Re: Getting it all together

[mleaman@sccoast.net (Mark Leaman)]

>You've gone on record numerous times praising "My Generation" for various
>reasons. Now "Leaving Here" was the answer???

WF:
For them to become popular, yes. Not just Leaving Here, but all of it. I'm A
Man, Daddy Rolling Stone, and so on.  BTW, I Can't Explain wasn't released
here, either. And look what they did to Substitute! 
MY GENERATION meant more to bands than fans.

>You have all your facts mixed up regarding the legal battles and the latter,
>"success story". The legal battles had really no effect on the band's output.
>In the UK, the band went from Brunswick to Reaction to Polydor. Here in the
>USA, "Substitute" on Atco was the only interruption. Decca (which became MCA)
>was their label here from the start. 

The legal battle kept The Who from recording, and kept their energy tied up
when they could have been making new music. The time gap between MG and AQO
was extremely long for a band of that time period. To keep product in front
of the public, they did READY STEADY WHO...3/5 of which they didn't write.
Then too, one of the other songs was a remake of a song they had already
released.
The band was tied up for about a year...which would have killed the career
of most bands back then.

>What exactly did MCA hold back on? A few singles (ie. "Dogs" and "Let's See
>Action")? Or "b" sides like "Shout And Shimmy"??? 

Yes to both...S&S being more along the lines of commercial music of the
time. Not that I want The Who to be commercial, but they did make some
commercial music. Which was passed by, thanks to MCA and the Talmy lawsuit.
To add insult to injury, the production of the albums was primitive compared
to the other bands of the time. Making The Who sound like a cheap act. SELL
OUT was the only Who album until WN to sound even close. Then MCA
thoughtfully repackaged songs from two years earlier and some weak B sides,
added two singles, made the cover indicate a live album, and released MAGIC
BUS. Making the band seem to be liars and way out of step with "modern"
music. I can't think of a better way to end a career... Of course, they
COULD have released the "best of" DIRECT HITS, as Polydor did, bringing the
U.S. some great songs that were never heard over here....nah! Or, how about
Young Man Blues, Jaguar, Fortune Teller, Glow Girl, My Way, Melancholia,
Little Billy, Postcard, Early Morning Cold Taxi, Girl's Eyes, Faith In
Something Bigger, Glittering Girl, Now I'm A Farmer? No, we got chilled
leftovers instead.
By LSA, anything they recorded should have been released. WN was a hot
album. Instead, the U.S. radio-listening public almost didn't hear from the
band for two years...since The Relay and Join Together were DOA.

>As for "Pete shares the blame"... Pete was 18, 19...  then 20 when "Tommy"
>came out? What would you like to blame him for, creating great music? 

Townshend's second-guessing the music destroyed Lifehouse and nearly
eliminated QUAD. A bit after the period you're talking about, but that's
what I meant. We really don't know if this happened earlier.

>In the meantime, you're losing valueable time & effort by arguing with me.
>You were going to write to Andy, Chris and ??? to begin making a difference.
>Write to Pete, see if he responds and let us know.

I've written my letter to MCA, but will need some addresses to write Chris
and Pete. I'm not going to write Charlesworth at his house again...if I can
get his work address. Professional courtesy, you know.


               Cheers                         ML