The Who News August 2012
Since it's a blue moon tonight...
...I thought I'd post something rare Who wise. On August 31 1966 the band went into the recording studios at IBC to record and mix tracks for their second album, which at that stage was going under the working title of 'Jigsaw Puzzle'. The tracks recorded included 'Barbara Ann', 'Man With Money', a couple of different stabs at the TV series 'Batman Theme' and a version of Holland, Dozier and Holland's '(Love Is Like A) Heat Wave'. The album was eventually released in December 1966 as 'A Quick One'.
'Heat Wave' featured regularly in the band's live performances during the Mod years and this version was recorded some 18 months earlier at The Marquee in London. It was filmed on February 16 1965, one of six tracks the band performed for French TV. The show was broadcast on March 18 1965 as part of the series 'Seize Millions De Juenes', this episode looking at the Mod Movement. .
August 30
Quadrophenia exhibition
I've been asked by the Grammy Museum and The Who's management if I'd be interested in organising an exhibition devoted to The Who's Quadrophenia. The exhibition is planned to tie in with the band's show in Los Angeles at the end of January 2013 and to run through the summer until the end of August. Although that leaves quite a short time to arrange things I've said I will do it! I am now looking for any rare items you may have that you'd be happy to see in the exhibition. I'm looking at covering all the different iterations of Quadrophenia - the recordings, the tours, the film, the stage presentations and if you have anything you think is interesting (and would be willing to loan for 9 months - all insured etc) please let me know. You can contact me at matt@nakedeye-online.com. It's a prestigious venue and I want to make the exhibition as good as possible. I'm looking for original and rare items of memorabilia - posters, tickets, t shirts etc. Anyway, let me know and we'll get the ball rolling.
August 29
The Isle of Wight Music Festival 1970
The Who were scheduled to appear at the 3rd Isle of Wight Festival on August 29th. They were listed as co-headliners with The Doors, topping an incredible bill that also included Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Free, John Sebastian, Joni Mitchell, Miles Davis, Sly and the Family Stone, Spirit, Ten Years After and Tiny Tim! As these things tended to do in the 60s and 70s, the show ran very late and The Who didn't actually take to the stage until around 2am the following morning, playing a two hour set. Introduced by Jeff Dexter with "Ladies and gentlemen, a nice rock and roll band from Shepherd's Bush, London...The 'Oo", the band performed before an estimated 600,000 people. Many people had accessed the site for free by ripping down the security fences and the show was eventually opened up to all comers. Backstage things were also fraught as Kit Lambert, using John Wolff as the fall guy, tried to wrangle more money out of the organisers in order for the band to perform. A figure was agreed upon and the band went on stage and performed a show that was captured by the cameras of Murray Lerner. What better number to show than 'Naked Eye'...
August 28
Pete Townshend to appear at the Free Library of Philadelphia
It's reported that Pete will be appearing at the Free Library of Philadelphia Author Events on October 10. Pete will be in conversation with Wesley Stace discussing his upcoming autobiography 'Who I Am'. Others appearing at the festival include Paul Auster, Tom Wolfe, David Byne and Wyclef Jean. Tickets and further information
'Smash The Mirror'
On August 28 1969 The Who were in Hamburg, Germany recording the second day of their 'Beat Club' Tommy special. The Radio Bremmen show was subsequently broadcast on September 27. The band performed, well, mimed, to eight songs from Tommy. Pete was also interviewed. I can still remember the excitement of getting this on bootleg VHS many, many years ago.
I've split this video into two to make it more manageable in size, but it's a good snippet of the show.
August 27
'The best I ever had...'
Back on August 27 2002 The Who were playing
at the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids. I remember this day very well as one of the crew let me use his Canon 1D for the first time (also on the following leg at the Xcel Energy Center in St Paul). It was probably then that I realised the difference a good camera could make and got me more interested in photography, so a public thank you to that crew member! Unfortunately though I don't have copies of the thousands of shots I took whilst I was on the road with the band or a video from this show. Instead here's another video from the rehearsals for the 2002 tour that was filmed at Pete's Boathouse / Oceanic studios. This one is poignant as it's from the last day. The last time John would play. The studio was packed on this particular day with a film crew from JBL, photographer Ross Halfin and a couple of fans as well. I've recovered this from the internet and now have days 1, 2 (which can be seen on the 'Access All Areas' page), 4 and 6. If anyone has copies of days 3 and 5 I'd love to hear from you.
August 26
Interview with 'Dougal' Butler.
As promised a couple of weeks ago here is the interview I did with Peter 'Dougal' Butler about his life with Keith Moon and the reissue of his book 'Full Moon'. You can read the pdf here.
Pete donates strings for charity initiative.
Pete Townshend has donated some guitar strings to be made into bracelets via the wearyourmusic website. For $300 you can wear a unique piece of jewellery crafted from used strings. All profits from the sales of Pete's bracelets go to the Michael J Fox Foundation. Other stars are also taking part, for example, Noel Gallagher ($150) is raising money for the Teenage Cancer Trust and Eric Clapton ($500) for his Crossroads charity. A great idea to raise money for good causes.
Wired To The Moon (part 2)
A true hero. Music from Pete's Scoop 3 album.
August 25
It's Not True...
Something nice for the Bank Holiday weekend. Recorded on January 5 1966 for the BBC show 'A Whole Scene Going'.
On this day in the 60s
In 1963, The Detours played at The White Hart Hotel in Acton.In 1964 The Who played The Railway Hotel in Harrow and Wealdstone.
In 1966 the band played the Dreamland Ballroom in Margate.
In 1967, still on tour with Herman's Hermits, they played two shows at the Kiel Opera House in St Louis.
August 24
'A vague haze of delerium creeps up on me...'
The money that The Who made from their 1989 'Kids' Are Alright' 25th Anniversary tour afforded them the opportunity to
perform four star studded charity shows (two in the States, two in the UK) of Tommy. On August 24 1989 they 
performed one of these shows at the Los Angeles Ampitheatre. With Guest stars including, Elton John (who almost didn't make this show), Phil Collins, Billy Idol and Patti Labelle the shows made millions for worthy charities and allowed many to see Tommy performed in its entirety for the first time.
Here's Billy Idol (who would later return in the 1996 Quadrophenia stage show) performing as a swaggering Cousin Kevin from the LA show.
August 23
Jack White - The Seeker
Rolling Stone are looking back at Jack White's appearance on 'In The Attic' back in 2006 where he duetted with Pete on The Seeker.
What really happened on Keith's birthday?
August 23, Keith Moon's birthday. Back in 1967 probably the most infamous celebration of that day took place at a Holiday Inn in Flint, Michigan. Reports vary as to what actually happened, but I think that no matter who you listen to something very spectacular did obviously happen! A Lincoln Continental in the swimming pool? Fire Extinguishers set off in the parking lot? A massive food fight? Keith losing a number of teeth? The Who banned from Holiday Inns? The Who paying out $50,000 in damages or was it down to tour headliners, Hermans Hermits, to pay out $25,000?
Whatever happened, that day 45 years ago, has entered into rock and roll folklore. Classic Rock (September's edition) has pulled together a number of first hand accounts for a three page spread which show just how confusing the night turned out to be, with lots of people remembering different and often conflicting 'facts'. As clear as mud then, but a good read. I'm sure wherever Keith is now there will be a decent party going on today.
August 22
Pete to appear at in store signings?
According to the examiner.com Pete has pencilled in some book store signing appearances
on the East Coast for October. Five appearances have been listed
- New York Public Library - Mon. Oct. 8 (private event)
- Union Square Barnes & Noble NYC - Tues Oct. 9
- Philadelphia Free Library - Wed. Oct. 10
- Bookends New Jersey - Thurs Oct. 11
- Prudential Center Barnes & Noble - Fri. Oct. 12
It also goes on to say that Pete will also be doing some PR and possibly some more signings during this period. It has to be noted that none of these have been officially confirmed yet.
Roger attends 'Dallas' reunion launch
Roger was at London's old Billingsgate market last night to celebrate the return to British TV of Dallas (there are photos around on the net). He's quoted as saying "It (Dallas) was just wonderful escapism and they were such well drawn characters. They were people you meet every day in the office I'm sure. But they transposed it to this ranch in Dallas. It was extremely good writing." Dallas star Larry Hagman and Keith Moon go way back and appeared in Stardust back in 1974.
The Who for beginners
The Guardian recently asked, via Twitter, for its readers to come up with the essential top 10 Who records that would be ideal for newcomers to the band. They've just released their results.
How do you follow Woodstock?
On this day in 1969 The Who played their first gig after their huge Woodstock performance and it couldn't have been any different. They played the tiny Music Hall in Shrewsbury, Shropshire!
August 21
Want to ask Pino a question?
If so the 'No Treble' Facebook page are gathering questions to ask Mr Palladino. If you'd like to submit a question visit their Facebook page.
New blog from Pete
Pete has posted a new blog on thewho.com
An Evening with Roger Daltrey
On 13 September Roger is to take part in a TCT fundraiser at Home House in London. Roger will be performing a few acoustic numbers as well as swapping stories of life on the road with promoter Harvey Goldsmith. Sounds like a great evening and tickets were only £50. Notice the past tense there as, unfortunately, the event is completely sold out!
Photo copyright Matt Kent
The Who record sales soar in wake of Olympics.
According to HMV sales of The Who's greatest hits (which one??) saw a UK sales increase of almost 300 percent in the wake of their performance at the Olympics, whilst some other acts on the night, such as Elbow, saw rises in the region of an astonishing 2,000 percent. The show was watched on TV by a UK audience of 26.3 million.
August 20
I Gotta Dance To Keep From Crying
On August 20 1964 The Who / High Numbers recorded their television debut for BBC2's 'The Beat Room'. The band performed during the show's 'Audition Spot', performing two songs live - 'Bring It To Jerome' (Bo Diddley) and 'I Gotta Dance To Keep From Crying' (The Miracles). The show was broadcast four days later on August 24 1964. After the recording the band hotfooted it to Luton for a show at the Majestic Ballroom. Apologies to anyone from Luton but using majestic and Luton in the same sentence just seems wrong!
Unfortunately no footage has surfaced from 'The Beat Room' (that I'm aware of) but just nine days earlier Kit Lambert shot the band performing at the Railway Hotel. Luckily that footage does still exist and includes this version of 'I Gotta Dance To Keep From Crying'.
August 19
A day late but...
unfortunately life got in the way of updates yesterday!
After a few smaller gigs in the UK and France the 'new' Who, with Kenney Jones and John 'Rabbit' Bundrick, had their official unveiling at Wembley Stadium on August 18 1979 (ten years and a day after their captivating performance at Woodstock) in front of almost 80,000 fans. 
In reality though, compared to those earlier shows, it was a pretty underwhelming performance, mainly because the powers that be (or the GLC as they were called) put strict limits on the volume at the gig and also forced the band to cut short their laser light show.
It did, however, herald a big brand new tour which saw the band on the road for much of the following eighteen months, where they were to play some quite breath-taking shows. Support at Wembley came from AC/DC, The Stranglers and Nils Lofgren.
August 17
Alice Cooper on Keith Moon
Alice Cooper appeared on Sky TV's 'Sunrise' show yesterday to talk about his rock and roll life after celebrating the 40th Anniversary of 'School's Out'. To celebrate Alice played the song in the West End during a performance of 'Rock of Ages'. On 'Sunrise' Alice talks about Keith, referring to him as still 'the greatest drummer'. You can watch the interview here. Thanks to Eliott ware for sending the link.
August 16
More Moon madness
There's a new video up on youtube with Dougal Butler and Richard Barnes talking about the republished book. You can view it here. You can also join Dougal's gang on Twitter at @DougalWho.
A line up to envy
I'm sure the quality of the music would have been beaten into submission by the screaming from the audience but on this day in 1964 The High Numbers, along with The Kinks, supported The Beatles at Blackpool Opera House.
Playing two shows, which began at 6.20 and 8.15 (showing how short the sets were), The High Numbers opened up the second half of the show after The Kinks had closed the first.
The band had been appearing around the country with some of the other acts on the bill; Val McCullam and Tony Marsh and they were to return to the same venue two weeks later, again with The Kinks but this time supporting The Searchers.
The shows on August 16 though would be the only time that the High Numbers / Who would share a bill with The Beatles. UPDATE: Thanks to Dermot for the email pointing out that The Who did of course share a bill with the Beatles at the NME Pollwinners concert at Wembley on May 1 1966, playing 'Substitute' and 'My Generation'.
August 15
Watch it while you can....
Had a few emails asking if I can post The Who's performance on Sunday. Well OK, but no doubt it'll only be here for a short time (a bit like The Who's press conference recently...)
Moon book now available as an audio book
Peter 'Dougal' Butler's book on Keith Moon, 'Moon The Loon / Full Moon', is now available to download as an audio book via Talking Music. The book is read by Keith's friend Karl Howman, who starred alongside Keith in 'That'll Be The Day'. You can buy the audio book (as well as the republished printed version) now. I did an interview with Dougal last Friday, which I'd hoped to publish today to tie in with the audio book release but I've been a bit delayed in transcribing it...will put it here as soon as possible.
August 14
More Olympics
According to the Guardian newspaper The Who twice turned down the organisers of the Olympics closing ceremony before finally agreeing to play. The official olympic video of the bands performance is now available on youtube. Unfortunately there's about 8 minutes of non-Who stuff beforehand.
Who's Next
Regarded by many as The Who's greatest album, 'Who's Next'
was released in the US on this day in 1971. The band were touring the States at the time (and played at Cobo Arena in Detroit on August 14) and so the album was released to tie in with that, two weeks before it was released in the UK, giving the band their only No 1 album in their own country. The story of how 'Who's Next' grew from the ashes of 'Lifehouse' is well known (I'd
recommend Eel Pie's 'Lifehouse Chronicles' of course!) but the resultant album is a powerhouse of FM radio and stadium friendly anthems. The cover for the album seems to have gone through as difficult a birth as the record itself with ideas including Keith Moon in drag (right) and the image below, which, for some reason, was deemed a little too strong!
August 13
Phew...
Almost thought it wasn't going to happen... but, as revealed here two months ago, The Who did perform at the very end of the London Olympic games tonight. Taking to the stage at just after midnight the band performed a medley of Baba O'Riley (with some alternate lyrics), See Me Feel Me/ Listening To You and My Generation. For the finale they were joined by all the other musical performers who had played on the night.
The band consisted of Pete, Roger, Zak and Simon with Chris Stainton on keyboards, Morgan Nicholls on bass, with dad Billy Nicholls on backing vocals.
Earlier in the show the Kaiser Chiefs performed Pinball Wizard.
Apparently, in the States NBC decided, in their wisdom, not to show The Who's performance live but pushed it back by an hour to show another program! Nice work.
'A Symphony of British Music: Music For the Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games' is now available to buy on download from iTunes. The album includes all the music from the games closing ceremony, including the Kaiser Chiefs performing 'Pinball Wizard' as well as The Who's performance.
August 12
The Kids Are Alright
Forty six years ago today Brunswick Records released 'The Kids Are Alright' backed up by 'The Ox'. As can be seen from the Brunswick release sheets the publicised release date was August 26 but it was rush released on the 12 because of the on going legal dispute between The Who and Shel Talmy. The release sheet actually says (in case it's too small to read here) 'Special Release, Already Available'. With the dispute reaching its climax The Who disowned the release and had nothing to do with any publicity. As a result 'The Kids Are Alright' hardly dented the UK chart, peaking at No 41 in the NME charts. In the States the single had been released a month earlier (with, ironically, 'A Legal Matter' on the B side) and became a hit in The Who strongholds of Detroit and Chicago.
Here's the band performing the track on Swedish TV's Popside
August 11
Roger Daltrey invites Bradley Wiggins on stage.
In an interview with Shortlist magazine Roger has spoken about his admiration for Olympic gold medalist and Tour de France winner, Bradley Wiggins. "I'm just in admiration of the man," he said. "What he's shown the world as a sportsman is something that hasn't been seen for a very long time; his dignity, his humility, his showmanship." Roger went on to add, "What an honour to know he was listening to us while training. I think we'll have to get him onstage. He's an honorary guest at any show he wants. He's got a backstage pass for life."
Nice Ebay item
There a very nice signed photo on Ebay at the moment (7 days left) of the band. A 10 x 8 inch publicity shot from New Action Ltd, the photo is signed by all four of The Who. Only thing going against it is that's it's been folded to fit into an autograph book but if you're looking for an early piece of Who history (and the current bid is quite low) then this could be it.
August 9
Olympics update
Well, not really an update but there's a report in today's Telegraph about the closing ceremony and the rumours surrounding it. One thing I can say for sure is that it all starts at 9pm GMT! I understand though that Amazon will be selling a download of tracks played at the closing show so it's worth keeping an eye on that. UPDATE: 'A Symphony of British Music: Music For The Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games', an album containing music performed on the final night, will be released digitally on August 12.
Jazz, Blues and Pop Festival 1969
On this day in 1969 The Who appeared at the 9th National Jazz Blues and Pop Festival. The festival seemed plagued by an annual location change and this one was no different. Having previously been at Richmond, then Windsor and then Sunbury the festival organisers found themselves once again looking for a new home in 1969. Originally the plan was to move to West Drayton in Middlesex and early promotional material and booking forms reflect that. However, the local Council refused a licence and it was moved to Plumpton Race Course in East Sussex.
The band topped the bill on the Saturday night, with acts such as Yes! (note the exclamation mark!) and King Crimson supporting (who were each paid £25 compared to The Who's £600). Tickets to see the evening line up cost exactly £1.
Part of the show, at least, survived on tape.
It's likely that the following songs still exist: 'Heaven and Hell', 'I Can't Explain', 'Fortune Teller', 'It's A Boy', '1921'. 'Amazing Journey', 'Pinball Wizard', 'Substitute', 'Summertime Blues' and 'Shakin' All Over'. Some are available on bootlegs, such as the one below.
Three days later The Who were back in the states appearing at the inaugural Tanglewood Music Festival, where Jefferson Airplane and B.B. King supported.
August 8
The Railway Hotel
The Railway Hotel in Harrow is of course legendary in Who history. It's where Pete smashed his first guitar. It's where Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp first saw The Who perform. It's where the band really first got press attention. Unfortunately, it's also gone. It was destroyed by fire over a decade ago. I remember going there once in the mid nineties with Paul Townshend to see a Who tribute band and the pair of us winning a quiz on Who trivia, which seemed really quite strange! The site was redeveloped for housing and I seem to remember that the original idea was to build four blocks of flats, each named after a member of the band. Plans seemed to have been scaled back and certainly a Daltrey House (unfortunately spelt Daltry) was built and, nearby, a Moon House.
A plaque recognising The Who's appearances at the venue was erected on the side of Daltry House on December 12 2009. I visited the area a few weeks ago only to find the plaque gone, probably in someones collection somewhere. No sign (no pun intended) of the local Council erecting a replacement either which is a shame.
August 7
Bizarre corner
40 years ago the band recorded one of their more bizarre
tracks. 'Waspman' was recorded at Olympic Studios on August 7 1972. Ostensibly written by Keith Moon the track was released as the B side to 'Relay' (released in the US Nov 25 1972 and the UK Dec 22 1972). There's a great quote from Keith, '...if I'm in the studio looning about while they're trying to lay down a vocal track, they can't sing if they're laughing at me dressed up as a wasp. You know, there's nothing worse when you're trying to be serious than to have a human wasp flying all over the studio'. Rarely played live (maybe for obvious reasons) it did however get an outing at Madison Square Garden as part of 'My Generation' on June 10 1974. A bootleg recording does exist of this but it's pretty poor quality so I won't post it here.
August 6
Boston 68
On August 6 1968, The Who played the Music Hall in Boston. It was one of those serendipitous occasions where someone in the audience (Jon Rubin) had an 8mm camera
and Keith Moon played up to it. The clip was used in 'The Kid's Are Alright' movie.I never need an excuse to show a bit of wanton destruction from Keith or Pete!
August 5
BBE
In lieu of any August 5 news, I thought I'd step back 8 years and a day to Maui at the end of the short but highly enjoyable trip there in 2004.
Couldn't decide what to put up but here's 'Behind Blue Eyes'.
August 4
The Rolls in the pool
Dougal Butler has passed me on a couple of mp3s taken from the audio book version of 'Full Moon', which will be available very soon from Talking Music. The voiceover is from actor Karl Howman (known to UK viewers at 'Jacko' in Brushstrokes) who was a friend of Keith's. I'll be meeting Dougal next week to record an interview to post here.
The printed book is available on Faber now and you can visit the official website for more info on ordering.
August 3
Heatwave
Olympic gold medalist Bradley Wiggins has listed the songs that inspire him and in the top 10 is The Who's version of Heatwave!
Put the money down....
A couple of weeks ago I put up a post regarding a couple of VIP tickets for sale. One Naked Eye reader has bought one but the Brooklyn ticket is still available:
1 ticket, 11/4 Barclays Center in Brooklyn NY. 5th row, Ultimate VIP Package, $478 (face value). If anyone's interested please email dmh5050@gmail.com
August 2
Fancy Keith Moon's suit?
If so you can buy a piece of rock 'n' roll history at an online auction currently taking place. The leather outfit was previously sold at Christie's a few years back and is now on the market again. The auction closes the early hours of August 4 (GMT) and the current highest bid is $5,849.
On the subject of Keith I met up with his old cohort Peter 'Dougal' Butler last night with the aim of interviewing him about the re-release of his book. But, as is often the case, beers flowed and the interview didn't happen but it will next week and the interview will be posted online here. It was a hilarious night though with some great stories.
August 1
Roger appears with Eddie Vedder
Roger took to the stage at Hammersmith last night to perform a couple of songs with Eddie Vedder during his solo performance at the venue. As well as Roger, Eddie was also joined by Neil Finn and Glen Hansard. Roger appeared during the second encore and played 'Blue, Red and Grey' and 'Naked Eye'.
