The Who
‘The Who‘ is an English rock band formed in 1964, primarily consisting of guitarist Pete Townshend, vocalist Roger Daltrey, bassist John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon.
‘The Who‘ stand alone in the annals of rock history. Though musically self proclaimed “Maximum R&B” and technically they were Mods, ‘The Who’ were also the godfathers of punk, the pioneers of rock opera, and among the first rock groups to integrate synthesizers.
In the early 1960s, Entwistle and Townshend started a trad jazz band called The Confederates. Daltrey met Entwistle walking down a street with a bass guitar slung over his shoulder and asked him to join his band called The Detours, which he had formed the year before. The Detours became The Who in February 1964 and, with the arrival of Moon that year, the line-up was complete.
The first release of The Who’s, and first hit, was January 1965’s “I Can’t Explain”. It was a top 10 hit in the UK and subsequently they came up with “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere”.
Their debut album was “My generation“. The albums My Generation (1965), A Quick One and The Who Sell Out (1967) followed, with the first two hitting the UK top five. After which followed:
- Tommy (1969)
- Live at Leeds (1970)
- Who’s Next (1971): reached #4 in the USA pop charts and #1 in UK.
- Quadrophenia (1973)
- Odds & Sods (1974)
- The Who by Numbers (1975)
- Who Are You (1978)
- The Kids Are Alright (1979)
- Face Dances (1981)
- It’s Hard (1982)
Endless Wire (2006)
Their fame grew with memorable performances at the Woodstock and Monterey Pop music festivals. The 1969 release of Tommy was the first in a series of top ten albums in the US, followed by Live at Leeds (1970), Who’s Next (1971), Quadrophenia. On 18 August 1978, the band released Who Are You. This success was overshadowed by Moon’s death.
In 1979, a documentary film called The Kids Are Alright and a film version of Quadrophenia were released, the latter a box office hit in the UK and the former capturing many of the band’s most scintillating moments on stage, including their last performance with Keith Moon. In December, The Who became the third band to be featured on the cover of Time, after the Beatles and The Band. The article, said The Who had “outpaced, outlasted, outlived and outclassed” all of their rock band contemporaries.
By 1981, Townshend’s marital life was a huge mess. He had taken to excessive drinking and heroine use. So, Daltrey told him that he would stop touring, for the benefit of the band. Hence, The Who’s had a farewell tour called ” It’s Hard” in 1982, after which Townshend put in his papers to work on contracts like those of Warner Bros. The Who were left fragmented.
In 1985 they recorded as a complete band with Kenny Jones. In 1988 the band was honored with the British Phonographic Industry’s Lifetime Achievement Award and 2 years later they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In late June 2002, the Who had regrouped again and were about to kick off a North American tour when Entwistle died at the age of 57 in Las Vegas’ Hard Rock Hotel.
They released the documentary “Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who” in late 2007, which got nominated for the 2009 Grammy Awards.
The National Football League has announced that The Who would perform at the halftime show of Super Bowl XLIV at Dolphin Stadium in Florida on February 7, 2010.
- Kritika Rao
Tags: english rock band, I Can't Explain, music, rock band, the who
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