Wednesday, February 27, 2019
The Who Music Quiz
Short Disclaimer You may or may not notice that I did not reference work e actuallything The Who beat bendd, or all the people in their line-up at all condemnations. Nor did I mention Tommy(the movie) or Quadrophenia (the movie). I wanted to focus on The Whos medical specialty in their prime years, rather than their various reunions and films.Band MembersPete Townshend Guitar, bluntsRoger Daltrey Vocals, harmonica thatt Entwistle Bass, vocals, French hornKeith Moon (until 1978) Drums, vocalsKenney J anes ( later 1978) DrumsJohn Bundrick (after 1978) KeyboardsDiscography1964 hit Im the Face1965 Singles I Cant Explain, My Generation1965 The Who Sings My Generation1966 Singles Substitute, Im a Boy, The Kids Are Alright, Happy bull1966 A Quick One1967 Singles Pictures of Lilly, I Can have For Miles1967 The Who Sell Out1968 Singles I Cant Reach You, Dogs, whoremaster batch.1968 Magic Bus The Who on go game1969 Singles Pinball Wizard, Im Free, The Acid baron1969 Tommy1970 S ingles The Seeker, Summertime Blues1970 do it at Leeds1971 Singles cornerstone Blue Eyes, Lets See Action1971 Whos Next1971 Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy1972 Singles Join To annoyher, Relay1973 Singles 515, Love Reign everywhere Me1973 Quadrophenia1974 Single The Rael Me1974 Odds and Sods1975 Singles Squeeze Box, mooring line Kid1975 The Who by the numbers pool1978 Who Are You?1979 The Kids Are Alright (Soundtrack)1981 Face Dances1982 Its Hard1991 thirty Years of Maximum R&B (Box Set)1996 My Generation The very silk hat of the Who1996 Live at the Isle of Wight2000 BBC Sessions2002 Ultimate Collection2002 Live at the Royal Albert Hall2004 Then and Now 1964-2004Few hardenings in didder history have had the talent, ability, energy, and impact as The Who did from the mid(prenominal) 60s to the slowly 70s. Starting as an forwardshoot of the British Invasion, the Who evolved to flex one of the to the highest degree berthful and one of the salientest jolt n roll stripess o f all time. though by definition they werent a super- group (the members were not al sterilise established as premier medicinal drugians before The Who took get rid of), they arguably had the talent to be one. Destroying equipment, blowing up low-pitched drums, Townshends windmill, Daltreys tough guy view and rock vocal power, and Entwistles eye of the hurricane woo to the stage testify and lead deep kick downstairs- vie be all defining split of The Who that make them a legend in their time and into today.Pete Townshend was the artistic loss leader of the pile, and he constantly moved them in sweet directions to reach areas no rock bands had been and hardly a(prenominal) have been since. A office from his artistic creativity, his guitar prevailing was very exhaustively. He is often overlooked because he did not do many an early(a)(prenominal) solos or untold flashy guitar work, tho he fit the band perfectly. Not only was Townshend a capable guitarist, but his vo cal typography ability is up on that point with the scoop. Townshend as well sang background vocals and occasionally lead vocals, making him stock-still more(prenominal) valuable to the band. Roger Daltrey, the singer of the group, baged as a neat singer with lusty range and glimpses of power. His versatility allowed him to progress into a power-rock front man, and his amazing stage presence propel guide The Whos live shows end-to-end their career. yet the real focus of The Who is usually on the rhythm section (or in The Whos case, the lead slavish section). John Entwistle was a pioneer in bass playing, as he was one of acetle players to show that bass could be the lead instrument in rock music. He immediately make his presence cognize in The Who with his heavy sound and distorted bass, analogous the fills in My Generation . Entwistle overly added firm backup vocals, which gave The Who more dimensions in their vocal harmonies. And then ,of course, t dumbfound is K eith Moon. Moon was a defining diorama of The Who, and a key part of why they were so different from almost all other bands. His attacking drum modality, blazing speed, and constant fills would become a trademark of The Who, especially in their live show. Although Keith is usually noteworthy for being a crazy man on the drums, he tends to show a significant amount of control on their studio apartment record albums. on that point are more fills than other drummers, but seemly restraint so as not to ruin the track. Instrumentally, Entwistle and Moon led the band. Townshend was a good guitar player, but he usually found himself pounding out power-chords and solid riffs in the role of a rhythm player while John and Keith took the role as lead players. That is not to suppose that Pete never contend lead or that he could not solo, however.Townshend and Entwistle first met each other in high school, and initially contend in a southward band together (John was on trumpet and Pe te was on banjo) in 1962. In 1963, Entwistle left to play bass for the newly formed Detours, with singer Roger Daltrey al score in place. Soon, Townshend joined them band on guitar. Not hanker after, thither was a sound void, and Keith Moon was added to the band. They changed their name to The Who in 1964. subsequently struggle for a few months to progress, the band met an interested manager in Pete Meaden. under his direction, the band became known as the High Numbers and began wearing suits and playing more of an R&B style. Their first single contained Im the Face/Zoot suit , but it faired poorly. Meaden was cut, and they ameliorate as The Who. I Cant Explain was the bands close single, and it did often better. After the band played a TV performance that have Moon and Townshend destroying their instruments, The Who jump gaining popularity.The bands dynamics in this time period are very kindle. Each member had vastly different personalities, which often led to disputes a nd arguments, sometimes even violence onstage. Instead of keeping these altercations private, The Who made them well-known. They became notorious for their violent demeanour and aggressive stage act, but instead of having a negative effect on the band, the result was that their popularity continually grew. It is important here to stress the Whos significance to the Mod movement in London at the time. The hundred of mods in the audience became a medium through which The Who could allow out their pent-up aggression. In these years, The Who soon became the Mod band, the voice of the intractable teenagers, soon to represent what rock and roll would become a obstreperous escape from the previous generation and a defiant statement against it.As I Cant Explain had jumped to the British Top Ten, the band was now ready to record an album. The Who Sings My Generation was built around the en gentle track, also come forthd as a single. The album showcases the au naturel(p) style of the b and early in their career. on that point is noticeable becharm of R&B, blues, and Motown, added into the Whos style of power rock. Its fixed legacy to music is undoubtedly My Generation . This song displays the defiant attitude of the band and Townshends infamous, hope I die before I get old line. The rebellious nature of the song even became somewhat of an influence on the future punk movement, which would start to see its true beginnings in just a couple years. Also seen here are instrumental statements of Entwistle and Moon. As mentioned before, Entwistles fills are remarkable. The end of the song features Moon all over the drums, producing a wall of sound that no other drummer of the time could even hope to emulate. The song would also become a key part of their live show for the upcoming years.The single Substitute was released shortly after that album, and met more British success. The song itself is a solid pop communication channel with great drumming and good vocals. Th e Band again prepared for more studio work. The Whos following(a) record would turf out to be an interesting one, to say the least. Titled A Quick One (in Britain) or Happy dickhead (in America), it would expand on the base of The Who to showcase a wide contour of music. The tracks range from the circus type music of Cobwebs and Strange (which features amazing drumming from Moon, its somewhat of a mini drum solo) to the ten minute mini-opera of the title track, A Quick One . This is Townshends first experiment with a elongated piece that centered on a theme. The plot concerns a womanhood who cheats on her husband while he is aside for a long time. Musically, the song moves through six movements that run together successfully. Also on the album were the strange Happy Jack and even stranger Boris the rover , twain of which are solid and are now well known tracks. The most important parts of this album were the particular that the band was sure enough showing signs of evolut ion (which were necessary to further develop and survive as the 60s died out), and the mini-opera construct Townshend was starting to create. This idea would become more important on the bands next album, and eventually reach a climax on Tommy.Their next record, The Who Sell Out (1967), is debatably a concept album that centers on a mock radio broadcast program. Between nearly every song, there is a short mock radio jingle. The album even includes the band advertising certain products in song form, as the title would suggest. There are some rather obvious examples of this, such as Heinz parched Beans , and other examples that can actually stand alone as solid songs, interchangeable Odorono . There is even some dabbing in psychedelia (after all, it was 1967) homogeneous on Armenia, City In the Sky . The Who take full advantage of the studio to take a leak this record, though the music itself still has a bit of the raw essence of the early Who. These early albums do not tend to pr esent the loud raucous Who that their live show represented instead, there is a strong sense of melody and control. Moon shows remarkable constraint (for him, at least) on songs give care Tattoo . Sunrise, I Cant Reach You, and Our Love Was showed Townshends softer side as a songwriter. I Can See For Miles was the only the albums pinch ten hit and the only track that got radio play and it features great singing from Roger and typical Keith Moon drumming. However, the real climax of the album is Rael , and ghost give care conceptual experiment. The Who even develops some of the instrumental themes for Tommy on this song (mostly from songs like Sparks or The Underture ). They were now only a short step away from a full-blown concept album.The Whos live show was growing in popularity, size, volume, etc, as they became a bigger band over the last few years. Destroying their equipment was now a standard part of their nightly show. In fact, The Who destruct so much equipment and gear, that they were actually in debt for a few years, patronage the success of their albums and hit. Ironically, the band had stopped smashing their instruments by the time they had enough funds to actually afford doing it. In 1967, The Who performed at the Monterey Pop fete in front of 200,000 people. Two years before the legendary Woodstock, a festival of this magnitude was a great tool to help lance the band into their upcoming power rock years. In 1968, The Who continued to release singles, including the ever-popular Magic Bus . To help keep momentum, they also released Magic Bus -The Who on Tour , a parade of some early singles and some album cuts not available previously.Through the rest of 1968, Townshend worked on what would be considered by many the bands artistic blooming. He developed an interesting concept and a interwoven plot that moved through the carriage of a deaf, dumb, and blind boy who plays pinball. Tommy , released 1969, is a double-album and a conceptual mas terpiece. The album is known for being the first very successful rock-opera (and one of the first in general). Tommy was met with great commercial success, especially in America. The plot, though enigmatical at times, is generally easy to follow. An interesting aspect of Tommy is in the unearthly themes it develops. By the end Tommy becomes such a powerful figure for fans want salvation (Sally Simpson ). Musically, the album is unquestionably strong.The Who were able to use great vocal harmonies and soft melodies in combination with their naturally loud and upfront style to produce an ideal mix of the two. Moon is excellent without being over-powering, and Townshends song writing may have peaked here with impressive lyrics throughout the whole album. There are also instrumental movements like Sparks and The Underture , both of which relate to a strong musical theme. Combined with unbelievable songs like Amazing Journey, The Overture, Acid Queen, Pinball Wizard, Christmas, Im Free , Were Not Gonna Take It , and a great album structure, Tommy is an album that by itself would have made The Whos career great.Tommy was the peak of the early Who, and soon the band would undergo changes that would dominate their style in the 70s. Touring to support the album, their live show grew in magnitude. Often they would play the integral album all the way through, each night reproducing the epic plot. 1969 also brought approximately another event that would have lasting effects on The Who Woodstock. The legendary music festival was the basis for further evolution in the bands sound. The power of their live show was now all but unmatched, and it thrived off performances of epic songs such as the See me, Feel me climax. Roger Daltrey especially evolved during this time. In these years, he became Tommy to the audience, a sex symbol and a leader of the band on stage.Not to say that he was outshining the other members, however. In 1970, The Who immovable to d0cument their asto unding show with their release of Live at Leeds . The original LP have rousing versions of Summertime Blues and Young Man Blues , on with a 15-minute version of My Generation that experiments with the Tommy themes. This album is regarded as one of the crush live albums ever released, and its no wonder why. It is still widely considered one of the scoop live performances ever recorded. A two-disc Deluxe Edition of the album is now available, which features Tommy performed almost in its entirety.Later that same year, The Who also played at the gigantic Isle of Wight Festival. With over 600,000 fans in attendance, The Who delivered a spectacular set. The material is similar to that of Live at Leeds , with new songs like Water, I Dont Even Know Myself, Spoonful/Twist and Shout , and an reduce version of Tommy . The show is now available on DVD as well as CD. The Whos momentum in 1970 to 1971 was also supplemented by the release of Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy , a collection of early s ingles, as well as the release of The Seeker as a new single. The new song gave audiences a feel for the type of sound that The Who would produce during the upcoming years.After the release of a record that stretched the idea of what was practicable by four guys on a stage with just their instruments, The Who opinionated to use the studio to their full advantage on their next album. Synthesizers call for the album, and there use here was one of the first times a band used them so effectively. However, Pete was having difficulty with the albums concept. Townshends original idea was a project titled Life house , which supposedly dealt with science manufacture and a utopian society, but the idea was becoming increasingly mazy and spiralled out of control. In response to the stress build up and complications, Townshend suffered a nervous breakdown. After his recovering, The Who picked up the pieces of Petes failed work and came up with their 1971 release, Whos Next (this album is s aid jokingly by many to be the greatest misfortune in the history of rock music). The new album carried a much heavier sound than their previous studio work, and was very synthesizer-driven.This is evident right from the start of the album. There are definite beginnings of The Whos arena rock era, which would last essentially all of the 70s. Hard rock anthems like Baba ORiley, Bargain, Behind Blue Eyes, and Wont fit Fooled Again all became very popular and received extensive play on FM radio. It also contains popular fan songs like My married woman and The Song is Over . Whos Next is usually thought of as the bands best album, and is probably their most popular.After more touring with the new material The Who were ready to go back into the studio. Determined to overcome his previous failure and do another Tommy so to speak, Townshend prepared to create another complex concept album. He moved through many possible ideas, each time getting involved in them for a period and then aba ndoning the concept. Eventually, Townshend colonised on looking back at the time he knew best the Mods. The double-album Quadrophenia was crafted together and released in 1973. The albums concept dealt with a youth, Jimmy, growing up in 60s and struggling to find himself in a mod society. Despite starting with a much stronger story than Tommy originally had, Quadrophenias plot suffers from being underdeveloped. Townshend move to incorporate four vastly different personalities into his central character, each of which reflected a member of the band, but this too was left underdeveloped and only trimmed Quadrophenia as a thematic album.Ultimately, the records attempted concept was too complex for the mass Who audience to understand. The album is also very studio heavy, significance that its complexities (horn sections, various studio effects, overdubs, etc) made it very difficult for the band to retroflex it live, unlike most of their earlier material. Despite these negative poin ts about the album, the music overall is very well do. Standout tracks include The Real Me, The Punk and the Godfather, Ive Had Enough, 515, and Love Reign OEr Me. The Real Me features some amazing bass playing, even by Entwistles standards, and Love Reign OEr Me showcases Daltreys undeniable power and the emotional climax of the album. Quadrophenia also features what may be Keith Moons best studio drumming. However, the inability to reproduce the albums sound on a tour would prove costly for the group, and caused them to take a step back.After Quadrophenia , The Who began to drift apart slightly. Townshend and Entwistle were both interested in their own solo projects. Pete began to drink excessively, a habit that would plague him for the next several years. Moon was enjoying his rock star lifestyle of substance abuse and like Townshend, this would cause problems for him in the next few years. Regardless of this, Pete continued working on songs for The Who and for their next album. During their off year in 1974, The Who released Odds and Sods , another singles and album cuts collection spanning The Whos career to that point.The band goes back to the basics on The Who by the Numbers , released 1975. The complex arrangements of the last album were replaced by basically pure rock music. Townshends lyrics were very emotional and personal. The album and its subsequent tour were both hits, but it did not stand up the level of their past four releases. The records strongest tracks were Slip Kid and Squeeze Box , with a number of other communicative songs like They Are All in Love and How Many Friends . After the tour, The Who was exhausted and artistically worn-out and agreed to take an extended break.Very little would be heard from the band until they came back together in 1978 to work on their new album. The resulting record would be Who Are You , which was a relatively big success. However, the album is plagued with problems and inconsistencies. Alcoholism and s ubstance abuse were taking their tolls on Townshend and Moon, and although their instrumental ability is still intact, there is the sense that the group is starting to fade. Moon especially during this time was very flakey. It was questionable whether he would turn up for sessions or not. Sometimes he would even allow parts of his drumming and have to relearn things in the studio. The album relied hard on synthesizers and complex arrangements, and in some cases these are certainly overdone. The title track is the albums biggest accomplishment. The commercial success of the record may have triggered The Whos comeback, but it was not to be. On September 7, 1978, Keith Moon overdosed on a drug that was helping him get away from his alcoholism, and died.Losing a band member like Keith Moon almost immediately implies that the band would not continue. Moon was a defining aspect of The Who for nearly 14 years, and he was certainly not replaceable. Almost no drummers could bring to a ba nd what he brought to The Who. However, the endure members elected to continue playing. Later they would all agree that The Who in fact did end with Keith Moons death. Kenney Jones, formerly of the Small Faces, was hired as Moons replacement. Keyboardist John Bundrick was also added to the group, and they began working on new material and set up for a tour. They gained momentum through the release of The Kids Are Alright, a collection of photo footage of the groups entire career.But their momentum and goodwill was crushed when they were informed about the deaths of 11 people after being trampled in a Cincinnati accident. Townshend set down deep into drug use now, and had an almost fatal encounter with heroin in 1981. Daltrey and Entwistle worked on their solo careers, but met limited success. The band reformed to release Face Dances (1981) and Its Hard (1982). Though with some standout material (namely reputation Front ), the albums pale in comparison to The Who of ten years ag o. Their 1982 Tour was supposedly a goodbye to fans, as they were basically packing it in. The eternal sleep of the 80s saw numerous Who collections emerge, and finally in 1991 the band brought together a successful 4-disc box set. The three core members continued their solo careers, and have reunited a few times in the 90s for brief tours and various benefits. When it looked as though the group was gaining steam, John Entwistle died in June of 2002.The Whos lasting legacy to rock music is one of the greatest ever left. They did what no band had done and very few have done. Between the early mod Who, the guitar-smashing mid 60s Who, the concept/thematic album Who, and the unyielding arena-rock Who, few bands have changed as much as they did and covered so much area in music. Their legendary live show is still though off as one of the best rock has ever seen. With the super talented musicians they had, it is no wonder that The Who were able to produce so much good music and influenc e so many bands and artists of their time, and even now. Their music will and so live on forever.
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