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The Who`s audience



Well, there`s some truth in what Marshall says, but Townshend`s vulnerable,
sensitive side manifested itself rather late in the Who`s career (to me late
is anything after WN). This development did not therefore fundamentally
change the audience the band acquired based on the old verities, even though
Pete may like to think otherwise now. I`m a Boy is not an implicit derision
of machismo in any way - quite the contrary.  The narrator is affirming his
identity as a male. His mother resolutely denies this wish by dressing and
treating him as a girl ("... put this wig on little boy..."). Again, we are
indebted to John Atkins for explaining the genesis of this song. It`s about
a futuristic family who because of advances in science can determine the sex
of their children. The family in question wanted 4 daughters, but by an
error got 3 daughters and 1 boy! Not being able to accept this  inexplicable
lapse of science, the parents determine to treat the boy as a girl .....
There is, here, this early, evidence of Pete`s brilliant imagination and
emerging narrative talent, but nothing that shows a disdain for traditional
male-female roles. (It is rather a satire on the preoccupation of modern
society with science and the alleged benefits thereof). Tatoo is, yes, a wry
commentary on how some boys try to establish a virile identity, but all Pete
is really saying is... be yourself. Nothing very different from what the
local Community leaders, the pastors, schoolteachers etc., would affirm.  My
Generation, Can`t Explain and many other 60`s tunes of the Who reflect a
youth/collectivist ethos which isn`t (or isn`t always) specifically macho,
but isn`t very female-like either (at least when gender is viewed in
traditional terms). I think it is the Who`s SOUND, fundamentally, that got
it its fans. As I`ve previously suggested, that sound tended to attract and
retain a male audience. In other words, how important were all those lyrics
anyway in terms of the Who creating a broad appeal? I`ve always loved I Can
See For Miles, but it was 10 years after the song was released before I
really thought about what the words meant, and I still don`t much care. Just
an example.
Gary M.