA single, "I Can See for Miles". The Who famously destroyed their equipment onstage at the Monterey Pop Festival that year and subsequently repeated the routine on the '' Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour '' with literally explosive results as Keith Moon detonated his drum kit. These early efforts resulted in Pete Townshend being the subject of the first '' Rolling Stone '' interview. Townshend revealed in that interview that he was working on a full-length rock opera. This was '' Tommy '' (1969), the first commercially successful Rock Opera and a major landmark in modern music. Around this time the spiritual teachings of India's , 2007 . and Melody Maker declaring, "Surely The Who are now the band against which all others are to be judged." The Who performed much of ''Tommy'' at the Woodstock Music and Art Festival later that year. That performance, and the ensuing film, catapulted The Who to superstar status in the USA. Leeds University to the cover of ''Time'' (1970s) In February 1970 The Who recorded '', 2003 ). Retrieved on January 3 , 2007 The Leeds University gig was part of the ''Tommy'' tour, which not only included gigs in European opera houses, but also saw The Who become the first rock act to perform at the Metropolitan Opera House . Also in 1970, The Who began work on a studio album that was never released. At the Isle Of Wight Festival in August, Daltrey introduced "I Don't Even Know Myself" as "off the new album, which we're sort of half-way through". But within a few weeks of that concert Townshend wrote "Pure and Easy", a song which he later described as the "central pivot" of what became an ambitious concept album / Performance Art project called '' Lifehouse '', distracting him and the band from work on the album in progress. ''Lifehouse'' was never completed in its intended form (although it was reconstructed as a synthesizer). However, synthesizers can be found elsewhere on the album, playing a prominent role in " Bargain ", " Going Mobile ", and "The Song is Over". ''Who's Next'' was followed by '' and Rockers in the early 1960s in the UK, particularly the riots between the two factions at Brighton . The band's later albums contained songs of more personal content for Townshend, and he eventually transferred this personal style to his solo albums, as seen on the album '''' was released that year. It was directed by Ken Russell , starred Roger Daltrey in the title role and earned Pete Townshend an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score. In 1976 The Who played a concert at Charlton Athletic Football Ground which was listed for over a decade in the Guinness Book Of World Records as the Loudest Concert Ever . In 1978, the band released '' Who Are You '', a move away from epic rock opera and towards a more radio-friendly sound, though it did contain one song from a never-completed rock opera by John Entwistle. The release of the album was overshadowed by the death of Keith Moon in his sleep after a drug overdose, only a few hours after a party held by Paul McCartney . Two ironies about the last album include the cover, which shows Moon sitting in a chair with the words "not to be taken away," and the song "Music Must Change", which has no drum track. Kenney Jones , of The Small Faces and The Faces , joined the band as Moon's successor. In 1979, The Who returned to the stage with well-received concerts at the Rainbow Theatre in London, at the , 1979 in Cincinnati, Ohio , a crush at Riverfront Coliseum before The Who's concert resulted in the deaths of eleven fans. The band was not told of the deaths until after the show because civic authorities feared more crowd control problems would arise if the concert was canceled. The band members were reportedly devastated by this event. Also in 1979, The Who released a documentary film called '' The Kids Are Alright '' and a film version of '' Quadrophenia '', the latter becoming a huge box office hit in the UK and the former capturing many of the band's most scintillating moments on stage over the years. In December, The Who became only the third band, after the Beatles and The Band , to be featured on the cover of '' Time '' Magazine. The accompanying article, written by Jay Cocks , was overwhelmingly positive with respect to The Who, their members, and their place in rock music, saying that The Who had "outpaced, outlasted, outlived and outclassed" all of their rock band contemporaries.http://www.thewho.org/images/times2.jpg Time Magazine ''Face Dances'' to Giants Stadium (1980s) The band released two more studio albums with Jones as their drummer, '' Face Dances '' (1981) and '' It's Hard '' (1982). While both albums sold fairly well, and even with ''It's Hard'' receiving a five-star review in ''Rolling Stone'', many fans were not receptive to the band's new sound. Shortly after the release of ''It's Hard'', The Who embarked on their first of several 'farewell tours' after Pete Townshend declared his alcoholism, cleaned himself up, got sober, and stated that he wanted to do one more substantial tour with The Who before turning it into a studio-only band. It was the highest grossing tour of the year, with sellout crowds in numerous stadiums and arenas throughout North America. The Who Concerts Guide 1982. After their final show in December, 1982, Townshend spent part of 1983 trying to write material for the next studio Who album which was still owed to '' (which did feature appearances from Daltrey and Entwistle and two songs on the album credited to "The Who"), and '' Psychoderelict '', a forerunner to the eventual release of the radio work '' Lifehouse ''. On 13 July 1985, the members of The Who, including Kenney Jones, reformed for a one-off performance at Bob Geldof 's Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium. The band performed "My Generation", "Pinball Wizard", "Love Reign O'er Me", and an obviously unrehearsed "Won't Get Fooled Again" (it was later revealed that the band had also intended to play a new Townshend composition, "After The Fire", but was unable to learn it well enough to be played, it became a solo hit for Daltrey later that year). Although the BBC's equipment blew a fuse at the beginning of "My Generation", the band kept playing, so most of "My Generation" was missed by the rest of the world. In 1988 the band was honoured with the British Phonographic Industry 's Lifetime Achievement Award. The Who played a short set at the award ceremony (which is the last time Kenney Jones has worked with The Who to date). In 1989 they embarked on a 25th anniversary reunion tour which emphasised ''Tommy''. Long time Townshend collaborator Simon Phillips played drums during the tour. Demand for tickets was phenomenal, inspiring '' Newsweek '' to say, "The Who tour is special because, after the Beatles and the Stones, they're IT." There were massive sellouts in stadiums throughout North America, including a four-night stand at Giants Stadium. The Who Concerts Guide 1989 In all, over two million tickets were sold. Rock Hall to rebirth (1990s) In 1990, their first year of eligibility, The Who were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame by U2 , with Bono saying, "More than any other band, The Who are our role models." The Who's display at the Rock Hall describes them as prime contenders for the title of "World's Greatest Rock Band." Only the Beatles and the Rolling Stones receive a similar accolade at the Rock Hall. In 1991 The Who recorded a cover version of Elton John 's " Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting " for a tribute album. This was the last time that they released any studio work with John Entwistle. Pete Townshend toured in 1993 to promote his '' Psychoderelict '' album. On one night of the tour John Entwistle guested for several songs at the end of the show. In 1994 there were rumours of an upcoming 30th anniversary tour. These never happened but Roger Daltrey turned 50 and celebrated with two concerts at Carnegie Hall . These performances included guest spots by both John Entwistle and Pete Townshend. Although The Who were there, they did not perform together at those shows. Roger Daltrey toured later that year with an orchestra and special guest John Entwistle. The band consisted of John "Rabbit" Bundrick on keyboards, Zak Starkey on drums and Simon Townshend filling in for his absent brother. Pete Townshend had given Daltrey his consent to call this band The Who, but Daltrey declined. Overall, the Daltrey Sings Townshend tour was not a major commercial success. In 1996 Pete Townshend was asked to join the lineup for a major rock concert at Hyde Park . He intended to perform ''Quadrophenia'' as a solo acoustic piece using parts of the film on the screens. After contacting Entwistle and Daltrey it was agreed that a one-off performance of ''Quadrophenia'' would happen. The band was augmented by Zak Starkey on drums (although he was initially reluctant), Rabbit on keyboards and Simon Townshend on guitar. Also, Jon Carin was added as an additional keyboard player, a horn section was added alongside backing vocalists and several special guests would join to play characters from the album. These included David Gilmour , Ade Edmonson , newsreader Trevor McDonald and Gary Glitter . The whole performance was narrated by Phil Daniels who played Jimmy the Mod in the film. Despite a few technical difficulties the show was a huge success and many considered this to be the best act of the day above headliner Eric Clapton . The success of this show led to a sold out six night residency in New York at Madison Square Garden . These shows were not billed as The Who. The success of the ''Quadrophenia'' shows led to a major US and European tour. The show was reworked for the tour and included several Who standards as the encore. The show was originally billed under the band members names but was eventually billed as The Who to aid ticket sales. After the success of ''Quadrophenia'' The Who disbanded once again. Pete Townshend went on to perform many acoustic shows, John Entwistle mounted several shows with his own band The John Entwistle Band and Roger Daltrey toured with the British Rock Symphony performing The Who and other classic rock songs with an orchestra. In late 1999 The Who reformed as a five-piece band with Rabbit and Zak Starkey on keyboards and drums respectively and performed several charity shows in small venues. Many of the songs at the shows were taken from ''Who's Next'' and included songs not performed for 30 years or more. ''Endless Wire'' (2000s) The success of the 1999 shows led to a US tour in the Summer of 2000 and a UK tour in November that year. The tour ended with a charity show at the Royal Albert Hall for the Teenage Cancer trust with special guests which was Released Later on CD and DVD. With the numerous rave reviews of the shows in the press all three members of The Who began to discuss the possibility of a new album. The Who Concerts Guide Newspaper Review. The band's appearance at The Concert For New York City in October, 2001, was the most fervently cheered of any act by the audience of New York police officers, firefighters and rescue workers. The Who were also honoured with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award that year. Just before the onset of a tour in the summer of 2002, John Entwistle was found dead in his room at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. A coroner's investigation revealed that while not technically an overdose, a modest amount of cocaine in his system was a contributing factor in a fatal heart attack, the result of years of heart trouble caused or aggravated by regular Cocaine use, hypertension, and decades of smoking. In fact over-consumption of alcohol and drugs had dogged all of the band members except for Roger Daltrey over the years. After a brief delay, the tour commenced with bassist Pino Palladino . Most shows from the tour were released officially on CD as '' Encore Series 2002 ''. Before the tour began new songs "Real Good Looking Boy" and "Certified Rose" were rehearsed alongside old classics such as "I Can See for Miles," but due to the death of Entwistle, they were not performed. In September, ''Q'' Magazine named The Who as one of the "50 Bands to See Before You Die". In 2004 The Who released two new songs, "Old Red Wine" and "Real Good Looking Boy" (with ''), and went on an 18-date world tour, playing Japan, Australia, the UK and the US. Again, all shows were released on CD, as part of '' Encore Series 2004 ''. The band also headlined the Isle of Wight Festival that year and received the usual ecstatic reviews.1 Also that year, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked The Who #29 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.2 The Who then announced that the spring of 2005 would see the release of their first new studio album in 23 years (tentatively titled '' WHO2 ''). In March 2005, Pete Townshend's website issued a statement that the release was delayed indefinitely, and explained that expected UK/US tours in the summer of 2005 were also shelved. Part of this was due to slow recording of the new material, and part was due to Zak Starkey's commitment to tour with Oasis . Townshend continued working on the album, posting a novella called '' The Boy Who Heard Music '' on his Internet blog site. This concept developed into a mini-opera which formed the kernel for the new Who album, and later a full opera which Townshend presented at Vassar College . The Who performed " Who Are You " and " Won't Get Fooled Again " on the London Stage Of The Live 8 Concert in July 2005. Steve White (drummer for Paul Weller and older brother of ex-Oasis drummer Alan White ) took the place of Starkey, who was on tour with Oasis , and Damon Minchella ( Ocean Colour Scene 's bassist) filled in for Palladino (who was touring South America as the bassist for Jeff Beck ). Also that year, The Who were inducted into the UK Music Hall Of Fame . In 2006, The Who were the first recipients of the Freddie Mercury Lifetime Achievement Award in Live Music at the Vodaphone music awards. Roger Taylor and Brian May of Queen presented the award. 2006 Vodaphone Live Music Awards On October 3 2006 , iTunes released two singles in advance of their new album, '' Endless Wire '' entitled "Tea & Theatre" (which is played at the end of the concerts during the North American leg of the tour) and "It's Not Enough." '' 2006 . ''Endless Wire'' debuted at #7 on Billboard and #9 in the UK Albums Chart , but did not sell that well after its debut week, failing to go gold or platinum like their previous studio albums. In advance of the album, and later to support it, The Who embarked upon their The Who Tour 2006-2007 . First they did a 24-date Europe an tour followed by the rest of the world. These are their first shows since their 2004 world tour and brief performance at Live 8 in 2005. Members of the latest lineup remain, including keyboardist John "Rabbit" Bundrick , bassist Pino Palladino , drummer Zak Starkey and guitarist Simon Townshend , who is also acting as the supporting act for The Who with his band The Casbah Club . Other opening acts on the tour include The Pretenders and Rose Hill Drive . Shows are again on CD and DVD as part of '' Encore Series 2006 ''. Sirius Satellite Radio offered a 24-hour channel dedicated to The Who from September 2006 into early 2007. This limited-run channel was produced by Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey and featured rare recordings, interviews, and broadcasts of concerts. Zak Starkey was invited to become a full member of Oasis in April 2006, and, in November 2006 of The Who, but he declined, preferring to split his time between the two bands. On 24 June 2007, The Who topped the bill at the Glastonbury Festival . INFLUENCE The Who are one of the most influential groups in rock music. Their progressive approach to the writing of albums and their exciting live show are matched by few. The hard-rock style they brought to England's music scene was one that set the stage for other bands ranging from Led Zeppelin to The Clash . During their earliest Mod genesis, The Who provided inspiration for most, if not all, of the major bands during the Britpop wave in Britain during the mid-1990s. Bands such as Blur , Oasis , Stereophonics and Ash draw a heavy influence from the band's work, which, especially with the Mod counter-culture, provided a quintessentially " Cool Britannia " ideal. The Who have also been called "The Godfathers of Punk" in numerous publications The New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll , as well as in Spike Lee 's film, '' Summer Of Sam ''. Part of the foundation of Punk Rock lies in The Who's onstage aggression, violence and snotty attitude. The MC5 , Ramones , Sex Pistols , the Clash, Generation X , Green Day , and many other punk rock and Protopunk rock bands, point to The Who as a major influence. The group has been credited with devising the " Rock Opera " and it made one of the first notable concept albums. Following in the footsteps of ''Tommy'' were David Bowie 's '' The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust '', '' The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway '' by Genesis , Jethro Tull 's '' Thick As A Brick '' and Pink Floyd 's '' The Wall '', among others. Recently, the idea was adopted by The Flaming Lips in '' Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots '' and Green Day with '' American Idiot ''. In 1967 Pete Townshend coined the phrase " to Cheap Trick , take much of their inspiration from The Who. PopMatters interview with Eric Carmen The Who's influence can also be seen in their early incorporation of synthesizers into rock music Acoustic Sounds Inc , with ''Who's Next'' featuring the instrument prominently and the single "Won't Get Fooled Again" becoming the first hit single to be driven by a synthesizer track. "My Generation" is perhaps the band's most covered song. '', explicitly describing it as "a tribute to The Who" and in 1995, Phish covered '' Quadrophenia '' for their second annual Halloween concert tradition of performing another band's album in its entirety, which was later released as '' Live Phish Volume 14 ''. The Grateful Dead also covered "Baba O'Riley" in the early 1990s, as did Nirvana . Rush covered " The Seeker " on their 2004 " Feedback " EP and live during their R30 tour that same year. Limp Bizkit also did a cover of " Behind Blue Eyes " in their 2004 album '' Results May Vary ''. McFly covered " Pinball Wizard " for the B-side to their 2004 single " I'll Be Ok ", and played the song live in their 2005 tour. Fish (ex Marillion ) covered "The Seeker" during his '' Songs From The Mirror '' period. Many other artists, ranging from Buddy Rich to Richard Thompson to U2 to Petra Haden (who covered '' The Who Sell Out '' in its entirety), have covered Who songs. The music of The Who is still performed in public by many Tribute Band s, such as The Wholigans, Who's Next USA, BARGAIN, The Relay, and The OHM, in the USA, Who's Next UK, Who's Who UK, and The Whodlums in the UK. All three versions of the American forensic drama CSI ('''') feature songs written and performed by The Who as their theme songs, " Who Are You ", " Won't Get Fooled Again " and " Baba O'Riley " respectively. AWARDS The Who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame , the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005 UK Music Hall of Fame and won the first annual Freddy Mercury Lifetime Achievement in Live Music Award in 2006. 2006 Vodaphone Live Music Awards They received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Phonographic Industry in 1988 BRIT Awards , and from the Grammy Foundation in 2001 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Awards , for creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording. ''Tommy'' was inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame in 1998, "My Generation" in 1999 and ''Who's Next'' in 2007. Grammy Hall of Fame SEE ALSO NOTES REFERENCES
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