I told them already several times :D Actually Quadrophenia as the best rock opera ever which influenced so many more has to be listened as a whole even though some songs sting out like this one or the best bass-line song The Real Me.
@@rbrearey , I still remember finding/buying a used copy of Pete's "Who Came First". 'Oh, this is what else would have been on that Lifehouse thing!', I thought.
No disagreement here. And to think that Townshend had a completely different project in mind, and took some of those songs and made Who’s Next. Incredible!
"I can't explain" was the first original song Pete Townshend (guitar) wrote which The Who recorded in 1965 and released as a single... At the time, they were an R&B covers band - the footage was from The Who's early gigs when they would play clubs and parties cos they were a 'mod' band w/ Beatles -style haircuts. Keith Moon had just joined The Who on drums and made them an explosive live band. Townshend said he heard another UK band called The Kinks who had released a hit single "You really got me" and wanted to emulate that guitar sound... At the time, Pete Townshend was 20 and Roger Daltrey (vocals) was 21 when "I can't explain" was released. The BBC would not air the single but pirate radio at the time (which played music by The Beatles, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones) played "I can't explain" and made it The Who's first hit... A bigger hit single came soon after - "My generation"... which elevated The Who into superstardom by 1967. Scorpions recorded a hard rock version of "I can't explain" in 1989.
My favorite song from the early Who. I played this to death on my 8-track player. My other favorites were some weird ones such as "Boris the Spider", "Pictures of Lily", and "I'm a Boy"
This was their first single as The Who, back in 1964 when their early Mod roots and style were still on full display. Mods were a cultural group that dressed a certain way, rode decorated scooters like you see at 5.22, and listened to bands like The Small Faces and The Who. They were constantly at war with a rival cultural group called Rockers, and the two groups would have massive fights in southern English beach resorts in the mid 1960s.
Okay if we're going back to classic UK bands, how about some more from The kinks? - Celluloid Heroes, Rock N' Roll Fantasy, Dedicated Follower of Fashion, Stop Your Sobbing, Destroyer, (Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman, Low Budget, Don't Forget to Dance
In a way, we're jealous of you guys too because you're hearing all this great music for the first time and feeling the same as we did when we first heard it.
I have early memories of this song during the British Invasion era. Was very pleased when they opened with it during an appearance in my town in maybe 2013. Made me smile. Can't Explain and can't sit still! Zak Starkey, Ringo's eldest son, played drums with them. I was in my 50s but finally got to see them. Yeah! For more, some of my faves are Happy Jack -1966, Join Together (With the Band)-1972, or Athena-1982. All great listening. Blessings ❤
Generally true as I love The Who, but I never liked Eminence Front. Easily their worst “hit.” I remember when it came out, and I was so disappointed in them.
Pete Townshend coined the term "power pop" back in the sixties when asked about their music. Back in the early sixties there were kind of two teenage cultures mods and rockers, The Who were in the mod crowd.
Amber, I'm so happy you mentioned "Eminence Front". That was definitely not their most commercially successful song, but it has always been my favorite; in The Who's great catalog of music! It's good to know I'm not alone. Jay, I also love Baba O'Reilly, it just got a little overplayed, but it is still an awesome song! Keep the great music and reactions coming! ☮&❤
The Who's first charted single in the states, reached #92 in 1965. Yes, they were between 18 and 21 when this song debuted. Gotta play "Love Reign Over Me" or "See Me, Feel Me" next or some Pete Townsend solos like "Face The Face" or "Rough Boys" Thanks. 😎
They opened with Heaven and Hell in the 70s, and they opened with Substitute and My Generation in the 80s. I'm curious when they opened with I Can't Explain. That was usually number two on the list, but I didn't know they opened with it.
@@magneto7930 1969 and 1970 Heaven and Hell was the opener with I Can’t Explain as the second on the set list. Starting in 1971 I Can’t Explain started the shows until the 1980 tour with Substitute. 1982 It’s Hard tour with My Generation first and I Can’t Explain second, Substitute third. 1989 was Tommy Overture. 2004 until the 2010 Quad Tour. 2014, 2015 tour they occasionally started with Who Are You, 2016 until until the 2019 and 2023 tours which started with Overture.
@chrishackett554 thanks for the info. You said decades, I assume you meant years. Either way, I think I got my facts straight now. I definitely remember them opening with I Can't Explain on The Who by Numbers tour. Everything else is a little hazy unless I look it up, although I did see them open with My Generation in 1982.
This is the mod era in england. It's the same scene all the british invasion bands started in. Italian scooters, expensive suits, and army parkas. You should think about reacting to the WHO's version of "heat wave."
The next Who song I would do is “A Quick One While He’s an Away”. This is them as they’re about to completely change rock music - just before their rock opera Tommy. There’s a great live version of it from the film Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus. The Who are so good that the Stones felt they were upstaged and didn’t release the film until a few decades later. There are a few other great performances in the film, including John Lennon performing with Eric Clapton and Keith Richard’s, but The Who are the best.
Early Who is always the best because they had so much soul and angst..when this came out in 1965 they were between the ages of 18 and 20. This is my favorite era of this band and I feel it is their most influential era as it still influences young musicians till this day. Some other songs from this period you two should check out is Substitute, Pictures of Lily, Happy Jack, Anyway Anyhow Anywhere
I just saw Roger live in San Diego on May 6, and the guy has still got it. He went from making jokes, introducing rare songs we never hear live, telling stories, and even quieting down a fight taking place in the crowd till it broke up. I think you should listen to some things off their 2019 effort 'WHO'. They still make beautiful, unique music. It is one of my favorite records of theirs.
You haven't really gotten to know The Who until you've seen their live performances. The best one is "A Quick One While He's Away" from the Rock And Roll Circus show. Or try a number from their Woodstock performance. Or check out "Young Man Blues" "Summertime Blues" or "Heaven And Hell" from their Live At Leeds LP. And yes you should revisit The Kinks, who had, in the early days, the same producer and used some of the same studio musicians as The Who. "All Day And All Of The Night" "Til The End Of The Day" "David Watts" "Victoria" "Destroyer"....the list goes on.
I was dancing like nobody was watching at a Who tribute band gig last year - 62 yrs young! It was recorded and had to deal with the comments at work on the Monday. lol
Don't fret Amber, "Squeeze Box" is my favorite Who song also. My uncle used to come over to my house and play it on his acoustic guitar. What a treat for a kid!
The Who is always fun to watch. Apropos early to mid '60s...there were so many great instrumental hits in that period, and it seems to me that You have so far omitted that genre altogether. Let me give some examples: - Since it's summer, I think it is high time to play one of the all time surf-rock classics: Wipe Out by The Surfaris. - Other super popular classics of this style and era include Telstar by The Tornados, Walk, Don't Run '64 by The Ventures, and Apache by The Shadows. - For a more mellow, beautiful, and relaxing summer instrumental of the era, nothing beats Stranger on the Shore by Acker Bilck. Fun fact: This is one of the very few songs that have traveled to the moon. In 1969, the crew of Apollo 10 picked it as one of the songs they recorded on a cassette tape to take it with them in the command module.
At the time, British kids were either mods or rockers. Mods ride scooters and rockers ride motorcycles. Rockers wore black leather and jeans while mods wore loud fashionable clothes like you see here. The Who and the Small Faces were mod bands.
This was released in the U.S. in Dec. 1964, ten months before My Generation, their first big U.S. hit. So about a year after the Beatles arrived and certainly a big part of the British Invasion. In this video, drummer Keith Moon is 18, Pete Townsend is 19, and Roger Daltrey is the old man at 20.
The Who is one of my favorite bands from the 70s era. They incorporate lots of instruments, like horns & piano. I always hear a little Motown Funk Brothers beats going on in Who songs
The story is also about Jimmy, a teenage boy who suffers with Schizophrenia. The fact is that Pete Townshend addressed this terrible mental issue Farrrrrrrrr before we ever really heard anything about it back in the day. The album is indeed a masterpiece, and the film is quite good too.
I just saw Roger Daltrey live a couple of weeks ago at a casino show. For 80 years old, the man still rocks! He did some awesome versions of The Who stuff with a violinist doing the parts that were done on keyboards originally - it was fantastic! I definitely recommend seeing his tour for anybody who has a chance to do so!
My first exposure to the Who was Happy Jack in 1966 on an AM station in the middle of the night in San Fernando, CA. It was so odd and undecipherable I was hooked and have stayed hooked to this day.
All those early singles are worth a look. This clip is mixing a bit of early footage of an early gig with a promotion clip for Can't explain, but there are some great TV show appearances from that era. The tv show appearance on Ready Steady Go of "Anyway anyhow anywhere", "pictures of lilly", "magic bus" and "I'm a boy" are all great.
Essential early Who. Definitely up there as one of my top 5 favorite bands ever. Hard to suggest a song, SO many are brilliant seriously. I think you guye would love Love Reign o'er Me
I go back to those days of the British Invasion and The Who were part of it with their first hit My Generation. Then Can't Explain came along in 1964 and yes that was a great time to be young, there was music everywhere. I saw The Who in concert back then on their Magic Bus tour.
Terrific song from their early years. I personally can hardly wait for the two of you to react to The Who classic "Love Reign O'er Me," which is one of the greatest songs ever created, IMO. An awesome masterpiece. ❤😀✌
There’s a song by the Who that y’all will enjoy. It’s on the “Who Live at Leeds” album. Both the studio and the live versions are very good. It’s a jam song. The title is “Magic Bus”.
You hear so much of a cohesive sound from them that it's fun to listen to something so early in their career it's almost like hearing some alternate reality version of them. Listening to Rush's first album, or early pop/rock Michael Bolton is like this.
Oh man, I have not heard this song forever, had forgotten about it totally which doesn't happen a lot. I was kind of thinking of My Generation as being one of the first but yeah this was way earlier.You cannot even imagine the emotions this invoked in a pre or early teen boy growing up then! You are right to be jealous, when I think of all of the fabulous music I grew up with it is overwhelming sometimes. Have you guys gone down the motown road from back then yet?
Don't know if you guys have done "Long Live Rock" by The Who yet but it's a great song. The live version from Toronto in 1982 is awesome. Not the greatest audio but the performance is awesome. Thanks for your videos guys!
Oh wow.. so so young. Man ... music in the old days so much better for sure ..so young and individual with the feel of their music. Sad today.. scared of individualism and spontanaiety. So much more expression. Reminds us how cool and tech free these bands were.I recommend watching the film Quadrphoneia with The Who's sixth album Quadrophenia as background music as to a feel what it was like for young people back then. It was all about the music back then for sure. Your so right no iphone's or record or judged just the feel of the music. Time machine please!!
Was hoping you’d react to this song and video. It does a great job of conveying how much the scene was, at least originally, just a bunch of kids getting together, making it all up, and figuring out how to have a lot of fun. Early punk was like that too.
They're just kids here! I had this on their album MEATY, BEATY, BIG AND BOUNCY, released in 1971, but a compilation of older stuff - this song was released in Dec. 1964. Also on that album is MAGIC BUS - my favorite version.
Great choice Amber! Squueze Box is def one of my all-time favs too 😊 Also, there was a 2nd lead singer of The Cars. His name was Ben Orr. He was my favourite.
Crazy how they went from this sound to Baba or Don't Get Fooled... within a few years. And how The Beatles, The Stones etc all changed and all went in different directions.. but the standards never dropped..
At friday night dances we had a kid we called Wolfman. He was one of those guys with no rhythm or smoothness, but he was part of the scene. He was who he was. Come to think of it, I dont recall how other kids danced.
Entwistle is a genius, pure and not simple. The Who would not be the same without is rock solid brilliance on the bass. He doesn't get the press that the others do but the band is not the icon that they are without him.
The WHO is my favorite band. Great reaction. Great comments and observations. I have seen The Who 3 times 1982, 1989, 2008?, and Roger Daltrey Solo. Check out "Join Together, New Song, Another Tricky Day, You Better You Bet...ALL Great tunes. Peace to all. 🙂
