Re: Getting it all together

[WFang01@aol.com]

Mark, re:

>For them to become popular, yes. Not just Leaving Here, but all of it. I'm A
Man, Daddy Rolling Stone, and so on.  BTW, I Can't Explain wasn't released
here, either. And look what they did to Substitute! 
MY GENERATION meant more to bands than fans.

You're not up on your "Who History". The LP, "My Generation" was going to
originally released with all the "cover" songs and it was aborted in favor of
mostly Townshend songs. The songs they recorded for those sessions, ended up
as the "b" sides as well as "Motoring" and "Heatwave" from "Two's Missing".
I'm kinda happy the album ended up the way it did, aren't you?

BTW, are you saying that my Decca copies of "Can't Explain" &  "I Can't
Explain" are the only one's in existance? As for "Substitute", they didn't
"ruin" the song, just made it more "interesting". Especially since there were
a lot of racism problems here at the time... 

>>The legal battle kept The Who from recording, and kept their energy tied up
when they could have been making new music. The time gap between MG and AQO
was extremely long for a band of that time period. To keep product in front
of the public, they did READY STEADY WHO...3/5 of which they didn't write.
Then too, one of the other songs was a remake of a song they had already
released. The band was tied up for about a year...which would have killed the
career of most bands back then.

The time period between "My Generation" and "A Quick One" was a year.  In
that time period they released "Substitute" , I'm A Boy". "Ready Steady Who"
and "Happy Jack". The next album they released, "Sell Out" was released 11
months later after "A Quick One".  Between  "A Quick One" and "Sell Out",
they released  "Pictures Of Lily", "The Last Time",  and "I Can See For
Miles". "Tommy" was released a year and a half after "Sell Out". Between
those two albums, they released "Dogs" (in the USA "Call Me Lightning") and
"Magic Bus".

See the pattern? The problem wasn't legal, it was Pete Townshend's writing
ability to come up with popular singles in a "then" singles market. They were
busy playing live, not spending time in the studio...

>>To add insult to injury, the production of the albums was primitive
compared to the other bands of the time. Making The Who sound like a cheap
act. SELL OUT was the only Who album until WN to sound even close. Then MCA
thoughtfully repackaged songs from two years earlier and some weak B sides,
added two singles, made the cover indicate a live album, and released MAGIC
BUS. Making the band seem to be liars and way out of step with "modern"
music. I can't think of a better way to end a career... Of course, they COULD
have released the "best of" DIRECT HITS, as Polydor did, bringing the U.S.
some great songs that were never heard over here....nah!

The "sound quality" of the band wasn't the fault of MCA, (they didn't help
any) but the fault of Kit Lambert, who had no clue what he was doing in the
studio during that time. That, and the band had NO MONEY. 

While "Direct Hits" may have been a better song selection, "Magic Bus" sold a
LOT more copies and... people still want that album, funny as it sounds...
(no pun intended)

"Sell Out" was no "recording marvel" either. Is Keith using a drum set or a
bunch of "tin cans"???

>> Or, how about Young Man Blues, Jaguar, Fortune Teller, Glow Girl, My Way,
Melancholia, Little Billy, Postcard, Early Morning Cold Taxi, Girl's Eyes,
Faith In Something Bigger, Glittering Girl, Now I'm A Farmer? No, we got
chilled leftovers instead.

How 'bout them? They were unreleased songs. MCA or Polydor didn't even have
possession of them. Again, not everything is possible. Originally "Sell Out"
was intended as a double album. For whatever reason, it wasn't. They had a
lot of songs left over and the next thing you know, Pete's working on
"Tommy". Not the record company's fault, nor Pete's. At the time, they were
just doing the best they could...


>>By LSA, anything they recorded should have been released. WN was a hot
album. Instead, the U.S. radio-listening public almost didn't hear from the
band for two years...since The Relay and Join Together were DOA.

"Join Together" peaked at 17 on the charts, "Relay" 39. What are you talking
about, re: "DOA"??? So, they didn't release "Let's See Action" here. We did
get some nice solo albums while Pete was working on "Quadrophenia", didn't
we? 


>>Townshend's second-guessing the music destroyed Lifehouse and nearly
eliminated QUAD. A bit after the period you're talking about, but that's what
I meant. We really don't know if this happened earlier.

I think you have Pete confused with the Robot from Lost In Space! If I were
Pete or the record companies, I wouldn't be "ashamed" of the successes of
"Who's Next" and "Quadrophenia". 

It's very easy to sit at your desk and say, they should have done this and
they should have done that 20 or 30 years ago. The truth is, they probably
did the best they could under the circumstances. Certainly better than you or
I have done and we're both past the age that they were when they did it...

>>I've written my letter to MCA, but will need some addresses to write Chris
and Pete. I'm not going to write Charlesworth at his house again...if I can
get his work address. Professional courtesy, you know.

You can write to Chris care of Omnibus. You should have several things in
your collection from them. Pete you can write to c/o "The Boathouse". If you
no longer have the address, I'll e-mail it to you...

wf