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

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.