RE: The Who Mailing List Digest V8 #338

["Nigel Morton" <nigel@adastey.demon.co.uk>]

To SCHRADE in Akron - My mind is now clear and I see where you're coming
from.

Tommy as a musical - if Townshend authorizes a theatre group to cover Tommy
or Quadrophenia or Iron Man or whatever surely it is better in the long term
for a proper social appreciation of The Who?  Personally, I've only ever
seen one production of Tommy in a theatre and this was actually the fore
runner of it as a theatre production as it was around the 1978 - 79 and was
a short run at the Queens Theatre, London.  The cast were typical of what
you'd expect a theatre director to assemble with the person playing Tommy
being an actual dead ringer of Daltrey in the Tommy movie.  I don't know if
this production had any PT involvement, unlike the mega successful Broadway
production that run until recently in London & New York, but he'd obviously
would have had to give his approval / blessing as he wrote the songs!  With
Tommy the movie I can love it and hate it!  At the time of it's release I
saw it with a gang of friends and we were all tripped off our tits so how
much I was actually entertained by it or the acid I've no idea!  When seen
straight it's a valient, but failed, attempt at translating a vinyl story to
celluloid.  Personally my biggest problem with it is probably the overall
effect of having Ken Russell direct and produce it - too over the top most
of the time.  If nowadays people want to see a musical then I hope they went
to see something by Townshend / The Who than anything by Andrew Lloyd Webber
/ Tim Rice / Elton John / Jim Steinman
et al.  Too me that stuff by them is pure unadulterated shit!  However,
these are only personal opinions as I'm sure there are people out there, and
reading this list, who are entertained by the plastic and insincere musical
manipulations and creations of such composers.

Quadrophenia, the movie -  For me Phil Daniels IS Jimmy Cooper.  Apart from
the fact that in this, his first movie role, he delivers a great and
original performance there's also the fact for me that he DOES really look
and sound like one of the Mods that I'd see strutting around on a Saturday
afternoon / evening along our local high street.  The accent is perfect and
the scene where he and two mates does the chemist and discovers the condoms
is for me one of the funniest movie moments I know of. The fact that there's
little actual Who music in the film misses the point really as it's
attempting to be "historical" in it's settings and constructions so the
music is what we were hearing around the time of "the Mods" 63 - 65 in the
UK and I think it's pretty accurate with the ssongs we do get to hear.

BOR - Just sat here and listened to Townshend sing the line "Don't braise
your eye........".  Or my hearing isn't waht it used to be!  A brilliant
song and the use of it in the UK (soccer) movie "Fever Pitch" as the fans
jostle on  the terraces at Highbury is STUNNING, perfect, perfect!

New material - It's easy for us to sit here and discuss Townshend's frame of
mind and why he should be writing new material for the Who to record.  But,
if I has a history as rich as his / theirs I do know that I'd be most
reluctant to "release" material that could be judged sub-standard when held
against what had made me rich and famous.  Personally I do believe that he
will try BUT if we ever get to hear it I really think is a 50 / 50 chance.
Until then I'll make do with whatever "snippets" may reach us.

NM