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The Who

Who, The

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The Who: Tommy

Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, May 1969

A DOUBLE ALBUM can often prove a boring disappointment these days, with the gimmick presentation becoming more important than the quality of the music. Pete ...

The Who: 30 Years Of Maximum R&B

Review by Jon Savage, MOJO, July 1994

APART FROM THE BARRON KNIGHTS AT BERTRAM MILLS Circus, the first group I ever saw live was The Who: It could have been Spooky Tooth, ...

The Who: My Generation Deluxe Edition (Polydor) ****

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, October 2002

BEFORE NEW, larger sound systems ushered in rock in 1966-7, there was beat music, a tighter, more driving sound based on pushing club-scale amplification to ...

Audio interviews

The Who's Keith Moon (1978)

Interview by James Johnson, Rock's Backpages audio, August 1978

With RBP mainstay Keith Altham cackling in the background, the daft Who sticksman talks about the rise of punk; the Who's investment in Shepperton Studios; the recording of Who Are You; his thoughts on marriage, and his Wild Man of Rock image.

File format: mp3; file size: 41.9mb, interview length: 45' 48" sound quality: ***

Peter Townshend (1979)

Interview by Steven Rosen, Rock's Backpages audio, Winter 1979

Steven Rosen talks to Pete Townshend about developing his solo style after listening to Jimi Hendrix (1979).

File format: MP3 File size: 842kb<br> Interview length: 1 minute 11 seconds Sound quality: ***

The Who's Pete Townshend on Keith Moon (1980)

Interview by Keith Altham, Rock's Backpages audio, 1980

Pete describes first meeting Keith Moon and the drummer's immediate impact on the band; Moon's conflict with Roger Daltrey, mostly over women, and the changing personal dynamics within the band; the musical intuition between Townshend, Entwistle and Moon; Keith's eccentricities and lunacy; gear-smashing, women, drugs and drink... and the inevitable fist fights.

File format: mp3; file size: 25.7mb, interview length: 26' 44" sound quality: ****

Keith Richards (1988)

Interview by Ira Robbins, Rock's Backpages audio, 19 September 1988

Keith opens by criticising Mick Jagger as a solo artist, then goes on to talk about being in the Rolling Stones; talks about the art of rhythm guitar; making the Chuck Berry movie; the great players on his first solo album Talk is Cheap; the Stones' future and how a band can grow old; the recent CD reissues of the group's catalogue; the "fragile monster" that was Brian Jones; their evolution as songwriters; the establishment's hounding of them; his drug use... and being in the public eye.

File format: mp3; file size: 89.3mb, interview length: 1h 33' 04" sound quality: ***½

The Who's Pete Townshend (1989)

Interview by Mat Snow, Rock's Backpages audio, 1989

Mr Townshend talks at length about what drives him creatively; the ossification of US classic rock radio; his resentment that songs like 'Won't Get Fooled Again' overshadow more personal work; his belief in the status of rock as art, and the death of the Who as a creative force.

File format: mp3; file size: 50.8mb, interview length: 55' 27" sound quality: ***

The Who's Pete Townshend (1993)

Interview by John Tobler, Rock's Backpages audio, June 1993

Framed around his just-released solo album Psychoderelict and the recent stage production of Tommy, Townshend riffs on the nature of rockers growing old; on touring with the Who and his hearing loss; on re-examining his childhood and finding an ending for Tommy; on Who's Next, Ken Russell's Tommy movie... and Keith Moon's four nipples!

File format: mp3; total file size: 55.5mb, total interview length: 57' 49" sound quality: ****

The Who's Pete Townshend (1994)

Interview by Simon Witter, Rock's Backpages audio, 1994

The man with the windmill arm goes way back to the early days of the Who, the band's politics and personalities, the Madness of Moon, the awfulness of Woodstock, Kit Lambert and Mods, and rock as art and the rock opera.

File format: mp3; file size: 52.7mb, interview length: 57' 35" sound quality: *****

The Who's John Entwistle (1994)

Interview by Johnny Black, Rock's Backpages audio, August 1994

The Ox talks about the making of classic Who songs such as 'I'm A Boy' and 'My Generation', naming Led Zeppelin, the endless rows, and tells a handful of great Keith Moon stories

File format: mp3; file size: 72meg, interview length: 1h 15' 00" sound quality: ****

List of articles in the library

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The High Numbers: How High Will These Numbers Go?

Profile and Interview by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 11 July 1964

HAILED AS "the first authentic mod record," four hip young men called the High Numbers are out right now with 'I'm the Face', backed with ...

The Who: Marquee Club, London

Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 9 January 1965

"THE WHO", appearing each Tuesday at Lon­don's Marquee Club, should be billed not only as "Maximum R&B" but as "Far-out R&B." ...

The Who: A Disturbing Group

Profile by Richard Green, Record Mirror, 6 March 1965

FOUR YOUNG Mods caused a disturbance in a Soho club the other night in which several hundred people were involved. The police were not called ...

Who — and why

Profile and Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 20 March 1965

LONG BEFORE the present craze for group names like Them, Us and Themselves, the flat-mate of 19-year-old guitarist Pete Townshend thought of Who. ...

The Who: The Group That Slaughters Their Amplifiers...

Interview by Richard Green, Record Mirror, 3 April 1965

WITH A name like The Who, any group is bound to attract a certain amount of attention. But anyone who has watched The Who at ...

The Who: Marquee Club, London

Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 17 April 1965

The Who must be seen ...

The Spectacular Who

Profile by Kevin Swift, Beat Instrumental, May 1965

THE WHO are comprised of three 'wildies' and a 'quiety'. Sick language, of course, but that's the way most people describe this revolutionary London group. ...

The Who did you say?

Profile and Interview by Maureen O'Grady, Rave, June 1965

ABOUT A YEAR ago they used to be the High Numbers. They sang about zoot suits and faces. These songs were brave tries to get ...

Every So Often, a Band is Poised on the Brink of a Breakthrough. Word Has It It's... The Who

Profile and Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 5 June 1965

THEY THINK THE MOD THING IS DYING... ...BUT THEY DON'T INTEND TO GO DOWN WITH IT ...

Who's The Who?

Profile and Interview by Nancy Lewis, Fabulous, 5 June 1965

Not long ago a disc called 'I Can't Explain' popped into the charts, and everyone wanted to know about this new and 'different' group. Who? ...

'Their Pop-Art Disc is like Fly Paper!' says WHO manager KIT LAMBERT

Interview by Richard Green, Record Mirror, 12 June 1965

IT NOW seems that whenever a solo singer, pop group, orchestra and what have you decides to do something a bit different, that is taken ...

The Who Use Force To Get The Sound They Want!!

Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 18 June 1965

HE SAT TENSED against a hard-backed chair, dressed in a Carnaby Street blue jacket and with a blond, Mod hairstyle that showed dark at the ...

The Who: Manor House, London

Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 17 July 1965

LONDON'S MANOR HOUSE club held their first pop inn Wednesday session last week — and an all time record audience turned out to watch the ...

"That's My Kind of Girl" say The Who

Interview by Nancy Lewis, Fabulous, 14 August 1965

by Fab's Stateside visitor NANCY LEWIS ...

The Animals, Georgie Fame, the Who, the Yardbirds, Spencer Davis et al: Fifth National Jazz and Blues Festival, Richmond

Live Review by Richard Green, Record Mirror, 14 August 1965

RICHMOND RAVE-UP! ...

The Price of Pop Art — The Who Count the Cost

Report by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 28 August 1965

THE WHO stand firmly for pop art. By their terms, pop art means how they behave and dress both on and off stage. On stage, ...

The Who: "The Guy Who Sings 'My Generation' — Well, He's Supposed To Be Blocked"

Interview by Richard Green, Record Mirror, 6 November 1965

THREE WEEKS, two cancelled photo sessions, one broken lunch date and half an hour late, Pete Townshend pushed his nose round the door of my ...

Smashing Time Costs WHO Fortune!

Interview by Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 12 November 1965

ANYONE WHO has ever seen a demolition gang smashing down a building will know what it's like when the Who get up steam. Their music ...

Kit Lambert: The uncovering of the Who and where...

Interview by Maureen Cleave, The Evening Standard, 20 November 1965

KIT LAMBERT and his partner Chris Stamp manage the Who and the Merseybeats. Chris Stamp is Terence Stamp's brother, more handsome but less photogenic. ...

How Well Do You Know Who?

Interview by Maureen O'Grady, Rave, December 1965

HOW WELL do you know Who? Well, if you're not very sure, don't be too surprised. You're not to blame — they are! ...

Who Admit They're Feuding

Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 10 December 1965

WHAT'S WRONG with the Who? Rumours that all is not well with the group have been circulating in show business circles for some weeks. ...

On Christmas Eve... RSG Goes Out of its Mind!

Report by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 24 December 1965

Reports KEITH ALTHAM who previews the show ...

Player of the Month: John Entwistle

Interview by Kevin Swift, Beat Instrumental, January 1966

THE DARK and deep member of the dynamic Who gets very, very angry when people take hefty swipes at his group for alleged musical incompetence. ...

Meet The Swingin' Who

Profile by uncredited writer, KRLA Beat, 8 January 1966

THEY'RE YOUNG, they're talented, they're British, they wear far-out clothes and they have a hit record in 'My Generation'. ...

Rave City 66: Groups On The Go Choose The Swingingest Scenes

Interview by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 15 January 1966

And does it prove that what Manchester is today, London can be tomorrow? ...

The Who, the Fortunes, the Merseys: Finsbury Park Astoria, London

Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 12 February 1966

THE THREE-day test run tour of the Who Show, started on Friday at London's Finsbury Park Astoria, to two well-filled houses. ...

Drugs. Yes or No?

Report and Interview by uncredited writer, Rave, March 1966

Drugs are always in the news. And always in the news with them, are pop stars. This month four famous stars give their views on ...

Who Knows

Interview by Dawn James, Rave, March 1966

Who really knows what the Who are like? RAVE'S Dawn James does. She met them for this very special RAVE interview. ...

The Who: Who Are Going Around In 'Circles'

Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 18 March 1966

FOLLOW this closely – this is the saga of the group that is running around in "Circles" – who else but the Who? ...

The Who: "They..."

Interview by Richard Green, Record Mirror, 2 April 1966

"...used to think we were purists when we smashed guitars. But we were more commercial then than we are now" (Keith Moon) ...

With Who And 'Birds At Paris Allez-Oop!

Report by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 8 April 1966

READY, Steady, Allez-oops, from the Locomotive in Paris last Friday, was largely held together by the efforts of the Who and the Yardbirds, who were ...

Roger Decides to Take Up Motor Racing while Pete Tells how he Cut His Hair Off when he was Drunk: Now Read On...

Interview by Richard Green, Record Mirror, 30 April 1966

IF THE WHO are still the leaders of fashion that they were a few months ago, Henry V hairstyles look like coming back — Pete ...

All About The World's Greatest Pop Show: 1966 NME Concert Mightiest Ever!

Live Review by Keith Altham, Alan Smith, New Musical Express, 6 May 1966

THOUSANDS upon thousands of fans converging on the massive Wembley Empire Pool for the biggest pop show in the world on Sunday... the staggering, the ...

The Who, Cream et al: National Jazz and Blues Festival, Windsor

Live Review by uncredited writer, New Musical Express, 5 August 1966

Who 'wreck' festival ...

Sixth National Jazz and Blues Festival, Windsor: Jazz on a Summer's Weekend

Live Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 6 August 1966

A washout, but still swinging ...

The Who: Sound sense Studio time

Report and Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 10 September 1966

What Are The Who Going To Do Now? ...

The Who: Drummer Moon On Zither, Double-Track Tuba, On Who LP

Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 7 October 1966

IN AN Italian restaurant off London's Soho last Thursday, which boasts on the menu, "hilarious waiters and spaghetti alla vongole on Sunday" there was baby ...

Pete Townshend

Interview by Danny Fields, Datebook, November 1966

THE ELABORATE lunch for Herman's Hermits was just about over, and the hotel ballroom was a dismal vista of plastic décor and messy, empty tables. ...

Singles from the Who, Otis Redding, Small Faces, Lorraine Ellison and more

Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 12 November 1966

WHO PLUS BATMAN: A MINI BONANZA! ...

Keith Moon: The Little Drummer Boy

Interview by Dawn James, Rave, December 1966

There are many sides to Keith Moon's strange personality. One minute he's insulting, exaggerating, joking — the next minute he's a wide-eyed, innocent-looking drummer boy. ...

New singles from the Who, Cream, Tim Hardin, the Walker Brothers et al

Review by Penny Valentine, Disc and Music Echo, 10 December 1966

WHO AND THE HAPPY WORLD OF PETE TOWNSHEND 'Happy Jack' (Reaction) — Happy Who, happy us, happy world of Pete Townshend! ...

The Who: A Quick One (Reaction)

Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 December 1966

The Who fulfilled and a mini-opera, yet! ...

The Who: Who's For A Merry Xmas!

Report and Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 24 December 1966

WHO'S FOR a merry Christmas, then – if we are to judge by their seasonal bounce up into the NME Top Twenty this week with ...

The Who: The Upper Cut, Forest Gate, London

Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 31 December 1966

AN INCREDIBLE new club called the Upper Cut under the auspices of famous boxer Billy Walker opened at Forest Gate, London, with the grand clamour ...

Nancy and The Who Making It Big

Interview by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 6 January 1967

AT THE RIPE old age of 23, Nancy Lewis isn't exactly a teenager. But Detroiter Nancy is swimming right in the middle of all the ...

The Who, The Move, Pink Floyd: The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, London

Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 7 January 1967

Psychedelicamania at Roundhouse ...

Jimi Hendrix, The Who: Saville Theatre, London

Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 February 1967

Jimi Hendrix-Who battle at Saville ...

The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who: Saville Theatre, London

Live Review by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 4 February 1967

GLOOMY SAVILLE ...

Miles Interviews Pete Townshend

Interview by Miles, International Times, 13 February 1967

WHO? Pete Townshend, that's Who. Lead guitarist, song-writer, destructivist for this off-number-oned-pop group. He walks, he talks, he smashes. The WHO is the most popular ...

Roy Orbison's Tour May Be Last

Report and Interview by June Harris, New Musical Express, 11 March 1967

June Harris in New York ...

The Who: Rock 'N' Wreck

Report and Interview by Richard Goldstein, The Village Voice, 30 March 1967

IN THE backstage halflight of the RKO 58th Street Theatre, Peter Townshend awaits his cue. Stagehands pace furiously, shouting orders in bizarre New York-ese. A ...

Singles, including the Who, Neil Diamond and the Bee Gees

Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 22 April 1967

WHO MOVE INTO A CLASS OF THEIR OWN ...

Who, Prince Buster, Bee Gees et al: New Singles Reviewed

Review by Peter Jones, Record Mirror, 22 April 1967

Top class, dramatic newie from Bee Gees, and a not so commercial Tremeloes — slow soul from Sam & Dave, & delicate new P. P. ...

Loraine Alterman On Records: England's Exciting New Flavor: Fresh Cream

Review by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 23 April 1967

TO REACH Mecca in pop music means finding your own sound. Very few make it. Most groups fall down somewhere along the way. ...

Pictures of the WHO

Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 29 April 1967

THERE SEEMS to be three distinct phases in the life of a pop group. Each is important, and mainly they are controlled by you the ...

'Lily' Isn't Pornographic, Say Who

Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 20 May 1967

THE LUGUBRIOUS looking Pete Townshend with the mincer-like mind ground up an interesting selection of subjects for attention over a lemon tea in London's Act ...

Who? It's The Who, That's Who

Profile and Interview by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 16 June 1967

FIRST OUT the door of customs at Metro Airport Tuesday was a blond fellow in a paisley, mandarin-collared coat. A few moments later a shorter, ...

Keith Altham Planes West to Cover America's Monterey Pop Festival and Cables This Day-By-Day Report

Report by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 24 June 1967

WE DROVE to London Airport in Animal manager Mike Jeffery's Rolls-Royce while he dictated a few last minute instructions to assistant Tony Garland — "Ring ...

Mamas & The Papas, The Who, Jimi Hendrix et al: Monterey Pop Festival, Monterey CA

Live Review by Tracy Thomas, New Musical Express, 1 July 1967

Who, Jimi win high praise ...

The Who: Second thoughts on Monterey

Interview by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 1 July 1967

Pete Townshend talks to Nick Jones ...

The Jefferson Airplane Here

Interview by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 7 July 1967

"WE JUST played and let the music take us instead of us taking the music," said Marty Balin, lead singer of the Jefferson Airplane, talking ...

Monterey Pop Festival: Inside Looking Out

Interview by uncredited writer, KRLA Beat, 15 July 1967

BEAT: Just wanted to get your comments on what's happening here in Monterey this weekend. ...

The Rolling Stones drugs bust: Time Is On Our Side

Report by uncredited writer, International Times, 28 July 1967

THE SUN isn't known to have two faces, only the moon, but in England we have the lunatic Sun (a newspaper it thinks) with as ...

The Who, Herman's Hermits: Anaheim Convention, Anaheim CA

Live Review by June Harris, New Musical Express, 23 September 1967

Who steal the show from Hermans Hermits ...

The Zombie Cometh!

Comment by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 7 October 1967

NICK JONES is worried about British pop audiences. Here he explains why. ...

The Who, Vanilla Fudge: Saville Theatre, London

Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 28 October 1967

Who, minus freak outs and smash ups ...

The Who, Vanilla Fudge: Saville Theatre, London

Live Review by Derek Boltwood, Record Mirror, 28 October 1967

OH MY GOODNESS yes. It was definitely an ear-splitting, mind-blowing, supersonic-sounding sensation at the Saville last Sunday. ...

The Who: Who Ready To Hit You With New Ideas

Report and Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 28 October 1967

AFTER six weeks with "the last Schmaltz" it is good to find the Who back in the charts with a new single, 'I Can See ...

The Who, Traffic, the Tremeloes, Marmalade, the Herd, the Dream: City Hall, Sheffield

Live Review by David Hughes, Disc and Music Echo, 4 November 1967

TREMELOES IN top form; Pete Townshend having another "smashing" time; Herd's Peter Frampton a solo smash; still screams for Traffic's Stevie; impressive debut for the ...

The Who, Traffic, the Herd, the Tremeloes, Marmalade: Walthamstow Granada, London

Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 11 November 1967

FANS WENT wild for both houses of the Who-Herd-Traffic-Tremeloes tour when it hit Walthamstow Granada on Saturday. ...

Traffic, The Who, The Herd: Danger: Who At Work!

Report and Interview by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 11 November 1967

THE WHO-TRAFFIC-Herd-Tremeloe tour, while proving to be a sell-out attraction, has caused a certain amount of anxiety among those people whose job it is to ...

Albums from the Who, Otis Redding and the Chambers Brothers

Review by Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, 17 December 1967

Biggest Happening in Album Covers ...

The Who: Who Needs To Take Pop Seriously? Asks Pete Townshend

Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 30 December 1967

PETE TOWNSHEND is as unpredictable as a badly made Roman candle. He fizzes and spurts, showers light and occasionally explodes. ...

The Who: The Who Sell Out (Track)

Review by uncredited writer, Disc and Music Echo, 13 January 1968

'Armenia City In The Sky'; 'Heinz Baked Beans'; 'Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand'; 'Odorono'; 'Tattoo'; 'Our Love Was'; 'I Can See For Miles'; 'Can't ...

Who? A Conversation With Peter Townshend Of The Who, That's Who!

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, March 1968

The who, what, where, when, why — and how! — of the sensational Who! Singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Townshend tells us all! ...

A Further Discourse with Peter Townshend of the Who

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, May 1968

The lowdown on Blow-Up, all about the Who's influence on the Beatles, and who really invented feedback! ...

The Who: Would You Let Your Daughter Marry A Venusion?

Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 4 May 1968

TYPICAL WHO sound blasted in stereo from a battery of speakers – screaming guitar, vocals, bass and drums. But Roger Daltrey, John Entwhistle and Keith ...

Peter Townshend of the Who Talks! We Listen!

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, June 1968

"I mean, everyone seems to be arguing who invented feedback. I mean, I did — without a doubt." The whole truth on feedback, Eric Clapton, ...

Keith Moon: WHO-dunnit?

Interview by Maureen O'Grady, Rave, July 1968

WHO made Keith Moon spill the beans about his secret marriage? Read on for this and more dark secrets of the group, revealed by RAVE's ...

Peter Townshend of the Who 
talks about Mick Jagger 
and the Rolling Stones!

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, July 1968

PART FOUR of this interview needs even less introduction than did Part Three. You all know Peter Townshend of the Who. Here, he talks with ...

Who? A Conversation with Peter Townshend the Who, That's Who!

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, August 1968

HERE IS Part Five of our monumental interview with Peter Townshend, guitarist and songwriter of the Who. Go. ...

The Who: Bus Ride Back To Pop 30 For Who

Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 21 September 1968

THE STATES are where the Who now have their biggest hits, most fan fever, and excitement. Pete Townsend, Keith Moon, Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle ...

The Who: Oldie but Goldie

Report and Interview by Michael Lydon, The New York Times, 22 September 1968

THE WHO PLAY rock "n’ roll music ("it’s got a back beat, you can’t lose it," says Chuck Berry). Not art-rock, acid-rock, or any type ...

The Peter Townshend Interview. Who?

Interview by Paul Nelson, Hullabaloo, October 1968

HERE IS Part Seven of our interview with Peter Townshend, guitarist and songwriter of the Who. ...

The Who, Arthur Brown, Alan Bown: Lyceum, London

Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 26 October 1968

ALL HAIL Arthur Brown! How high the Who! In a curtain-raiser for their forthcoming tour, taking the form of an all-night rave at London's Lyceum, ...

The Who: Tackling The Most Serious Project Of Their Lives

Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 9 November 1968

"THAT'S A nasty letter. What's all that about?" inquired a menacing, dramatically dressed Roger Daltrey, clutching a copy of the MM and noting a communication ...

The Who: Cattiest Group In The Business...

Interview by Hugh Nolan, Disc and Music Echo, 30 November 1968

IN A LARGE, mellowed house just a few yards from the River Thames in Twickenham, a rather staid suburb of London, Pete Townshend, noted composer ...

Rolling Stones: The Greatest Show On Earth

Report by Keith Altham, New Musical Express, 21 December 1968

THE ROLLING STONES put in some overtime last Wednesday when they spent 17 hours working on their telethon production of The Rock and Roll Circus ...

The Who: Change and Creation

Essay by Richard Cromelin, UCLA Daily Bruin, 29 January 1969

IT'S GETTING toward the end. It's building and building and building. The intensity he is projecting is communicated to the whole crowd. He is not ...

Keith Moon: College Cheques Don't Bounce!

Interview by Val Mabbs, Record Mirror, 29 March 1969

AFTER MISSING our first arranged meeting due to an unexpected Radio One Club appearance, the highly effervescent Keith Moon burst into the bar to meet ...

The Who: Tommy (Track)

Review by Miles, International Times, 9 May 1969

THIS ARTICLE on the Who's new LP, Tommy, appears in place of an interview with Pete Townshend which could not be prepared in time to ...

The Renaissance of the Who

Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 10 May 1969

PETE TOWNSHEND'S triumph! ...

The Who: Ronnie Scott's, London

Live Review by Lon Goddard, Record Mirror, 10 May 1969

FROM TWELVE o'clock onwards, an influx of journalists, publicists and assorted ravers were to be seen conglomerated in deepest Soho, preparing themselves with liquid medication ...

The Who: Sensation

Essay by Geoffrey Cannon, The Village Voice, 22 May 1969

Update, 2019: WHO PLAYS concept albums now? With a couple of exceptions, not me. I don't mean albums whose separate numbers have a common approach, ...

The Who: Pete on Tommy #1

Interview by Miles, International Times, 23 May 1969

THIS INTERVIEW is the edited result of a two hour tape recorded Sunday May 4 at Miles's house. The story of The Who's two volume ...

The Who: Tommy (Track stereo 613 013/4; 76s 1d)

Review by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 24 May 1969

WHO'S SICK OPERA ...

The Who: Tommy (Track)

Review by Lon Goddard, Record Mirror, 24 May 1969

'Overture'; 'It's A Boy'; '1921'; 'Amazing Journey'; 'Sparks'; 'The Hawker' (A); 'Christmas'; 'Cousin Kevin'; 'The Acid Queen'; 'Underture'; 'Do You Think It's Alright?'; 'Fiddle About'; ...

The Who: Tommy (Track)

Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 31 May 1969

An extremely tasteful pop opera ...

The Who: Fillmore East; The Platters: Felt Forum, New York NY

Live Review by Mike Jahn, The New York Times, 8 June 1969

Britain's High-Decibel Group, The Who, Is Still Thundering ...

The Who: Pete on Tommy #2

Interview by Miles, International Times, 13 June 1969

M: IS THERE any musical influence on this album at all? Outside of the WHO itself I suppose the nearest thing is The Mothers, except ...

Born to Sing The Blues

Comment by Charlie Gillett, Record Mirror, 14 June 1969

COLLECTORS of rhythm and blues music are doomed to perpetual frustration, as they witness one white singer after another plundering the culture they love. Occasionally, ...

Keith Moon

Interview by Keith Altham, Rave, July 1969

CONDUCTING an interview with Keith Moon is rather like running a mental obstacle course with a megalomaniac (his manager's reference, not mine), with imminent danger ...

Festivals & Pop Proms

Live Review by Lon Goddard, Record Mirror, 12 July 1969

ALL THE HAPPENINGS REVIEWED... ...

Styles of the City

Comment by Geoffrey Cannon, The Guardian, 19 August 1969

GEOFFREY CANNON ON POP MUSIC ...

Woodstock

Report by Miller Francis Jr., The Great Speckled Bird, 1 September 1969

"Man, what done got into them ofays?" one asked. "It ain't nothing. They just trying to get back, that's all" "Get back?" said the ...

Bob Dylan et al: Isle of Wight Festival

Live Review by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 6 September 1969

200,000 roar approval including John, George, Ringo and wives! But Dylan didn't quite sink Isle of Wight, reports Richard Green ...

The Who: Fillmore East, New York NY

Live Review by Mike Jahn, The New York Times, 21 October 1969

THE WHO BRINGS ROCK OPERA HERETommy Begins 6-Day Run at the Fillmore East ...

The Who: Hippodrome, Bristol

Live Review by Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 13 December 1969

Smoke bombs and a bare bottom at the Hippodrome Richard Williams reports on the Who's incident-packed concert in Bristol ...

Who interview... Got Love, Zoot Suits, Tarzan... If You Want It

Interview by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 6 March 1970

GRANTED, OF course, that you're conceivably up to here with P. Townshend interviews (that gentleman having made himself available for comment to seemingly everyone with ...

The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus

Report by David Dalton, Rolling Stone, 19 March 1970

The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus was an entertainment extravaganza planned and put on by the Rolling Stones in December 1968. Originally done as ...

The Who: Live at Leeds (Track)

Review by Geoffrey Cannon, unpublished, 15 May 1970

Update, 2019. Below is the complete piece on The Who Live at Leeds written for The Guardian that published a slashed version, and also for ...

The Who: Live At Leeds (Track stereo 2406 001; 42s 6d).

Review by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 16 May 1970

BRILLIANT WHO ...

The Who: Live At Leeds

Review by Richard Williams, The Times, 18 May 1970

THE IMPORTANCE of The Who lies not only in their excellence, but in the crucial attitude of their leader, Pete Townshend. ...

The Who: Live At Leeds (Track)

Review by Rob Partridge, Record Mirror, 30 May 1970

'Young Man'; 'Substitute'; 'Summertime Blues'; 'Shakin' All Over'; 'My Generation'; 'Magic Bus'. ...

Who Rehearsed Live Album During American Tour

Interview by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 13 June 1970

KEITH MOON, a little more serious these days, talks to RICHARD GREEN ...

Woodstock: Talking About My Generation

Essay by Miller Francis Jr., The Great Speckled Bird, 15 June 1970

"I'm looking for me, You're looking for you We're looking at each other and we don't know what to do." — 'The Seeker' by the Who ...

The Who: Metropolitan Opera House, New York NY

Live Review by Vicki Wickham, Melody Maker, 20 June 1970

Ten-dollar seats for The Who! ...

Woodstock (Import Cotillion SD3-500)

Review by Rob Partridge, Record Mirror, 4 July 1970

BONUS TRACKS ON WOODSTOCK GIANT ...

John Entwistle: I Nearly Quit Top Of The Pops

Interview by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 4 July 1970

A bass player who objects to being ignored by TV cameras: That's John Entwistle of the Who. He told his troubles to NME's Richard Green ...

The Who, John B. Sebastian, the Blues Image, Leon Russell: Anaheim Stadium, Anaheim CA

Live Review by Ann Moses, New Musical Express, 4 July 1970

WHO HEAT UP SUMMER ...

The Who: At The Metropolitan Opera House

Live Review by Al Aronowitz, Rolling Stone, 9 July 1970

THE WHO is a group that was nurtured in gimmickry. I remember five years ago Brian Jones calling me up on the trans-Atlantic phone to ...

From the Marquee to the Met: Watching The Who

Interview by Miles, Crawdaddy!, September 1970

SAY THE WORD. "Who". Who did you think of? Pete Townshend, great underrated rock guitarist adrift in a Sargasso sea of eulogies to Clapton and ...

The Isle of Wight Festival: Five Days That Rocked Britain

Report by Mark Plummer, Michael Watts, Chris Welch, Richard Williams, Melody Maker, 5 September 1970

MM's Richard Williams, Chris Welch, Michael Watts and Mark Plummer present a five-page report on an amazing weekend of music and other scenes... ...

The Isle of Wight Festival: 5 Days of Peace, Music and Love

Report by Mick Farren, uncredited writer, International Times, 10 September 1970

2011 note: this report on the 1970 IoW festival is led off by Mick Farren but includes contributions by other, unnamed IT writers. The title ...

Roger Daltrey: The Sounds Talk In

Interview by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 10 October 1970

DO YOU feel your position as a singer with the Who is as influential as you'd like it to be? ...

The James Gang: They lift audience to 'pow' level

Interview by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 10 October 1970

WE BORROW THE JAMES GANG FOR TOUR WITH WHO ...

The Week's Singles: Laura Nyro, James Taylor, Eric Clapton, The Band et al

Review by Penny Valentine, Sounds, 10 October 1970

Magnificent, dynamic Nyro ...

Pete Townshend

Interview by Keith Altham, Record Mirror, 13 February 1971

WHITHER the Who? you might ask, for despite their Live At Leeds album and Pete Townshend's recently announced plans for "musically computerised character analysis" we ...

The Who: Civic Hall, Dunstable

Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 17 July 1971

MOUNTAINS MAY tumble and fall, supergroups come and go, but the Who will always be with us. And while they are they continue to wear ...

The Who: Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, Queens NY

Live Review by Mike Jahn, The New York Times, 31 July 1971

The Who Play First Program Of '71 Here Despite Downpour ...

The Who: Music Hall, Boston

Live Review by Nancy Lewis, New Musical Express, 21 August 1971

THE WHO, in America after a year's absence, are creating a bigger sensation than ever. Statistics don't lie. They completely sold out two New York ...

The Who: Who's Next (Decca DL 79182)

Review by John Mendelssohn, Rolling Stone, 2 September 1971

WHO'S NEXT, regardless of what you may have been led to believe to the contrary, is neither the soundtrack to the realization of Pete Townshend's ...

The Who: Who's Next (Track Deluxe 2408 102)

Review by Lon Goddard, Record Mirror, 4 September 1971

Who's here with biggest ever ...

Keith Moon: Pitch And Bowl For A Pig!

Report by Keith Altham, Record Mirror, 25 September 1971

THERE WAS a Moon landing in Lyne, Surrey last week when the Who's very own 'lunar-tick' did his bit for his new community by putting ...

The Who: Who's Next

Review by Dave Marsh, Creem, October 1971

WHO'S NEXT IS TO the Who what the White Album must've been to the Beatles. After Tommy, which was a concept-rock summit, not, as commonly ...

The Who: Surrey University, Guildford

Live Review by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 16 October 1971

OO'S GOT THE most exciting stage act in the world, then? The 'Oo, that's 'oo. And 'ow do I know? 'Cause I know all about ...

The More Successful You Get, The More Equipment You Get, So Teams Are Needed To Get Everything From Place To Place

Report and Interview by Ian Dove, Billboard, 6 November 1971

THEY ALSO SERVE WHO ONLY LIFT AND HANDLE... ...

The Who: Meaty Beaty Big & Bouncy (Track 2406 006; £2.15); Humble Pie: Performance Rockin' At The Fillmore (A&M AMLH 63506; £2.29).

Review by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 27 November 1971

THE REASON I have for linking these two albums together is to try to demonstrate the right way and the wrong way to do it. ...

The Who: Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy (Decca)

Review by Jonh Ingham, Phonograph Record, December 1971

WELL, THEY'VE (and we all know who they are) finally gotten around to putting 'I Can't Explain', 'The Seeker', and 'Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere' onto an ...

The Who: Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy

Review by Greg Shaw, Phonograph Record, December 1971

WHO FANS have been saying it for years: "Those bastards at Decca! Why don't they put out an album of early singles?" For the Who ...

The Who Puts the Bomp

Comment by John Swenson, Crawdaddy!, 5 December 1971

WHO NIGHT. The crowd waits reverently, attention vaguely focused on the massive half-ton fortress of amplifiers looming in the shadows of the dimly lit stage. ...

The Who: Civic Auditorium, San Francisco CA

Live Review by Philip Elwood, The San Francisco Examiner, 13 December 1971

Greatest Rock Show On Earth ...

The Who: Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy

Review by Dave Marsh, Creem, February 1972

THERE ISN'T MUCH to say. They're really let us down this time. I don't know if anyone else resents it, but I do. Why reissue ...

The Who: (Keith) Moon Probe

Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 22 April 1972

2005 note: As well as being their drummer and resident comedian, Keith Moon was the Who's PR man. Journalists unfamiliar with the group may have ...

The Who

Memoir by John Swenson, Beetle, 30 November 1972

As has been stated in the past. Beetle is not a magazine for everyone. We attempt to appeal to specific tastes. It was with this ...

John Entwistle: Exile On Times Square

Interview by John Swenson, Beetle, 31 December 1972

JUDGING FROM its state of neatness one would never guess that a member of the who was occupying a suite of rooms in the stately ...

The Who Installment II

Report and Interview by John Swenson, Beetle, 31 December 1972

AS THE SINGLE version of 'Won't Get Fooled Again' and Who's Next prepared the way for them, The Who swept halfway across the country in ...

Pete Townshend part1: The True Saga Of Clapton's Rainbow Gig

Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 24 February 1973

IF YOU TURN up at the famous Track office in Soho's historic Old Compton Street, you're sure of a big surprise – there's a glitzy ...

Pete Townshend part 2: If The Who Split We'd Really Have To Own Up

Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 3 March 1973

PETER TOWNSHEND is an amiable sort of dude. He sits in Track Records' office, with booze and dog to hand, and talks about anything that ...

Roger Daltrey: Who Does What In The Who

Interview by Tony Stewart, New Musical Express, 14 April 1973

WHAT'S HAPPENED to the Who? Pete SHOULD be writing and recording for the Who. John Entwistle SHOULD be concentrating on the Who's future, but he's ...

The Who: Bang A Gong The Who Get It On

Report by Barbara Charone, New Musical Express, 11 August 1973

THE MAN across the road didn't really understand why Keith Moon was standing in the pouring rain, beating on a Paiste gong outside the Who's ...

The Who: Triumph And A Threat

Interview by Tony Stewart, New Musical Express, 6 October 1973

IT HAPPENED TO THE BEATLES, BUT IT WON'T AFFECT THE WHO. AND ROGER DALTREY NOW PREPARES TO DO THREE YEARS HARD LABOUR ...

The Who: Four-Way Pete

Review and Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 27 October 1973

TOWNSHEND'S Quadrophenia is a rather daunting proposition. Another Who double-album rock opera? About a kid called Jimmy? With a massive booklet of grainy monochrome tableaux ...

John Entwistle: Quadrophenia Another Great Who Opera?

Interview by uncredited writer, Beat Instrumental, November 1973

JOHN ENTWISTLE is a happy man! He enjoys a reputation as one of the world's best electric bass players, he's had a decade of success ...

Pete Townshend: Who's Jimmy?

Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 3 November 1973

IN THE SECOND LEG OF THE TOWNSHEND-MURRAY TALKABOUT, PETE TELLS ALL...AND MORE. ...

The Who’s Mod Generation: Quadrophenia Through The Years

Overview by Greg Shaw, Phonograph Record, December 1973

If I could somehow live my teenage years over again, I think I would choose to live them as a Mod. What it must have ...

The Who: Quadrophenia

Review by Lenny Kaye, Rolling Stone, 20 December 1973

Quadrophenia is the Who at their most symmetrical, their most cinematic, ultimately their most maddening. Captained by Pete Townshend, they have put together a beautifully ...

The Who: Exorcizing The Ghost of Mod

Review and Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, Creem, January 1974

The Who: Quadrophenia ...

The Who Plunge Into Madness With Quadrophenia

Profile and Interview by John Swenson, Circus Raves, March 1974

GIVEN THE SITUATION that the average life span of a successful rock group is less than two years, the Who have set some kind of ...

The Who: Quadrophenia Reconsidered

Comment by Dave Marsh, Creem, March 1974

PHILADELPHIA ON Tuesday night is nobody's good time. Nonetheless, because the Who were not coming to New York on their fall tour, it was worth ...

Pete Townshend: March Of The Mod

Profile by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 18 May 1974

IT MAY WELL have been pure chance that produced the most visually exciting guitarist in rock. If Peter Townshend hadn't been born with a big ...

Can You Believe It? Chatting with Pete Townshend

Interview by John Tobler, ZigZag, June 1974

I bet you'd given up all hope of seeing the second part of this little epic, eh? How many of you even remember the first ...

The Who: 'The Least I Could Do Was Smash a Guitar'

Report and Interview by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 22 June 1974

Chris Charlesworth reviews the Who's return to New York — and talks to Pete Townshend ...

The Who: Madison Square Garden, New York NY

Live Review by Arthur Levy, Zoo World, 18 July 1974

HOSTILE YET oblivious to their circumstances (the cavernous Madison Square Garden), the Who transcended their retrograde Heil sound system for almost two hours on the ...

The Who: Odds & Sods/Them: Backtrackin'

Review by Ken Barnes, Phonograph Record, November 1974

1974 HAS CERTAINLY been a good year for reissues, even if UA's Jan & Dean set didn't quite make it to the starting gate. Four ...

Tommy the Movie: Hype-Hype-Hype-Hooray?

Report and Interview by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 22 March 1975

"TOMMY IS THE GREATEST WORK OF ART the 20th century has produced." So says Ken Russell. He should know: he's just directed the film of ...

Tommy on the Silver Screen

Review by Bud Scoppa, Phonograph Record, April 1975

Pre-release skepticism was clearly in order. The handing over of Townshend’s likeable but jumbled spiritual parable to filmdom’s master of the Technicolor sick joke seemed ...

The Who: The Celluloid Passion Of Roger Daltrey

Interview by Barbara Charone, Crawdaddy!, April 1975

LONDON – "They just don't make records like they used to," the mini-cab driver complained, battling the mid-day London traffic, edging the car towards Battersea. ...

Nick Kent – A Limey in LA #2: The Day I Shook Bob Dylan's Hand And Other Weird Tales

Report by Nick Kent, New Musical Express, 5 April 1975

ALSO INCLUDES: The Dog That Ate The Dog That Ate Los Angeles ...

Roger Daltrey: What the Who's Been Doing

Interview by Barbara Charone, Rolling Stone, 11 September 1975

LONDON – "I don't think Tommy held the band back – it's just that nobody wanted to listen to what [else] we were doing. Who's ...

Ken Russell: How Does He Feel About TOMMY

Interview by Ian Dove, Hit Parader, October 1975

BEAT THE drums. ...

The Who: The Who By Numbers

Review by Ken Barnes, Phonograph Record, October 1975

THE WHO'S sovereign elixir is only available about once every two years, and is held most effective when composed of simple, basic ingredients. The 1969 ...

The Who: The Who By Numbers (Polydor)

Review by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 4 October 1975

Once upon a time Pete Townshend was young and full of hope. That was then. ...

The Who: The Who By Numbers (Polydor) (37.50)

Review by Barbara Charone, Sounds, 4 October 1975

THE WHO are alright kids. They are back with a vengeance. The first opening attack on 'Slip Kid' quells doubts and settles apprehensions about the ...

Bands On The Run From The Taxman?

Report by Ed Jones, Melody Maker, 11 October 1975

THE PIONEER of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, defined the artist's aims as "fame, wealth, power, and the love of women." Though no one has yet found ...

The Who: Bingley Hall, Stafford

Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Melody Maker, 11 October 1975

LIKE MOUNTAINEERS tottering on the brink of some huge ravine, the Who crashed into their first tour in over two years at the weekend and, ...

The Who's Bingley Bang

Report by Barbara Charone, Sounds, 11 October 1975

I WAS in a pretty blasphemous mood when I left for Stafford. But the thought of seeing the Who cheered me up. It had been ...

The Who: Imagine a Life Full of Heroes & Villains & Fools

Essay by Penny Valentine, Street Life, 1 November 1975

THAT summer: Tolliday and I roaming Soho’s warm night streets, swapping stories, putting each other in roles, lingering outside sawdust-floored Italian food-stores, sniffing in the ...

The Who, Toots & The Maytals: Summit Hockey Arena, Houston TX

Live Review by John Swenson, Sounds, 29 November 1975

THE WHO began the American portion of their world tour in characteristic fashion – opening up Houston's Summit Hockey arena to rock 'n' roll. ...

Keith Moon: Like A Rat Up A Pipe

Profile by Gary Pig Gold, The Pig Paper, December 1975

IF PETE Townshend is the mind of The Who, Entwistle the soul, and Roger the heart, then drummer Keith Moon is most definitely the gut. ...

The Who Tour: Random Flashes Of Brilliance

Live Review by Richard Cromelin, Phonograph Record, December 1975

The Who: The Summit, Houston Tx. ...

The Who: The Who By Numbers

Review by Simon Frith, Let It Rock, December 1975

THE SUNDAY TIMES' recent 'Rock Report' has been useful just for gathering together in one place all the clichés of the supercilious school of rock ...

What's Next For The Who

Report by Dave Schulps, Circus, December 1975

"The report of my death is greatly exaggerated"– Mark Twain ...

The Who on the Beach

Report and Interview by Michael Gross, Rock, 1976

THE POOL AREA of The Doral Hotel on Miami Beach was virtually empty. A few children splashed in the water, a small group of double-knit ...

The Who, Toots and the Maytals: The Summit, Houston TX

Live Review by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 1 January 1976

The Who: Losing the Spark after a G-G-Generation? ...

Keith Moon: The Chancellor and the Drummer Boy

Interview by Roy Carr, New Musical Express, 17 January 1976

Is KEITH MOON The Biggest Loony in the World? Or is DENIS HEALEY Even Dafter? ROY CARR tells the heart-tugging tale of The Chancellor and ...

Who’s Still The Best Live Rock'n'Roll Band In The World, Then?

Report by Andy Childs, ZigZag, February 1976

IT'S BEEN said often enough over the last month or so, but the fact still remains: The Who are still the best live rock 'n' ...

John Entwistle: Is This The Right Man For Mayor of Acton?

Interview by Jonh Ingham, Sounds, 28 February 1976

'Momma's got a squeeze box she wears on her chestAnd when Daddy comes home he never gets no rest Because she's playing all nightAnd the ...

Who, Gibbons Face the Hog Butcher Vibe

Report by Mick Farren, New Musical Express, 20 March 1976

The Who/Steve Gibbons Band: Pavillion de Paris ...

The Who: Madison Square Garden, New York NY

Live Review by John Swenson, Sounds, 27 March 1976

IT'S AN old joke, but it's still happening so it must mean something. There we were eating the meat loaf special at the local watering ...

The Who: Who-ray!

Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 5 June 1976

"Will the people on the lighting tower please get-off because it's very dangerous and we are afraid that tower might go" – Nicky Horne, Capital ...

The Who: The Real Thing – Accept No Substitute

Report by Barbara Charone, Sounds, 12 June 1976

"CHARLTON ain't gonna be any better than this," Mick Jagger had flatly declared to a dubious John Entwistle during the first night the Rolling Stones ...

The Who: The Story of the Who

Review by Barbara Charone, Sounds, 2 October 1976

IT'S NO accident that the most successful Punk Rock bands include at least one Who song in their act. Eddie And The Hot Rods do ...

The Who: The Story Of The Who (Polydor)

Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 2 October 1976

Roger Daltrey (vocals), John Entwistle (bass, brass, vocals), Keith Moon (drums, percussion), Pete Townshend (guitars, keyboards, vocals). Various tracks produced by Kit Lambert Chris Stamp, Peter Kamerson, Glyn Johns and The Who, from 1966-75. ...

The Who

Book Excerpt by David Dalton, Lenny Kaye, Rock 100, 1977

THE TEEN DREAM LIES AT THE CORE OF rock & roll and no group has explored, projected and interpreted the turbulent substances of teenage craniums ...

Britain's Tax Exiles; Keeping a Piece of the Rock

Report by Simon Frith, The Village Voice, 28 March 1977

It's difficult to feel sorry for an exile whose alternative to an impoverished Britain is unfettered hedonism in the south of France. ...

Who's Still Angry? Roger Daltrey Is

Interview by Mick Brown, Rolling Stone, 2 June 1977

LONDON — "If I wanted to get anything out of this business," Roger Daltrey says, "it was never to have to go back and work ...

Jimmy Page Gives The Interview Of His Life

Interview by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, September 1977

A Three-Part Series — Part One: Pre-Yardbirds ...

The Who: Quadrophenia

Retrospective by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 21 January 1978

The Department of Cryptic Headlines presents a retrospective view of THE WHO's Quadrophenia, noting that Mr Pete Townshend's Mod vision is as valid now as ...

Pete Townshend

Interview by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, April 1978

KAREN TOWNSHEND answers the door wearing a puzzled look. "Hello. I'm here to see Pete. We've got an interview scheduled for ten o'clock." The puzzled ...

In Which Pete Townshend Gets Personal

Interview by Dave Schulps, Trouser Press, May 1978

"SHADDUP," YELLS Pete Townshend. Then he slaps his leg and Towser the dog comes running over. "Do you want to go out?" Pete asks, getting ...

Who: Who Are You

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 19 August 1978

Say Goodbye To Angry Songs For Kids Say Hello To Angry Songs For Grown-Ups ...

The Who: Sweat, Bollocks & Guts

Interview by Sylvie Simmons, Sounds, 2 September 1978

IN ORDER that you wouldn’t get lost in the huge Universal Studios complex, accidentally find yourself on a glam-tram and off on a tourist-view of ...

Lynyrd Skynyrd: "Still healing"

Report and Interview by Wayne Robins, Newsday, 17 September 1978

THE EFFECTS of last October's plane crash that ended the career of Lynyrd Skynyrd, America's most talented Southern-grown hard rock band, are still being felt ...

Keith Moon Dies Before He Gets Old

Essay by Simon Frith, The Village Voice, 18 September 1978

I WAS TYPING the last paragraph of my Who review when a news flash on the radio announced that Keith Moon was dead: "We'll bring ...

Keith Moon and rock 'n' roll: "Hope I die before I get old"

Obituary by Bill Holdship, Michigan State News, 22 September 1978

WHO DRUMMER Keith Moon died Sept. 7 from an overdose of a sedative prescribed to combat alcoholism. He was 31. The Who, presently finishing their ...

The Who: Who Are You

Review by Ira Robbins, Crawdaddy!, October 1978

Ever since Pete Townshend immortalized teenage rebellion with the phrase "Hope I die before I get old," he has been haunted by the obvious ramifications ...

The Who Come To a Fork in the Road

Interview by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 5 October 1978

"THIS POOR hotel," says Pete Townshend, gesturing at his spacious suite in the Navarro Hotel on New York's posh Central Park South. "Mr. Russell, the ...

Pete Townshend: Picking Up The Pieces

Report and Interview by Michael Watts, Melody Maker, 14 October 1978

"ROGER AND I have really got to get together and thrash out... not a compromise, but what is really gonna work.  And if we can't ...

Keith Moon 1947-1978

Obituary by Dave Marsh, Rolling Stone, 19 October 1978

LONDON, ENGLAND — Keith Moon died before he got old. The Who's spark-plug drummer, who turned thirty-one on August 23rd, was found dead in the bedroom ...

Who: Who's Who?

Interview by Barbara Charone, Creem, November 1978

Deep in the back of my mind is an unrealized soundEvery feeling I get from the streets says it soon could be found When I ...

The Who Sell In

Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 27 January 1979

ARE THE WHO haunted by ghosts? Is the spectral figure of Tommy now joined by the cackling spirit of Keith Moon? ...

The Who

Profile by Kris DiLorenzo, Grooves, February 1979

SOME PEOPLE call the Rolling Stones the world's greatest rock & roll band, but there are probably just as many fans who think that title ...

The Who Movie

Interview by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, April 1979

Kids Are Allright Director Jeff Stein Tells TP All About It ...

The Who: The Mod Revival, Yes…

Live Review by Mark Williams, Melody Maker, 12 May 1979

The Who: Rainbow, London ...

The Who: Vive Le 'Oo

Report by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 19 May 1979

After last week's Rainbow triumph the Who continued their return in France at the weekend with an open-air concert and the premieres of their two ...

Townshend: Still No Touring

Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 26 May 1979

What next for the Who?Roger loved it, but Pete's not so sure...After their French concert last week, CHRIS WELCH eavesdropped on the Who's doubts and ...

The Who: The Kids Are Alright (Polydor)

Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 9 June 1979

"The whole thing about rock and roll dynamism, in many ways, is the fact that if it does slow down, if it does start to ...

The Who is undated in a new age

Interview by Wayne Robins, Newsday, 24 June 1979

THE WHO may have won and maintained its devoted and massive following thanks to the flamboyant intensity of its peerless live performances and the surging ...

What's What With The Who Movie

Film/DVD/TV Review by John Mendelsohn, Los Angeles Times, 29 July 1979

THE KIDS Are Alright movie – opening Thursday at the Cinerama Dome – begins with the Who performing their ode to teen inarticulateness, 'My Generation', ...

The Who / The Stranglers/ AC/DC /Nils Lofgren: Wembley Stadium, London

Live Review by Harry Doherty, Melody Maker, 25 August 1979

NOT ONE OF the great Wembley encounters, we decided, as the car crept another couple of feet in the late Saturday evening jam. ...

Who, Stranglers: Laser Laser On The Wall Who Are Complacent After All

Live Review by Paul Morley, New Musical Express, 25 August 1979

THE MIDDLE OF the evening and it's getting quite dim. The Who are playing a new song; at least, I take it to be a ...

The Ace Face’s Forgotten Story: Pete Meaden

Interview by Steve Turner, New Musical Express, 17 November 1979

I’m the face babyIs that clear?I’m the faceIf you want it.All the others are third-class tickets by me babyIs that clear?– Pete Meaden for the ...

A Face in The Who: Kenny Jones

Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, December 1979

ZERO HOUR approaches. Soon the Who will be back on stage, and the whole world will be watching. Kenny Jones doesn't mind admitting that he's ...

Quadrophenia (Dir. Franc Roddam, The Who Films Ltd)

Film/DVD/TV Review by Dave DiMartino, Creem, March 1980

Quadrophenia: Pass Those Purple Hearts ...

Pete Townshend: Conversations With Pete

Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 19 April 1980

On an up with britain's longest serving honest man of rock ...

Burbank Calling

Comment by J. Kordosh, Creem, July 1980

They were six fine English boys Who knew each other in Birmingham They bought a drum and guitar Started a rock-roll band. ...

The Who: Face Dances (Warner Bros.)

Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, June 1981

ONCE UPON A TIME, the Who was a guiding force in the life of many people (myself included). The wisdom of Chairman Pete Townshend, as ...

The Who: Hooligans

Review by Ira Robbins, Trouser Press, January 1982

From a fan's point of view, there is nothing worse than a compilation album put together by either a group, whose nearness to the material ...

Pete Townshend Stops Hurting People; Stops Hurting Himself

Interview by Chris Salewicz, Creem, November 1982

"PERSONALLY I LIKE the idea of embodying evil in the devil – it doesn't really matter whether you externalize the evil or recognize it as ...

Take the Money and Run

Report by Michael Goldberg, Rolling Stone, 7 July 1983

Rock & roll gets in bed with corporate America ...

The Who, Yardbirds books

Book Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 7 January 1984

Before I Get Old: The Story Of The Who by Dave Marsh Yardbirds by John Platt, Chris Dreja and Jim McCarty ...

The Who's Breakup Shatters Roger Daltrey's Illusions About the Power of Rock & Roll

Interview by Mick Brown, Rolling Stone, 24 May 1984

LONDON — WITH the release of Parting Should Be Painless, his first solo album since the demise of the Who, Roger Daltrey is clearly a ...

Eleganza: Our Wacky, Wacky World

Column by John Mendelssohn, Creem, September 1986

IN THE EARLY '70s, we Americans called it glitter and the English glam, but by any other name it would still be mass transvestitism. It's ...

Who The Hell Does Pete Townshend Think He Is?

Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, July 1989

Doesn't time fly? Seems like only yesterday he was a powerful advertisement for reckless hedonism and passionate irresponsibility. Today he's a bookish publishing consultant, earnest ...

The Who: Giants Stadium, New Jersey

Live Review by Tony Fletcher, Record Mirror, 12 August 1989

THOUGH THEY haven't released a new album in seven years — and a good one for a lot longer — the Who's 25th anniversary reunion ...

Pete Townshend: Alive and Kicking

Interview by Pippa Lang, What Hi-Fi?, October 1989

Pete Townshend's zest for gigging is as strong as ever. But so is his passion for the digital trickery of computer composing, as he tells ...

The Who: Rock On, Tommy!

Report and Interview by Charles Shaar Murray, Q, November 1989

That deaf, dumb and blind kid is back, along with all the unsavoury characters – Cousin Kevin, Uncle Ernie, the Acid Queen – who made ...

Bob Clearmountain: Making the hard stuff look easy

Interview by Alan di Perna, Musician, July 1990

BOB CLEARMOUNTAIN exudes a calm, deliberate air as he moves around the cluttered interior of a recording truck parked outside L.A.'s Universal Amphitheatre. Politely negotiating ...

London: Ditty Old Town

Overview by Stephen Dalton, New Musical Express, 22 May 1993

From The Kinks to Carter, Bowie to Blur, the Small Faces to Suede, British pop groups have eulogised, mythologised, criticised, glamorised, immortalised, romanticised and agonised ...

The Who's Pete Townshend (1994) [transcript]

Audio transcript of interview by Simon Witter, Rock's Backpages transcripts, 1994

This is a transcript of Simon's audio interview. Listen to the audio of this interview. ...

Woodstock

Review and Interview by Chris Salewicz, MOJO, July 1994

WOOSTOCK BEGAN ON A GOLF course. Three years before they were to be responsible for Governor John Rockefeller declaring the Woodstock Festival area "a state ...

John Entwistle

Interview by Johnny Black, MOJO, September 1994

MY GENERATIONA LOT OF THE SOLOS I PLAYED WERE MUCH FASTER AND MORE interesting than the ones that finally went on the record. ...

The Who: Earls Court, London

Live Review by Sylvie Simmons, Rolling Stone (Germany), November 1995

ROCK MUSIC – we’d never have believed it if they’d told us back then – has grown up. What was once dicks and fists has ...

The Who: Betrayed by Rock'n'Roll

Comment by Dave Marsh, MOJO, July 1996

Fan and friend Dave Marsh celebrates Pete Townshend's most puzzling work, Quadrophenia, written in an era full of possibilities which,"ended badly". Could it be that ...

"Radically Festive": The Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus

Retrospective and Interview by Mat Snow, MOJO, November 1996

On December 10, 1968, some of the most exciting talent in rock history gathered for an event all the more legendary for having been quietly ...

Pete Townshend

Interview by Ira Robbins, Cleveland Live, November 1996

SHORTLY BEFORE THE reunited Who began its month-plus Quadrophenia tour of North America in Portland, Oregon on October 13th, guitarist, singer and composer Pete Townshend ...

Alice Cooper on Keith Moon

Interview by Tony Fletcher, iJamming.net, 12 November 1996

ONE REASON I've been looking forward to getting this site up is to make available some of the interviews I conducted for the Keith Moon ...

Pete Townshend

Interview by Ira Robbins, San Francisco Chronicle, 1997

"Roger [Daltrey] speaks a lot about the magic that happens when the three of us get together to play," says Pete Townshend, who spent two ...

The Who: The Who Sell Out

Retrospective by David Stubbs, Uncut, June 1997

Tommy and Quodrophenia were louder and longer, but the psychedelic pop irony of this 1967 album remains Pete Townshend's masterpiece ...

A Bargain... The Best You Ever Had: Thoughts On Compiling The Who's 30 Years of Maximum R&B

Essay by Chris Charlesworth, Crawdaddy!, 1998

THREE YEARS AGO I met Paul Williams for the first time at the Frankfurt Book Fair. This resulted in Omnibus Press, of which I am ...

Moon Over America

Book Excerpt by Tony Fletcher, Omnibus Books, 1998

An extract from Dear Boy: The Life Of Keith Moon, by Tony Fletcher, first published by Omnibus Press in 1998. (616pp, currently available in the ...

How To Buy The Who

Guide by Fred Dellar, MOJO, January 1998

Every month we navigate the high-water marks, rapids and stagnant ponds of a prolific artist’s output, so you don’t have to. We continue with... ...

Monterey International Pop Festival

Review by Max Bell, Uncut, March 1998

Four-CD box set of the 1967 Summer Of Love festival ...

Pete Townshend: on The Who and Lifehouse

Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Los Angeles Times, 1999

The Who on the road in America again, just 18 years after their farewell tour? "It’s a long story and not a particularly nice one," ...

The Who: Shepherd's Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Chris Charlesworth, Record Collector, December 1999

THE END of the millennium brought a welcome rush of unexpected activity from The Who, most of it inspired by the group's charitable leanings. ...

Pete Townshend: Peter Rabbits

Interview by Tom Cox, The Guardian, 3 December 1999

I'M LAUGHING, BUT Pete Townshend is frightening me. "Yes!!!!!" he shouts, and bangs hard on the table in his Richmond studio, for the second time ...

The Who: BBC Sessions

Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, March 2000

Re-generation… From amphetamine mod-yobs to hairy rock messiahs on Radio Auntie ...

The Who: Shepherds Bush Empire, London

Live Review by Chris Roberts, Uncut, March 2000

WELL, YOU can't accuse them of being pompous, of inflating their legend. The Who shuffle distractedly onstage as if they're playing a mate's house party, ...

The Who: Reissues

Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2001

Soundtracks from three Who-derived Seventies films — something old, something borrowed and something horrible ...

The Who: Go Figure…

Retrospective by Gavin Martin, Uncut, May 2001

THE WHO BY NUMBERS IS PETE TOWNSHEND'S MASTERPIECE. ...

The Who: 'Won't Get Fooled Again'

Retrospective by Johnny Black, Blender, July 2001

Billboard debut: 7 August 1971 Label: UK – Track/US – Decca Performers: Pete Townshend: guitar & synths/Roger Daltrey: vocals/John Entwistle: bass/Keith Moon: drums Producer: Glyn Johns Released: UK – ...

The Who

Retrospective and Interview by Rob Hughes, Uncut, October 2001

AUGUST, 1969: Upstate New York. All along America's Eastern seaboard upright citizens of this great nation are starting to slowly stir from deep and uneventful ...

How The Who’s My Generation LP Finally Came Out On CD in the UK

Retrospective by Chris Charlesworth, Record Collector, 2002

STRANGE THOUGH it might seem, it took an ad on eBay offering the master tapes for sale to anyone with half a million dollars to ...

The Who: The Colosseum, Watford

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, April 2002

'Tonight's show has The Who attacking and understanding their legacy more pointedly than at any time in the past 20 years' ...

John Entwistle, 1944-2002

Obituary by Chris Charlesworth, Bass Guitar, July 2002

IT IS A CLICHÉ THAT CELEBRITIES tend to be shorter in real life than they appear on stage. John Entwistle, who often wore brightly-coloured Cuban-heeled ...

Thunderfingers' Last Stand: Remembering John Entwistle

Memoir by Keith Altham, Rock's Backpages, 5 July 2002

THE NEWS OF John Entwistle's death reached me by email from LA via Pete Townshend's PA Nicola Joss in Las Vegas on Thursday night. ...

The Who: My Generation

Review by Jon Savage, MOJO, September 2002

The first legitimate CD release of The Who's epoch-making debut album, plus 18 tracks cut with their producer, Shel Talmy, in 1965 and early 1966. ...

The Who: The Who Sell Out from The Complete Guide to the Music of the Who

Book Excerpt by Chris Charlesworth, Omnibus Press, 2004

Original UK issue: Track 612 002 (mono) & Track 613 002 (stereo), released December 1967; UK CD: Polydor 835 727-24, remixed Polydor 527 759-2, 1995. ...

The Who: Lifehouse

Retrospective and Interview by Phil Sutcliffe, Q, April 2004

TRICKY CUSTOMER, Lifehouse. Pete Townshend spent the best part of a year from autumn, 1970, trying to explain it... ...

The Who: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Simon Price, Independent on Sunday, 3 April 2004

A SHAMED MUSICAL hero brought low before our very eyes, his humiliation beamed directly into our living rooms on the television screen. Not an edifying ...

Mike Ross-Trevor: "Are We Rolling?"

Interview by Paul Gorman, The Word, May 2004

In forty years of recording everyone from Dylan and Hendrix to Abba and Lena Zavaroni, a studio engineer sees a lot of strange things. ...

The Who: Then & Now and Singles Box Set Volume 1

Review by David Stubbs, Uncut, June 2004

Two best-ofs, including first new studio recordings in 22 years ...

The Who: Royal Albert Hall, London

Live Review by Gavin Martin, Uncut, June 2004

The 'Orrible 'Oo back in action with patchy but promising opener for a week-long series of Teenage Cancer Trust benefit concerts ...

25 Essential Music DVDs

Guide by Nicholas Jennings, Inside Entertainment, September 2004

1. The Last Waltz THE BAND'S elegant swansong is the ultimate rock concert movie. Director Martin Scorsese's discreet camerawork and superb sound captures inspired performances from ...

Kit Lambert: A Profile

Retrospective by Chris Charlesworth, Q, Spring 2004

"GET HIM OUT of here." "What?" "Get him out. He’s making things worse." "But Pete, he’s... he’s Kit, their manager." ...

The iJamming! interview: Fiery Furnaces' Matt Friedberger

Interview by Tony Fletcher, iJamming.net, January 2005

FOR A Q magazine Special Edition on Icons, published in November 2004, I was commissioned to write profiles on Pete Townshend and Joe Strummer. To ...

She Can Sing For Miles And Miles: Petra Haden

Report and Interview by Erik Himmelsbach, LA CityBeat, 30 June 2005

WHEN I WAS SINGLE, I had a litmus test for first dates: If a woman could tolerate my musical taste, she was worth a second ...

The Who: Talking 'bout our Laptop Generation

Comment by Caitlin Moran, The Times, 17 July 2006

THE WHO ARE embarking on a 66-date world tour this year. ...

The Who: Generation Terrorists

Profile and Interview by Simon Garfield, The Observer, September 2006

It seemed like it was all over for the Who. But solo projects and trout fishing will only get you so far. ...

The Who, Track By Track, Album By Album

Discography by Steven Rosen, unpublished, 2007

Originally commissioned by Classic Rock Direct Limited for a Who DVD. (Note: All quotations in story come from Steven Rosen's personal archive). ...

From Dylan to The Who: Film-maker Murray Lerner

Profile and Interview by Harvey Kubernik, Rock's Backpages, November 2007

Murray Lerner on his new The Other Side Of The Mirror – Bob Dylan Live At The Newport Folk Festival 1963-1965 DVD and the just ...

School of Rock: Monterey to Altamont

Guide by Barney Hoskyns, iTunes, 2008

BETWEEN 1966 and 1970, there was a seismic change in British and American pop. Within a few short years "pop" became "rock", and teenagers who'd ...

The Who: Sell Out: Deluxe Edition (Polydor)

Review by David Hepworth, The Word, April 2009

The Who Sell Out was muddled enough with all those fake ads getting in the way. It's certainly not made "deluxe" by such additions as ...

Chronicles: Roger Daltrey

Interview by Charles Bermant, SonicBoomers.com, 11 September 2009

ONE OF THE privileges of my generation is the opportunity to watch the once-mighty play small clubs, but seeing someone of Roger Daltrey's stature didn't ...

Woodstock: Back To The Garden

Retrospective and Interview by Kris Needs, Record Collector, October 2009

40 years on, Woodstock's epochal celebration of music, peace and unleashed hedonism is being marked with an unprecedented deluge of audio and visual releases. KRIS ...

Naked Eye: An Interview with Ethan Russell

Interview by Steve Matteo, Long Island Pulse, 26 October 2009

PHOTOGRAPHER ETHAN Russell prefers to let his pictures do his talking. In a rare interview, the only photographer to do an album cover for the ...

Long Live Rock: The Who

Comment by Barney Hoskyns, Independent on Sunday, 2 February 2010

ARGUABLY THE MOST famous line The Who's Pete Townshend ever wrote was "Hope I die before I get old" on 1965's angry young anthem 'My ...

Boozing with Keith Moon

Memoir by Caroline Boucher, The Observer, 18 April 2010

An afternoon with the Who drummer started with him putting wing mirrors on a donkey then went steadily downhill ...

How Not to Review the Who

Memoir by John Pidgeon, Rock's Backpages, 8 July 2010

THE WHO WEREN'T mods, they were groomed to look that way by Peter Meaden, a pill-popping publicist with so many ideas in his unnaturally active ...

The Who: Live at Leeds (Super Deluxe Edition)

Review by Roy Carr, Classic Rock, January 2011

IT TURNS OUT that the greatest live album in rock history was only the soundcheck. Actually, Live at Leeds was the second choice – a ...

In The Mood: The Favourite Albums Of Rush's Geddy Lee

Guide by Mick Middles, The Quietus, 29 June 2012

Mick Middles speaks to Rush bassist and singer Geddy Lee about his favourite albums of all times... and finds surprises amidst the classic of the ...

The Who: Barclays Centre, Brooklyn

Live Review by Ira Robbins, Rock's Backpages, 15 November 2012

I'VE BEEN AFFECTED in many ways by the thousand-plus rock concerts I've attended over the years. Not all of my reactions have been pleasant, and ...

12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief: Madison Square Garden, New York

Live Review by Alan Light, MSN.com, December 2012

IT MIGHT HAVE been the single greatest gathering of talent for a rock show – or it might just have been, as Mick Jagger put ...

Pete Townshend: Who I Am – A Memoir (Harper)

Book Review by Robert Dean Lurie, National Review, 20 December 2012

THE INNER FLAP of the dust jacket says it all: "Pete Townshend has some explaining to do." ...

Richard Weight: Mod – A Very British Style (Bodley Head)

Book Review by Ian Penman, London Review of Books, 29 August 2013

IN A LOVELY 1963 piece on Miles Davis, Kenneth Tynan quoted Cocteau to illuminate the art of his "discreet, elliptical" subject: Davis was one of ...

The Who: "Pete came at me. I knocked him spark out."

Profile and Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Event Magazine, 25 October 2014

The real reason Roger punched Pete, why he still feels guilty about Keith Moon's death... and his problem with immigration. Pete's heroin overdose, his man-crush ...

Pete Townshend: "Music has always suffered from being tied to politics or religion"

Report and Interview by Tim Cooper, The Guardian, 2 July 2015

As he releases a version of Quadrophenia performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Who's guitarist explains that his band were never really anti-establishment. ...

Pete Townshend: "I Was Wild!"

Interview by Alan Light, MOJO, August 2015

"I DON'T WANT to tour, I don't want to go on TV, I don't want to go on the radio, I don't want to do ...

Go All The Way: A Thing Called Power Pop

Overview by Dave Laing (Australia), I Like Your Old Stuff, 25 March 2017

"Pete Townshend coined the phrase [power pop] to define what the Who did. For some reason, it didn't stick to the Who, but it did ...

The Who: Live at the Fillmore East, 1968

Review by Chris Charlesworth, Just Backdated, November 2018

WELL, WELL, WELL, what have we here? Praise be, for it is nothing less than the first "new" and officially sanctioned live recording from the ...

Paul Rees: The Ox – The Last Of The Great Rock Stars, the Authorised Biography Of John Entwistle

Book Review by Chris Charlesworth, Just Backdated, March 2020

IN 1990, JOHN Entwistle spent two months in the region of Connemara on the west coast of Ireland, where fierce winds coming off the Atlantic ...

The 30 best live concert albums of all time

Guide by Ian Winwood, Daily Telegraph, 22 April 2020

LAST WEEK, A STORY appeared in the New York Times that predicted that live music would not return to the world's stages until the autumn ...

The Who: Sussex County Cricket Club

Live Review by Richard English, Rock's Backpages, July 2023

IT'S HARD TO pin down how a great gig affects you. A young'un says, "Very fun, Mum, very fun!" Hippie: "Far ... out ... man!" ...

see also Roger Daltrey

see also John Entwistle

see also Keith Moon

see also Pete Townshend

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