Started: 1964
City and Country of Origin: London, England
Music Training:
Awards:
Top Recordings:"I Can See for Miles," "Tommy," "Won't Get Fooled Again"
The Who Biography: Pete Townshend and John Entwistle met while in high school, playing in a Dixieland band together. Entwhistle played the trumpet and Townshend played the banjo. In 1962 Entwhistle joined a group called the Detours which featured a sheet-metal worker named Roger Daltrey. By the end of the year Townsend joined the group as rhythym guitarist and in '63 Daltrey replaced lead singer Colin Dawson. They added drummer Keith Moon and in 1964 the Detours became the Who. While Townsend was attending art school the group was performing at the Marquee club in London. One night Townsend smashed his guitar in disgust with sound system. The destruction would become a signature move of the group. Under the direction of new manager Pete Meaden the group changed its name to the High Numbers and tried to change its image by appearing sharp suits trying to appeal to the mod audience. Under his guidance the group released one single "I'm the Face" / "Zoot Suit," two songs written by Meaden which bombed. The group dropped him and began working with Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp. The group maintained its mod image, but changed its name back to the Who. By the end of '64 the group signed with Decca REcords. "You Really Got Me" knockoff, "I Can't Explain." was their first release, but got little attention until the group appeared on the TV show Ready, Steady, Go. The single shot up the charts, making the top ten. In the summer they followed with "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" and that fall "My Generation" made it to number 2 on the charts. In 1966, "Subsititute" became their fourth top ten hit. In th eablum A Quick One each member of the group contributed their own music. In America A Quick One was retitled Happy Jack and the offering reached the to 40 on the American charts. The album was quickly eclipsed by their next offering The Who Sell Out which included their first American top ten single featured "I Can See for Miles." That summer the group appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival. After a they bombed with a bizarre mod single "Dogs," Townsend went into seclusion to write about a poor dumb deaf and blind boy. The 1969 double concept album Tommy was acclaimed to be the first true rock opera. Tommy became so succesful that it eclipsed the group. The album made the top ten in America and the opera was performed at at the London Coliseum and the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. It was performed around the world and was eventually filmed by Ken Russell in 1975. After much bickering over a proposed second rock opera Lifehouse, Townsend suffered a nervous breakdown. Upon is return the group released Who's Next with producer Glyn Johns which included "Baba O'Riley," "Bargain," "Behind Blue Eyes," "Won't Get Fooled Again" and Entwistle's "My Wife."

Music by the Decade:

Sounds of the Fifties

Sounds of the Sixties

Sounds of the Seventies

Sounds of the Eighties

Sounds of the Nineties