Re: The Who Mailing List Digest V10 #242

[Alan McKendree <amck@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2003 22:40:02 +0100
> From: John Hughes <john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re:  Empty Glass
>
> Scott, re
>
>  > > "Cats In the Cupboard" - I don't like this song & wouldn't want to
>  > > hear a Who version. You might disagree.
>
> Hey, we agree :-)

Well, I for one like Cat's in the Cupboard AND think it'd make a good 
Who song.  Those slashing chords during the verse and the whole 
song's attitude (a balls-to-the-wall rant) are classic Who.  Pete 
should sing the middle eight, of course -- "While you're racing, 
people wasting..."

>  > > "Empty Glass" - Who song that got away. Definitely. Drop the "doo
>  > > wop" backing vocals, though. Never did like those.
>
> Oh, no, don't drop the doo wop!

I don't like "doo wop" as a genre, but I like it here.  It doesn't 
detract from the mood for me, they're just syllables for some aural 
color.


> Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2003 23:23:11 -0400
> From: "C Bogs" <moonshineboy99@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: Who guest spots...
>
>  >"gun" from jagger's "goddess in the doorway"? pete playing guitar on it.
>
> I wondered about this.  I thought about getting the album, but i didn't want
> to lay down 15 bucks for one song.

Then lay down 99 cents at Apple's Music Store 
(http://www.apple.com/music/store/), or 79 cents at whatever "me-too" 
version is available for PC's.


> Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2003 22:40:02 +0100
> From: John Hughes <john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>  > > "Cats In the Cupboard" - I don't like this song & wouldn't want to
> >  > hear a Who version. You might disagree.
> >
> >  Hey, we agree :-)
>
> The weakest song on EMPTY GLASS, perhaps?

I'd nominate "Keep On Working" for that honor.  One of those "songs 
of repetition" a la "Eminence Front" and "Face the Face".


> Date: Fri, 8 Aug 2003 09:24:02 -0400
> From: "Schrade, Scott" <sschrade@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> I suppose.  [A Little is Enough is] just such a light & airy song, 
> plus I'm not fond of it. That's probably why I can't conjure a Who 
> version.

I like it...I'd be curious to see what The Who would have done with 
it.  Sounds like a classic setup for a complete transformation from 
Pete's original.

> What motivated Pete to sometimes bite the hand that fed him?
> Did he simply think he had enough good tunes in him to satisfy both out-
> lets?  Was it a good opportunity to discretely worm his way out of The Who?
> Darn it!  When's that damn autobiography of his coming out?!  Perhaps we'll
> have a better understanding then.

I wonder.  Pete has explicitly and vehemently admitted lying to the 
press during his early career.  His waffling, errors, and 
contradictions are well-known to fans.  The autobiography could well 
turn out to be an interesting work of historical fiction, with the 
fans not knowing where one stops and the other starts.  Not that I 
won't buy it...


> Date: Fri, 8 Aug 2003 16:46:56 -0400
> From: "Jim M" <petenotped@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: Re: Empty Glass
>
> I love Slip Kid, with its funky beat, and how can you not like Squeeze Box?

It's easy.  But I do love Slip Kid.

Cheers,
--
Alan
"That's unbelievable, if that's true."
   --Howard Stern, 5/25/00