The Who - Who's Greatest Hits (1983)

A seemingly random "greatest" compilation released by MCA following the band's first farewell tour in 1982. The selection doesn't really seemed aimed at US buyers - the group's highest charting US hit didn't make the cut - maybe we weren't the target audience? As allmusic states, "it should not be seen as a definitive collection or even as a good introduction -- it's just an entertaining sampler." But it went double platinum so what the hell do I know?

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #94
• CashBox: #88

Tracks:

Song	Year	US	UK
Substitute	1966		5
The Seeker	1970	44	19
Magic Bus	1968	25	26
My Generation	1965	74	2
Pinball Wizard	1969	19	4
Happy Jack	1966	24	3
Won't Get Fooled Again	1971	15	9
My Wife	1971
Squeeze Box	1975	16	10
The Relay	1972	39	21
5:15	1973	45	20
Love Reign O'er Me	1973	76
Who Are You	1978	14	18

Missing US Top 40 hits: I Can See For Miles (#9, 1967), Call Me Lightning (#40, 1968), I'm Free (#37, 1969), Summertime Blues (#27, 1970), See Me Feel Me (#12, 1970), Behind Blue Eyes (#34, 1971), Join Together (#17, 1972), You Better You Bet (#18, 1981), and Athena (#28, 1982). Throw in a little Baba O'Riley plus the above tracks and you've got a helluva second CD.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: My good friend Richard was a big Who fan having seen them in concert at the Kinetic Playground in Chicago in the late '60s. He was also an early adopter of compact disc technology in the mid-'80s. As a result, this was one of the first CDs he purchased, so quite likely one of the first CDs I ever heard. In 2021, the world lost Richard to Wegener's disease and he is greatly missed. And I'll be honest with you, getting through this CD proved much more difficult than I thought it might be.

Your humble blogger & Richard, December 1987
There's a good chance we may have listened to this compilation that very night.

Previously revisited for the blog:
The Millennium Collection (1999)
The Who's Tommy - Original Cast Recording (1993)
Face Dances (1981)

The Best of The Who: The Millennium Collection (1999)

What's not to like? Budget-priced compilation featuring 10 classic rock smashes from The Who. My only complaint is that Baba O'Riley didn't make the cut. However, I'm pleased they put all 8½ glorious minutes of Won't Get Fooled Again on the disc instead of the 3½ minute single version. There are more complete Who compilations, of course, but they aren't readily available at <$4 a pop.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart:  Did not chart

Tracks:
Play all, in any order:

1. My Generation (1965), peaked at #74 on Billboard Hot 100
2. Happy Jack (1966), #24
3. I Can See For Miles (1967), #9 - amazingly, the band's only US top ten single
4. Magic Bus (1968), #25
5. Pinball Wizard (1969), #19
6. Squeeze Box (1975), #16
7. Behind Blue Eyes (1971), #34
8. Who Are You (1978), #14
9. Join Together (1972), #17
10. Won't Get Fooled Again (1971), #15

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  Bought it. Lost it. Bought another copy.

During my early years of teaching, I would use the term "Happy Jack" to describe students that acted unnecessarily silly: "Quit acting like a Happy Jack, ya goofball." Surprisingly, that term caught on and the students started using it towards each other, even going so far as to draw a picture of Happy Jack and have t-shirts printed up with the picture on the front. Try as I might, I've been unable to unearth a copy of that picture for you today.

When impressed with something, my good friend Richard often comments, "Too much! The magic bus."

Previously revisited for the blog:
The Who's Tommy - Original Cast Recording (1993)
Face Dances (1981)

The Who - Face Dances (1981)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 1997 reissue.

Until very recently, my memory of The Who in the '80s had been limited to hating their 1982 single Eminence Front because it seemed that MTV played its video non-stop. In 1982, I wanted these old guys to get off the TV so I could watch the latest New Wave videos (admittedly, I'm currently about ten years older than those so-called "old guys" were back in '82). I hated Eminence Front so much that I called it Eminence F**ked.

About two weeks ago, the local "classic rock" radio station stopped playing Led Zepplin and Lynyrd Skynyrd for a bit and played Don't Let Go The Coat. I was surprised to find myself humming along; it had been many, many years since I had heard that song. When it was over, the DJ mentioned that it was from the Face Dances album. That mention made me remember some early "Stuck in the '80s" blog posts in which the writer, Steve Spears, claimed that Face Dances "is my favorite Who album and I've owned it in vinyl, cassette and CD form over the years" and that his CD copy of the album has a spot on his "must-not-lend list." I've followed Steve for a few years and respect his opinion, so I thought maybe I'd missed something back in '81.

Thanks to the current technology that allows me to stream full albums, I finally gave this thing a listen 32 years after its release. I thought I'd listen to a few songs, move on to something else, and that would be the end of it. Wrong. After listening through the whole thing twice, I was hooked. The excitement of finding a "new" good album was tempered by the beating I was giving myself for not listening to this before now. After listening a few more times over the next week, I picked up my own CD copy at the local media store. ($6.99 for a new disc - such a deal).

You were right, Steve, it's good stuff. It's clearly Townshend's band by this point and his songwriting is in top form (musically, that is. Lyrically, I have no idea what he's going on about). Contrary to what most hard core fans think, the production by Bill Szymczyk perfectly serves Townshend's material; the clean rock sound reminds me of The Police around the same time. Roger Daltry isn't at his best, but keyboardist John Bundrick is a welcome addition and new drummer Kenney Jones does a solid job after being put in an unenviable position. Like I said, I'm hooked; it's a sudden, inexplicable fascination. I'm still listening to at least a few songs every day. Better late than never, I suppose.

Press of the time:

• Rolling Stone (★★½): "neither triumph nor failure"
• Robert Christgau (B+): "[Townshend's] new sex songs are stylish and passionate, the strongest he's written for the Who in a decade."
• Smash Hits (4 out of 10): "songs full of hot air"
• Stereo Review: "makes it okay to like The Who again"
• Trouser Press: "just another batch of radio tunes"
• Record Mirror: "still retching out great sounds, new styles of songs and bursting with a passion tragically lacking in today's pretenders to the throne."
• High Fidelity: "has its rewards"

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #4
• Billboard Rock: #1
• CashBox: #3
• Rolling Stone: #2

Tracks:  I'd be hard pressed to choose a favorite between You Better You Bet and Don't Let Go The Coat, but the only track I'm even tempted to skip is one of the John Entwistle tracks, You. The other 8 tracks are underrated pop songs masquerading as rock songs.

Bonus tracks:  Of the 5 bonus tracks, I like only It's In You. I can do without the other 4. These weren't on the original release for a reason. Overall, quite a letdown after hearing the original 9 tracks.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  Above

Previously revisited for the blog:
The Who's Tommy - Original Cast Recording (1993)

The Who's Tommy - Original Cast Recording (1993)

BROADWAY WEEK (SEPTEMBER 6-12, 2011)

Music & Lyrics: Pete Townshend

It's an unusual plot and it was certainly a brave thing for Townshend to attempt a rock opera in the late '60s. One could easily say that this led the way musically for Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar. I enjoy this recording for two reasons: first, production is perfectly handled by George Martin (even Townshend says that this recording "has a George Martin sound"), and second, Michael Cerveris does his best imitation of Roger Daltry. The Broadway run lasted 899 shows. Although I would hate to see a Disney version starring one of the Jonas Brothers, I'm amazed there hasn't been another movie version based on this musical. Interestingly, after the release of this 2-disc set, RCA released a one disc "highlights" CD. One more dip into our pockets, I guess. It would have been interesting to see how Tommy would have been adapted if it had come about after Jonathan Larson and Rent challenged what a pit orchestra could be in 1994 - maybe it would have played more as rock opera than stage musical.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: #114

Tracks: The music here is strong, but I'm really drawn to the orchestrations of Steve Margoshes. The stand out tracks from Act I are the Overture, See Me Feel Me, Pinball Wizard, and Acid Queen which features an incredible performance by Cheryl Freeman. Overall, Act II isn't as strong a the first act; Go To The Mirror/Listening To You, I'm Free, and We're Not Gonna Take It are the highlights here. All the rest is just there to move the story along.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: I've never seen a production of this show. When I was living in San Antonio in 1994, a touring company came through town and the TV ads for that show prompted me to check this out. I have never heard the original 1969 Who album or seen the 1975 film version; this CD is my only experience with Tommy.