It is acknowledged that The Who were more manufactured into being a mod outfit, than say The Small Faces. But what they did do, and which is beyond any doubt, was captured in their songs, the feeling of being in and of the mod persuasion. Time and time again, the pen of Townsend put on paper your experiences on the page for all to see and hear.
The sight of their early fans at the Railway Tavern gigs in 1964, glassy eyed and chewing furiously as they danced to the sound hitting them hard from the stage, is all you need to know about the standing of the band in the annals of mod.
This is ultimately the story of how Roger Daltrey, a sheet metal worker from Shepherds Bush, John Entwistle, a tax office clerk from Acton, Pete Townsend an art student in Ealing and Keith Moon, a Beach Boys fanatic from Wembley, got together to become one of the worlds biggest bands. One, who for a few years at least were at the very forefront of the mod movement in the UK.
The birthplace of it all was Acton County School, where Daltrey, Entwistle and Townsend all studied in the late 1950s. A local group, The Detours, led by Roger, also had by 1962 both John on bass and Pete on guitar in the line-up. The singer at this point was Colin Dawson with Doug Sandom drums. Plenty of gigs came their way in and around the West London pub circuit. Dawson leaves, with Daltrey taking over the lead vocals.
In 1964, Richard Barnes, a friend of Pete’s – later to go on and write the seminal book ‘Mods’ – suggests a name change, and they become The Who. Sandom leaves to be replaced by exotic and explosive Keith Moon.
Enter mod hustler Pete Meaden. Meaden becomes the group’s publicist after hearing about the band from his barber. He not only changes the bands name, again, but also their image, including their hair, ensuring a pay day for his barber. He persuades them all to embrace the prevalent mod look of the day. Subsequently, Moon in a ‘target’ tee-shirt and Townsend in union jack jacket, have become among the defining images of that era.
Now called The High Numbers, they release the Meaden penned ‘I’m The Face’ backed by ‘Zoot Suit’ on the Fontana label, to a distinct lack of interest by the record buying public. The band however, are by now attracting a steady hard core following of mods to their regular live gigs at The Railway Hotel in Harrow. This venue is where the smashing of guitar by Pete starts – an accident at first, deliberate later.
In the audience one night are Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, brother of actor Terence. They make an offer and buy out Meaden, therefore taking over the managerial duties of the band. Pete begins to write original material and they sign up with producer Shel Tamy. In late 1964, they revert back to the name The Who and begin a residency at The Marquee Club in London’s Soho, which gives us the iconic black and white ‘Maximum R’n’B’ poster.
January 1965 sees the single ‘I Can’t Explain’ released on the Brunswick label, and reaching the top ten. ‘Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere’ follows in May of that year, which again lands in the top ten. The single ‘My Generation’ settles at number two in October, with their first album, also called ‘My Generation’ released in the December. March 1966 sees the run of classic singles continue with ‘Substitute’ hitting the top five. This track ends their association with Shel Talmy.
In the August of that year, the band release ‘I’m A Boy’, which once again just fails to land the top spot in the charts, stalling at number two. ‘Happy Jack’ is the single from the band’s second album ‘A Quick One’, both of which hit the top five in the singles and album charts respectively.
The Who land in the USA for the first time in early 1967. ‘Pictures Of Lily’ is the single in that April and the band perform at The Monterey Pop Festival’ in the June.
The performance at Monterey ensures the rest of the world now takes notice of their explosive live show. ‘I Can See For Miles’ and the album ‘The Who Sell Out’ are released towards the end of the year with the band constantly on the road. They are joined on tour in Australia and New Zealand by The Small Faces in January 1968, where the celebrations for The Small Faces lead singer Steve Marriott’s 21st birthday get seriously out of hand with Keith ‘The Loon’ Moon central to the mayhem.
The rest of the year sees the band headlining in the US. They go on to have massive success in 1969 with the rock opera ‘Tommy – later becoming a film by Ken Russell released in 1975.
A single from it, ‘Pinball Wizard’, goes top five both in the UK and the USA in ‘69. They perform at both the Woodstock and Isle of Wight festivals of that year. 1971, finds the single ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’ in the top ten and the album ‘Who’s Next’ hitting the top spot, their only ever number one in the UK. 1973, and the album ‘Quadrophenia’ is revealed. ‘Who Are You’ is a top twenty single in 1978 and filming is completed on ‘The Kids Are Alright’, a visual document of the band’s history.
After years of drink and drug abuse, Keith Moon dies aged just 32 in September 1978 Original publicist Pete Meaden is also found dead that year. Despite Moon’s death, the band presses on with the production of the film ‘Quadrophenia’ based around the 1973 album. It tells the story of the cockney mod Jimmy Cooper, played brilliantly by Phil Daniels. Released in 1979 it will go on to play a pivotal role in the mod revival of the same year.
Kenney Jones, once of The Small Faces and The Faces drummer, is chosen to replace Moon on drums. They are on the road once again.
Daltrey becomes heavily involved in fundraising for the Teenage Cancer Trust and stages a concert at the Royal Albert Hall in 2000, featuring Paul Weller and Noel Gallagher. The fund raising concerts become an annual event and continue to this day, having raised vast sums of money.
Sadly, John Entwistle dies in Las Vegas aged 57 in mid 2002. Despite his death the band continue to perform live for the next few years, using an array of musicians to fill in for Moon and Entwistle. The band performs at Glastonbury for the first time in 2007 and finally return to Australia for the first time since the chaos of 1968, in 2009.
The Who have left an amazing legacy, including some timeless mod anthems, selling over 100 million records worldwide. Daltrey and Townsend have continued to tour and continued to excite those who flock to see them.
Sadly, a couple of band did die before they got old, but the other two, have kept it going for over 55 years.
All in all, not bad for a bunch of schoolboy’s from Acton.
The Mumper of SE5
