The Who - My Generation
- FaceOff - עימות חזיתי
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Written By: Moti Kupfer
Release date - US 3.12.73
"People try to put us d-down (talkin' 'bout my generation), Just because we get around (talkin' 'bout my generation), Things they do look awful c-c-cold (talkin' 'bout my generation), I hope I die before I get old (talkin' 'bout my generation)"
When Pete Townshend wrote “I hope I die before I get old,” he certainly didn’t expect to survive another 60 years…
When Roger Daltrey stuttered in the song, inspired by John Lee Hooker’s “Stuttering Blues,” perhaps as a hint for everyone to go to hell, he was actually expressing the frustration and rebellion of the Mod culture that Pete Townshend was a part of.
Townshend later claimed that this was not his intention, but as often happens with great things, the song became a protest anthem for young people against their parents — the official rock anthem of the generation gap — one that dove into the soul and fears of the teenage mind.
Before the song became a massive hit, the BBC refused to play it due to its offense toward people with speech impediments, and perhaps also because of the hint at the F-word. But then “My Generation” became the voice of countless people, the voice of that generation, from the debut album by “The Who,” titled “My Generation,” released on December 3, 1965.
The Who are vocalist Roger Daltrey (harmonica, tambourine), guitarist Pete Townshend (vocals), bassist John Entwistle (backing vocals), and drummer Keith Moon (backing vocals).
Daltrey, Townshend, and Entwistle grew up in London’s Shepherd’s Bush neighborhood. Daltrey, considered an excellent student, gave up the path of advanced academic studies for music. He built his first guitar from a wooden beam and founded a band called “The Detours,” in which he became the lead guitarist.
Pete Townshend was born to a saxophonist father and a singer mother, and from a young age was drawn to rock and roll. He played with his friend John Entwistle in several jazz and Dixieland ensembles before joining Daltrey’s band. Entwistle was nicknamed “The Ox” because of his tendency to remain completely still onstage — the contrast between his offstage and onstage personas was huge: a quiet man offstage, but onstage he earned the nickname “Thunderfingers” for his loud, powerful playing.
Keith Moon was born in London as a hyperactive child with a vivid imagination. From a young age, his teachers noticed his musical talent. Early on he switched to double bass-drum playing, after a conversation with drummer Ginger Baker.
Moon played surf rock and rhythm and blues, and was heavily influenced by Gene Krupa, considered the greatest white jazz drummer in history.
Moon also pushed the band’s habit of smashing their equipment onstage to the extreme. During a television performance he filled his drum with explosives and detonated it at the end of “My Generation.” Rumor has it that Pete Townshend came out of that incident with lifelong hearing problems.
In 1961 Daltrey noticed Entwistle walking down the street with his bass guitar and recruited him to “The Detours.” A few months later, Entwistle suggested bringing Townshend into the band as a guitarist. Together with them were drummer Harry Wilson and singer Colin Dawson.
In mid-1962 Wilson was fired and replaced by Doug Sandom. Shortly after, singer Colin Dawson left following repeated arguments with Roger Daltrey, who soon became the lead vocalist.
The band secured a contract with local promoter Robert Druce, who began booking them as an opening act.
In February 1964, the members of “The Detours” discovered that another band called “Johnny Devlin and the Detours” existed, and they decided to change their name. Townshend and his roommate Richard Barnes spent a night brainstorming new names, focusing on humorous ones like “No One” and “The Group,” before finally choosing the bizarre-sounding name “The Who” — strange even in English (and coincidentally in Hebrew as well).
"The Who" replaced manager Robert Druce with Helmut Gorden, who arranged an audition for them at Fontana Records. As a result of that audition and after issues were found with the drumming style, Doug Sandom left the band.
In April 1964, during a performance at Oldfield, they encountered the energetic drummer of “The Beachcombers,” Keith Moon. After playing a few songs with them, Moon left his former band and officially joined "The Who".
Managers continued to change, and this time Peter Meaden decided to present them as representatives of the Mod movement, renaming them “The High Numbers.” But after the single failed, The Who returned to their original name and focused on strengthening their stage presence.
Daltrey began incorporating crowd-jumping into performances, swinging the microphone cable like a whip. Moon threw drumsticks in the air, and Townshend mocked the crowd with his guitar while leaping onstage, playing in rapid windmill motion. To all this, The Who added their now-famous destruction of instruments at live shows. All that noise started to pay off - they got articles in Melody Maker and caught the attention of Kinks producer Shel Talmy.
Talmy was impressed and signed them to Brunswick Records in the UK and Decca Records in the US.
The band began working on original material, shifting direction from rhythm-and-blues covers toward original songs with tendencies toward heavy rock and proto-punk - before punk even existed.
The album “My Generation” is considered a precursor to the power pop style, a blend of pop and rock. Pete Townshend himself coined the term after being asked about the type of music they played.
For Listening: Spotify, Apple Music