Re: Our tarnished Who aka the Two Headed Monster

["Mark R. Leaman" <bushchoked@xxxxxxxxx>]

Is The Who's image tarnished beyond repair?

Scott:

I"m afraid so. This is what I was worried about from the time they announced they were going on. Had they waited a month and rescheduled the first leg...but there's no point rehashing it now. When all is said and done, the band will be left with tarnished (perfect word) legacy. And I refuse to consider them a "fun great live band" because that was never what they were about after Tommy. They were a cut above, and this year they've been "The Stones on their Steel Wheelchair tour." I really can see very little difference between the two bands now...whereas before I would have said The Who were the single best Rock band in the world, without peer. Now they're only the world's greatest Who cover band.

Am I? Am I?!

Of course not. You only want The Who not to be Zeppelin Lite. Or The Who Lite, for that matter. This tour has negated the thrust of their message, the overall message Townshend got across with his music and words. This happened to The Kinks, too, so it's all so clear to me cause I've seen it happen before. Until 1977 The Kinks were a unique, substantial progressive and innovative Rock band in The Who's league (if not quite as consistantly great). Then, with Sleepwalker, the slide into a "professional Rock unit" began and it never ended. As performers they were first rate. They could do any and all old Kinks songs without flaw, and the new ones were damned good Rock music. But the spark was going, going, gone. Compare Something Else (1967) to Misfits (1978) and it's easy to see the lessening of the magic. Don't get me wrong...I love Misfits. But it ain't SE.

Anyway...The Who have always been a two headed monster. Unbelievable live, even more unbeliveable in the studio. Most non-Who fans who like the band (you KNOW what I mean, the kind who own just the "best of" collection and WN) pretty much are into the first head...these are barely more than Zep fans who want more Zep than they're getting. HARD ROCK! "The Who would be better if they had a lead guitarist like Jimmy Page." That's all well and good, and their live prowess is something to be proud of as a fan, but the other head is the important one. NO ONE writes lyrics like Pete, and (IMHO) only Dylan can better him there. Others can write music equally moving, but they don't have the lyrics to "back them up." Which leaves The Who as THE premiere Rock band of all time. Uh, except now they're be remembered not for Tommy. Not for Lifehouse, or (most important of all) Quadrophenia...but as the band who made their dates even when a founding member died the week before. The band who milked their legacy to the point where even Who fans shake their heads in wonder (that's me, folks). Hell, you EXPECT that out of the other bands! Their music doesn't mean as much. But one of my friends, fellow Who fan, always said Townshend would be considered the Beethoven of this age...I fear that's no longer possible.

I'm defensive by nature - especially when it comes to The Who.

Goes with the territory, doesn't it.

And it also pisses me off that The Who seem to be held to a higher
standard than other artists.

That's as it should be. They set a higher standard.

the Clash, Led Zeppelin, DEVO etc. But the critics' pens sure start 
moving when a Who song pops up on a T.V. ad. Why is that?

I used to put it this way: "Fans of other bands hate Who fans, because we say The Who is the best Rock band and they know we're right." Nothing gets you in more trouble than telling the truth...who knows that better than ME? Ha ha ha.

We can simply allow The Who's gloried history to be pigeon-holed or re- 
written, or we can fight it.

"Fight, fight, fight, fight!!!"

If you want, you can cuddle up to your lovely personal relationship with The
Who & ignore all the insults.....but I'm gonna fight.

I'm with ya all the way! Lock and load, uh, I mean Rock N Roll. Let's go GET EM!


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