re: Calling It The Who Without Pete

At 11:09 17/06/96 -0400, you wrote:
>        In the midst of this talk about recent "Who" concerts, the quality 
>     of Roger's voice has come up.  I know Roger said a pulled diaphragm 
>     which later had to be corrected by surgery affected his voice on the 
>     '89 tour, but what was the problem on the '94 tour?  I know he had to 
>     cancel dates shortly after I saw him in Atlanta, but did it have 
>     anything to do with his voice?  He was in good form in Atlanta, but 
>     had to stop "Behind Blue Eyes" halfway through the song because his 
>     voice gave out.  In explanation he said that although he could always 
>     scream, quiet songs gave him a problem (?!).  And didn't Rog have to 
>     have a vocal chord operation in the late 70's/early '80's?  If anyone 
>     could give us a rundown on Roger's vocal history, I'd very much 
>     appreciate it.
>
>This is a very interesting and timely post. My understanding is that Rog
had a throat operation in the mid-70's to remove nodules (just as Pete had
an - ultimately unsuccessful - hair transplant in the same era). I don't
feel  Rog's operation (I wasn't aware there may have been another, later
one) palliated his steady deterioration as a singer since the early 70's. I
know WF and some others disagree with me, but I can hear the decline
starting with Quadrophenia. There is a constriction, hoarseness, and lack of
power starting with that album which simply got worse as time went by.
Listen to Love Reign O'er Me for example in Toronto in '82 - a particularly
awful nadir. Yet DST is an example of a (partial) rally, an example of that
impenetrable Who magic. Still, I can't see Rog singing acceptably (let alone
really well) for three nights successively, but I hope I'm proved
wrong...Gary M.