Re: Who IS The Who

[AThosWhite@aol.com]

Dear dear.  I seem to stirred up quite the tempest in the teapot with my "Who
IS The Who" post.  That wasn't really my intention.  My intention was to
answer those posts of a few days back that suggested that the band was or
could be Roger's, not Pete's.  I tried to explain how, IMHO, that was not the
case.  I stand by that opinion.  Nevertheless, the post raised several
valuable points.  I will try to enumerate them here:

1.)  We all want the good old early to mid-70's 'orrible 'Oo back.

2.)  That ain't gonna happen.

3.)  The Who is not a viable STUDIO band without Pete.

4.)  That said, The Who COULD still be a viable "touring band" with or
WITHOUT Pete (Coming soon to a shed near you to play Pinball Wizard and WGFA
for the 8 millionth time!!!).  Whether or not it would be "The Who" is a
matter of semantics--there are those who make good arguments (myself
included, on occasion) that it wasn't "The Who" who toured in '89.  There are
also those (myself included, on occasion) who argue that it WAS "The Who" who
toured in '89.  We could argue what is "The Who" for weeks/months/years.
 Let's not.  Sorry I brought it up.

5.)  That sort of touring is what Roger wants.

6.)  That's ABSOLUTELY NOT what Pete wants.

7.)  John just wants, and is going, to play his guitar (God bless him).

8.)  We're all desperate for more "Who" product.

There's not a whole lot we can do numbers 1-7 on this list except debate and
pray.  Number 8 we CAN do something about:  SUPPORT THE INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS OF
THE WHO.  WFang hit the nail square on the head when he said "The Who" isn't
for "us," "The Who" is for "them"--the great unwashed classic rock-listening
masses.  Absolutely right.  If you haven't bought Pete's new album yet, DO
IT.  If your local independent record store doesn't have John's new album,
DEMAND THEY ORDER IT.  If John or Roger or Pete comes to or near your town,
GO SEE THEM.  If Kenney Jones comes to town...well, you can skip that one.  I
was embarrassed at how few came to the DST show down here.  It was a GREAT
show, and as close to "The Who" as we're likely to get on a large scale any
time soon.  As my wife often says to me (one of the MANY burdens she has to
deal with living with a semi-pro music critic/theorist):  "Get off your
theorizing ass and DO something!"  Good point, hon.

He just spends his life living out a rock and roll fantasy. . .
AThosWhite