The Who!!

I love The Who. I mean I honestly think they may be, pound for pound, the best rock band ever. When I say pound for pound I mean studio, live, longevity. To see The Who live at the absolute peak you must see them at Woodstock. That, my friends, is a fuckin rock band. And to see The Who 43 years later at the Sandy Relief concert I rest my case. That, my friends, is STILL a fuckin rock band! Oh I know Roger Daltrey is a 70 year old man with his shirt open but goddamn the man can still bring it. Pete Townsend is still gettin it done at 68 whether he's windmilling or self loathing. The man is genius. Period.

There are those who believe that the day Keith Moon croaked was the day The Who croaked. Nonsense. Yeah yeah, to listen to Who records from the Keith Moon years is an experience to behold. Just listen to his manic drumming. He made drums a necessity. He made drums an instrument instead of something the least talented guy in the band pound on incessantly much to my annoyance. But to expect a Keith Moon to live long when he doused his pained self with horse tranquilizers and could be replaced by some dude in the crowd was a bit too much to expect. So Keith Moon, the best rock drummer ever, gave up the ghost in 1978 much to the surprise of nobody and was replaced by a better dude in the crowd. The Who moved on.

When John Entwhistle went all Keith Moon back in 2002 and killed himself, well not on purpose, but nonetheless killed his own dumb ass, they said well thats definitely it. The Who is dead. Again, nonsense. Because Pete and Roger are still there and let's face it, Roger may be the best front man ever, maybe (sorry Mick), just maybe and Pete is a fuckin genius if for no other reason than Tommy.

I've only seen The Who one time and Roger was sick as a dog. He still brought it. He still hit "the note". Pete still windmilled and even apologized for playing new material. God I love his knowing attitude. Onward.

Worst Who Song:

Pinball Wizard?

Hell I don't know. I don't even dislike this song but I'm just not in love with it. Maybe because I DO hate Elton John's cover of it in that horrific Tommy movie of the late 70's. Plus in a former life when I was on the radio playin all your favorite hits, the requests for Elton John's version made me wanna take some horse tranquilizers myself.

My Favorite Who Song:

Can't Explain

I may regret this later when Behind Blue Eyes becomes my favorite or Happy Jack or Baba O'Riley or the entire Tommy album or the Who Masterpiece or I Can See For Miles or any of many others I will say "Hey thats my favorite Who song" at any moment.

But Can't Explain captures an era. The Mods, the mid 60's London. Say you don't see Austin Powers Union Jacked Mini when you hear the song.

The Who Masterpiece:

Won't Get Fooled Again

You expected anything different? This tune has it all. The organ. The windmill. Moon's drums. The anticipation. The scream. There is no better song ever written to close a concert. Nuthin. 8 minutes of pure joy! And if nothing else for the life advice. "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss". Absolutely goddamn right, Pete!