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re-Digest#304



John:          My comments about The Who being one of the biggest bands
in the world in 1978are really one of that perceived by me the individual
and not from any actual supporting factsor figures,IMHO they appeared to
be just that. So You are probably right.Their inactivity between 1976 and
1978 was perhaps because Keith had moved to LA andhad apparently little
contact with band or management except for when he returned to theUK and
began to record WAY. (here there is some rumour/speculation that will
probablynever be proved that the band was prepared to throw Keith out
anyway due to his conditionand inability to play). It' is very true  and
I agree with you, that The Who received little or no airplay evenin the
Uk by say 1972,though I do remember hearing 'Relay' and '5'15' on the
radio withthe occasional Who track being played on Capital Radio,
London's newest station inthe early seventies. This was crucial for any
band anywhere, airplay, it's a must.Their failure to tour Japan and South
America has always bothered me,I remember reading in The NME once that
there was plans for The Who to go to Japan, it very nearly happened butwas
cancelled. That would have indeed made a newer large market for them.I've
never had a problem with the two albums they made with Kenney, or Kenney
for thatmatter but others have! My comments about Roger and Kenney  are
basically correct exceptthat Roger only seemed to say them much later
after Kenney had joined the band and nowhere near the very start.It's
true , I forgot to mention that Pete became addicted to drugs etc.....And
at one time he had had enough of the band so he broke them up, but I do
remember Roger saying that atthe time,if it was necessary for The Who to
break up in order to save Pete Townshend's lifethen they'd have to break
up. Very complimentary of Roger indeed. Very gracious. I don'tremember
too many other rock stars saying similar things if/when thier band had
any such orsimilar problems.I don't mean to shame anyone John,not you or
anyone, i'm just a somewhat very dedicatedWho fan that has followed their
career for a long time and probably had biased opinionsabout the band and
think that they are the best,especially live in concert, which is what Ilike
most about the band,their concerts, they are so good, so special!I saw
some shows on the 89'tour which I liked, the fans seemed to like the set
up as everyshow appeared to be a sellout or nearly a sellout and the
press coverage in America wasamazing. By then I had left the UK for
Florida, but I know that in the Uk the band have been a non event in
radio/tv,press etc...for a long time which brings me back to my opening
statement that you are probably right,In London and parts of America they
are one of the biggest bands so I accept your point.I still think that
they were right to carry on, after all,they created The Who,the legend
,the magic,what else could they have done ? And be successful ? At the
time of Keith's passingthey were only in their 30's, they had a still
potentially a long career ahead of them as evenChuck Berry/Bill Haley
were still playing live at that time and already into their 50's.I'll end
here as I don't want to bore anyone any longer but even Pete did say in
1982 onthe farewell tour that they 'would be back for special events and
other things ' !!Thanks Pete!Regards,Derick.

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