Long Live Rock - The Rock Opera

[Martin Bailey]

Good to see that people are enjoying this.

As promised, here's the tracklist, and where the songs came from (where I 
can remember):


1. Long Live Rock / The Who 03:53:43                            - studio 
version
2. One Man Band / Roger Daltrey 03:31:48                        - from his 
Moonlighting compilation
3. Getting In Tune (Alt Take) / The Who 06:11:34                - Who's Next 
reissue
4. Odorono / The Who 02:16:02                                   - from Who 
Sell Out (if I remember correctly)
5. We Close Tonight / The Who 02:51:71                    - Odds and Sods
6. Put The Money Down / The Who 04:11:72
7. Join Together / The Who 04:09:15
8. Success (Demo) / Pete Townshend 00:07:72               - from Tommy Demos 
boot
9. We Got A Hit / The Who 01:17:47                              - taken from 
Wire & Glass single (this CD was put together just before Endless Wire was 
released)
10.Sensation (Demo) / Pete Townshend 02:19:28                   - from Tommy 
Demos boot
11. Success Story / The Who 03:11:10                    - Who by Numbers
12. Guitar and Pen (Olympic 1978 Mix) / The Who 05:56:62      - from Who Are 
You Reissue
13. Endless Vacation (Live) / John Entwistle 03:19:26           - Left for 
Live
14. Postcard / The Who 03:26:22         - Odds and Sods
15. Cell Number Seven (Live) / John Entwistle 03:56:48   - King Biscuit 
Flower Hour boot
16. New Song (Demo) / Pete Townshend 04:47:40                   - LifeHouse 
Elements
17. Stardom In Acton / Pete Townshend 03:28:70                  - All the 
Best Cowboys have Chinese Eyes.
18. The Punk And The Godfather / The Who 04:55:73    - Quadrophenia 
(Soundtrack, I think)
19. The Song Is Over / The Who 06:04:00
20. Music Must Change (Demo) / Pete Townshend 04:37:25          - from Music 
Must Change boot
21. Long Live Rock (Demo) / Pete Townshend 03:41:45             - Another 
Scoop
22. Long Live Rock (Live Reprise) / The Who 01:38:50           - Who's Last

As for the storyline - it's very loose.  Just one guy wants to be a rock 
star, forms a band, struggles, gets famous, tours a lot, but then gets 
dissatisfied with stardom.

This is my interpretation of the songs, and how they fit in to this story:


1. Long Live Rock                                               - the 
recurring theme of this Rock Opera
2. One Man Band                                                 - guy starts 
off just making music on his own
3. Getting In Tune           - forms a band, and they start getting better
4. Odorono             - they start to play small local gigs, trying to get 
noticed.  This is the story of one of their fellow female performers.
5. We Close Tonight           - still struggling to make it big
6. Put The Money Down           - playing for money now
7. Join Together            - start to get better, and build up a local 
following
8. Success              - suddenly: success!
9. We Got A Hit             - they're making hit records
10.Sensation             - really famous now
11. Success Story            - still really famous
12. Guitar and Pen           - story of their success
13. Endless Vacation           - start touring a lot, and enjoying it
14. Postcard             - still touring, but not enjoying it as much. 
Spend a night in jail.
15. Cell Number Seven           - still touring, but not enjoying it as 
much.  Spend a night in jail.
16. New Song             - starting to get dissatisfied with rock stardom. 
Want to do something more.
17. Stardom In Acton           - dissatisfied with rock stardom
18. The Punk And The Godfather      - their fans become disenchanted with 
them too
19. The Song Is Over       - they've had enough of making music
20. Music Must Change        - they not going to go on making music like 
this any more
21. Long Live Rock (Demo)      - recurring theme again
22. Long Live Rock (Live Reprise)     - the credits roll, the finale.



With Punk & the Godfather in particular: I like the way the meaning of this 
song has become reversed.  In Quadrophenia, the song is about the Punk 
(Jimmy) becoming disillusioned with the GodFather (The Who).  In my story, 
the focus is now on the GodFather (the rock stars), and how the Punks (their 
fans) react to them.


Jim M said:

> There's that Beatles film, Across the Universe

Funnily enough - I just saw that a couple of days ago.  Really enjoyed it. 
Had the CD for a few weeks too.

"Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite" is the funniest thing that Eddie Izzard 
has done in years.  "We've got Blue People!  It's great!"

Loved the female vocals on "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" and "Helter 
Skelter" too.

And turning "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" into an army recruitment song is 
just genius.

The film's music was produced by T Bone Burnett, as well.  Which is a good 
sign.


> and isn't there an ABBA stage musical? (Schrade, help me out here.)

As Schrade says, this is "Mamma Mia".  I saw this in London about 6 years 
ago.  The rest of the audience seemed to love it.

-MB