Quick One/Sell Out reviewSun Dec 7 12:47:04 PST 1997

[I.J.Burn@reading.ac.uk (ian burn)]

After the recent comments on the review of the reissues in 'Melody Maker' I
thought the list might like to see another review, taken from the August
issue of the British magazine 'Record Collector'.

Not too many long words, and no soap box philosophy in this one. Also quite
complimentary as well. Now all we need is a killer reissue of 'Who's Next'
and the Who might start being reassessed by the punters.

Review of 'A Quick One' and 'Who Sell Out' (Record Collector, August 1995):
"For me", writes Dave Marsh in his liner notes, "'The Who Sell Out' is the
greatest rock and roll album of its era and, as the years go by, seems more
and more to me the Who's consummate masterpiece, the one work that holds
together most tightly as concept and realisation."

Fine words, though Pete Townshend won't enjoy reading them. For him, 'Sell
Out' - and its immediate predecessor, 'A Quick One' - were merely
stepping-stones towards the high conceptual genius of 'Tommy', or
'Quadrophenia', or 'White City', or 'Psychoderelict', or whatever grandiose
monster he has in store for the late '90s. Obsessed with the need to wrap
his music in meaning, Townshend won't relish the idea that he'd already
perfected his grand design by the age of 22.

Listening to these two remarkable CDs, though, it's hard not to feel that
Dave Marsh is dead right - that 'Sell Out' captures the spirit of '67, or
at least British '67, better than any other record. Marsh has a theory for
that one as well: " 'Sell Out' celebrates the lifestyle that the hippie
counter-culture destroyed - the frenzied materialist, frantically silly,
profoundly superficial and boldly consumerist lifestyle of the Mods and
whatever American counterpart they hadŠ It portrays this pre-hippie
lifestyle by embodying its prime communication source, which was not rock
bands but radio broadcasts of rock (and soul and certain pop) records and
advertisements for the rock lifestyle's accompanying paraphernalia Š" And
so he continues.

Better still, 'The Who Sell Out' is louder, jokier, more melodic, snappier,
ruder and more brilliant than 'Sgt Pepper', 'Satanic Majesties' or whatever
else you choose to represent 1967. So why isn't it routinely rated as a
contender for the greatest album of all time? Because it didn't influence
anybody. No sooner had Townshend and Co. unleashed this madcap array of
Beach Boys harmonies, Mod shopping fantasies, jingles and psychedelic love
songs than the centre of the counter-culture shifted 6,000 miles west to
San Francisco. Even The Who themselves never came close to repeating the
brazen commerciality and carefree tunefulness of this wonderful record.

By comparison, 'A Quick One' might seem a little lightweight, though it
does include the title track, Pete's first mini-opera, plus some
wonderfully off-the-wall two-minute stories, like 'Boris The Spider',
'Whiskey Man' (both Entwistle songs) and the majestic Mod romance anthem,
'So Sad About Us'. It's also chock-full of Beatlesque harmonies and
Townshend gutar flourishes, with a romp through Martha & the Vandellas
'Heatwave' to cement the Who's R&B credentials.

The original albums, great though they are, constitute only half the story
with these reissues, however. Compilers Chris Charlesworth and Jon Astley
have trawled through the vaults to add copious bonus tracks, which in the
case of 'Sell Out' transform a superb single album into an equally splendid
double.

'A Quick One' benefits from the inclusion of the tracks from the rare
'Ready, Steady, Who' EP, plus a clutch of B-sides, included the
superparanoid, speed-driven 'Doctor Doctor'. The set closes with three
previously unreleased gems - a wonderful acoustic take of 'Happy Jack',
which mirrors Pete Townshend's original demo; a cover of the Everly
Brothers' arrogant 'Man With Money'; and a ridiculous pairing of 'My
Generation' with 'Land Of Hope And Glory', eventually considered too wild
for the 'Ready, Steady, Who' EP.

Ex-Who manager Chris Stamp adds some pithy liner-notes, the photos are
wonderful, and the only flaw with the entire package is that Polydor's art
department screwed up the booklet, so that several tracks are missing from
the explanatory notes. Only the first few thousand copies are affected, and
if you've ended up with a faulty copy, Polydor will apparently replace the
booklet for you.

No such problem with 'Sell Out', which has that extravagant Dave Marsh
essay, and some excellent black-and-white portraits from the time. But it's
the music that matters, and anyone concerned that haphazard compiling might
ruin the flow of the original record need fret no more.

Where the album once ended with 'Rael', it now bounds through 'Rael Part 2'
into another 35 minutes of jingles, ads and minor classics. Many of the
bonus tracks previously surfaced on last year's 'Thirty Years Of Maximum
R&B' box set, but this is their natural home. They're joined by Townshend's
suitably acidic 'Glittering Girl' the uncut version of 'Jaguar', and four
grungy minutes of instrumental tomfoolery with Griegs 'Hall Of The Mountain
King' - plus sneeze and-you'd-miss-'em ads for the Bag O'Nails club, John
Mason's Cars and Radio One, the lost final chorus of 'Odorono' and much
much more.

In the end, though, words aren't enough for 'Sell Out'. Crank up 'I Can See
For Miles' or 'Armenia City In The Sky', and then wonder how the Beatles
ended up with the reputation of 1967s top pop band. (PD)


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Ian Burn
The Library, The University of Reading,                  Tel: +44 01734 318775
Whiteknights, Reading RG6 2AE, England.                  Fax: +44 01734 316636
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