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Re: What got you hooked ?



On Thu, 23 Mar 1995, QuietOne wrote:

> I thought that it might be interesting to find out
> what event or song or person got you hooked to "The 'Oo".

It all started for me when a close friend in high school played
"Tommy" for me, straight through, in March '70.  I'd heard of The Who
before, and was passingly familiar with some of the singles, but that
was the extent of my knowledge at that time, they didn't matter to me
more than any other good rock group at the time; less than some (e.g.,
Beatles).  I got a copy immediately and listened to it constantly
(people talk about "wearing out the grooves," and I'm surprised I
didn't, but the copy's still in pretty good shape).

Saw them for the first time in '73 (Dallas) when some friends got
tickets for a friend (different one) and me.  I'd just bought Quad
scant weeks before and was very impressed with it.  However, the
_most_ impressive thing for me was how different they were, live (why
would I expect anything different, when groups I'd seen up to that
point pretty much replicated their records onstage?).  I'd gone in
expecting a quiet, controlled, fading-away "See Me, Feel Me", for
example -- but nnNNOOOOOOoooooooo...

They cemented their position as my favorite group in '80, when I saw
them for the first time in 4 years -- Keith was gone, Rabbit was
added, and "By Numbers" seemed to indicate a move away from Pete's
interest in power-chord rock.  I wasn't at all sure they'd be as good
as they used to be.  They were as awesome as ever.

Strangely (sadly?), the friend who introduced me to them now doesn't
care anymore.  I begged him to go with a group of us to Houston in
'89, but no dice.  Wasn't even interested in seeing the "Tommy"
roadshow when it came here; he said he'd rather just remember it as it
was.  Oh well.  I'm not sure but I think he never did see them live.

Alan
#009099

"When I'm onstage...it's not like bein' possessed, it's just -- 
*I* *do* *my* *job*."  -- Pete Townshend