The Who: Five Things You May Not Know About One Of The Greatest Rock Bands of All-Time
The Who: Five Things You May Not Know About One Of The Greatest Rock Bands of All-Time
We are getting a large dose of The Who in 2012. They helped close the 2012 London Olympics Games and are launching a major tour of North America. During their upcoming trek, they’ll perform their 1973 rock opera, Quadrophenia, in its entirety.
Concert tickets for The Who will be collected beginning Nov. 1 in Sunrise, Florida. Their trek ends Feb. 26 in Providence, Rhode Island. Highlights of their outing include The Who in Washington D.C. on Nov. 13; The Who in Brooklyn, New York on Nov. 14; and The Who at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Dec. 8. Keep in mind that the band takes considerable time off for the holidays.
The Who has been around a long time—they released their first single in July of 1964. Still, there are probably a few things you don’t know about one of the greatest rock bands of all-time. Below, are five tidbits that may shed some light on just who are The Who.
The Who Performed At Three Big 1960s Concerts
The Who were the only act to appear at the Monterey Pop Festival (1967), The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus (1968), and Woodstock (1969). At the Monterey Pop Festival they won a coin toss to go on before Jimi Hendrix—both acts destroyed their instruments. The Rolling Stones’ Rock and Roll Circus was mothballed for nearly 30 years because The Who outperformed them. And at Woodstock, The Who took over the stage from 5:00am to 6:05am Sunday morning and were famously interrupted by Abbie Hoffman who was on a bad acid trip.
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The Who Does Not Have A Number One Album In The U.S.
The Who have sold more than 100 million records and have done so without reaching the top spots of the album and singles charts. Their 1971 album, Who’s Next, went to number one in the U.K. and “You Better You Bet” went to number one on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks, whatever that is. That’s it for number one records. They’ve cracked the top five several times, and have been second on numerous occasions. It’s hard to believe, but it’s true, the Who has never reached the top spot on either one of Billboard’s two main charts.
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Daltrey Was The Who’s Initial Leader
As The Who’s principal songwriter and lead guitarist, Pete Townshend has always been viewed as the band’s leader. But in the early days of The Who, Roger Daltrey ran things. His managerial style was fairly simple, you did what he said or he’d punch you in the face. In late 1965, the band had enough of Daltrey’s fisticuffs and they kicked him out. The final straw was when he beat up Keith Moon for supplying drugs to Townshend and John Entwistle. Daltrey returned a week later on a probationary status. The singer promised there would be no more violent altercations. He was petrified of having to return to his day job as a sheet metal worker.
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Pete Townshend Coined The Term “Power Pop”
Pete Townshend didn’t coin the term “rock opera,” but he certainly popularized it. The guitarist did coin the phrase “power pop.” During an interview in 1967, Townshend said The Who plays a brand of music called “power pop.” What’s interesting is the term stuck for several other bands but not for The Who.
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Lifehouse
Tommy and Quadrophenia were unique and revolutionary, but Lifehouse would have blown them both out of the water. Lifehouse was an idea Townshend had—inspired by Meher Baba and Inayat Khan—to write music that could reflect the personalities of the audience. It was part science fiction and part rock opera. The idea called for specially made hardware, the creation of a “universal chord,” and audience participation. Suffice it to say, Lifehouse was quite complicated and way ahead of its time. The project was eventually abandoned and the band made Who’s Next instead. Songs for the proposed project appear in subsequent Who and Pete Townshend albums. In 2007, Townshend collaborated on a Web site called “The Lifehouse Method” where users could sit for an “electronic musical portrait.”