Amazing Journey -- The History Of The Who

9 - 11:30 pm. Tonight.
VH1 Classic.
Saw a preview.
Wow.

 

Who?

 

Exactly.

 

I'm a pinball wizard.

 

DVRing it right now.
Love the Who.

 

Who Are You?

 

Can't wait to see this. I wonder if Keith Moon will act insane in it?

Also in the middle of watching the 4 hour doc on Tom Petty and Heartbreakers. Pretty good stuff so far. It's still the early 1980s and Stan Lynch is already a problem. Sweet.

 

For you Who fans, I'd recommend Tom Wright's book "Roadwork." You might have heard about on NPR. Wright was an American art student in England who met Pete Townshend as a shy dude playing guitar on campus, and turned him into what we know today by a) encouraging his talent and b) introducing him to pot. Great photos (Wright was a rock photog by trade), great stories of traveling with the Who (including a view inside the plane during the infamous incident in Florida where an angry father shot at Keith Moon), great stories of running the greatest 1960s rock venue, Detroit's Grande Ballroom, and better yet, a look at the 1960s and the Boomers' struggle to get old that isn't wrapped in patchouli-scented nostalgia.

 

It just finished.
Terrific documentary footage -- especially of the old days. (Actual film from the Marquee Club and the Goldhawk), as well as performance video from Tommy at The Met and the Quadrophenia and Who Are You tours. Highlight, to me, was their "Won't Get Fooled Again" from The Concert For New York. Both Vedder and The Edge, in the film, agree.

 

The performance of "Won't Get Fooled Again" which closed out "The Kids Are Alright," Keith Moon's final recorded performance, still stands as their pinnacle.

It's as if they all knew it was the last time they'd ever all play together, and even Moon, who had sounded tired and drugged-out for his final couple of albums and tours, pulled himself together to recapture the fire of 1967-71 one last thunderous time.

I'm sure the version from "Concert from New York" is great, but still, it's only half the band.

The Petty documentary is very cool as well, but leaves a lot of stuff out (hardly any mention whatsoever of his involvement in the Wilburys.)

 

Actually, the Concert For New York is three-quarters of the band. The Ox was still alive then. And Zak Starkey was as good a replacement for Moonie as they were ever going to find -- especially after the unfortunate Kenney Jones Era. The "Fooled Again" from The Kids Are Alright is an interesting story. They'd played it once, but the director, Jeff Stein, didn't think he had a definitive take so he got all ballsy and went up to them and asked them to do it again. They all went up the wall but came out, pissed off to within an inch of their lives, and tore through the song. THAT'S the performance that's on the film.

 

Dave Marsh's book on the Who, Before I Get Old (easily the definitive story of the band), tells that story in detail. After the first run through, the fans were yelling for songs they hadn't done yet and that's when Townshend holds up his guitar and challenges someone to come up and get it off them.