The hits of The Who, 1965 - 1969, part 1

We continue our series of 1960s hits of the big bands with The Who. The two surviving members, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend are approaching their 80th birthday but the band was, until Corona struck, going strong and playing the bigger venues. There was even a new album fairly recently but I'll admit straight away I have never heard it.

The classic line up, Daltrey, Townsend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon, formed in 1964 and released it's first single, 'I Can't Explain' in 1964, a top 10 hit in the U.K., but not here.

The Who, for me, is an a-typical 1960s band, because I have no recollection whatsoever of any of the band's hits until 'Pinball Wizzard'. With the possible, but likely exception of 'My Generation', I got to know some of those first hits here in a radio show in the mid 70s where I taped all the singles from. Only in the 1980s, after buying a compilation record, I got to know some others and even today, next week I'm going to run into a single I have never even heard of. Some of them I thought not that much of either. The Who is a huge band but never my favourite compared to many others. Here we go, with the singles split in two editions. The first six of eleven hits come now, the latter five next week.

Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere (1965, 28)

I can't help myself, but this is not a fantastic song and I can explain by the way. This song is sheer chaos, has a poor melody, is a hotchpotch of ideas all pushed into a few minutes. Yet, in a way it contains all The Who will offer the world in the coming years. Frantic drumming, more soloing than accompanying, Daltrey's rough voice, Townsend's huge chords, the call-response singing, it's all classic The Who. The chaos ensues from the band trying out everything its members can think of, and it has some feedback as well. Still revolutionary at the time.

Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere is the only song Daltrey co-wrote with Townsend. There is one instrument sort of keeping time, the piano played by Nicky Hopkins, one of the greatest session musicians of the day. The only instrument not truly present is the bass. Knowing the song for decades now, of course I can listen to it and enjoy it, but a good song? No, that it is not.

My Generation (1965, 5) 

What is, is My Generation. From the first second it's clear that something is going to happen. There are a several things that make My Generation a fantastic song. What stands out most is the huge bass playing of John Entwistle. There simply is no bass playing like in 1960s rock. A totally unique style of playing with fingers flying over frets and strings. My Generation in part has the same chaos as the previous single, but here it is contained and serves the song, not the chaos, setting the song totally apart from pop. The handclaps in the song are great fun. The vocal melody is so enormously focused. Daltrey is in great form and so is the response singing. My Generation is wild, dangerous, out of all bounds. I can imagine that people hearing it for the first time on their little transistor radio must have thought: 'What is this?', not believing their ears. My Generation is one of the great rock singles of the 1960s and far beyond. Without it no punk. And "I hope I die before I get old", well, if you're still performing at 70++, then you're not old yet.

Substitute (1966, 3)

More melody enters the music of The Who and straight away it's clear the band can deal with this side of rock music as well. The song has this great drive. Keith Moon drums in the service of the rhythm, supported by a tambourine. His parts are great nonetheless. There's so much drive and all these long breaks, giving the song so much more power. Again the bass has a great part in propelling the song. Entwistle's is the solo instrument with Townsend playing great rhythm guitar, on an acoustic guitar at that. What also sticks out is the harmony vocals. The band is growing here as well. I love 'My Generation' but Substitute is the better song. That riff in the verses is killer material. Everything here is balanced and in control. The lyrics are totally different from what was the standard at the time. Like many lyrics of Pete Townsend then were about awkward situations, awkward family placing, etc., etc. There will be many to come in the coming years.

A Legal Matter (1966, 22)

This song I got to know perhaps only in the late 80s when my mother brought back a New Zealand pressing of the first The Who album. I loved it straight away. It has so much drive. The song was produced by Shel Talmy, like all the first singles. He got into conflict with the band and released the single without consent of The Who. This explains the somewhat odd sequence of the hits, as A Legal Matter is a year older than e.g. 'Substitute'. The song has this huge sound. Not recorded in a great way, the sound is simply muddied. Pete Townsend's lead vocal is on top of everything. The frantic piano playing of Nicky Hopkins propels the song, as does Entwistle's bass playing. The guitar is Beatlesque. As close as The Who comes to The Beatles, A Legal Matter is. In general the huge chords The Who was to become famous for, are all over A Legal Matter. Melody, energy and excitement come together in the single, making it one of the better one's of The Who.

I'm A Boy (1966, 5)

I'm A Boy is another of The Who's hits with a totally different sort of topic than any other band wrote about at the time. I'm A Boy but not as far as the boy mother was concerned. What was going on in Pete Townsend's head at the time? What The Who manages quite well here, is mix its loud side with a great melody. I'm A Boy is a sign of things to come in later years when Pete Townsend really found his writing skills. The song combines, once again and in a great way, melody and power. The Who was not a girls' band and that very likely is the reason that I have not learned of any of their (and The Rolling Stones') early singles. It was teenage girls who played the records for me. The interludes are also fascinating as they do something totally uncommon for hit singles. They play with time, as it were, in music. It expands the song beyond what is its nucleus, while remaining totally fascinating, even heightening the expectancy of what is to come next. There's even a horn popping up for just a few seconds. There are ooh and ahhs flying around, as if this is a pop single. Which it is and is not. The chucking rhythms in the pre-chorus is a pure run up for classic rock to come. I'm A Boy is so wide ranged and strange, while being extremely good as well. A great single.

Happy Jack (1966, 6)

Happy Jack is a single I could never make heads nor tails of. The rhythm is strange, the song is strange, the melody. In my mind it is somehow connected to Keith West's number 1 single from 1967, 'Excerpt From A Teenage Opera', because of "Grocer Jack". In its own odd way Happy Jack is a happy song. Entwistle's bass has this happy runs that give the single a sprightly step. The ooh and ahhs and lalalas, make sure that there'a pop element. But that is about all I can make of it. Happy Jack was, is and never will be for me.

Wout de Natris