Re: Oh, Amsterdam; Quad the movie; Ready Steady Who

["Mark R. Leaman" <mleaman@sccoast.net>]

> The recording was made from the audience by a teen-age fan
> who used a "toy" tape recorder (apparantly a Dokorder PT-18C)

Stoo:

Are you sure about that? For one thing, as you say, it was broadcast on the
radio, and no copy has surfaced in all of this time? And the boot is in good
stereo, definitely, which makes it less likely to be an audience, especially
if recorded with the sort of units which were generally available at the
time. Add to this the fact that only the vocals go off (you can actually
still hear them, but not as well) not the music. That sounds like a PA
failure, and I really can't think of anything else which would explain it.
A PA failure can happen to anyone (happened to Entwistle on H&H from LAL),
and there was no overdub work done here.

> If they would relax and let the music flow, expressing themselves without
> worrying about trying to please anyone else,we would see some awesome
music

Shelly:

If they did that, it wouldn't be The Who. Tension is their main tool.

> becomes annoying, and the end is flubbed...not the same as the album, and

Alan:

The entire story is not the same as the album. There's no hint of four
personalities other than his Dad screaming "Bloody split personality!" Other
than that, he just acts like a confused teen...which he is. Since that's the
basis, the title in fact, for the work...it failed right there. On the LP,
Jimmy has no girl...it's all over before song one ("The girl I used to love
lives in this yellow house/Yesterday she passed me by..."). There's no
Rocker chum, no sopping wet trousers, no breakin at the druggist.
Having said that, Quad is still one of my ten favorite movies. For one
thing, few films have been able to capture the level of realism Quad has
(Apolcalypse Now is another). Second, even without the Townshend story it's
a damned good picture of that period of history in the UK (like the British
American Graffitti, you could say, only darker and more dramatic).
The end is obvious to me...by sending the scooter over the edge of the
cliff, Jimmy (symbolically) rejects Mod as a solution for his problems. And
he moves on. As we all know, Townshend stories tend not to have a definite
end but just sort of a realization (very true of Quad, the album). Hard to
have a movie end that way.
I insist it's an important film. I can forgive the fact that it's not an
accurate mirror of the LP. Now, Tuesday night we'll see if I can feel the
same way about Lord Of The Rings (since I have yet to hear one line in the
previews that's in the book)...I doubt it, since I've given far too much
time researching the Christopher Tolkien books about the evolution of the
work. Oh well...

> "Please Don't Touch" is actually a studio track which
> The Who recorded a few days before they synched to it
> for the "Ready, Steady, Go!" Xmas show '65. (Initially,
> they had selected another song to do - can't remember
> which). As much as it would be nice to see its release,
> the song wouldn't belong on a live compilation.

Stoo:

I consider it as live as the BBC stuff, which is usually labelled "Live At
The BBC" even when it's clearly overdubbed. There is also a song called
Jingle Bells, maybe that's the song you're thinking of. Or You Rang...both
are instrumentals along the lines of Hall Of The Mountain King.

> I am very intrigued by what is still "in the archives"
> since so many of the RSG! performances are believed to
> have been wiped after broadcast.

We've heard that sort of thing before. I don't know how many times I was
told by "people who knew" that Tommy LAL couldn't be released because the
tape broke and they didn't get it all. Do I have to mention the A Quick One
stereo master tapes? How about the "fact" that we'll never get a stereo mix
of My Generation?

> Clapton should write a song for Connor in atonement.

Keets:

Ever heard Tears In Heaven?


"Thethese terrorist acts and, you know, the responses have got to end in
  order for us to get the frameworkthe groundworknot framework, the
groundwork
      to discuss a framework for peace, to lay theall right."
              George "Wake me up I'm such a yoyo" Bush


               Cheers                 ML