The Who
The Who, left to right: John Entwistle, Roger Daltrey, Keith Moon, and Pete TownshendThe Who
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Who are an English rock band who first came to prominence in the 1960s and grew in stature to become one of the greatest rock 'n' roll bands of all time [1][2] [3] [4]. Except for periods of retirement from 1983 to 1988 and from 1990 to 1995, the band members have continued to perform as a live act and have recently re-entered the studio.
Noted for the dynamism of their performances and for their thoughtful and art-influenced music, the members of The Who are also acknowledged as rock pioneers, popularising, along with contemporaries The Kinks, the power chord and the rock opera (most notably Tommy) under the leadership of Pete Townshend. Their earlier "mod" albums, which boasted short, aggressive pop songs, Townshend's distinctive power chords, Keith Moon's explosive drumming, and constant themes of youthful rebellion and romantic confusion, were formative influences on hard rock and power pop, while their loud and violent concerts helped pave the way for punk rock and heavy metal. In their early days they were notorious for auto-destructive art displays, destroying their instruments at the end of shows (an activity favored both by infamous wildman Moon and by Townshend, whose guitar-smashing would become a rock cliché), helping them earn the accolade, "The Godfathers of Punk".[5][6]
The Who are on a world tour as of June 2006, that will last into 2007.
The Who are #8 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock and #9 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Rock 'n' Roll.
From mod rockers to rock operas to hard rock, The Who reigned triumphant as prime contenders, in the minds of many, for the title of World's Greatest Rock Band. - The Who's display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Influence
See also: The Who in popular culture
The Who were easily one of the most influential groups in rock music as a whole.[37] The aggressive music made by the power trio formation of Townshend, Entwistle, Moon, was followed by groups such as Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Led Zeppelin, Rush, The Jam and nearly all punk and grunge bands.
Their early sound and attitude epitomised what would come to be known as punk in the mid-late 70's. On top of this, The Who are the only band covered by and/or heavily influential to all three of the major punk rock bands: the Clash, Ramones and Sex Pistols. The synth-covered tracks of Who's Next were a starter for the origins of the new wave genre, which is based on synth in addition to traditional instruments. Bands affected this way include The Police, The Cars, Blondie, Boston, and others.
During their earliest Mod genesis, The Who provided inspiration for most, if not all, of the major bands during the Britpop wave in Britain during the mid-90s. Bands such as Blur, Oasis, Stereophonics and Ash draw a heavy influence from the band's work, which, especially with the Mod counter-culture, provided a quintessentially "Cool Britannia" ideal.
The group has been credited with devising the "rock opera" and it made one of the first notable concept albums. Following in Tommy's footsteps were David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, and the Pink Floyd albums Dark Side of the Moon, Animals, and especially The Wall. Recently, the idea was adopted by The Flaming Lips in Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots and Green Day in American Idiot.
"My Generation" is perhaps the band's most covered song. Iron Maiden, Green Day, Oasis, and Patti Smith have released covers of the song. Oasis used it as their set closer during their 2005 world tour. David Bowie covered "I Can't Explain" "Pictures of Lily' and "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere". The Clash based several songs off of the "I Can't Explain" riff, most blatantly with "Guns on the Roof". Pearl Jam also would perform The Who's "Baba O'Riley" and "The Kids Are Alright" during their tours in the 90's and 00's. Van Halen covered "Won't Get Fooled Again" on their 1993 live album Live: Right Here, Right Now, explicitly describing it as "a tribute to The Who" and in 1995, Phish covered Quadrophenia for their second annual Halloween concert tradition of performing another band's album in its entirety, which was later released as Live Phish Volume 14. The Grateful Dead also covered "Baba O'Riley" in the early 90s.
The music of The Who is still performed in public by many tribute bands, such as The Wholigans, Who's Next USA, BARGAIN, and The OHM, in the USA and Who's Next UK and Who's Who in the UK.
Quotes