We’re redesigning the site. We’ll be back in a “bit”.
You can still access WhoTabs and Baba’s Bootlegs, the rest of the site is temporarily down while we get things back in order
In the mean time – check out some videos we’ve found around the web
And see what we’ve been posting on Facebook!
Today in Whostory: April 18
1963 – The Detours play the Oldfield Hotel in Greenford
1964 – The Who play the Florida Rooms in Brighton
1965 – The Who play Civic Hall in Crawley, Sussex
1969 – The Who appear on “This is Tom Jones” in the U.S.
1970 – The Who perform at University of Leicester with supporting act Viv Stanshall’s Big Grunt. The show is cut short after Hell’s Angels start attacking members of the audience. This lingering taste of Altamont ends when one of the Angels hits Pete in the head with a bottle of Newcastle Brown and he leaves the stage bleeding. Eight stitches put him right.
1970 – Pete is interviewed in New Musical Express
1975 – Recording for The Who’s next studio album was to have begun at Shepperton Sound Studios in London but they are held up as Keith has yet to arrive from Los Angeles and Roger is still working on the movie Lisztomania
1980 – The Who play the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Arena in Oakland, California
1993 – Pete is reportedly photographed on the street near Broadway in New York City. The same day he appears in a photo with TV talk-show host Joan Rivers in newspapers across the U.S.
2002 – The CD Paul Chapman’s Ghost by Paul Chapman is released featuring a cover of “Baba O’Riley.”
2006 – Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoff release their CD Under the Covers, Vol. 1 featuring a cover of “The Kids Are Alright.”
Today in Whostory: April 17
1964 – The Who play the Goldhawk Social Club in Shepherd’s Bush
1965 – The Who play the “Big Easter Rave” at The Florida Rooms in Brighton.
1965 – Record Mirror reports that the extra tracks The Who recorded earlier in the week are destined for an LP to be released only in the U.S. and France. The listed tracks are “Please Please Please”, “I Don’t Mind”, “Shout and Shimmy”, “Heatwave”, “Motorin'”, “I’m a Man”, and “Leaving Here”.
1965 – “I Can’t Explain” falls to 15 in the Pop Weekly “Top Thirty” chart. “The Who with one of the best records ever to be seen in the charts. Rather surprised it didn’t make the Top Five.”
1966 – The Who play the Regal Theatre in Edmonton
1967 – The Who play the Oberrheinhalle in Offenburg, Germany
1971 – Melody Maker runs the ninth and last Pete Townshend Page called “Things are different across the sea.” In it he compares U.S. audiences to British audiences and discusses the need of English bands to make it in America to be financially successful
1976 – The Patti Smith Group perform their punk version of “My Generation” on Saturday Night Live At the end the drummer tries to kick his kit over but it is nailed down and he falls off his drum stool.
1980 – Pete is in San Francisco at the offices of Rolling Stone magazine being interviewed by Greil Marcus. The interview would appear in the June 26, 1980 issue.
2001 – Pete sells eight of his personally crafted Gibson SG’s for £10,000 each on his website to benefit his Double O Charity. Each guitar is signed and comes with a CD of Pete performing a riff on that guitar
2005 – Pete suggests in a web diary that Roger will work with Pete’s brother Simon to complete songs Pete has recorded in demo form
2015 – The Who play the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida
Ah yes, Pete's infamous 1980 Rolling Stone interview. Pete does not make a good impression in that one, w.r.t. his remarks about Cincinnati.
👍🇫🇮☀️😀👍
Today in Whostory: April 16
1964 – The Who play the Oldfield Hotel in Greenford with drummer Dave Gold from Marshall’s Music Shop.
1965 – The Who play the Goldhawk Social Club in Shepherd’s Bush
1966 – The Who play the Odeon Cinema in Watford
1966 – John is interviewed in the Melody Maker. The article is called “At last! Entwistle’s silence is broken” There is also a brief article about The Who’s current tour with The Spencer Davis Group. In addition, Substitute is #4 in the Pop 50
1967 – The Who play Oberschwabenhalle in Ravensburg
1967 – The Who play Donauhalle in Ulm
1969 – The Who are at Elstree Studio Centre in Borehamwood to record an appearance on “This Is…Tom Jones”. They mime to a newly recorded instrumental track of “Pinball Wizard” with live vocals by Roger. It is first broadcast in the U.S. on the 18th and in Britain on the 20th
1972 – Pete appears on “How Can You Be So Sure?” on BBC1 recorded the previous month
1976 – Record Mirror carries a brief article about Roger’s upcoming solo album “One of the Boys”. This issue also features a short review of Roger’s new single, “Written on the Wind”
1980 – The Who play the Center Coliseum in Seattle, Washington
Correction, 1980, the correct name of the venue was the Seattle Center Coliseum.
👍👍
Today in Whostory: April 15
1963 – The Detours play the White Hart Hotel in Acton
1965 – The Who play the Victoria Ballroom in Chesterfield, Derbyshire
1966 – The Who play the Fairfield Hall in Croydon, Surrey
1967 – The Who play Siegerlandhalle in Siegen
1967 – The Who play Rhein-Main Halle in Wiesbaden
1967 – Derek Johnson gets a sneak listen to The Who’s new single in New Musical Express: “It’s a job to get your teeth into the melody at the outset, but the frequently repeated chorus has a quick-to-register tune that you’ll all be whistling before long. It’s extremely well harmonised, employing falsettos and counterpoint with discretion and subtlety. Add to this The Who’s inevitable rumbling, reverberating beat and you’ve got a disc that’s intriguing to say the least. A certain hit!”
1967 – Billboard reports “Happy Jack” has hit its peak in New Zealand at #7
1968 – The Who play The Marquee Club in London
1972 – New Musical Express prints part three of a long interview with Pete conducted by Chris Van Ness in Denver the previous December.
1974 – Seven days of overdubbing and sound mixing for the Tommy soundtrack at Ramport and CTS begins. The Elton John Band’s recording of “Pinball Wizard” is completed
1979 – Roger and Kenney are interviewed on the BBC children’s programme Swap Shop
1980 – The Who play the first of two nights at the Center Coliseum in Seattle, Washington
1997 – Advance copies of Flipp’s new CD Flipp are released containing the cover of “My Generation” that got the band its record deal. They are pulled and another song is substituted after Pete denies permission
2004 – The Who make #29 on Rolling Stone’s list of “The Immortals”, a list compiled by rockers including Pete. The Beatles head up the list. Eddie Vedder writes the tribute for The Who. He closes with “Presumptuously I speak for all Who fans when I say being a fan of the Who has incalculably enriched my life.”
2010 – Roger helps launch a job centre for people with learning disabilities in Stanmore, Middlesex. Also attending are publisher Richard Desmond, the Duchess of York, and Elizabeth Hurley. Read more about it here, or here, or here
2015 – The Who play the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida
Today in Whostory: April 14
1963 – The Detours play in Bayswater at Douglas House
1965 – The Who play the Il Rondo Ballroom in Leicester
1966 – The Who play Gaumont Cinema in Southampton. They are the last act after Paul Dean & The Soul Savages, The Sound System, Hamilton, Jimmy Cliff, The Fruit Eating Bears, The Merseys and The Spencer Davis Group (who have the nation’s #1 single at the time). Compèring the shows is future Myra Breckinridge director Mike Sarne. The Who’s set at this time is “Barbara Ann,” “My Generation,” “I Can’t Explain,” “Substitute” and “Dancing In The Street.”
1967 – The Who play Halle Münsterland in Münster
1974 – Pete performs live for the first time as a solo act at The Roundhouse in London as part of a charity concert to raise funds to buy a coach for the Camden Square Community. At one point he gets into a shouting match with a heckler.
1974 – Keith and Ringo appear on The Flo And Eddie Show live on KROQ-FM in Pasadena. Keith plays Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and surf music records
1980 – The Who play the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
1980 – Pete’s first totally solo album, Empty Glass, is released in the U.K. The U.S. release follows on the 21st. Reviews are raves with Sounds magazine giving the album its highest rating and Paul Morley in New Musical Express saying the album shows Pete is still an important musician. The album peaks at #11 in the U.K., the highest chart position for a Pete solo record in that country. In the U.S. it shoots all the way to #5.
1984 – Roger’s single “Walking in My Sleep” enters the Dutch charts where it will peak at #35
1985 – Pete holds the first concert organized by the Anti-Heroin campaign at St. James Church in London. Siouxsie and the Banshees perform and at the end Siouxsie presents Pete with a check for £5000. Afterwards they celebrate at the Embassy Club.
1997 – Fatboy Slim releases the single “Going Out Of My Head” which samples Yvonne Elliman’s cover of “I Can’t Explain.” On the first issues, Pete is not credited as co-author, a problem corrected after Pete threatens a lawsuit.
1997 – Pete is interviewed about the Quadrophenia tour in the German newspaper Der Spiegel.
2004 – A Japanese website called “Rock Odyssey” hints of Who shows in Japan, a country where The Who had never before toured
2004 – The Evening Standard prints a pic of Pete and his partner Rachel Fuller out and about after she lands a recording contract with Universal Records
2008 – The DVD TCT Concerts For Teenage Cancer Trust At The Royal Albert Hall is released
The minute that Pete's EMPTY GLASS was a commercial and critical success, the Who's days were numbered.
Today in Whostory: April 13
1961 – The Hammersmith & Shepards Bush Gazette and Post carries an article titled “The Young Makers” featuring a photo of John
1963 – The Detours play the Oldfield Hotel in Greenford
1964 – The Who play the 100 Club in London opening for the Mike Cotton Sound. This would be Doug Sandom’s final appearance with The Who.
1964 – Pete writes a letter to the BBC apologizing for applying twice for a position on the BBC Light Programme, once as The Detours and once as The Who. He confirms that they are now called The Who.
1965 – The Who play The Marquee Club in London
1967 – The Who play Circus-Krone-Bau in Munich. Footage of John sitting on his amps while the Who perform is used in the concluding credits of The Kids Are Alright.
1967 – The Who get a beer buzz visiting the Löwenbräu Brewery in Munich. They are photographed raising a pint by Dezo Hoffman. Hoffman also shoots promotional photos of The Who “playing” in the woods while Stanley and Morphet film their antics.
1969 – The New York Times Magazine contains literary criticism of rock lyrics. One song discussed is “Substitute”.
1969 – The Who attend the Melody Maker Pollwinners concert at the Royal Festival Hall in London
“The Who, 1969, Melody Maker Awards, unknown hotel in London. Every year the Melody Maker readers would vote for their favourite artist, band, group, etc., and we would have a poll winners’ party in a swish hotel with Jimmy Savile or John Peel hosting and giving out the awards. This year The Who won as best band, and I took some snaps of this happy band celebrating. Derek Taylor from Apple Records was there and invited us to come over to Savile Row as he had “something wonderful” to share with us. This turned out to be us lounging in the Apple office drinking champagne, smoking the best while listening to the yet to be released “Abbey Road” album! © Barrie Wentzell”
1970 – The Who go into IBC Studios, London to record new studio versions of their stage act for later broadcast on the BBC. Paul Williams is the producer. The tracks are “Heaven and Hell”, “Substitute”, “Pinball Wizard,” “Shakin’ All Over/Spoonful,” “I’m Free” and “The Seeker”. It is the last time The Who record tracks specifically for airing on the BBC. Radio fans first hear them on BBC1’s Dave Lee Travis Show of the 19th. “Heaven and Hell” later serves as the basis for the track on the b-side of “Summertime Blues” and four of them are officially released in 2000 on BBC Sessions.
1971 – Les Grands Ballet Canadiens premiere a ballet version of Tommy at New York’s City Center. The performances take place while the 2 LP disc is played over loudspeakers. Clive Barnes in The New York Times finds it better than he expected but unremarkable.
1994 – An exhibit of photos taken by Pete Townshend’s old art school friend Tom Wright is held at The Center for American History at The University of Texas in Austin. Wright was The Who’s official photographer from mid-1967 through 1968. The exhibit continues through April 29th
2008 – The Who play the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington Gore, London
2018 – Roger appears on the Graham Norton Show
Today in Whostory: April 12
1964 – The Who play the White Hart Hotel in Acton.
1967 – The Who play Friedrich-Ebert-Halle in Ludwigshafen. Violence erupts but not during the Who’s set. This time it’s during John’s Children’s performance as they provoke a riot and almost close the entire show down. John’s Children’s equipment is confiscated by German authorities and they are quickly deported. The Who, irritated by their antics and their act that left feathers all over the stage, are secretly grateful
1969 – Keith gets his chance to rate records without knowing who recorded them in the Melody Maker article: “Blind Date: Keith Moon”
1969 – “Pinball Wizard” enters the Dutch charts where it will ultimately peak at #12.
1970 – Keith drums as a special guest for a Screaming Lord Sutch gig at the Country Club in Hampstead. Keith is accompanied by the screaming Lord’s longtime drummer, Carlo Little, who was also the mentor who first schooled Keith on drums. Teacher and student pound along to “Jenny Jenny” and “Good Golly Miss Molly.” The event is recorded and released in 1972.
1975 – Pete, in an interview in Melody Maker, talks about his current feelings about the Tommy movie. He finds it “entertaining. I don’t like the first few minutes of it. I felt that was all a bit obligatory, that front part; it’s almost like padding. There’s a sense of relief for me when the plane crashes and she faints and all that, and suddenly we’re in the holiday camp.” He also has mixed feelings about the soundtrack album. “I’m not very happy with it. Everybody but me seems to like it…I rather like ‘Amazing Journey’, the sound of it.
1984 – Roger performs “Free Me” and “Parting Would Be Painless” at the Golden Rose Pop Festival in Montreux
1996 – The Japanese all-woman band Super Junky Monkey releases their CD Parasitic People with a strange “cover” version of “See Me Feel Me”.
2004 – A DVD of the British Rock Symphony, featuring Roger performing “Street Fightin’ Man,” “5:15,” See Me Feel Me,” “Let It Be” and “Pinball Wizard,” is released in the U.K
2008 – Roger attends the Teenage Concert Trust concert at the Royal Albert Hall
2010 – The CBS-TV series Two and a Half Man airs an episode entitled “Keith Moon is Vomiting in His Grave”
2011 – The press reports that Roger Daltrey is fronting an online petition to maintain herbal remedies against an EU ban
2017 – The Who play the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham, West Midlands
What a band am a substitute
Today in Whostory: April 11
1963 – The Detours play the Oldfield Hotel in Greenford
1964 – The Who play the Goldhawk Social Club in Shepherd’s Bush opening for Wee Willie Harris
1965 – The Who play the Majestic Ballroom in Luton
1967 – The Who play Rheinhalle in Dusseldorf. Violence breaks out before the show as Roger has to rescue Keith from some local toughs who want to slam his head through a car window. The toughs show up at the show that evening and Keith and Pete show them what for by chucking their instruments at them.
1969 – The Who continue rehearsing their new Tommy-centered act at the Community Centre, Westcott Crescent in Hanwell
1969 – Pete is interviewed at BBC Studio 2, Kensington House, Richmond Way, West London. He describes the plot of Tommy in a little over a minute. It is released 31 years later on the BBC Sessions bonus disc
1970 – Melody Maker reports that Live At Leeds will be released on May 1st
1970 – “The Seeker” backed with “Here for More” appears on the U.S. charts. It ultimately reaches #44 in Billboard and #30 in Cash Box. The new Who single receives a lukewarm review from John Mendelsohn in Rolling Stone.
1975 – Keith’s marriage to Kim Moon officially comes to an end at the London Divorce Court in The Strand. She is granted a decree nisi based on Keith’s unreasonable behavior. Keith offers no defense. Kim by this time is living with Faces pianist Ian McLagen. Keith’s payoff for the divorce: £40,000
1981 – John has a long interview in the New Musical Express. A famous quote from the interview: “I like playing heavy metal, I just can’t stand listening to it…the same way some people like the smell of their own farts but don’t like smelling anyone else’s.”
1987 – The Who rarities collection Two’s Missing is released. It is the first Who album since The Who Sings My Generation that fails to chart on the U.S. Billboard Top 200 albums
2000 – The ITV Classic Rock programme on Who’s Next, which originally aired on December 4, 1999, is released on DVD. The excellent documentary is made with the participation of Pete, Roger and John who discuss the album’s background and revisit the master tapes.
2006 – Pete premieres a new song “Uncertain Girl” on In The Attic. He says Zak just finished recording the drum track. The song does not make it onto Endless Wire.
2008 – Roger attend the Teenage Cancer Trust concert at the Royal Albert Hall and performs The Seeker with The Fratellis
Today in Whostory: April 10
1964 – The Who play the Glenlyn Ballroom in Forest Hill opening for the Undertakers
1965 – The Who play The Cavern, Notre Dame Hall in Leicester Square, London
1965 – “I Can’t Explain” is #14 in Pop Weekly’s “Top Thirty”. They call it “one of the better records which isn’t likely to break any big sales records.”
1966 – “Substitute” peaks at #2 on Radio London’s Fab 40
1967 – The Who play the Jaguar-Club in Herford, West Germany
1969 – The Who continue rehearsing their new Tommy-centered act at the Community Centre, Westcott Crescent in Hanwell
1969 – The Who perform “Pinball Wizard” on Top Of The Pops. Keith upsets the show’s director with his antics
1974 – Pete attends an Eric Clapton comeback party held at The China Garden Restaurant in Soho
1974 – Keith and Dougal move out of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel into a $5000 a month rented beachfront house on the Pacific Coast highway in Santa Monica, sharing it for a time with John Lennon and May Pang
1975 – In remarks to Rolling Stone magazine, Pete says, “The chasm between the original record album [of Tommy] and the film is a great one, but everything Ken Russell has done with the story and the music has my full blessing.” Rolling Stone also reports that, prior to beginning the film, Robert Stigwood had a survey performed revealing a 55% awareness of the rock opera in the general American populace
1976 – Record Mirror carries a story titled “Who Kick Off In May”
1980 – Pete lands in New York City to do promotion for his solo album Empty Glass
1984 – John’s estranged wife Alison wins libel damages from Channel Four Television and Goldcrest Films and TV. While appearing as a guest on the defendant’s show Gastank, John had called his wife a “dog.” She did not sue John who she is currently divorcing because he apologized and asked for the remark to be cut before broadcast.
1985 – Pete holds the first concert organized by the Anti-Heroin campaign at St. James Church in London. Siouxsie and the Banshees perform and at the end Siouxsie presents Pete with a check for £5000. Afterwards they celebrate at the Embassy Club
1995 – The Finnish artist Pate Mustajärvi releases his album Ikurin turbiini featuring a song called “Minä olen Pauli” which is actually “Boris The Spider”.
2000 – Pete, Roger and John hold a press conference at The Supper Club in New York City to announce their summer North American tour and the internet release of a live album from their 1999 shows
2000 – Roger appears on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show. You can watch a clip on Comedy Centrals website here
2000 – Variety reports that the Keith Moon bio-pic, now provisionally known as “Who’s Next”, will be directed by Brad Siberling. The next day Nicholas Cage tells imdb.com that he is “insisting” that he be allowed to play Pete
2004 – Pete publicly apologizes to John Entwistle’s mother Queenie for some remarks he made about John in the previous month’s issue of Uncut magazine.
2008 – Roger attends the Teenage Cancer Trust Concert at The Royal Albert Hall. He’s interviewed by NME.com
2010 – Roger Daltrey performs at Jeremy Clarkson’s 50th birthday bash. Legendary producer Trevor Horn puts together a special band for the night and Squeeze also perform. The event is packed with celebs including model Jodie Kidd, socialite Jemima Khan, singer Bryan Ferry and comedians Jimmy Carr, Harry Enfield, Dom Joly and Paul Whitehouse
2017 – The Who play the Sheffield Arena in Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Today in Whostory: April 9
1964 – That morning The Who audition for Chris Parmeinter of Fontana Records in a basement café on the Edgware Road. Parmeinter is impressed by Pete, Roger and John, but does not care for drummer Doug Sandom. Doug announced his departure, but agreed to serve out the scheduled shows for the weekend.
From there, The Who go to Studio S2 at Broadcasting House to audition for an appearance on the BBC Light Programme.
1965 – The Who play Stamford Hall in Altrincham, Cheshire
1965 – “I Can’t Explain” reaches its New Musical Express chart peak at #10. It had been released almost three months before.
1966 – The Who play the Pavilion Gardens Ballroom in Buxton, Derbyshire
1966 – Hugh Vanes photographs Pete having an elegant breakfast while perusing the latest NME…then shoots John and Keith sharing fags and brekkies at the diner The Boiling Kettle
1966 – “Substitute” enters the Dutch charts while “My Generation” reaches its peak at #13 in the Detroit, Michigan area.
1967 – The Who play the Thalia-Teater in Wuppertal, West Germany
1969 – The Who continue rehearsing their new Tommy-centered act at the Community Centre, Westcott Crescent in Hanwell
1974 – Keith joins Ringo Starr and Jim Keltner, all playing drums during the recording of “Rock Around The Clock” and “Loop De Loop” for the John Lennon-produced Harry Nilsson album Pussycats. Keith also plays congas on “Mucho Mungo”/”Mt. Elga” and Chinese wood blocks on “All My Life.” Paul McCartney drops by for the session and he and Lennon are photographed together for the last time by Dougal.
1975 – A single is released from Keith Moon’s solo album. “Solid Gold” backed with the John Lennon-penned “Move Over Ms. L,” hits the racks in North America. It fails to chart.
1979 – The Who, now with John “Rabbit” Bundrick on keyboards and Kenney Jones on drums, begin rehearsing their stage act. Over the next two-and-a-half weeks they rehearse for a total of six days. The rehearsals are filmed by the BBC as part of a feature on the programme Nationwide and footage of The Who rehearsing “Who Are You” and “Sister Disco” are later released on the 30 Years Of Maximum R&B video.
Today in Whostory: April 8
1963 – The Detours play at the White Hart Hotel in Acton
1965 – The Who play the Olympia Ballroom in Reading
1965 – The Hammersmith & Shepherds Bush Gazette carries a story titled “Love and marriage is their hit” about Colin Dawson, “founder of ‘The Who'”
1966 – The Who play the Queens Hall in Leeds, Yorkshire
1966 – The Who travel by van to Leeds for a meet ‘n’ greet at Vallances Records. Photographer Hugh Vanes accompanies the band and photographs Pete carrying a tyre for the van.
1967 – The Who play Meistersingerhalle in Nuremberg, West Germany
1967 – Billboard carries the article: “Who in U.S. to show what, how they play.” It contains a photo of The Who with Decca Records executives
1969 – The Who continue rehearsing their new Tommy-centered act at the Community Centre, Westcott Crescent in Hanwell
1972 – New Musical Express prints part two of a long interview with Pete conducted by Chris Van Ness in Denver the previous December.
1974 – Ken Russell completes the shooting script for Tommy
2004 – Pete performs at the Ronnie Lane Tribute Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. He does “Evolution” solo, and then performs “A Heart to Hang Onto” with the Kenney Jones band
2012 – Who manager Bill Curbishley tells the Sunday Times that he had been approached by organizers of the 2012 London Olympics to see if The Who would play at the end of the Games. They also specifically asked if Keith Moon could appear with them. Curbishley’s response: “‘If they have a round table, some glasses and candles, we might contact him.”
Today in Whostory: April 7
1963 – The Detours play in Bayswater at Douglas House
1965 – The Who play the Dacorum College of Further Education in Hemel, Hempstead, Hertfordshire
1966 – The Who tele-record an appearance miming “Substitute” for Top of the Pops
1967 – Mono mixes of “Pictures of Lily” and “Doctor, Doctor” were completed at Ryemuse Sound
1967 – Roger is interviewed for the BBCs German Service show “Hit ’67”
1967 – The Who, minus a tardy Keith, fly to Essen, Germany with their Track Records’ up-and-coming act John’s Children (featuring Marc Bolan on guitar) to serve as opening act. Also accompanying them are Pete’s friends Richard Stanley and Chris Morphet, hired to shoot promotional footage of the German tour.
1968 – The Who play the CNE Coliseum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are supported by The Troggs, MC5 and Raja
1975 – Pete demos “Girl in a Suitcase” which is rejected for the next Who album. The demo later surfaces on Pete’s 1987 LP Another Scoop. Other demos recorded around this time which don’t make it to the new Who album are “To Barney Kessell” and “Brrr”, later released on Pete’s 1985 album Scoop, “Ordinary Fella”, “Fight Until You’re Mine”, and an unnamed 12-bar boogie track.
1977 – Roger appears on Radio 1’s Rock On
1979 – John holds the first recording session for a new solo album that will emerge over two years later as Too Late The Hero
1981 – Kit Lambert dies at the age of 45, nine days short of reaching exactly the same age his father, composer Constant Lambert, reached before he died.
1984 – The Who fanzine The Relay publishes an interview with Roger about the end of The Who. Roger says Pete “made a very big mistake” breaking up The Who and adds “you can only take so much of being treated like a turd.” He says he hates Dave Marsh’s Who book Before I Get Old, describing it as “a great, fat book as big as a Bible mostly comprised of lies.” He also says Richard Barnes’ book The Who: Maximum R&B is “dreadful.” Dave Marsh is interviewed in the same issue and calls the It’s Hard song “I’ve Known No War” a “despicable piece of s***.”
1985 – You magazine in The Mail on Sunday reports that Pete is currently writing “a book about working in sheds.”
2002 – The Sunday Times Home section has Roger on the cover in front of his own home
2004 – Roger receives a lifetime achievement award for The Who at the Capitol Radio Awards in London
2004 – The group Recliner releases their CD Make a Friend featuring a cover of “The Kids Are Alright”
2005 – An exhibit called “Tommy: The Amazing Journey” opens at the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. Pete supplies materials.
2008 – Pete attends the funeral for The Beatles’ former road manager and business advisor Neil Aspinall. At the service held at St Mary-the-Virgin Church in Twickenham, Pete performs two of Aspinall’s favorite songs, “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “My Sweet Lord.”
2009 – Best Buy releases the exclusive 2CD-1DVD set Rachel Fuller Presents In The Attic with Pete Townshend and Friends.
2009 – The Sun reports that Karen Astley has applied for divorce proceedings against Pete, ending their 40-year marriage.
2017 – The Who play The SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Lanarkshire
Not to nitpick, but I guess yeah...."To Barney Kessell" was included on Pete's first SCOOP collection, which was released in 1983, not 1985.
i love Girl In A Suitcase. that could have been a good album cut for The Who.
I never saw Roger’s quote about Before I Get Old—it was never my favorite either!
Nancy - see 1984
Today in Whostory: April 6
1963 – The Detours play the CAV Sports Ground in Northolt.
1964 – The Who play the Glenlyn Ballroom in Forest Hill
1965 – The Who play The Marquee Club in London
1967 – The Who are at Pye Studio No. 2 where The Who are filmed by ORTF French television
1967 – Richard Goldstein writes a lengthy article in The Village Voice on The Who’s March 28th Murray the K show. He concentrates on the group’s interaction with backstage groupies and the “shtick” of their instrument smashing. Of The Who’s sound he writes, “Theirs is a toy music, with massive drumming and a vocal that sounds as though somebody’s batteries need changing.”
1968 – The Who play the Fillmore East in New York, New York
1975 – John’s interview on Alison Steele’s U.S. Army Reserve radio show Nightbird & Company is aired
1996 – The John Entwistle Band wraps up the first Left For Dead Tour at the Birch Hill Concert Hall in Old Bridge, New Jersey
1999 – MCA Records release, for the U.S. market, the budget-priced best-of CD, The Best Of The Who: The Millennium Collection
Today in Whostory: April 5
1964 – The Who play the White Hart Hotel in Acton
1965 – The Who play The Lakeside R&B Scene at the Old Welsh Harp in Hendon, Middlesex
1967 – The Who are in IBC studios in London recording “Pictures of Lily” and “Doctor, Doctor”.
1968 – The Who play the first of two nights at the Fillmore East in New York, New York. In 2018 these shows are released on the CD “The Who Live At the Fillmore East 1968”
1968 – The Who are photographed for Life magazine by Art Kane at his studio and the Carl Schurz Memorial in Morningside Park asleep under two sewn-together Union Jack flags prepared by Kane. They are so tired from Keith’s late-night antics that they actually go to sleep. The photo would be used in the June 1968 issue of Life in a feature titled “The New Rock”
1969 – Melody Maker groups The Who with Led Zeppelin and Free as one of “The heavy mob.” The article describes their sound under the new label “heavy” rock, a label that will eventually mutate to “heavy metal.”
1971 – Keith performs again as part of an All-Star Jam Session at the Bumpers Club in London.
1975 – Billboard magazine features a short article titled “Polydor Fete For ‘Tommy'” about the March 21st premiere of Tommy in Toronto. Also featured is an ad by MCA for the original Tommy release
1981 – Kit Lambert, The Who’s former manager and producer, is by this time living on charity that he spends mostly on heroin and alcohol. He shows up at his mother’s house bloody and broke saying he had been beaten by four men in the lavatory of a gay bar. His mother gets him to go to bed but later in the night he falls downstairs suffering a brain hemorrhage.
1986 – Roger appears on the British TV show The Little And Large Show lip-syncing to “The Pride You Hide” and appearing in some comedy sketches
2002 – Roger Daltrey attends Paul McCartney’s concert at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
2011 – UGC releases The Who ICON (Greatest Hits) as one and two CD sets
2017 – The Who play the Manchester Arena in Manchester
my birthday jam
👍👍
Today in Whostory: April 4
1963 – The Detours play the Oldfield Hotel in Greenford.
1964 – The Detours open for the Tony Meehan Combo at the California Ballroom in Dunstable
1965 – The Who play The Plaza Ballroom in Newbury, Berkshire
1966 – A judge grants another interim injunction brought by The Who’s former producer Shel Talmy preventing The Who from releasing any further recordings anywhere unless they are produced by Talmy and released by U.S. Decca/Brunswick. The Who’s management New Action Ltd. agrees to try to reach a settlement upon the first adjournment.
Shortly after the above event, Pete writes a new song on the back of a copy of his affidavit in the Talmy case. Its name: “I Can See For Miles”.
1968 – While visiting booker Frank Barselona’s house in New York, Keith goes crazy after Australia is mentioned. He goes back to the Gorham hotel, gets drunk, blows up his toilet with a cherry bomb and then climbs out on a ledge and begins throwing cherry bombs into the street at the gathering police. Incredibly, Barselona manages to keep Keith from going to jail, but The Who do get thrown out of the hotel and have to move to the Waldorf.
1976 – Billboard magazine carries a review of The Who’s March 21st concert at Anaheim Stadium
1986 – Roger and Bryan Adams sing “Happy Birthday” to the TV programme The Tube on its 100th episode anniversary
1995 – A press release announces that John will be the bass guitarist on that summer’s tour of Ringo Starr’s Third All-Starr Band
2004 – The SAS Band (Spike’s All Star SAS Band) featuring Chris Tompson, Tony Hadley, Paul Young, Leo Sayer, Arthur Brown, Fish, Mark Shaw, Tom Robinson, Richard O’Brien, Roy Wood and Roger Taylor release The SAS Band live DVD. It contains a cover of “My Generation” with vocals by Leo Sayer and lead guitar by Formula 1 driver Damon Hill.
2005 – Roger attends the Teenage Cancer Trust concert. Robert Plant headlines the show
2009 – The Who play the Perth Oval in Perth, Western Australia, Australia
2012 – The cybergroup Anonymous hacks Chinese Government websites. Their onscreen message is backed by a recording of “Baba O’Riley”.
I somehow missed this when it happened. Funky. 2012 – The cybergroup Anonymous hacks Chinese Government websites. Their onscreen message is backed by a recording of “Baba O’Riley”.
i can visualise Xi in his office back in 2012, fist angrily clenched in the air, "DALTREEYYYYYYYY"
Today in Whostory: April 3
1964 – The Who play the Glenlyn Ballroom in Forest Hill
1965 – The Who play the London College of Printing in London
1965 – “I Can’t Explain” reaches its top position in the Billboard charts at #93.
1965 – The Who are featured in an article in Record Mirror: “The group that slaughters their amplifiers…”
1965 – “I Can’t Explain” reaches #18 in the Pop Weekly “Top 30”. In the “Top 20 News” they say “The Who make it again with their follow-up disc. Looks as if they are here to stay”
1967 – The Who fly to London
1969 – The Who continue rehearsing their new Tommy-centered act at the Community Centre, Westcott Crescent in Hanwell
1971 – Sounds magazine features The Who
1973 – The Daily Mirror carried an article entitled “Barn Stormer – With a New Pure Sound”
2000 – Roger is on the set of the TV movie Passions of Dracula: A True Story in Bucharest, Romania. He plays King Janos of Hungary. The movie is later retitled Dark Prince: The True Story of Dracula.
2015 – The film Lambert and Stamp is released.
2017 – The Who play the Echo Arena in Liverpool, Merseyside
Today in Whostory: April 2
1964 – The Who play the Oldfield in Greenford
1965 – The Who play the Loughton Youth Centre in Loughton
1965 – The Who have their first session on BBC radio appearing on The Joe Loss Pop Show giving a live performance at the Playhouse Theatre in Northumberland Avenue. Their set that morning is “Heatwave,” “I Can’t Explain,” “Please Please Please” and “Shout and Shimmy”. Unfortunately, the tape of this broadcast has been lost (check your closets, Brits, for that old home recording!).
1966 – The Who play La Locomotive Club in Paris, France While in Paris they had some publicity photos taken near the club.
1966 – An ad appears in the U.S. publication Billboard announcing the release of “Substitute” backed with “Waltz For A Pig” on the Atco label. This is the short version of “Substitute” with a re-recorded vocal in which the phrase “I look all white but my dad was black” is replaced with “I try walking forward but my feet walk back.” Billboard says “Debut disk on Atco for the swinging group has the Liverpool-blues sound and big beat support for an exciting chart entry aimed at the teen market.” Nevertheless, it fails to make the U.S. charts.
1966 – The Brunswick release of “A Legal Matter” hits its U.K. chart peak at #28. Melody Maker reports on the fact that The Who now have two singles in their Top 50 chart – Substitute at #15 and A Legal Matter at #39
1966 – Record Mirror carries an interview with The Who at their recent Top of the Pops appearance
1967 – The Who play the final shows at the RKO Radio Theater in New York, New York
1969 – The Who play a Poole College social at the Pavilion Ballroom in Bournemouth, Hampshire. Third Ear Band opened
2004 – An Australian promoter papers Sydney and Melbourne with posters saying Who’s Touring? hinting at a Who tour of Australia
2005 – John Entwistle’s family announces that they will be auctioning off the entire contents of his £3 million mansion. The auction on the 21st nets £123,000 with a model of Henry VIII’s armour raising £900, a leather art sculpture of a male torso £2,200, a snakeskin tambourine £160 and a microphone presented to The Who at an awards poll in 1975 £480
2007 – A video is released on YouTube of a group of British old-age pensioners performing “My Generation”. Called “The Zimmers” their lead singer is Alfie Carretta who is 90-years old at the time and who finishes the song by kicking over the drumkit. The YouTube video ends up getting over six million views. The idea came from a BBC documentary filmmaker who wanted to draw attention to his BBC specials on the isolation of the elderly. Profits from a single release go to the charity Age Concern.
2008 – Roger Daltrey is a guest on the Paul O’Grady Show showing on U.K.’s Channel 4.
2012 – The May issue of Uncut hits the newsstands featuring an interview with Pete Townshend giving his memories of various Who albums. On a personal note, he admits to having been on the receiving end of oral services in “gay situations” but declares his predilections are “heterosexual”
2014 – Roger Daltrey is on The Moody Blues Cruise 2014 leaving from Grand Turk Island, Nassau. which continues until the 7th
Today in Whostory: April 1
1963 – The Detours play the White Hart Hotel in Acton
1965 – The Who play the Harrow Technical College Student’s Rag Week Dance at Town Hall in Wembley. They share the bill with Donovan and Rod Stewart and The Soul Agents. Rod the Mod makes moves on Keith’s new girlfriend Kim Kerrigan. Fears that she might be stolen away lead Keith to propose in a letter. She accepts.
1965 – The Who make yet another appearance on Top of the Pops, again playing “I Can’t Explain”
1966 – The Who play La Locomotive in Paris, France. The Who and The Yardbirds appear together in a live French edition of Ready, Steady GO! called, appropriately, Ready, Steady, Allez! According to producer Vicki Wickham, both groups run out of the studio and into the alley at the end of the show. The cameras chase them only to catch the bands urinating against a wall.
1967 – The Who play the RKO Radio Theater in New York, New York
1967 – Billboard lists “Happy Jack” hitting its German chart peak at #3.
1968 – The April issue of Beat Instrumental features an article titled “Pete Does 97 Per Cent of all Who Demos”
1969 – The Who are rehearsing their new Tommy-centered act at the Community Centre, Westcott Crescent in Hanwell
1971 – John releases his and The Who’s first commercial solo record “I Believe In Everything” backed with “My Size.” To promote it he hires a stagecoach with livery to deliver the single to Harlequin Records in London. The stagecoach ends up getting a parking ticket. Record Mirror opines: “…maybe a trifle minor key at first, but it goes along well, with a distinctive sound and some compelling chugging from behind. It’s certainly commercial in a quiet, persuasive way.” Released only in Europe at this time, it fails to chart.
1971 – Pete and his family are reportedly photographed by Chris Morphet
1972 – New Musical Express prints part one of a long interview with Pete conducted by Chris Van Ness in Denver the previous December. Parts two and three follow on the 8th and 15th.
1974 – Keith Moon and his chauffeur and minder Dougal Butler leave life in England behind and move to the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles. It is Keith’s intent to become a tax exile, as so many of the successful British rockers have done, but he never manages to stay out of England long enough to escape the long arm of Inland Revenue.
1976 – The Who return to Boston Garden to make up for the show of March 9th they didn’t finish because of Keith’s collapse. Keith runs around the stage to show he’s in fine shape and Roger adds “thanks for waiting for the encore!” John, however, has a rougher time. After numerous requests by Roger to “turn down,” John throws his bass onto the stage and tells Roger he can play it. This show is later bootlegged as Behind Blind Eyes. It ends the second leg of The Who’s 1975-76 North American tours
1976 – Roger is interviewed in the April edition of “Photoplay”
1979 – The advance single from The Kids Are Alright soundtrack, “Long Live Rock” backed with “I’m The Face” & “My Wife (live)” is released in Britain. The seven-year old A-side peaks at #48
1979 – Record World features “1979: The Year of The Who” on the cover of their April 1979 “Music News/Buyers Guide”
1980 – The Who play the Festhalle in Frankfurt, Germany
1987 – John Entwistle is the musical director and plays bass for some of the acts as part of an all-star AIDS benefit concert at Wembley Stadium on World AIDS Day. It is subsequently released on video as Stand By Me: AIDS Day Benefit
1987 – Roger plays The Barrister in a live version of Mike Batt’s The Hunting Of The Snark that is taped for later broadcast. It is a Royal charity gala concert to aid the British Deaf Association and is attended by the Duchess Of York
1990 – Pete writes a letter to Who manager Bill Curbishley stating: “I want to take this opportunity to say that I will remember 1989 as one of the happiest of my life and career. There are lots of factors, but the most important element was the friendship I felt enhanced every aspect of the tour: front of the stage, in the band, in the management team, in the crew, and in the audiences…Good luck in 1990.”
1999 – www.thewhothismonth.com is launched. Brian Cady’s website covers every aspect of The Who’s career and is the source of the majority of the historical information provided by thewho.net!
2002 – The website The Smoking Gun posts the backstage requirements for The Who during their 1996 North American tour
2006 – A Who Convention is held at Bush Hall in London. Roger shows up to join Simon Townshend for versions of “Substitute” and “Behind Blue Eyes.” Learn more here
You can watch some videos from this event on youtube here
2008 – The Amazing Journey CD and LP soundtrack is released exclusively through the U.S. chain Best Buy
2011 – Pete Townshend appears with many other celebrities in a video appealing for aid for victims of the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand
2017 – The Who play the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington Gore, London
Today in Whostory: March 31
1963 – The Detours play the Douglas House in Bayswater
1965 – The Who play the Bromel Club at the Bromel Court Hotel in Bromley Hill, Kent
1966 – The Who recorded “Substitute”, “Dancing In The Street”, “Man With Money”, “Barbara Ann”” and “My Generation” for the French TV Show “Music Hall de France”
1966 – The Daily Express carries a story titled “A family business – entertaining” about Pete and his family
1967 – The Who play the RKO Radio Theater in New York, New York
1968 – The Who play Constitution Hall in Washington DC. Opening for them is The Troggs, Orpheus and the Beacon Street Union.
1969 – Having spent a few days with the missus and child Pete returns to The Who at Pan Sound 23 Denmark Street in London for some additional recording . Afterwards the band goes onto the studio rooftop for a publicity photo shoot.
1973 – Keith becomes the first member of The Who to return to Australia after the disastrous 1968 tour. He is there to play Uncle Ernie in the Antipodean production of the orchestral version of Tommy at the Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne. The show is delayed from the night before because of rain. Roger had been offered the lead role but refused to go. The show will be broadcast on the radio on April 3rd, and on television on April 13th.
1974 – The King Biscuit Flower Hour broadcasts an edited version of The Who’s Dec. 4th 1973 Philadelphia concert in the U.S. and Canada. The broadcast is presented quadraphonically encoded for those with the appropriate equipment listening at home. After the show a sixty-second spot is aired announcing that The Who will perform for the first time at New York’s Madison Square Garden that June playing four shows. The ad is the only promotion for these concerts. Tickets for all four shows sell out in fifteen hours. This broadcast would become the source of many bootleg albums, most famously “Tales From The Who” with it’s cover by William Stout
1980 – The Who play the Olympiahalle in Munich, Germany
1981 – The BPI in London awards a silver disc for Face Dances
1990 – The Who release a three-album or two-CD boxset of their 1989 tour called Join Together in the US.
2006 – Johnny Was, with Roger playing a gangster named Jimmy, premieres at the Belfast Film Festival.
2007 – The Who play the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington Gore, London
2008 – Richie Havens releases a new album Nobody Left To Crown featuring a cover of “Won’t Get Fooled Again”.
2009 – The Who play the Acer Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
I was at the 1968 Constitution Hall show, only 13 years old at the time. Hanging around after the show, me and my two buddies got to help carry some of the equipment to the truck, so I actually got to touch some of the Pictures Of Lily kit ! As a budding drummer, this was like going to heaven for me! At the show, our seats were not close, but near the end of the show we rushed down to the front of the stage as did a lot of others. No one would allow that to happen nowadays. The girl who caught the remains of Pete's smashed guitar shared the strap with someone else who then cut it into pieces and shared with all those near her. I got one of the little squares, a bit smaller than one inch square, but it was lost years later when the room I was renting got cleaned out while I was away 🙁 Me and one of my two buddies also got a beater-side bass drum head, which we split by cutting it in half, and my half was also lost with the guitar strap piece. One notable thing, that bass drum head was DENTED by Keith's playing, I mean really dented ! I have never seen anything like it. I don't think he had a lot of mikes on the drums at that time and I mean to tell you the band was L-O-U-D ! We seriously couldn't hear straight for about 30 minutes after the show, and those were young 13 year-old ears.
Just one of the for me today. Sydney in 2009. I hope to make it back there some day. Thanks for the daily memories.
Sherlyn Johannesen the 1969 date is the one I was talking about on the tour.
Today in Whostory: March 30
1965 – The Who play the Marquee Club in London
1966 – Pete is photographed with his parents by Larry Ellis of the Daily Express
1967 – The Who play the RKO Radio Theater in New York, New York
1968 – The Who play the Westbury Music Fair in Westbury, New York
1970 – Pete appears on the late night ITV television show “A Broad Look At Pop”
1974 – Record Mirror carries an ad for “Peppermint Allsorts”, “The first of four tasty albums”
1976 – The Who play the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado
1977 – Pete demos “Never Ask Me” at Eel Pie Studios. It is intended but rejected for the next Who album. Pete later sends it to Quincy Jones for the next Frank Sinatra album, but Jones also rejects it. It ultimately ends up on Another Scoop.
1980 – The Who play the Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria
1981 – The double LP Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea, collected from the December 1979 concerts at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, is released in the U.S. The Who make up side one of the disc but the set starts with Pete’s accidentally out-of-tune performance on “Baba O’Riley.” It reaches #36 on the Billboard charts. The U.K. release follows on 3rd April reaching #39. The album is one of the few Who releases never to have a legitimate release on CD
1993 – Pete receives a Very Special Arts award at Sardi’s Restaurant in New York for The Who’s Tommy.
1993 – Pete and members of the Grateful Dead attend a preview performance of Tommy at Broadway’s St. James Theater
2004 – The best-of compilation The Who: Then & Now 1964-2004 is released featuring the two new recordings, “Real Good Looking Boy” and “Old Red Wine (for John).”
2004 – Roger greets Queen Elizabeth at the Royal Albert Hall with supporters of Teenage Cancer Trust. “I asked her to speak up because I’m in a rock ‘n’ roll band. She did speak up, she was very gracious.” Roger performs that night with Paul Weller, James Dean Bradfield and Kelly Jones doing “The Kids Are Alright” and “Magic Bus.”
2006 – Roger receives a Lifetime Achievement award at the 22nd Radio Academy Awards held at the Café de Paris in London
2006 – Roger joins Razorlight at the Teenage Trust Concerts at the Royal Albert Hall and sings “Summertime Blues.”
2010 – The Who play the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington Gore, London
2017 – The Who play the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington Gore, London
can't imagine Frank Sinatra singing Never Ask Me... even though it's a great song.
The 1966 photo of Pete, with the Townshends, is iconic { photo from TheWho.net} i.pinimg.com/originals/60/ff/12/60ff1237f69876100c1192e01d4544cb.jpg
I was at the 1967 show.
I was there xx
👍👍