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

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