the Who and their "Pop" period

[Sroundtable@aol.com]

However I believe it is possible to
claim that The Who were the first "hard rock" band in the sense that they
distilled many things down to a particular crunching sound but only after a
great period of "pure" pop i.e I'm A Boy, Picture Of Lily, I Can See For
Miles etc, etc.



First of all, everyone had to pay bills.  The more "pop" sounding Who tunes 
were what was selling at the time since "hard" rock wasn't widely accepted by 
the mainstream.  I can see for miles, however, is as far from "pop" as it 
gets for the time.  I can't explain and My generation also had a hard edge 
not heard before their release, except when the Who played live.  I'm a Boy 
was "pop"?  I'm listening to it now.  it has pop elements but includes the 
who's hard sound during- "my name is bill and I'm a head case! The doctor's 
makin up on my face! etc"- plus it is about a boy in a family of genetically 
engineered girls- a pretty "pop" topic, huh?  Pictures of lily was about 
masturbation.  How bout Boris the Spider?