I think this is a POLL of shit while John Sinclair rots in prison: THE WHO RESULTS THREAD (ilm artist poll #25)

http://www.torrentsland.com/upload/preview/images/music/6/1/7/a8a500f9420112453e63fa858f2f6d7f.jpg

Part One: Your Least Favorite Who Songs!

10. "Why Did I Fall For That?" (63 points)

great pic, rock and roll circus is THE definitive who performance for me

otm. We had a copy of The Kids Are Alright documentary growing up, and watched it religiously, and that performance of "A Quick One" was just the best thing ever.

9. "Magic Bus" (64 points)

Funny thing about the R&R Circus performance is that they couldn't get arrested in the UK at the time. "Dogs" and "Magic Bus" had stiffed, and while Cream and Hendrix were selling out Albert Hall, the Who were back playing the Marquee.

8. "Did You Steal My Money?" (69 points)

Wow, I had no idea people hated "Magic Bus".

Loved "Magic Bus" when I was 15, was sick of it within a few years.

I imagine being at a Who show in the 70s and hearing them start up a 15-minute version of "Magic Bus" = beer/bathroom/joint time

YOU CAAAN'T HAVE IT!

"Magic Bus" is one of those songs that has annoyed me since i was a kid, has only been redeemed for me by the explosive Live At Leeds version. ended up not even doing a least favorite list on my ballot, though, felt like all the big hits i don't like have their merits and i don't have much passionate dislike for the album cuts i don't enjoy.

(lol xpost)

Not a huge fan of the studio version myself, but every live version I've heard (even from the 2000 tour) is completely and brilliantly insane.

hating magic bus makes me ;_;

xp I didn't do a least favorite either. They're my favorite band, and I've liked most of those songs at some time in the past. I'll have to look up the forgotten "Why Did I Fall for That?". It can be my new underated Who song I have loved.

"Magic Bus" has some cow bleat sound or vocal mixed in the chaos of the studio version that I always thought was my dad yelling at me to turn it down from the other side of the house.

Said bleating is the voice of one Jess Roden from The Alan Bown Set.

7. "The Real Me" (72 points)

Wow

I love "Magic Bus," but I'm pretty partial to the Who's goony/goofball side. Much more than their strident '70s rawk stuff, which made up all of my least-favorites.

"The Real Me?" John Entwhistle is glaring at some of you from the grave.

6. "Long Live Rock" (76 points, one #1 vote)

Ah, like that. I was the #1 vote there.

I know predictions are frowned upon in results threads, but indulge me in just one: Squuze Box is voted most hated song, getting 30% more votes than the #2.

See, I can't hate "Squeeze Box," it's too silly. It would be like hating "My Ding-a-Ling."

When I was a boy, I heard "Long Live Rock" almost daily on the radio, and I thought it was a tribute to their dead drummer, possibly named "Rocky". Rocky's Dead.

hahahaha

5. "Fiddle About" (91 points)

4. "Silas Stingy" (102 points)

Some people consider "The Real Me" one of the worst Who songs!?

I never submit worst-ofs (I'd end up listing too many songs I once liked), but I'll second "Love Live Rock." Also agree that "Squeeze Box" is a cinch...and truthfully, I've never minded that one at all.

"Long Live Rock" was the only non-It's Hard/Face Dances track on my worst-of list.

I didn't vote, but this least favorite list has already made me sad a couple times.

3. "Love Reign O'er Me" (106 points, one #1 vote)

: O

Aw, I love "Silas Stingy"

This list would make an excellent Portuguese or Argentinian semi-official greatest hits LP from 1985.

2. "Who Are You" (110 points, two #1 votes)

OK, now I'm shocked

I'd second that one, too. It sounds so bombastic now. (Again, I liked it way back when.)

1. "Squeeze Box" (240 points, six #1 votes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9WivuyE_PU

wuh at 2 and 3. my least fave list was surprisingly hard (tbf i somehow forgot 'long live rock', which i do kinda hate), many songs i was 'eh' about but none i actually loathed (again, somehow forgot 'long live rock'), not the case w/ the kinks or the stones, two bands i like more than the who but had no trouble coming up w/ hated candidates.

I should note that all votes for "Squeeze Box" as least-fave were #1 votes. I dig the song myself, but the live versions (Moon-era) put the studio recording to shame.

and now on to the top ten albums!

Missed the worsts during yardwork/lunch/nap, but the only one that surprises me is "The Real Me." The only one I voted for was "Silas Stingy," a real turd imo.

10. TIE: Live At The Isle Of Wight Festival 1970 (56 points)
The Kids Are Alright soundtrack (56 points)
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51mTFd61ORL._SL500_AA300_.jpghttp://www.rhythmhouse.in/ProdImages/images/D168903.jpg

The film of the The Who's set at the IoW festival is awesome.

(I may have to bail soon due to incoming stormage and a dog that will need comforting during said storm)

9. The Who By Numbers (61 points)
http://www.thewho.info/images/75WBN-Ad-Who.jpg

Underrated record; glad to see it made the top, er, 10.

It almost snuck in as my #5, but not quite.

One of the best ever sleeves, btw

8. A Quick One (228 points)
http://jojoplace.org/Shoebox/Valis/QuickOne/thewhoq1.jpg

Will pick this back up hopefully later this afternoon!

Some people consider "The Real Me" one of the worst Who songs!?

― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, September 8, 2012 2:27 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

kinda surprised contrarians didn't manage to rally around one of the big Tommy or Who's Next singles for the worst list

Late to this, but the most perplexing thing about the ten worst was how did "Guitar and Pen" miss? (Other than me not being arsed to do any worst songs.)

"Long Live Rock" (which would've made a great Sleater-Kinney cover) and "Magic Bus" almost but didn't make my main ballot. It's funny how the latter and both "The Real Me" and "Love, Reign O'er Me" (which is a little too portentious out of context, and that Sandler/Cheadle movie didn't help) went from deep cuts to near-staples on classic rock radio in the Clear Channel era.

TKAA soundtrack is SO awesome.

TKAA sndtrack has moments but the late-Keith live stuff where he sounds old and slow really bum me out.

i heard the soundtrack before seeing the movie and i thought it was just the shittiest-sounding live album ever, really don't think the audio from a lot of those TV performances hold up when divorced from the visuals.

^ this is kinda true. old man Pete power sliding into the camera in slo mo is -___-

The way this band decayed and atrophied and the way Pete n Rog are still going as "the who" makes me very, very sad. This band was so important to me growing up and I look back and feel like all the lessons I should have learned from them are how NOT to do things.

on one level i do have more respect for Zep for knowing it wouldn't be the same after the drummer died and more or less leaving it at that. i have a hard time begrudging The Who for carrying on, if they still wanna play the songs and people still wanna hear 'em (I'd jump at the chance if i could afford a ticket). the last 30 years of touring probably haven't dilluted their legacy as much as two Kenney Jones LPs, tbh.

A Quick One only number 8 on the albums list? Well I guess I can keep loading up those mixes with "obscurities."

Everybody who voted for "Silas Stingy" as a bad song actually was thinking of "Sister Disco" and just got confused, please correct THANK YOU.

Late to this, but the most perplexing thing about the ten worst was how did "Guitar and Pen" miss? (Other than me not being arsed to do any worst songs.)

"Guitar And Pen" didn't even get any votes in the worst poll! (I don't mind the song too much myself; it's endearingly, and uncomfortably, awkward)

But the vast majority of their sub-par/crapulent songs are consolidated on about two and a half albums. Since most people steer clear of those entirely, and thus probably haven't heard, say, "It's Your Turn," those songs didn't place high in the worst results.

the Petra Haden version of "Silas Stingy" on her a cappella cover of Sell Out (which i heartily recommend to any fans of the original album) warmed me up to the track

TKAA sndtrack has moments but the late-Keith live stuff where he sounds old and slow really bum me out.

What's perplexing is that he's far more on his game on the 1977 Kilburn show -- the one which was thought inferior to the later Shepperton show used in the film.

who hates Love Reign O'er Me? It was in my top 10

I'm glad people didn't vote for newer Who songs for worst. Where's the fun in voting for an obvious room clearer like In The Ether? I voted Squeeze Box worst too, but now I wish I went with The Real Me. FM radio murdered that song, not that it was any good to begin with.

The way this band decayed and atrophied and the way Pete n Rog are still going as "the who" makes me very, very sad. This band was so important to me growing up and I look back and feel like all the lessons I should have learned from them are how NOT to do things.

Townshend has repeatedly expressed regret over not stopping the band:

- after the 1997 tour
- after the 1989 tour
- after the 1982 tour
- the morning after the Cincinnati tragedy
- after Keith died
- after the 1976 tour
- after recording Quadrophenia

That said, the 2000 shows were the best since '76, and Endless Wire was their best record since The Who By Numbers. So if they want to keep doing it, good. It's when they didn't want to -- as was the case from 1980-82 -- that they shouldn't have.

7. Tommy (350 points, one #1 vote)
http://imagehost.vendio.com/a/35080012/aview/_B209pUwEWk___KGrHqV__h8E_qqEGRffBMj_uhWk7w___1.JPG

Tommy album cover is so cool. So trippy.

I saw them in '96 or so with the Quadrophenia tours and it was great, and again in the 2000's before Entwistle passed and that was amazing. At least they were touring as The Who and not selling their songs to P. Diddy for that lousy Godzilla movie.

That list of shoulda-stopped-thens is great. Should be mandatory for everyone past a certain point, me included.

surprised people consider "The Real Me" a radio staple, i don't think i'd even heard it before my brother bought Quadrophenia

It probably has to do with approaching a band from the viewpoint of a session musician (which 1/2 of Zep were) vs. a non-session musician. Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones did studio work before and after Zeppelin, whereas The Who was to a greater extent all Pete, Roger, and John have ever done.

voted "The Real Me" (not worst but best), great Daltrey vocal on the chorus

also wtf at Tommy #7, you people are deaf dumb & blind

my #1

6. My Generation (407 points, one #1 vote)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3413/3540047765_7732567b24.jpg

Real Me one of the worst? Really?

5. Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy (502 points, four #1 votes
http://www.thewho.info/images/71MBBAB-UK-Who.jpg

One of the best first tries at a greatest-hits ever, and I'm guessing one of the first twenty albums I bought.

4. Quadrophenia (524 points, one #1 vote)
http://media.liveauctiongroup.net/i/4274/5478108_1.jpg?v=8C81BC5F42FB830

I was going to vote in this if I'd had more time to absorb the parts of the discog that I don't know very well, but it didn't happen. (A Quick One is a really solid album though, innit?)

Anyway, re: "Squeeze Box." I remember an interview with Pete Townshend in Hit Parader - prolly from around the time of Face Dances - where he was bashing Paul McCartney's commercialism - but then admitted The Who sold a shitload of t-shirts and "Squeeze Box" was "every bit as bad as Ebony & Ivory." I agree.

I love those "if you enjoyed this recording, you may also like...." suggested albums on the back cover of the original pressings of The Who Sings My Generation - all put there by some Decca guy plugging whatever their recent releases were by a guy who'd apparently never actually listened to The Who. If you enjoyed "My Generation", may we suggest, the Kingston Trio?

"Squeeze Box" is redeemed by the exuberant groove of the fun part, and the expression of true love in the slow pretty "I'm so in love with you" part. I never quite got the metaphor though. "Mama's got a squeeze box she sits in her lap, when daddy comes home he never gets a nap."

Yeah, Decca's cluelessness is a (the?) main reason the Who's early singles stiffed in the US.

xp

3. Live At Leeds (628 points, five #1 votes)
http://www.concertposterart.com/images/posters/detail/Who-Live-At-Leeds-LP-Album-Promo-Poster-Type-Ad-1970-Concert-Poster-Type-Ad.jpg

Gonna finish the albums now, have to run soon.

A curious thing about decca's cluelessness about the early Who was that (as pointed out in Bomp by Mike Sanders back in the day) they managed to place full page ads in Billboard for the first four singles.

2. Who's Next (669 points, five #1 votes)
http://i53.tinypic.com/21nh66h.jpg

True, but they didn't have an independent promo person (standard practice in those days), distribution was spotty at best, and magazines didn't always, or often, receive promo copies.

xp

Yeah, and they let Atco issue "Substitute".

1. The Who Sell Out (1008 points, nine #1 votes)
http://www.thewho.info/images/67SOad-Who.jpg

Not American, not teenagers.

Haven't y'all heard the Kingston Trio cover of "The Ox"? Fuckin' slays, man.

unusual packaging!

The top 50 countdown starts tomorrow!

I see that alot in the liner notes in mid-1960s albums. For whatever reason, the A&R execs of the time seemed to believe only teenagers could possibly like rock music

Reprise inner sleeves of the late 60s were awesomely O_O, especially the one for Are You Experienced? that had ads for Trini Lopez, Frank Sinatra and Dino Desi & Billy records...along with the Electric Prunes of course.

Next thing you're gonna tell me, Hendrix was an opening act for the Monkees....

and Mickey Dlenz owned one of the first Moogs!

they were probably the first to use a Moog on a pop record. Tim Buckley guested on one of their TV show episodes, so did Zappa. The Monkees were cool.

Really happy to see that number one!

The "unique packaging" did the trick.

bah, "Unusual Packaging". Stupid bookmark.

Thing is, I'd never heard the original Sell Out lineup til years after the 90s reissue with all the bonus tracks. With all those bonus tracks, it's almost a more fun version of the White Album.

I love the jingles

I decided early on to reserve a spot on my ballot for one of the Sell Out jingles

I just realized I forgot to vote for A Quick One While He's Away

D:

omg what is wrong with you

yeah forgetting "A Quick One"...that song IS the Who!

but you are forgiven

the definition of fail ;_;

I think "I Need You" was pretty high up on my ballot.

in other news I watched Kids Are Alright today and I want to timetravel back in time & run away with The Who

are there 4 cooler guys in rock? like, a fuck-off stadium band that you would have beers with? even grumpy rog. filled with love atm :)

I just realized I forgot to vote for A Quick One While He's Away

I don't even know who you are anymore!

You would love the new Quad doc.

xp

head = oven

yes I want to see the Quad doc!

side note - watching Live At Kilburn 77: is that considered a sloppy Moony show? bc he seems p good to me?

For decades it was a foregone conclusion that this was one of the worst shows they ever played. And while it's not entirely inconceivable that, by their standards, the Who thought it sucked, an off night for them is a night other bands would kill for.

Moon's not quite where he was in late '76, but he's far better than he was on the 1978 Shepperton show ("Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" in The Kids Are Alright), and handily surpasses everything he did on Who Are You.

So yeah, I think it's a great show. I think the negative reaction to it had a lot to do with everyone's mental and emotional state at the time; Townshend wasn't sure he wanted to continue, Moon was a wreck and seemed to be holding them back, John and Roger wanted to tour...

It was their only 77 show, right?

The 78 show was sloppy but they really made up for it with playing like it was the greatest thing ever in the world. Particularly Townshend, who looks like he is coked out of his mind, but does some great guitar solos. And of course that iconic slide.

xp Yep, their previous show had been 14 months earlier in Toronto.

Voted My Generation as the #1 album. As a kid, I felt weird for liking it so much. It was not a "rock" album in the way even A Quick One was- much more an oldies/rock 'n' roll record from my early 80s vantage point. It wasn't my favorite then, though. Later I realized that I like rock 'n' roll more than rock, and it's appeal grew. This phase of the band was relatively short compare to Stones and Kinks- just one maximum r'n'b album, and the Meaty Beaty singles. But they were using so much more noise than their contemporaries, right from the start. The Ox is like the hardest bits of Link Wray's singles, strung together. Nowadays, it sounds like something from In The Red records with it's balance of sharp melodies, snark and noise.

http://youtu.be/hflF6YCsqbs?t=1m12s

The Who Sings My Generation (I had the one packaged in tandem with Magic Bus - The Who On Tour) took a little time to grow on me. I think I had a similar reaction to yours initially, but after getting into the Velvets and the MC5, I went back to My Generation and it suddenly became evident where/how those bands got so many of their ideas. There is no "European Son" without "The Ox."

I had both of the MCA twofers -- Magic Bus/My Gen and Quick One/Sell Out. They sort of muddied the waters as far as getting a sense of the band's story and chronology, but obviously the music was great. Any release with "Bucket T" is worth it...

Jimmy dug those twofers...a full decade before they were released:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ9ujkz8WUE

didn't vote for least favorite after remembering about Freddy Fender's Squeeze Box

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAKfFDJhuQM

^^DISTORTED STEEL BREAK

That rules.

DId anyone put anything post-Who By Numbers (TKAA excepted) on their best album list?

i put Endless Wire at #5

And now, on with the countdown...

50. "You Better You Bet" (1981) 91 points
http://thewho.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/uk_youbetteryoubet.jpg
http://youtu.be/DKDDl5yOwhQ

wow; kinda figured people hated this song?

I like it a lot, almost voted for it

I like Daltrey's rough style of singing in this...some of the phrasing kinda annoys me a little though? ESPECIALLY when YOU say YES

the bridge is terrific

Fortunately, the singled edited out the most egregious one of those ("I want those feeble-minded AXES OVERTHROWWOOWN").

xp

(the YouTube links will be live versions, demos, or alternate takes)

guess "Squeeze Box" won't place though, as it's hard for me to see people voting for it over this, & I'm guessing few would spend a vote on both unless they're just voting off a greatest hits album tracklist

Yah I didn't vote for either

A ballot of 20 has no room for fucking around imo

yeah i didn't vote for it but i do like it, the oldest who hit i can vaguely remember being contemporary, on the radio when i was a kid

tbh i like "You Better" and "Squeeze Box" both just fine as light, enjoyable pop hits, but yeah no room for them in a top 20

Good greatest hits filler, but that's about it. I don't mind either song

That sleeve belongs in whatever that thread was about dinosaur bands co-opting new wave style and visuals.

"Hey, Kenney, be cool, man."
"HOLY SHIT, I'M IN THE WHO NOW!"
"Get...me...out...of...here..."
"Get him out of here."

Ox is all "Wtf is this shite"

48. TIE: "Join Together" (single, 1972) 94 points
"Mike Post Theme" (Endless Wire, 2006) 94 points
http://www.thewho.info/images/72JTUK-Who.jpg
http://www.thewho.info/images/06EW-UK.jpg
http://youtu.be/_HDMCCLlGl4
http://youtu.be/jRwJXCY6UMA

Sorry, YouTube link is the studio version. The only live versions are within "My Generation" jams from the mid-70s (which are great), or from 1989 (which, no.)

(of "Join Together," that is)

Roger: "Don't tell them that Schlitz is sponsering the tour!" xposts

whoa, I have been a Who fan for 20+ years, & had no idea that "Join Together" was from 1972! it was stuck at the end of my late 80s greatest hits cd w/ "Squeeze Box" & "You Better You Bet" & so I figured it was from that era too. guess the keys are circa Who's Next?

Yeah, those are the same synth tracks as on Pete's demo. They did that a lot ("Baba O'Riley," "Won't Get Fooled Again," most of Quadrophenia) because Pete's demos were so well-engineered that re-creating them would've been pointless. I think "Relay" is the only one where a new synth track was created for the Who recording.

speaking of which...

47. "Relay" (single, 1972) 99 points
http://www.thewho.info/images/72Relay-Who.jpg
http://youtu.be/-a_qAR1PbKI

"Relay" was one i had never spent much time with before listening to stuff for the poll and decided to put it on my ballot at the last minute.

The Old Grey Whistle Test clip of "Relay" is cool--a mimed performance w/Moon totally off-script.

Haha, yeah, Moon was never much for miming. But when he played it live (only on the 1972 European tour), he killed.

Mike Post Theme! One of the best things they ever did. I'd like to see it a little higher, but at least it placed.

oh woah i only saw "Join Together" in that post and glazed over "Mike Post Theme," yes, totally pleased that it placed

It's got me wondering, did anything after, say, 2000 place in the Stones poll?

46. "Love Ain't For Keeping" (Who's Next, 1971) 109 points; 87 points Who's Next, 22 points outtake with Leslie West (Odds & Sods)
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/uzeq-tEmQmQ/0.jpg
http://youtu.be/mz2NXOdX_Jk

xpost Not that I remember

i'm pretty sure nothing after 1983 placed in the Stones poll. these artist catalog polls have generally been unforgiving of fallow later periods (of which i tend to try and find at least one or two songs to champion).

i didn't get a chance to vote in this one but if I had "love ain't for keeping" would have surely been in my top 10. nice to see it place here. not the greatest of songs but crushing performances across the board. just totally committed.

If the Who hadn't put out Endless Wire, I'd be stuck for late-period songs to champion (but probably would've gone with "Cry If You Want"). But shit, "Mike Post Theme" beats everything on It's Hard, Face Dances, and most of Who Are You.

Oddly, though, it was the one Endless Wire song that wasn't better live than on record.

xp

i actually kind of underrepresented Who's Next on my ballot relative to my love of the whole album, sacrificed "Love Ain't For Keeping" and some other great tracks for the sake of covering other albums/eras

i think it goes without saying that "Eminence Front" is the jewel of the post-Moon era and will do pretty well

Ugh I fucking hate EF

i didn't get a chance to vote in this one but if I had "love ain't for keeping" would have surely been in my top 10. nice to see it place here. not the greatest of songs but crushing performances across the board. just totally committed.

― all yoga attacks are fire based (rogermexico.), Sunday, September 9, 2012 5:23 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Dude, check out the YouTube link. The live versions were insane.

45. "Odorono" (The Who Sell Out, 1967) 111 points
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3647/3494936149_081f62799c.jpg
http://youtu.be/yiix71daWP4

cut "Odorono" from my ballot at the last minute, love the way it stretches the ad jingle concept out to a full-length song

there's an old ILM that I kinda miss in which "Eminence Front" woulda won this poll; & it woulda been righteous

Yeah I love this but couldn't make room to vote for it.

lol yes totally (xpost to euler)

that ILM was an idiot

tiresome vamp + tiresome "trenchant commentary" = changeitchangeitchangeit

rogermexico, I think you mean http://youtu.be/hHFW-_ozu9w

44. "Dogs" (single, 1968) 116 points
http://www.thewho.info/images/68Dogs-Who.jpg
http://youtu.be/qkEpopoiqtw

"Where's me wage packet..."

"It's...it's the duke's dog, innit?"

43. "Sunrise" (The Who Sell Out, 1967) 125 points
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fKFwBNQzL1A/TiL9EkP2_cI/AAAAAAAABRo/tGukHAr4fmw/s1600/1065082.jpg
http://youtu.be/rdUHEBSN_2Y

I love this so much

Yeah, this is one of the (many) Who songs that I'll play for someone where they'll say, "That's the Who?!"

Also, Moon fought for it to not be included on the record. Partly this was because he felt it amounted to a Pete solo track (which, yeah, it is), but partly because he was fighting for the inclusion of "Jaguar," which Moon sang lead on.

42. "The Ox" (My Generation, 1965) 126 points
http://www.thewho.info/images/75OxTour-JAE.jpg
http://youtu.be/8L7XiZlalvs

d'oh
http://www.thewho.info/images/75OxTour-JAE.jpg

OX is <3

I finally watched the Ox's Tale documentary that Steve Luongo directed. Kinda amateurish in the way it was out together but great, great interview with Pete in there. And quite a bit of good stuff from the Ox himself.

Yeah, and I always admired the fact that Entwistle self-financed/went into debt in order to do solo tours.

I kinda love that. It's was sorta cool how much he needed to perform....a little bit sad bc it seemed to replace something he couldnt get from home life/family...but still, he seemed to be fed by some kind of creative need

When Pete talked about playing the night Ox passed away, that line where he said he went to look over at Ox and when he wasn't there he just wanted to die. :(

Definitely. As a musician/composer/professor of mine used to say, "The reward has got to be that THIS is what you DO."

xp

41. "Pure And Easy" (recorded 1971; Odds & Sods, 1974) 132 points
http://www.thewho.org/tickets/Forest%20Hills%20-%20July%2031,%201971.jpg
http://youtu.be/CQ7k9ksBmcM

And let me just say, the live version in the YouTube link has that inimitable Who quality of "Wait, we're already in an airplane...and yet, it feels like we're taking off again."

40. "Slip Kid" (The Who By Numbers, 1975) 138 points
http://www.thewho.info/images/76SlipKid-Who-2.jpg
http://youtu.be/heRGZKoLLgg

ooh i thought we were just doing the first 10 today!

Yeah, decided I'd go up to #35 today at the last minute.

Enjoying the rollout so far. I have a request for Tarfumes -- could you include the number of votes along with the number of points? I was wondering how many fellow "Ox" voters were with me and realized the # of votes wasn't there.

Sure, will do!

Pure and Easy. One of the alltime classic "How could they leave this off the album?" songs.

I know, right? They played this at a lot of their 1971 shows. It's one thing to say "Here's one from our new album!" in the first two or three songs; it's another for a reject to be the second song in your set. Like Jeff Beck said, "They were too good."

39. "Armenia City In The Sky" (The Who Sell Out, 1967) 7 votes, 143 points
http://www.whocollection.com/ArmeniaCityInTheSky.JPG
http://youtu.be/wOP0QyRaVjw

(WmC: there were six "The Ox" voteers)

another one i like but couldn't fit onto my ballot (xpost)

20-song ballot was more brutal on this poll than any other, imo.

37. TIE: "Disguises" (Ready Steady Who EP, 1966) 6 votes, 151 points, one #1 vote
"Sea And Sand" (Quadrophenia, 1973) 8 votes, 151 points, one #1 vote
http://thewho.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/uk_readysteadywho-300x300.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3TbSQLcLIVY/UDYxTgHpuZI/AAAAAAAAGKY/Ocpfzc4eB0E/s1600/tumblr_m96i6ghbmw1rv43zto1_500.jpg
http://youtu.be/jTqiikEACu4
http://youtu.be/7-ZlAACQi7M

Both of those were late cuts for me. "Sea & Sand" has a great arrangement, but I think some of the lyric is too pat. (But that goes for Quadrophenia as a whole, so ehhh)

I love Quadrophenia but it's not really a singles album for me... I like it as a whole thing

36. "Christmas" (Tommy, 1969) 8 votes, 151 points
http://c438342.r42.cf2.rackcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/85-300x200.jpg
http://youtu.be/TG1faQDJJvg

35. "Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand" (The Who Sell Out, 1967) 7 votes, 154 points
http://www.thewho.info/images/MAWTSH-NLss-The_Who.jpg
http://youtu.be/087wxoPodrw

36. "Christmas" (Tommy, 1969) 8 votes, 151 points

gtfo

Disguises was my #2. I suspect it's because a Toronto band I used to revere did a blistering cover of it, and that's the version I really love.

The Lawn, right?

You got it.

Two old Toronto guys detour thread...Didn't realize this had started. I believe "Love Ain't for Keeping" was the last thing I cut, when I added one more early song.

what kind of 60s vs. post-60s ratio did y'all end up with on your ballots? mine kind of accidentally was a perfect 50/50

Christmas is too low but it's hard to separate from Eyesight to the Blind which I'm sure will place higher

right?

1960s -- 17
1971 -- 3

(xpost)

60s : 11

^^that, with 9 70s.

60's - 19
70's - Won't Get Fooled Again

60s - 12
post-60s - 8

60's - 12
70's - 8

I really only know the hits and Sell Out so this countdown is going to be mad informative.

'60s: 13
'70s: 7

'60s: 7
'70s: 11
'00s: 2

Never mind all these numbers, want more Who!

Those numbers are not High Numbers.

Counting down #34 - #20 today. Starting soon...

33. TIE: "My Wife" (Who's Next, 1971) 8 votes, 165 points
"The Punk And The Godfather" (Quadrophenia, 1973) 8 votes, 165 points
http://img1.bdbphotos.com/images/orig/4/z/4zt8lvnck0gjvlcz.jpghttp://www.thewho.net/linernotes2/PetePistols.jpg
http://youtu.be/I3Huza7c5pE
http://youtu.be/GsPdrv49YOw

32. "I'm A Boy" (single, 1966) 9 votes, 170 points; 155 points studio, 15 points Live at Leeds
http://media-cache0.pinterest.com/upload/83598136803872903_PS0NettT_b.jpg
http://youtu.be/ILfyJp_uHBo

Such a weird, weird song. The roots of some of Pete's, uh, issues were there from the earliest times.

31. "Boris The Spider" (A Quick One, 1966) 171 points
http://www.julienslive.com/images/lot/2659/0/lot2659.jpg
http://youtu.be/tUteCoxe_NM

Such a weird, weird song.

And funny that it was their first UK #1.

creepy creepy crawly crawly creepy creepy crawly crawly creepy creepy crawly crawly creepy creepy crawly crawly

so all of Who's Next is going to place then

I love "My Wife" so much. Can't really think of anything else they did that sounds anything like it.

30. "Melancholia" (recorded 1968; 30 Years Of Maximum R&B, 1994) 6 votes, 172 points
http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/images/equipment/guitar/pt_homestudio67_lg.jpg
http://youtu.be/3Z8HPV8KRSA

xxp Going Mobile and Getting in Tune will not place

I didn't feel like a big enough fan to vote in this poll - following the rollout to discover the stuff I don't know — but now I feel like I should have done just in order to hoist Armenia up the list. Such a psych classic.

Dig the YouTube link for "Armenia" -- it's just the horn noises!

29. "I'm One" (Quadrophenia, 1973) 9 votes, 173 points
http://m1.mattters.com/youtube/cmCpmEQD0L4/large.jpg
http://youtu.be/mnzuNt-inkw

Oi! Goat! Slow that shit down and let dudes talk!

Sorry, I got no timing. I fucked up the timing.

If I had to bet on one Who's Next song not placing, I'd go with "The Song Is Over." We'll see.

Boris the Spider! My Wife! Yaaaaay!

I love the way Ox's voice strains on "Machiiiiiiine guuuun"

26. TIE: "Heaven And Hell" (b-side, "Summertime Blues," 1970) 7 votes, 175 points, one #1 vote, 104 points studio, 71 points Leeds
"Sparks" (Tommy, 1969) 8 votes, 175 points, one #1 vote, 156 points studio, 19 points Woodstock
"Who Are You" (Who Are You, 1978) 9 votes, 175 points
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b6/SummertimeBlues45.jpg/220px-SummertimeBlues45.jpg
http://www.justpressplay.net/images/stories/woodstock40/whowoodstock.jpg
http://www.thewho.info/images/78WhoAreYou-NL-The_Who.jpg
http://youtu.be/3To9lIysoCs
http://youtu.be/gcm1EKltug0
http://youtu.be/TfJxMhdheak

Sorry, I got no timing. I fucked up the timing.

http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/41582_110617082318676_8967_n.jpg

Live version of "Heaven and Hell" was my favorite for a while on the Leeds album.

"Sparks" is probably one of the first songs i ever learned how to play. I had a tab of the entire Tommy album and would practice playing it to stadium crowds in the living room.

Whoever said they thought "Who Are You" was a new band that wrote a song about their name was otm. I thought that exact thing when i heard this on the radio when i was 5 or something.

"Heaven and Hell"! My #1. <3 The Ox.

Hard to think of another band with as great a set-opener as "Heaven and Hell."

And funny that it was their first UK #1.

they never had a number 1 single.

I recall Townshend saying it was #1 in Melody Maker, but Wikipedia sez, "Before 1969 there was no official singles chart."

"We'd like to play three selected hit singles--three easiest...and "I'm a Boy" which according to the, (crowd cheers) thank you, according to the Melody Maker was our first number one in England I think for about a half an hour (crowd laughs)."

Readers followed the charts in various periodicals and, during this time, the BBC used aggregated results of charts from the NME, Melody Maker, Disc and (later) Record Mirror to compile the Pick of the Pops chart.

25. "Love Reign O'er Me" (Quadrophenia, 1973) 8 votes, 196 points
http://www.thewho.info/images/73LROM-Who.jpg
http://youtu.be/EJi6maTueSc

xx posts question re: ballot distribution, mine is

60s - 20 votes
70s - 0 votes
80s - 0 votes
90s - 0 votes
21st Century - 0 votes
22nd Century - 0 votes

Going Mobile will totally post. Gettin in Tune and Song is Over might not.

LROM was on my least-favorite ballot. So overwrought. Daltrey's an unsubtle singer at best, and a bellowing blowhard on things like this. Not that the song does him any favors, lyrics-wise.

aw :( I love LROM

I almost put LROM on my least-faves -- I had a short list of six songs.

But I'm happy "I'm a Boy" made the list!

least fave voting: I am now sorry I included Magic Bus as a least fave, I forgot about Long Live Rock.... then it would have been consistent: all 70s bombast: Who Are You, Sister Disco, Song Is Over, Love Reign o'er Me, & Long Live Rock.

See now, I guess "Who Are You" is just the right amount of overwrought bellowing for me. That one cranks.

I don't understand Who Are You over LROM. Each to their own but that's crazytalk to my ears

Honestly I didn't go back and actually listen to LROM one more time, but I heard Who Are You in a bowling alley the other day....and while watching the Who documentary....and we're not reliving old times together or anything.

There's a great moment in the recent Quad doc where Daltrey's LROM vocals are isolated. It's pretty chilling. Makes you believe the legend about him singing so loud that he once blew up a mic in the studio.

Really funny that it's the CSI theme now though. That one and "Won't Get Fooled Again" are always being thrust into inappropriate contexts I guess.

Really loud singing, yes.

I don't understand Who Are You over LROM.

I like the motion of "Who Are You," it grooves on the chorus and rocks on the verses. Plus of course as a teenager I loved sneering "Who the fuck are you?"

The Kids are Alright version slays the album version, mostly because Keith is unleashed and Roger is relaxed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdLIerfXuZ4

oh come on, LROM is a joy

24. "The Seeker" (single, 1970) 9 votes, 206 points
http://img.cdandlp.com/2012/07/imgL/115476102.jpg
http://youtu.be/dDn9Ep_UHNM

It needs Roger's bombast, just wouldn't have worked with a restrained, slightly whiny Pete vocal

i don't get the scorn for LROM either. i put it @ #2...

Roger's singing on the verses is incredibly restrained anyway. It's a fantastic vocal performance.

Really funny that it's the CSI theme now though. That one and "Won't Get Fooled Again" are always being thrust into inappropriate contexts I guess.

I had never heard "Eminence Front" before playing GTA: San Andreas and now i LOVE it (tho it didn't make my list). Not sure if i love it cos it's a cool song or if i just have memories of taking off in a fighter jet to it.

Glad to see Armenia made it!

Yeah. Psych Who is some great stuff. Cool drumming on that one!

23. "The Real Me" (Quadrophenia, 1973) 10 votes, 215 points
http://static.bbci.co.uk/programmeimages/384x216/clip/p00v9j25.jpg?nodefault=true
http://youtu.be/7dlN55SoF4Q

Justice

22. "Naked Eye" (recorded 1970; Odds & Sods, 1974) 10 votes, 220 points; 176 points studio, 19 points Isle of Wight 1970, 25 points Young Vic 1971
http://www.thewho.net/linernotes2//71-05-05YoungVic1.jpg
http://youtu.be/t29Xvjq_k9I

"The world begins behind your neighbor's wall"

This was high on my ballot. As much as I love the live versions, I went with the studio version; much more tension before the explosion at the end.

I haven't heard all the live versions (just the Vic one on the expanded Who's Next), but isn't the studio version the most complete, with all the lyrics? I remember Dave Marsh quoting the last verse in Before I Get Old, which I looked at long before hearing the studio version and being "like what now?".

I'm 80% sure the Young Vic has all the lyrics, but the Isle of Wight definitely doesn't. Wait, no, Roger forgot a verse at the Young Vic. So yes, you're right, the studio version is the only officially released one with all the lyrics.

Last one for today coming up!

21. "Our Love Was" (The Who Sell Out, 1967) 9 votes, 231 points, one #1 vote)
http://new.supanet.com/after-they-were-famous--celebrity-jobs--roger-daltrey-the-who-sell-out--heinz-baked-beans-7749064.jpg
http://youtu.be/pxOEcvtQaEM

I dunno what criteria people used to pick individual tunes off of Sell Out... I ranked Odorono highest myself

I think part of the reason I don't really "get" Sell Out is that I don't really know where the songs end & begin...except for "Armenia" (which I voted for) & of course "Miles" (which I didn't vote for).

like "Odorono"...is it a song or a skit? does it have a chorus? it bewilders me!

I Can See For Miles and I Can't Reach You are both locks to finish high.

like "Odorono"...is it a song or a skit?

Yes!

The greatest part about Our Love Was is the way it comes in from the jingle

I love the bassline in 'Our Love Was' so much.

Great solo on "Our Love Was"-- very Randy California (and predates Spirit as a recording unit).

My number one is "Our Love Was, Is" (the title on the US that is from what I understand the stereo version with a different guitar solo). Glad to see it finishing this high. "Odorono" was on my ballot too and I have high hopes for lots of the rest of Sell Out to also show as we go.

I would no more take apart Sell Out for individual track plays than I would Another Green World or The Residents Commercial Album, but picking favorite sections ended up a fairly comprehensible task.

From "go to the church of your choice" to Our Love Was, Is, to the jingles leading into I Can See For Miles: insane.

<<Great solo on "Our Love Was"-- very Randy California (and predates Spirit as a recording unit).

― Instagrams of Lily on My Facebook Wall (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, September 10, 2012 4:18 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink>>

Oh yeah!

My number one is "Our Love Was, Is" (the title on the US that is from what I understand the stereo version with a different guitar solo).

I remember that being the title on the US Sell Out, as well as on Magic Bus - The Who On Tour. Don't know if I've heard that solo, though. The YouTube link above is the mono mix, which has more prominent Daltrey vocals and a pedal steel solo.

<<The YouTube link above is the mono mix>>

Wow, wish I could share it (wonder if my library has the CD, my own is well-worn vinyl)

....it's a very sleek electric solo, and the stereo mix on that song is breathtaking. Great french horn part too.

I had a tough time picking out favorites too. Ultimately i placed "Tattoo" at number one, but I remember "Odorono" being an early favorite and pretty much everything is charming! I don't think too many "Sell Out" tracks were on my top 10, even though it's my favorite record. I agree it's biggest strength is as one undifferentiated experience.

But there are so many great moments! The fuzzy solo on "Our Love Was, Is" is wonderful.

A long time ago i found the complete Radio London jingles collection on slsk. Great listen as well!

it's smoooth sailing with the highly successful sounds of wonderful radio londooooon WHOOPEE

"Hoooolllldddd yer group toooggggethaaa with Ro---to---Sound Strings!"

Gooooo to the chuuuuuurch of your chooiiiiiice

Never cared much for "The Seeker"--it's okay--but it was used well in American Beauty. (Strangely enough, it was also used in The Limey the very same year.)

"The Seeker" almost seems like something they could have done in '65 or '66, but with that slowed-down 70's classic rock syrup dripped all over it. Which is still nice at times.

I guess writing for stoned festival-goers vs. writing for methed-out mods.

Who the fuck you callin' methed out?!!?!?

Oh, the other kind of mod, nm.

lol

I love "My Wife" so much. Can't really think of anything else they did that sounds anything like it.

― clemenza, Monday, September 10, 2012 12:21 PM (9 hours ago) Bookmark

for years it was all tangled up in my brain with "5:15"

really happy about the high placing of "Naked Eye"

also disappointed about how low "Who Are You" is, that song is so awesome and full of different great parts

guh can find jason forrest's 'ten amazing years' on youtube or vimeo but did manage to find this: http://vimeo.com/33103241

Love that.

How he got the song:

So we went to MCA or whoever has it and they said, “Well, we have the master rights and Pete Townshend’s publishing company has the publishing, and it’s a favored-nations deal.” In other words, whatever we negotiated with them, we would then also have to pay Pete and the publishing. So their first offer was, I think, $150,000. [Laughs.] Because it was the whole song! So we’d have to pay $300,000 total. That’s a whole episode for us. That’s the whole budget for the entire episode. But we didn’t give up. That’s the way it worked. And either the company or someone else told Blair, “The other way to work it is to go to Pete Townshend first.” Because it’s the same in the other direction: Whatever deal he makes, they have to honor his deal, too. They have to take whatever offer he gives. They have to match it. But try to go get Pete Townshend on the phone. That’s even harder. So it just took a lot of fuckin’ time. And occasionally, we’d be on the set shooting “Blueberries” or “Moving” or whatever it is, and I say to Blair, “How’s it going with The Who?” and she’d either say, “Dead” or, “I just talked to a guy today” or, “A guy I talked to today is looking into something.” And it went on and on. And finally, she said, “Well, Pete Townshend wants to know exactly how it’s being used, and he wants to see the show. He wants to see some episodes.” So I wrote him a synopsis of how it would be. I described it very carefully, and we sent him the DVD of five episodes from last season. And then, I don’t know, three or four months later, it felt like, he came back to us and said, “Can you send me 7,500 bucks?” [Laughs.] Yeah! And so the whole thing cost $15,000, which is fucking nothing!

awesome story

It's a cool scene.

Most awesome part of the Louie scene is the younger actress's obvious and futile struggle not to react to Louie or the song, but she ends up wiggling her fingers to the beat at one point.

Gonna roll out more results today; would folks prefer #20-#11, or the whole top 20?

Not ignoring the question -- it's just a tough one! Maybe the whole enchilada today, but either way is cool.

No need to rush. I say reveal the top 10 tomorrow

Sounds good. Will do 20-11 today, starting shortly...

20. "5.15" (Quadrophenia), 1973) 11 votes, 233 points
http://www.thewho.net/linernotes2/515.jpg
http://youtu.be/FlL-FFQZd2I

That was my #10 (and the only non-'60s track in my top 10).

19. "Eminence Front" (It's Hard, 1982) 10 votes, 241 points
http://www.mutineermagazine.com/img/blog/schlitz_rocks_america.jpg
http://youtu.be/07hoKUrMT5A

Great scene in the movie, but "5:15" hasn't aged well for me--partly because of the horns, mostly because of the vocal.

TOOOOOO LOW

this is a put on, right?

fuckin 60s

TOOOOOO HIGH

VegemiteGrrl you are no longer forgiven

Has Pete said anything in any interviews about the radical changes in his guitar soloing in the last 10 years or so? Is he getting lessons or something?

That's the most 1982 tour poster ever.

Same year as Tron, which I'm guessing they saw. And really liked.

Schlitz Rocks America

great sequencers

All you have to do is see Daltrey's bleach blond surfer dude hair to know that this song is the worst

The reason I hate it so much is that if you didn't like or know the Who you might go, "oh wow this is a cool Peter Gabriel song"

Has Pete said anything in any interviews about the radical changes in his guitar soloing in the last 10 years or so? Is he getting lessons or something?

I think his single-string facility really started taking off in 1982. With "Eminence Front" (and Kenney Jones), he was finally able to luxuriate in a backbeat; his solos on that song in '82 were unlike any he'd played previously (and were one of the few highlights of those shows).

More recently, though, he hurt his arm/hand in a bike accident in 1991, and my guess is that he doubled-down on practicing as part of his rehab. That seems to be around when the fast fingerpicking started.

Personally, I thought his psychedelic psoloing in the expanded "Sell Out" (especially "Mountain King") a revelation!

OK. I mentioned lessons because he's doing more GIT/Berklee style stuff in the post-2000 stuff I've seen, some jazz modal playing and whammybar tricks -- but if anyone in rock music could teach himself that at home alone with a book, guitar, and computer, it'd be Pete.

I don't think all of the changes to his soloing are brilliant, but they're noticeable!

Little love for these 2 tracks from me. 5.15 is too forced, though the bridge "inside outside" is nice. Other Quad tracks deserved much better.

I certainly hope that wasn't it for Quad!

He's said his all-time favorite guitarist is Pat Martino, so I can see why he'd want to gravitate towards that style of playing. I'm not personally a fan of Martino's, but when that style is filtered through Pete, it gets pretty scary.

xp

18. "Behind Blue Eyes" (Who's Next, 1971) 11 votes, 261 points, one #1 vote
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/d/dc/The_Who_Behind_Blue_Eyes.jpg/220px-The_Who_Behind_Blue_Eyes.jpg
http://youtu.be/KLMc6J9h3mU
(start at 1:45)

YouTube link has Daltrey's vocals isolated with Keith's drums. VegemiteGrrl referenced it earlier; it's a fascinating/revelatory insight into Moon's approach.

"Eminence Front" is such a massive groove, i remember being so happy whenever it'd come on the radio during the graveyard shift at my old night job

x-post: ...and Martino is another guitarist who had to completely re-learn guitar as a grown-up. Wheels within wheels.

god I love Behind Blue Eyes.

if you didn't like or know the Who you might go, "oh wow this is a cool Peter Gabriel song"

never bothered to listen to it before and uh yeah my first thought was "hey this is a peter Gabriel song!"

thanks for posting that link Tarfumes -- I've been looking everywhere trying to find it!!

I never heard "Eminence Front" on the radio till a coupla years after the fact...the single from It's Hard was "Athena". That was all my local AM stations played.

i only heard "Athena" for the first time while putting my ballot together for this! it's pretty good

Yeah, EF stuck around for the "classic rock" canon, even though "Athena" was a much bigger hit (#28 to EF's #68).

xp

xp to VG -- you're welcome! It's such a great moment in that doc.

Eminence Front was all over MTV back in the day

regret not voting Behind Blue Eyes. the "when my fist clenches..." part is all time

unrelated - whenever I see interviews with Daltrey and Ox and Pete I'm always struck by how much genuine love they have for Moony.

Definitely. Although, Pete had some snarky things to say about him in the Quad doc (including a hilarious imitation of his drumming).

17. "Pinball Wizard" (Tommy, 1969)13 votes, 263 points
http://www.gameroomchamp.com/product_images/b/178/Tommy_The_Whos_Pinball_Wizard_99-01__22355_zoom.jpg
http://youtu.be/gpGegoE3Kik

I used to love BBE, but burned out on it in the 70s/80s. Burned out on all of Who's Next, really.

16. "Bargain" (Who's Next, 1971) 10 votes, 269 points, two #1 votes (233 points studio, 36 points San Francisco 12/13/71)
http://www.myticketstubs.com/711202.jpg
http://youtu.be/y0lXdl_HKrY

i thought for sure i'd be the only #1 vote for that one! i really just started to feel that song in my bones in a major way the last few years.

"Bargain" was my second highest Who's Next vote. I think it's my favorite Daltrey singing, especially on the bridge, but also on the chorus. & the drumming is, needless to say, tremendous, especially in the chorus.

The live version (in the YouTube link) was my #2. Just...fucking rampaging elephants.

Bargain is awesome

"Bargain" covered by onetime contemporary Christian big-shots Rez Band ("rez" short for "resurrectiom"):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laGonH-hAQA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0cGMW4wUQc

15. "Happy Jack" (single, 1966) 15 votes, 298 points
http://991.com/newGallery/The-Who-Happy-Jack-83349.jpg
http://youtu.be/3yijuowRXiM

Their first US top 40 hit (#24)!

Yay Steadman!

Daltrey looking frighteningly like Beavis there.

LAP LAP LAP LAP

LAFF LAFF LAFF LAFF

"I saw ya!"

have we talked about Who harmonies? was thinking about that over the weekend -- they really are fking awesome at harmonies aren't they

Heh-heh-heh! Heh-heh-heh! He said "jack"!

haahha yeah I love that 'I saw ya' --- and isn't it Pete catching Moony trying to sing with them, when they didn't want him to?

I voted for "Happy Jack" but for the Live at Leeds version; what a thumper

D'oh! You did? I'll have to issue a correction. (results would be the same, though) (and the spreadsheet is at home, so I'll check later)

I forgot about the Leeds version - def a goodun

xp Yep, they were recording the backing vocals, but Moon kept fucking up (he sang backup on records a surprising number of times), so they made him sit out of sight in the control room. After they finally got through a take, he popped his head up, and then down again. Hence the "I saw ya!"

lol

"Happy Jack" is something that would never fly these days, sort of like the Fugs "Dirty Old Man". So odd that a song about an old pervert would be a hit single. Great melody/buildup though! Terrific drumming, this is the kind of music Moon was made to play.

The burglars video for Happy Jack is pretty good as well
http://www.youtu.be/52cQeFBU2Kw

Beginning to lose hope that I Don't Mind will chart. It's all about the solo and the stabbing "I know, yes I know" bit

I kinda love the Hospitals' cover of "Happy Jack", which is the Who single with drums and distorted vocals on top of it. It's fantastic.

14. "Magic Bus" (single, 1968) 14 votes, 301 points (289 points studio, 62 points Leeds, 33 points Stockholm, 8/23/72)
http://powerlinead.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/the-who-1968.jpg
http://youtu.be/UKMn3Ip4y6s

yeeeeesssss magic bus rules

xxpost Bruneau -- really? I didn't think Happy Jack was about a pervert? I don't even get a creepy vibe from that song. It's just about a weird old man who sleeps on the beach that the kids make fun of. Unless I'm totally wrong.

Yeah, that was my impression too (weird old dude, not a pervert). Townshend generally left the pervert portraiture to Entwistle.

On second thought I think you two are right. Haven't read the lyrics in a while, and it's something i apparently read too much into when that gossip about Townshend hit the news.

it's no Aqualung, that's for sure

:)

I'm also going with the 'weird old dude' interpretation. I never got a 'pervert' vibe from the song at all.

Anyways i love the orchestral drums here, and the music video is ace. Had no idea it was filmed for a Monkees-like TV show that never happened.

xxxp never thought Aqualung was about a pervert either - the lyrics that imply the character is a pervert I thought were assumptions made by a second narrator.

Glad "Happy Jack" placed high. Wasn't sure if it was considered an annoying novelty--thought it might even make the worst list.

The Who's novelty songs were always better than anyone else's.

The original US cover for A Quick One highlighted the inclusion of "Happy Jack" more prominently than the album title, due to it being a top-40 hit.

Also, let's not forget about this much early "Tommy"-related pinball machine than the one pictured above, from 1975:

http://www.thewho.info/images/75Wizard-Who.jpg

http://spyhunter007.com/Images/wizard_bally_pinball_1975.jpg

early = earlier

feeling all the bumpers, indeed....

lol

I've never gotten the love for "Magic Bus"... even as tight and awesome as it was, the original 6-song Live at Leeds had a big ol' 7:30 chunk of filler at the end.

duuuuuuuuuuuude

seriously?

Live at Leeds Magic Bus is like my Top 3 Who tracks. That jam at the end is awesome!!!

Dudes i have that wizard pinball machine on my porch!

I just realized....wow. It's in dreadful condition (belongs to the landlord) but i never thought it was an official Tommy machine. Oh boy that is awesome.

can you post a pic?

magic bus is sooo dope.

I remember the arcade i went to when i was a kid had it, but can't remember if i played it

I WAAAANT IT
I WAAAANT IT

duuuuuuuuuuuude

seriously?

Live at Leeds Magic Bus is like my Top 3 Who tracks. That jam at the end is awesome!!!

lol, it takes all kinds! And I'm just one of the kinds.

i wish i could hear magic bus (or any who song) for the first time again

otm, how awesome would that be

there's another, better Tommy pinball game fwiw

Just remembered something, not sure if it's been mentioned yet or not. One of my favourite (relatively) early record reviews is the one Pete Townshend wrote in Rolling Stone for Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy. I think that's where I saw him mention that "Pinball Wizard" was written for Nik Cohn in an effort to get him to like the Who better--Cohn was a big pinball player.

Remember that weird backwards bit on the vinyl edition of the Live At Leeds "Magic Bus"?

xp - i don't think Tommy was to even be a pinball player before Nik Cohn was critical of an early draft

Yes, just double-checked--it wasn't that he was down on the Who in general: "a ploy to get Nik Cohn...to be a little more receptive to my plans to write a Rock Opera." Pete spells it "Nick."

sorry for the delay...

13. "Tattoo" (The Who Sell Out, 1967) 13 votes, 312 points, two #1 votes
http://www.rosshalfin.com/diary/february-2008/who-tattoo.jpg
http://youtu.be/XO20hw41N2Y

This was my number one. I'm pretty sure they played it in 2006(?) when i saw them, which made my effing day. A lovely, silly, dramatic, beautiful, aching, and funny song!

I like how it could be a parody on people that think tattoos are cool, but it's also a love song to them.

The original US cover for A Quick One highlighted the inclusion of "Happy Jack" more prominently than the album title, due to it being a top-40 hit.

So prominently that Decca re-titled the album:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51xtlaadPnL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

My copy, still quite old, looks like this:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_BvRc-bawld0/R_9aztx7GbI/AAAAAAAAAY0/IB3BKyYQSRc/s320/HPYJCK01%2B-%2BFront.jpg

I was on my phone while the results were coming out over the weekend so I couldn't check out all the youtube links til now -- Tarfumes this stuff is all gold

LOVE that Relay performance

and Weller & Pete trying to rehearse Sunrise was fking killer. It's kind of, reassuring, that the rehearsal process is pretty much the same for genius legends as it is for normies

Yeah, that "Relay" is so great. And for all the talk (usually from those drummers who value technical facility above all else) of Moon being "sloppy" or "just an apeshit drummer," HE'S the one that keeps it all together, not just keeping time with the tape, but taking far more chances than he did on the record.

And for anyone who wants to hear the live "Magic Bus" referenced in the results above, e-mail me for the s3ndsp4c3 link.

I can say without hyperbole that it's the most absurdly explosive Who performance ever in the history of everything ever.

Never knew until now that "Happy Jack" wasn't really on A Quick One. Likewise, never even knew the Who covered "Heat Wave" until recently, since that was deleted to make room for Happy Jack on the LP. Eventually both songs were included on US albums.

Yours looks like the first US CD issue...correct? I think the first time the title A Quick One was used for the US market, it was on the twofer dealie:
http://www.spirit-of-rock.com/les%20goupes/T/The%20Who/A%20Quick%20One%20-%20The%20Who%20Sell%20Out/A%20Quick%20One%20-%20The%20Who%20Sell%20Out.jpg

nope, it's an LP, i thought from the '70s but maybe '80s. A single LP, not the two-fer

Interesting -- didn't know it was ever issued as a standalone with both titles.

12. "I Can't Reach You" (The Who Sell Out, 1967) 18 votes, 384 points
http://therawgallery.com/en/wp-content/uploads/DMontgomery-Who01.jpg
http://youtu.be/piSE4TTHzzw

xp - Wiki sez the 11-track US release is from 1974. Don't know when they started printing the proper album name though

"I Can't Reach You" is a jam, such a lovely chorus, vocal harmonies in terrific form. It's a pop song that could stand on its own, which is rare on that album.

Is this the greatest song ever sung by Pete Townshend? It could be.

xp I don't understand this point of view.

Tattoo, I Can't Reach You, Sunrise, I Can See For Miles, Armenia City in the Sky

which one of these doesn't stand on it's own?

last one for the day; tomorrow, THE TOP TEN!

11. "So Sad About Us" (A Quick One, 1966) 17 votes, 404 points, one #1 vote
http://images.45cat.com/the-jam-so-sad-about-us-polydor.jpg
http://youtu.be/dM0oOTrCVuQ

YES soooo good!

YESSSSSS always felt this was underrated/ignored. I guess not!

simultaneously invents and surpasses the Police

"So Sad About Us" should be top 5. such a fucken jam

"apologies mean nothing, when the damage is done"

this "Tattoo"/"I Can't Reach You"/"So Sad About Us" run is beautiful

yeah it's nice to get a heavy dose of that tender '60s Who

boy has the who shot up in my estimation after re-listening to it all (i didn't vote, too busy when the submissions were due). maybe it's just that i always neglected them in favor of the beatles and the stones so they are like an untapped wellspring...incredible! i still don't know how you have a band with everyone soloing at the same time--my jaw still reliably drops when i listen to them

soloing at the same time, all through every song i meant

Iago otm -- it kind of occured to me today that they found a way to be four distinct personalities in their actual *music* as much as irl. It's like a balls-out rock n roll...jazz band? or something. Not even jazz though.

I'm a huge Beatles fan, huge Stones fan..equally as huge Who fan. But as much as I think about what the Beatles were doing when the Stones were doing their thing, and vice versa, and bands like the Beach Boys...I never think of the Who as occupying the same timeframe. Like they had their own parallel universe because they were just so, I dunno...rarified? Not to overstate 'omg the who rulez' kind of thing. But I guess, I dunno...I think of them like I think of Pink Floyd. There's them. And there's the rest.

excellent points all, vegemitegrrl. they definitely seem like Art to me now, and I never really got around to appreciating them fully...like Who Sell Out, that's as good as piece of pop art as Lichtenstein or Rosenquist. Totally sui generis, as you astutely pointed out!

Listened to Quadrophenia on the drive home from work, got all overwhelmed with love all over again, lol

Great girl group harmonies in "So Sad About Us". That song could be a Phil Spector hit. Maximum R&B, Mod Soul.

o shit a Bangles version, I would wet myself

sorry for hyperbole, I probably wouldn't actually wet myself

but I would dig it thoroughly

(with mild and discreet incontinence, lol)

"But I guess, I dunno...I think of them like I think of Pink Floyd. There's them. And there's the rest."

bbbbut the move, and the small faces, and the attack, and the pretty things, and the creation and all the other amazing mod and freakbeat bands in the u.k.! the who were at the top of the heap, but there were lots of people making who music.

I know, I know...goddamn details ruining my grand sweeping statements

The Smoke had a couple of Who-like hits. "My Friend Jack" is pretty nice. Nobody really has the dynamics of the Who though, they are a rock orchestra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EEANTrFJqA

bbbbut the move, and the small faces, and the attack, and the pretty things, and the creation and all the other amazing mod and freakbeat bands in the u.k.! the who were at the top of the heap, but there were lots of people making who music.

― scott seward, Tuesday, September 11, 2012 10:28 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

what was the timeline of that stuff anyway? i've always been curious how much The Who was building on their contemporaries and how much they were just taking that American R&B and rock'n'roll source material and just totally inventing their approach to it. and it's pretty fascinating how later on, when the big bands seemed fairly competitive and aware of each other, The Who never seemed to really follow anyone's lead -- they seemed to respond to the Beatles' innovations by just going for even more audaciously original ideas.

Beginning to lose hope that I Don't Mind will chart. It's all about the solo and the stabbing "I know, yes I know" bit

― Dr X O'Skeleton, Tuesday, September 11, 2012 4:28 PM (7 hours ago) Bookmark

yeah, am bummed out that too. LOVE the longer take on the last My Generation reissue.

I should probably put this in a Pussy Galore thread, but just realized earlier today (at least I think) that the Jon Spencer bit at the start of Understand Me on "Dial M" is straight up inspired by "Pete Dialogue" from the 30 Years of Maximum R&B thing. Maybe I'm wrong, or maybe this is common knowledge...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjumawGYmwg

Iago otm -- it kind of occured to me today that they found a way to be four distinct personalities in their actual *music* as much as irl. It's like a balls-out rock n roll...jazz band? or something. Not even jazz though.

I'm a huge Beatles fan, huge Stones fan..equally as huge Who fan. But as much as I think about what the Beatles were doing when the Stones were doing their thing, and vice versa, and bands like the Beach Boys...I never think of the Who as occupying the same timeframe. Like they had their own parallel universe because they were just so, I dunno...rarified? Not to overstate 'omg the who rulez' kind of thing. But I guess, I dunno...I think of them like I think of Pink Floyd. There's them. And there's the rest.

― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, September 11, 2012 9:52 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Great points. I think this is why they were so highly respected by their contemporaries. They weren't blues purists, nor were they psychedelic, but bands in those camps totally envied the Who. The Beatles tried to emulate/beat them with "Helter Skelter"; the Stones put them on the Circus when the Who were at their lowest commercial ebb in the UK -- only to completely upstage the Stones; much of Piper At The Gates Of Dawn would be inconceivable without "Anyway Anyhow Anywhere"; and as Jeff Beck said, "There is no one who ever held a candle to them. Townshend, he’s not a finicky fiddly tiddley guitar player like I was, and like Eric and Jimmy were -we were always a bit fairy arsed about it - he was orchestral and he was this windmill orchestra with a couple of howitzer cannons on the side. They were too good."

what was the timeline of that stuff anyway?

The Who seemed to be first out of the gate -- "Anyway Anyhow Anywhere" was May '65, before any of those other bands had a record out (Small Faces' "What'cha Gonna Do About It" was next, in August).

That's a great quote from Beck.

yeah i'm not debating who was first or best - though the maximum r&b of the pretty things started coming out in 1964 (and the prettys were very influential in the u.k. just as a live band for the punch and heft of their sound early on) and there were other mod con artists recording in 64 as well and the stones and "you really got me" and all that - just saying that there were a lot of contemporary who-like artists. people who stole from the who's sound for sure but everyone stole from everyone. when i think of the who i think of all kinds of bands. but i also understand the feeling that they were alone in their who-ness. the punk loner vibe. love the who vibe. they were nuts.

kinks and the who actually i think of as being kinda separate from the world around them. and early on kinda effortlessly inventing shit that people would mimic for years to come.

anyway, this is one of my fave who things. american b-side version. like it better than the album version.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU7t9fiZ7IU

Actually, Townshend has gone on record a bunch of times saying he stole the "I Can't Explain" riff from "You Really Got Me" (even though it's not the exact same thing, but still, decent of him to cop to it). And he said something about how he, Beck, and Dave Davies will go to their graves never agreeing on who started using feedback first. So yeah, there was definitely a lot of everyone-stealing-from-everyone. (also, the Eddie Philips/Jimmy Page Guitar Bow Battle)

xp Yeah, love that version -- Al Kooper on organ!

interesting how My Generation didn't suffer the Whole Lotta Love/Hey Jude/Satisfaction syndrome. it will be top 10

I didn't vote for "My Generation" but I think a saving grace it has over the others you mention is the Live at Leeds version. also the original single is very short

I've been meaning to ask: were/are Medac and Odorono actual real product names or were they made up for that album?

According to the Who Liner Notes page (highly recommended, btw), Odorono was a real product:
http://www.thewho.net/linernotes/WhoSellOut.htm

whoops, trying image again:
http://www.thewho.net/linernotes2/odo-ro-noad.jpg

10. "Anyway Anyhow Anywhere" (single, 1965) 17 votes, 420 points, two #1 votes
http://www.thewho.net/whotabs/images/equipment/guitar/19680720_va_pt_02.jpg
http://youtu.be/0hYjsOqOYHo

NOTHIN GETS IN MY WAY

NOT EVEN LOCKED DOORS

this is exciting. some big songs will be left out

I was listening to my old shot-to-hell cassette of The Kids Are Alright in the car the other day and "Anyway Anyhow Anywhere" came on, all warped and degraded sounding, it was just so perfect and I was like "what kind of jackass cuts this from their ballot at the last second to throw a sympathy vote to 'I Need You'?" I'm a dumbass. :(

Hey, it was cool to see votes for "I Need You" (you weren't the only one)! That's a great song, and very underrated.

I didn't vote for My Generation cuz yeah I'm sick of it. also every time I hear it I remember the anecdote about how Roger adopted the stuttering delivery as a joke on one of the engineers (who had a stutter) which just seems cruel

also I figured everyone else would vote for it

Fear not!

Another salient aspect of "My Generation" is Daltrey's delivery: an angry and frustrated stutter. Various stories exist as to the reason for this distinct delivery. One is that the song began as a slow "talking" blues number without the stutter (in the 1970s it was sometimes performed as such, but with the stutter, as "My Generation Blues"), but after being inspired by John Lee Hooker's "Stuttering Blues", Townshend reworked the song into its present form. Another reason is that it was suggested to Daltrey that he stutter to sound like a British mod on speed. It is also proposed, albeit less frequently, that the stutter was introduced to give the group a framework for implying an expletive in the lyrics: "Why don't you all fff... fade away!" However, producer Shel Talmy insisted it was simply "one of those happy accidents" that he thought they should keep. Roger Daltrey has also commented that he had not rehearsed the song prior to the recording and he was unable to hear his own voice through the monitors. The stutter came about as he tried to fit the lyrics to the music as best he could, and the band decided it worked well enough to keep. The BBC initially refused to play "My Generation" because it did not want to offend people who stutter, but it reversed its decision after the song became more popular.

"I Need You" was one of my last cuts. now I feel bad.

Hey, it was cool to see votes for "I Need You" (you weren't the only one)! That's a great song, and very underrated.

Yeah, it's ridiculously underrated; iirc even the Moon bio I have basically dismisses it as a failed attempt at songwriting.

Hah I voted for "I Need You" too. "Lord and Jingo are coming down with the wives...."

9. "Pictures Of Lily" (single, 1967) 21 votes, 466 points
http://www.whocollection.com/2FloorToms.jpg
http://youtu.be/oCCO5q8eV1w

KILLER RIFF! French Horn solo!

love this song. swooping horn part is so weird

Also, i love watching Moon play drums, arms up high, like he's driving a stagecoach.

That's on fire.

I'm talking the standard mimed video. I'd never seen this rehearsal footage before! I'm going to have to dl all this Youtube Who stuff later.

harmonies! the best! love love love love this so much

yeah Tarfumes that rehearsal video is awesome

Just checked my ballot again. Looks like the Blue Red and Grey won't place either. Lovely recent version on youtube of Pete singing it to his family.

Lily is an exemplar of the earlier comment about the who being in their own universe: Smutty lyrics, complex chord changes, sweet harmonies and these incredible sounds on the guitar and French horn.

But that's the genius of Lily -- the lyrics aren't smutty. It's just the interpretation of what that picture actually, whether or not Lily is clothed etc that lets you think it's naughty

they lyrics are totally innocent -- I didn't realize til I was much older that it wasn't anythign like the rude song I thought it was when I was a kid

Great harmonies on "She's been dead since 1929"

^^^^ my favorite part