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	Resurrected `Quadrophenia'resounds

     By Jim Sullivan, Globe Staff, 07/18/96 

     NEW YORK - Pete Townshend has called it "probably the best record
that The Who made." 

     But the 1973 conceptual album that is ``Quadrophenia'' - a pun on
quadraphonic sound and an evocation of a young English Mod's
confusion, a bloke whose personality is split four ways - was one The
Who botched when they tried to tour with it more than two decades
ago. Audiences familiar with ``Tommy'' and ``Who's Next'' found the
narrative incomprehensible and the new songs foreign; the technology
of the era did not permit the staging and sonic
     sophistication we routinely find today. Unlike ``Tommy,'' the
standard to which it was held, ``Quadrophenia'' spawned no hits. 

{What!?  Wrong on both counts.  The Quadrophenia is much more
coherent, realistic, and comprehensible than Tommy or Who's Next.  And
The Real Me, 5:15, and LRO'erME aren't hits?}

     The Who is pretty much a done deal, but Townshend decided to kick
the 90-minute opus up again last month for the Prince's Trust charity
concert in
     London's Hyde Park. Fellow Who cofounders singer Roger Daltrey
and bassist John Entwistle joined. Drummer Zak Starkey, Ringo Starr's
son, filled the
     late Keith Moon's spot - wholly appropriate, as Starkey learnt
his craft from the chaotic Moon, not from his time-keeping dad. There
were many supporting
     players, including Pete's brother Simon, who handled electric
guitar with Geoff Whitehorn as the elder, hearing-impaired Townshend
stuck to acoustic. 

     Those are some of the technical, logistical particulars. The
setting is London 1964. The conflict is the clash between the
ultra-neat, pill-popping Mods and the
     tougher, greasier older Rockers. The inner struggle is that of
Jimmy - smart, but messed up, hormonally powered, semi-isolated, in
love with the soothing
     power of the sea, trying to assert his individuality even as he
clings to a group identity. 

     What makes ``Quadrophenia'' resonate today, so long after its
inception, is its powerful, universal theme and its killer songs, many
of them simultaneously
     bombastic and introspective. Inner angst meets arena rock; power
chords mesh with quasi-operatic singing; sentimentality runs headlong
into stridency. It's
     no wonder that Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder cites ``Quadrophenia'' as
a seminal album. It was a surprise that Daltrey whipped up 20 minutes
of it on his 1994
     tour, as ``Quadrophenia'' was never a massive hit. After the
Great Woods show, Daltrey talked about how much he loved the album and
how he wanted to
     sing as much of it as he could while his vocal cords could bear
it. With no Who reunion in sight, he figured he'd take the risk and
the liberty. 

     There is still no bona-fide Who reunion - these six shows are the
extent of it and Townshend doesn't even like to call it The Who.
Still, Daltrey must be in
     heaven. The 14,000-strong Garden audience (a quarter of the house
seats weren't sold due to staging) went bonkers over ``Quadrophenia''
- - and got an
     unexpected encore treat with ``Behind Blue Eyes,'' ``Won't Get
Fooled Again'' and ``Magic Bus.'' 

     ``Quadrophenia'' hit its stride right away with ``The Real Me,''
confusion as anthem, with strong leads from Entwistle, Starkey,
Daltrey, both Townshends
     and the five-piece horn section. (Ol' Pete did manage a windmill
and a scissor-kick near the end.) A vibrant balancing act - maintained
throughout with kudos
     going to longtime Who sideman keyboardist John (Rabbit) Bundrick.
Daniels soon entered, reminiscing about the Mods and their amphetamine
obsession.
     Daltrey sang ``Cut My Hair,'' about the conformity of the
subculture; and Daniels talked about going to see the High Numbers
(The Who's early moniker),
     saying ``they weren't exactly Mods'' but close enough. 

     Here, in concert as on the album, Townshend wants to dangle the
possibility of redemption. By virtue of the fact that he's chosen to
have an older Daniels
     serve as narrator, it's clear Jimmy has survived, however
battered. 


- -- 
- - Brad Goldman
 (Brad@jimmy.harvard.edu)