Behold. A song that sounds like nothing The Who would ever do, made by The Who.
This is "Dogs". A single released in 1968, and recorded during a period when the group went 'slightly mad' according to Pete Townshend.
There's nothing much I can say to you that would be any different from its entry on Wikipedia. It's a very English-sounding song. That "beer" chorus reminds me of a sing-along down at a pub or something, and overall it sounds like a very dramatic theme track for two characters in a soap opera.
In comparison to everything else The Who did, "Dogs" is definitely an odd one.....
The first post today marks the start of the "Doctor" trilogy. This particular song is not about someone who is in that line of work. The second post coming later on today, and tomorrow's are. Maybe tomorrow, 'cause I'll be at my friend's place. The next three songs all have the word 'Doctor' in them, basically.
"Doctor Jimmy" is the longest track on The Who's album "Quadrophenia", coming in at a hefty 8 and a half minutes. It only contains three verses and the "Is It Me?" segment that is meant to represent John Entwistle's personality. Apart from that are some rather long instrumental passages where the band jam and play off one another.
In terms of the album's concept, Jimmy - the main character - is pissed off with everything. The Mod life he believed in was all a lie. He starts drinking gin to see if it can 'hold [him] down', but instead the alcohol brings out the absolute worst. A bit like that story by Robert Louis Stevenson.
In the midst of it, he is still able to think about which one of the four personalities he possesses is actually his - hence the "Is It Me?" part. Overall, it's all too much to take so he steals a boat, heavily intoxicated and sails off into the sea.
Dramatic stuff. Very tense.
Instrumentally, so much happens in the track that I don't think I could even describe it to you. It's The Who really, what more do you need.
Maybe I should have tweeted that there wasn't going to be a post yesterday. It would save time in having to explain why. I was out, and for anyone that was desperately waiting for that usual update in their Twitter feed.... I am sorry. Dreadfully sorry. But it's here now, and will be followed by another one soon.
Here's one random question I want to ask..... Is it wrong to be young and really like The Who? This randomly came up as a thought when I was listening to The Who on shuffle, when I was on the train back to university from Liverpool. I think The Who are amazing (or were); "My Generation" through to "Who Are You" speak for themselves. But I've never met in person or seen on the internet anyone my age who feels the same way. I feel as if The Who's the kind of band who are only listened to by middle-aged men trying to make their name in the rock music business or something. You see, hear or research about new bands who say that they are influenced by The Beatles.... or material that the members went on to produce in their solo careers. But you never really see any new and talented vocalist say they are inspired by Roger Daltrey, or a bass player inspired by John Entwistle. I stress that this is new bands that I'm talking about here. There are loads of bands I listen to who admire each and every member. But.... I don't know. Maybe it's a generation thing..... That pun wasn't intentional.
That's something you guys can think upon.
But enough of that. Today's track is "The Dirty Jobs", a song from the band's second 'rock opera' "Quadrophenia". At this point in the album's 'plot', the narrator has left home and meets these workers who do 'the dirty jobs', such as looking after pigs and driving the miner bus. The narrator criticises them for not sticking the middle finger up to 'the man'. That sums the song up lyrically.
It's astonishing how though in this song - hell, through the whole album - it is the four members of The Who who play every instrument you hear. Except for the piano part that's played a session musician. I brick-walled the track using Audacity (something I still have polarizing feelings about now). It's very loud, mostly thanks to the constant cymbal thrashing and drum pounding from Keith Moon, but I can't listen to it any other way. Just everything about the song is brilliant. Awesome. Great. Fantastic. Can't think of superlatives to emphasise how good the track is.
Actually, just listen to "Quadrophenia". You must. You won't forgive yourself if you don't. Arguably The Who's creative peak as a group.
"Cut My Hair" is the fourth track on The Who's sixth album and second 'rock opera' "Quadrophenia". It is sung by the main songwriter and guitarist Pete Townshend with lead vocalist Roger Daltrey providing melodies in the chorus.
"Quadrophenia" got me through some lonely times. Hearing it in Summer 2010 and being bored due to staying in my house all the time made me take pointless walks around the local area. Sometimes I would go to the shops or go to my aunt's house around the corner and just chill there until I felt like I wanted to get back home again.
Weather-wise, I distinctly remember that summer not being very great. Rain or slight overcast that turned into dark and gloomy clouds, and I would sing this song all the time when I went on my excursions. It got me through it.
Townshend decribed the song as: "A domestic interlude. The boy recalls a row with
his folks that culminated in his leaving home. We also hear a news broadcast mentioning riots in Brighton between
Mods and Rockers, events at which he was present the previous week."
I can say I cannot relate to any of that, I like my family a lot. The latter relates to the concept/context of the album which I won't go into. It's too much.
But yeah, the song's good. Have a listen. I'll be back tomorrow.
One time when I was bored on YouTube, I remembered this cartoon from the nineties that would show on the BBC. The cartoon followed the adventures of a clumsy spider, who played around with his human friend. I completely forgot what the animation was called, until I found the other day that it was simply called "Spider".
During that time, I typed in 'spider' which instead resulted in videos involving real spiders and "Boris the Spider" by The Who. The video above was the one that I clicked onto.
This time, it's not a song by Pete Townshend. No, no. "Boris the Spider" was the second song on the band's second album "A Quick One" which is known for being the only album by the rock band to involve songs written by all four members. "Boris" was the first song John Entwistle wrote for the band, and took a tolling time of five minutes to write.
Seems about right. It's a tale of a black, hairy and very small spider, who crawls up a wall then drops to the floor, heads toward the bedroom door, comes out again, crawls into a ball and is then squashed with a book by the person who sees all of this activity. The spider's name is Boris too. And all of this is sung over a simple bass line and a haunting bridge where John puts on his falsetto.
This song is also known for being the first in music history to incoporate the 'death growl'. Betcha didn't know that, huh?
So that's the song for today. That fake spider in the vido is very similar to one that I saw on my living room floor the other day. I was so freaked out wandering what to kill it with that it disappeared under the sofa. That bastard hasn't come out since. It's only a matter of time.
Nice. A song by "The Who" that's not on "Who's Next" for me to talk about.
"Quadrophenia" was the first Who album I downloaded in 2010. It was that year when I randomly started to listen to them when I started watching videos on YouTube.
I had briefly heard of it before when I was 13, when a member on YouTube - 'sxewill2' I think was the name of the channel - uploaded the album in sepearate parts. I can remember listening to "The Real Me" for a few seconds, but at that time I was a naive and foolish boy and went onto a different video. That person's account was later terminated from the website later that year.
"Quadrophenia" is another concept album written by Pete Townshend. The story of the album follows the protagonist "Jimmy", a Mod with multiple personality disorder. It's not just two personalities, or three, but four, with each one representing the personality of one member of "The Who". Now you see where the "Quad" comes in the album title.
In regards to the story, "Bell Boy" comes in after Jimmy goes to Brighton to remember the good old fights between the Mods and Rockers and sees a notable Mod that he looked up to back in the day. However, this Mod now works as a... you might have a guessed, a bell boy, and Jimmy is pissed off and dissappointed. What does he do next? You have to listen to the album.
Townshend also incoporates all these musical 'leitmotifs' which occur at different points during the album, depicting the clashes between the personalities. "Bell Boy" is Keith's theme, noted for being 'a bloody lunatic' in the liner notes of the album. "Bell Boy" was the first song I really got into when I listened to the album for the first time. I think the fact that it contained lead vocals by Keith himself played a large part, but also because for me, it was the easiest one to memorise and it's just got this thumping beat to it that doesn't quit. Especially in the verses and the instrumental breaks.
That's about it, guys. Hope you liked the post. Give me feedback, tell me whether you like the song, whether you like the blog or not. Anything really.
Hi everyone. I'm feeling good. Each day just seems to go into the next so quickly, I don't know where the time is going.
This is the third song from this album that I've done a blog on, and I've only got five songs from Who's Next on my iPod. Oh, well.
For those of you who don't know, "Who's Next" is only a compilation of songs that were supposed to be used for a much bigger project that Pete Townshend had worked on. After they had finished "Tommy", Townshend began work on a rock-opera called "Lifehouse". However, when he explained the concept to his friends and the other band members they just didn't get what was going on. They couldn't handle it.
"Behind Blue Eyes" is sung from the perspective of the villain of the story, Jumbo. It was intended to be his 'theme song', but of course "Lifehouse" never happened. "Who's Next" is still considered to be the band's best album, even though it wasn't intended to be made. That's quite funny. You can listen to the album's intended tracklist, thanks to this playlist on YouTube.
"Behind Blue Eyes" is the penultimate song - before "Won't Get Fooled Again". It starts off with Roger singing alone over Pete's guitar, John later joins in with the bass and vocal harmonies are introduced. The song then changes into a full rock out when Keith and the electric guitars come in. Keith's drumming is brilliant on this, listen to them here. The song then ends with a reprise of the first sections. With three cymbal crashes on the last three words, the song fades to a close.
It's quite of a downer. But then the last track begins, and for the next nine minutes you'll feel great.
Have you ever wanted something so much - so badly, that you would give up anything to win it?
Well then my friend, "Bargain" is the song for you. After "Baba O'Riley" on "Who's Next" is this gem, again penned by Pete Townshend about becoming closer to God.
It's another powerful song and is driven on by the force of the rhythm section and Daltrey's vocals, even more so than in the aforementioned album opener.
I don't think I can write anything else that isn't in its Wikipedia entry.
It's one of my favourites from the album though. It's good stuff.
"What are you going to do now?"
"Rest until July, then I'll find something to do."
That was one exchange of words by my mum and I after I had finished my last exam in secondary school. I have been working endlessly all year for this stuff, and it feels like a whole weight has been lifted off my shoulders, it feels very relaxing. Everytime I feel like I should be doing something... but I don't, and it feels weird and a bit creepy.
It's fine not doing anything at the moment but seeing as other people still have exams to do, it's quite boring being in your house by yourself when the weather's crappy and there's nothing on except.... daytime television.... eurgh.
At least I have my iTunes library to keep me company. And that reminds me... it's the second of the 'B' series. Yay.
I feel like I've already gone on about The Who in an earlier post, so I won't rabble on too much. "Who's Next", the album 'Baba O'Riley' is on, is actually the most recent one of theirs that I downloaded and listened to. It's considered to be their magnum opus by many critics, and I knew that their two most overplayed songs including this and "Won't Get Fooled Again" were on it. I didn't want to listen to an album which I thought was only good for two songs, so I chose to listen to "Quadrophenia" and "Sell Out" instead. Heck, I might have even listened to "By Numbers" before it. I can't remember. I'll have a look at my computer.
Yeah, "Who's Next" is beast. This song is the perfect way to start things off.
Firstly, the synthesiser which seems to last for an eternity until the descending riff is introduced by the piano and Moon's drums come crashing in. "Who's Next" is mainly regarded to be the album in which each individual member had reached their peak in creativity, much like "Revolver" by The Beatles. Although Roger Daltrey wasn't much of a songwriter, but listen to his vocals on here compared to those of "Tommy"... I know right? Pete Townshend was well in the way of writing songs with meaning, and with links between one another to tell a story, simply put as a concept album, and had completely abandoned the writing for the "singles band" that The Who was once regarded to be. John Entwistle and Keith Moon.... well with a rhythm section like that, how much better can you get? Come on, people.
Yep. I don't want to ruin the song for you. It's already up there.
Until tomorrow.
Jamie
P.S. I can confirm that I did listen to "The Who by Numbers" before "Who's Next". And what... bitch.
I made another post about The Who a few days ago, so have a look at it if you want.
In that post I mentioned that Summer 2010 was when I began to listen to The Who, and recognised them for the ball of talent that they were back in the day.
However, I had only listened to a few songs by them. In order to get a sense of what their music was about, I would have to listen to one of their albums.
But which one? Where do I start?
Now, I knew that their 'magnum opus' was considered to be their album 'Who's Next'. It contains two of their most well known songs, and it is the one where each member had reached their peak at their positions. Together, there was no stopping them.
For me, there was something that prevented me from listening to it. I don't why. I think it's just because I had only heard of those two songs, and if people only liked the album for them then what was the point?
So what better way to start my Who experience.... than with their 1967 release, 'The Who Sell Out'? Seeing its article on Wikipedia, I saw the praise that it received (full marks by the ones listed), the whole radio concept thing amused me, so I thought it wouldn't hurt to listen to it.
It's probably their most under-appreciated album. It is their only release where a majority of songs are not written by Pete Townshend and not only sung by Roger Daltrey. Everybody gets to sing, I have the 1995 remastered version which features 'Jaguar' with lead vocals by Keith, and 'Girl's Eyes' which is written by him and sung with John Entwistle. It's really one of my favourite albums.
"DUUUUUH-DUH Monday........" is the first thing you hear when listening to 'Armenia City in the Sky', the first song of the album. The Who Sell Out incorporates radio adverts that were transmitted on a rogue radio station, 'Radio London', which would normally be broadcast from a boat in the middle of an ocean. This 'Days of the Week' interlude carries on until Sunday, which is when a weird backwards guitar fades in, and boom. The actual song begins.
Another unusual thing about the song is that it's not actually written by any members of the band. In fact Pete's chauffeur, Mr John Keen, wrote the song and is also singing it along with Roger Daltrey. Although it's hard to make it out, seeing as there is this weird pitch shifting effect that is used on the vocals. Maybe they didn't want people to know that someone who wasn't in the band was singing.
Listening to it with headphones is another weird experience. You basically have Keith and John playing the rhythm section in the left channel, whilst there are these backwards trumpets and hazey backwards guitars playing in the other. That along with the lyrics, for example:
'The sky is glass, the sea is brown, and everyone is upside down,'
makes this song one of the trippiest from the album.
I guess as it was 1967, this was supposed to a spoof of the psychedelicmaterial that was coming out, only because this is the only song on the album that uses that sort of drugged-up-on-LSD sound. The others are solid songs that don't try to sound like it at all.
The solo is backwards too, so that screeching bird-call in the middle is still a guitar. After two repetitions of the title, the band maintain the pace and rhythm, a weird insect-sounding voices says 'Freak out, freak out' and the song ends with an explosion that echoes into the next radio transmission.
All in all, it's a perfect start to a perfect album.
Oh man. Summer 2010 was the moment when I began to actually start listening to the band. Best decision I've made.
I could start a whole story about how I started listening to them and everything, but 'Another Tricky Day; doesn't really fit in with that, so I'll leave that for another day.
Firstly, my new found love for The Who made me want to search for music videos on the YouTubes, and after coming across songs like 'Happy Jack' and 'Substitute' I realised that they were experts at everything they did. Townshend is a great guitar player, Moon, well, you know he's crazy but a beast on the drums, Entwistle the best bass player of all time and Daltrey with his soaring vocals combined produced a wall of melodic noise to great effect.
Then I watched the video for this song; initially I didn't think much of it. Keith wasn't there, he had passed away, and it all sounded very tame. All the energy was lost, but Entwistle made it up with his bass. Townshend was still recuperating after Keith's death, he was drinking and thinking he was going to go next, his family had left him. Life got hard.
It's a pretty sad song. I feel sad listening to it sometimes. I was going to school recently with my iPod playing in my ears. It was raining, this song started playing, and I began to feel useless. The weather was bad, I didn't want to go in, everything was just so boring and repetitive. I don't feel like working anymore, I will for my exams but school is just so pointless.
"It's just another tricky day for you."
Yeah, I know Roger thank you.
All in all, I never feel really happy when I hear this song. Thoughts of dread and despair build up, and it isn't great.
