Pinball Wizard An Embarrassment?

["O'Neal, Kevin W." <Kevin.ONeal@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

	>From: Alan McKendree 
	>Subject: Re: Pinball Wizard An Embarrassment? 
	>
	>>"Pinball Wizard", and the concept of having Tommy become a pinball master,
	>>is an essential part of both the album and its success.
	>
>Which you disapprove of. You think Tommy's success was purchased at the price of abandoning Pete's artistic vision and the  album's internal coherence.>

To a degree, sure.  Does that mean I'm angry at Pete?  No.  Does that mean I'm second guessing Pete?  No.  Just giving my opinion (like assholes, everyone's got one.  Even you Alan!).
	>But, you're presuming that pinball couldn't be exchanged
	>with some other thing that we experience and appreciate in our lives.

>But you don't know what that other thing might be.
Nope, I don't.  I'm not a writer for a rock band.  But if you have information, in your stated extensive research, of what a Pinball Wizard replaced, I'm all ears.  How was it that Pete was going to get people to follow Tommy prior to impulsively sucking up to a rock critic to assure sales?

> More to the point, you weren't there to suggest anything, so Pete had to go with who and what was at hand at the time.

As a matter of fact, I *was* there.  Who do you think was filling the drinks?
Jesus Alan, you're making me feel like I'm on trial here.  It's the "who and what at hand" that is bugging me.  And, you're wrong.  Pete didn't *have* to do a fucking thing.  He could have stuck to his convictions and did what he wanted to.  Are you suggesting that Tommy would have flopped without a Pinball Wizard or the song?  I'm not saying that.  If you do, you are saying that the rest of the album couldn't stand up on it's own.  Is that your stance?  Well, is it?  The jury wants to know.

>I say that even if it's DOES seem "out of place", for want of a better phrase, with the rest of the album, the album is better with >the pinball-champ thread than without.

Oh my god!  We have a different opinion?

> And given The Who's and Pete's wicked sense of fun, as well documented on The Who Sell Out, I think it appealed to him.

So, you're saying Pinball Wizard is supposed to be a joke?  Well, to me it kind of is.  But, I think the joke was missed by a whole bunch of people.

>So he HAD to make it appeal to the buying public, and a necessary part of that was getting a good review from the critics.

Again, he didn't *have* to do anything.  We don't *know* that Tommy wouldn't have stood up "nicely" on it's own.  But, again, we're saying the same thing here.  You just seem to be much more comfortable with rocks most glaring example of kissing-up to a critic, than I.

>You apparently think Pete bought Tommy's success by prostituting his vision.

That could be argued, but only under the premis that Tommy *wouldn't* have been successful without Tommy.
Where is your "evidence" to support that?

>Even if that's true, by doing so he cemented their financial success enough that he could write Quad exactly the way he wanted to, and in the process created a better product.>

Yes, "it paid off".

>The pinball thread in Tommy doesn't bother me,

Good.  And, it really doesn't bother me either.  My initial point, by saying "it's the embarrassment" of the album, is that, TO ME, is seems a departure from the masterpiece that is the rest of Tommy, and has been the subject of ridicule by some since.
Hell, even Pete has chuckled while saying "Pinball Wizard" in interviews.  He knows it's silly.  

>but I too think Quad is a better overall work than Tommy. FWIW.

Well, I agree with you.  FWIW.

>Nik's specific complaint was that the whole work, without pinball, seemed too dark.

Who gives a turd what Nik thinks?  An insecure Pete Townshend who wasn't sure how this new concept album complete with rock-opera would fly with Jon and Jane Q. Public?

> Think of Tommy as a joint work by Pete and Cohn, if it helps,

It doesn't.

>which allowed The Who's career to continue and made all subsequent pure-Pete compositions possible. Think of Pinball Wizard >as the price you have to pay to get Quad.

I do.  And that's all I've ever said.  It's you who seems to have had a problem with Pete selling out for that price.  Selling out is not the hugely bad thing that the words seem to connate.

	>>What's interesting, is that once "famous" from Thomas, I can't think of
	>>another album or song that uses this sort of public diddling.
>I presume you mean "another Who album or song." For one, I'd suggest "Squeeze Box". When you work as hard as Pete does >at writing the deep songs, it's got to be a relief to just blow one off once in a while. But there aren't many.

Yes, but those are *his* choices.  No one was tapping him on the shoulder and telling him what to do.

>"Kow-towing".

Not in Vermont it's not!

>2) Many who achieve fame by pandering to public lowest-common-denominator go right on pandering to it to maintain their >fame. (Not that I put Pete/The Who in this category.)>

Interesting how you quickly put the disclaimer of "(Not that I put Pete/The Who in this category.)". Like pandering to the "public lowest-common-denominator" to *maintain* fame is not a good thing.  But, pandering to achieve fame is ok in your book, I guess.

>Cheers,

Back at ya.
Kevin in VT