The Independent on new Who single

[Brian Cady]

http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/news/article624671.ece

Who release first single in 23 years (rock on, Tommy) 
Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey tell 'IoS' about the
11-minute rock opera that will be basis of new musical

By Anthony Barnes, Arts and Media Correspondent 
Published: 04 June 2006

Since The Who last troubled the top 40, the musical
landscape has been reshaped by hip-hop, dance music
and grunge. But now the band is set to return
virtually untouched by the vagaries of fashion - by
releasing an 11-minute rock opera as its first single
for a quarter of a century. 

At such a length, the track "Wire & Glass" will be one
of the longest singles ever to make the charts - but
its colossal duration means it will struggle to get
airplay on mainstream radio.

Guitarist Pete Townshend has insisted the track should
be issued complete and unedited when it is released
next month as a taster for the band's first new album
since 1982. "This new release is the first truly
creative piece from The Who for nearly 25 years," he
said.

It will dwarf other epic releases such as the once
ground-breaking Bob Dylan song "Like a Rolling Stone",
which, at six minutes, was almost twice as long as
most other pop hits of the mid-1960s, and "Bohemian
Rhapsody", which was a mere five minutes and 55
seconds long. Townshend is now in talks to adapt the
story as a stage musical and animation.

The single, which tells the story of a teenage band
that finds global fame through the internet, is a
condensed version of a half-hour rock opera - also
called Wire & Glass - which will form the centrepiece
of the band's new album, to be released on the Polydor
label in October.

The band has not had the easiest of rides over the
past few years. Bass player John Entwistle died in a
Las Vegas hotel in 2002, and the following year
Townshend was cautioned after he admitted accessing
child pornography while researching a book.

Townshend's mini-opera grew out of a novel he wrote
called The Boy Who Heard Music, which he published on
his website. Needing inspiration for new material for
a Who tour this summer, Townshend hit upon the idea of
using the tale as the basis for his new songs.

"I was able to quickly scratch out a lyrical synopsis.
This comprised seven or eight short lyric poems," he
said. "I took into account none of the depth,
background or complexity of the story. In a way, I
deliberately skipped over what I had explored and
elaborated in my 'novella', and just grabbed at
whatever came into my mind as I sat with pen and
paper. Quickly I found I had enough coherent lyrics to
comprise a short song-cycle or 'mini-opera'. I had
about 30 minutes of music that would create a vigorous
backbone for the Who album, but allow me to continue
to draw on the blood-line of The Boy Who Heard Music."

Townshend has previously written full-length rock
operas with Tommy and Quadrophenia, which were both
turned into hit films. The musician, who will première
new material during the band's summer tour, said that
despite returning to the rock opera format, the
material sounded modern. "It's an exciting sound to my
ears. Not old-fashioned at all."

The band - once listed as the loudest act in the world
after an eardrum-splitting 1976 show - has not
released an album since It's Hard, and the last
single, "Athena", limped into the charts at number 40
the same year, 1982. The Who officially split the
following year, but re-formed for Live Aid two years
later and have continued to tour on a regular basis
ever since.

Radio 2's head of music, Colin Martin, said: "An
11-minute track is unlikely to be playlisted, but it
could be fitted into a more specialist programme. In
the past record companies have supplied radio edits,
for example 'Layla' by Derek and the Dominos, so we
may play an edited version."

The longest song ever to make the charts without a
truncated version was "All Around the World" by Oasis,
which ran to nine minutes and 38 seconds. The Orb's
top 10 hit "The Blue Room" was the longest ever single
at 39 minutes and 58 seconds, although it was also
sold in a shorter form.


-Brian in Atlanta
The Who This Month!
http://www.thewhothismonth.com

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