Talkin’ bout My Generation…
There are few of the 1960s classic rock groups still touring. One that still lives on is The Who.
I recall as a kid, hearing The Who’s 1969 album Who’s Next as one of my earliest introductions to rock music. With it’s controversial album cover and their reputation to trash hotel room and smash guitars on stage; The Who were legendary in the 1960s…and still are today.
Originally known as The Detour, the band change their name to The Win in 1964. Yet a few months later, they again changed their name to The High Numbers and released an unsuccessful single called the Zoot Suit. Wisely, they reverted back to The Who and the rest is rock history.
From the first successful album, My Generation in 1965, and The Who were destined to become one of rock’s top bands, ranking with the likes of The Beatles and The Rollng Stones.
With classics such as I Can See For Miles, Magic Bus, the rock opera Tommy, Won’t Get Fooled Again and the theme for a generation - My Generation, The Who topped the Guinness Book of World Records for close to 20 years as the world’s loudest band (130 decibles).
The band was influencial in the use of what became a standard rock band amplifier, the Marshall Stack. Guitarist Pete Townshend was having problems hearing his guitar over the drums, so he started using multiple Marshall amplifiers to hear himself better (and began his road to hearing problem. Over the next year, the band kept adding more and more amplifiers and speakers to double and then re-double the volume.
Some Who facts
- Guitarist Pete Townshend was the first musician interviewed in Rolling Stone magazine.
- Their first hit, I Can’t Explain, featured a studio guitarist named Jimmy Page, a full four years before he founded Led Zepplin.
- The Who were the first band to perform a rock opera – Tommy. Some of which was first performed at Woodstock.
- Frontman Roger Daltry and Pete Townshend both suffer from serious hearing loss as a result of their loud concerts and on stage pyrotechnic explosions.
- Their rock opera Tommy, was made into a musical movie by Ken Russell in 1975 and stared other rockers, including Elton John, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner and even Jack Nicholson.
- Eleven fans were killed at a Cincinnati concert in 1979 in a rush for seats.
- The band’s original drummer, Keith Moon died in 1978 and bassist John Entwistle died in 2002.
- The Who used synthesizer “sequencing” a full 15 years before it became common in the late 1980s.
- The Who’s current drummer, Zak Satarkey is the son of Beatles’ Ringo Starr.
- The Who are also credited for creating the rock cliché of trashing their hotel room.
- The band was once arrested for destruction of property in Montréal, and was banned from staying at any Holiday Inn hotel for years.
- Would rock guitarists be as cool as they are without the ever-classic windmill move perfected by Townshend?
The Who are larger-than-life rock ‘n roll legends, having influenced rock, hard rock, punk, and new wave sounds…not to mention millions of rebellious teenagers for over 40 years.
The Who
Verizon Center
601 F Street, NW, (between 6th and 7th NE)
Washington, DC 20004
Date & Time - Thursday, March 8, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets - $55.00 - $205.00 and are available online.
Nearest Metro subway station - Gallery Place / Chinatown (the Metro station is part of the Verizon Center) - Red, Yellow and Green lines.
Parking - limited street parking in the area, but various paid lots and garages are a close by walk.
Photo credits: flickr
__________________________________________________________
Comments Off