28 Comments

I have one word for you, Mary:

TOMMY!

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QUADROPHENIA!

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Empty Glass is a favorite of mine. I love “Cat’s in the Cupboard” as a track with the frantic quality to the tempo that is typical of Pete Townsend’s playing style! I especially love the harmonica performance which is a real treat.

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I think Cat's in the Cupboard is a good song just not on par with the others (in my opinion) although better than "And I Moved." I agree, the harmonica is great.

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Hmm. A decade older, by the 80s, I was a busy ad exec (S. Florida, '84-'88) and single mom. And into Jazz. So, besides the "tra la la" of Smurfette , 💙 I was into Michael Franks, David Sanborn or Al Jarreau, who I saw live at Trump Plaza in '88. With only 50 of us in his audience, Old Blue Eyes was at Bally's Grandstand that summer too!

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I remember desperately wanting to see Tommy the movie when it came out- it was a bit out of reach for me at the time (I was 9 or 10) and The Who was the band the older boys were always really into and again, out of reach as I felt somehow out of place with the way they were connected. Then it happened- the release of Face Dances right after my 15th birthday. It may be the most critically panned album they ever did but I was so drawn to the artwork cover. I thought You Better You Bet was so energetic and poppy and i loved the glissando right before the first stanza of the song. I soon become obsessed with Don’t Let Go of The Coat, Cache Cache and Another Tricky day. The songs were like puzzles to me that resonated with my own trepidation and longing.

Thanks for this reminder. I’m looking forward to a fresh listen 🤗

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I have no idea why Face Dances was poorly received. I thinks it's a solid album. Cache, Cache is one of my favorite songs and I also love (to varying degrees) You Better, You Bet, Don't Let Go the Coat, How Can You Do It Alone, Another Tricky Day, and Daily Records. "It's Hard," on the other hand, it's objectively terrible.

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Agree.

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I love “Cat’s in the cupboard.”

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A favorite.

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My favorite on "Scoop" is "You Came Back." I don't know that many people who are familiar with that album; thanks for reminding me to listen to it again, soon!

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It's such a great look into the artistic process.

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Rough Mix is my favorite, Heart To Hang On To. But I loved The Who.

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Great song. I also love "My Baby Give It Away."

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Wonderful Mary!🎶🎶

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I can and do appreciate all music but I must have deaf ear with all things ~The Who~ I’ve tried with PT and do get a bit of it ~especially eminence front.

I enjoyed your review~ty

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Years ago I was staying at a rental on Long Island. I was looking through the album collection when I saw an album by The Who. I opened the flip cover and found three papers that made my hands shake: the carbon copy of the contract Pete Townsend signed to play Woodstock, a typed sheet with edits to the song “My Generation”, and a piece of paper unrelated. When I got home, I called the lawyer and his wife, the owners of the rental, and told the wife about the album and its additional contents. She said he might give me something for this and I laughed and said probably not. Three years later I was watching a documentary on The Who on MTV. And to my big surprise, there were the two papers I had found in the album! If I had filched the papers they would have just sat in my basement. Instead, they were returned to the music world. Oh yeah, The Who got paid $25K to play the gig! I should know, I saw the paperwork lol

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So fantastic!

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When I stayed at a rental on Long Island, I was flipping through some albums when I came upon an album by The Who. When I opened the flip cover, there were 3 papers that made my heart stop - a carbon copy of the contract Pete Townsend signed to play at Woodstock, one with the words and changes to My Generation, and a slip of paper that was unrelated. I called the owner of the rental, a lawyer and his wife, to report the findings. His wife said he might give me something and I laughed and said probably not. 3 years later, on MTV, I watched a documentary on The Who. What do you suppose was included in the documentary? The two major things I had found in the album. Those papers would be in my basement if I had filched them. No one would be any wiser. Lucky for the music industry’s history I did otherwise. Oh, and The Who was paid $25K to play the gig.

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Love these podcasts because it's like sitting on a comfortable couch listening to an intelligent friend make interesting points about something you care about but haven't thought about in a long time. Kind of rekindles our basic humanity. Got a feeling your mom dad were as cool and brave as you are.

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Back in the early '60s, my best friend, who was 4 years older, went to see Herman's Hermits in concert. She told me about the group that opened for them, an obscure band that, for some odd reason, destroyed its instruments at the end of its set. She didn't even catch the name of the band, which, of course, we learned not too long after, was The Who.

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That's amazing!

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Keep Me Turning was issued as a single in the 70's. I have a 1977 Stereo/Stereo (unusual for the time) Promotion copy. I'd love to hear your thoughts on Pete's later albums (1985's White City - A Novel; 1989's The Iron Man and 1993's Psychoderelict).

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...lived there, worked in the studio, hung out with whomever came to Oceanic. It was an unusual time with Ronnie being sick, Pete stepping gingerly between two worlds, and always lots of action making it seem bigger than it was, because it really was quite humble.

Things change, of course, when machines process the input to arcanely determine potential success of whatever they repurpose or eat. But heartfelt work often rises again when the machine is nowhere in sight, allowing one to weigh the merits of the cause and the value of their message. And let's face it, those times are unique unto themselves.

Well done in resurrecting things lovely and worthwhile.

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