The Who — considered one of the most acclaimed, most influential and loudest rock groups ever — issued a compilation of their classic singles on Tuesday, including two new songs, the first they have released for more than 20 years.
Only two members of the original line-up remain — Daltrey and guitarist Pete Townshend — and Daltrey says there is nothing wrong with the band moving with the times.
“I believe Pete Townshend is the only person in rock and roll who can write about the path from middle to old age,” he said.
One of the two new songs, “Old Red Wine,” was penned by Townshend as a tribute to former bass player John Entwistle.
Cool. Of course, the only way I’ll ever get to hear this new music is if I buy the CD (which I probably will, for the best-of stuff anyway), since of course the Classic Rock station won’t touch any post-1990 music by any of its featured artists. And they wonder why CD sales have slumped. Via Amish Tech Support.
It’s always amused me that Classic Rock stations don’t want to touch new recordings by artists they play, but I’ve heard “Kokomo” on oldies stations quite a few times.
One thing I’ve been wondering about in regards to the decline in CD sales is whether we’ll soon see the end of the full-length album from most artists. With iTunes and other sites selling songs piecemeal, there may be less reason for artists to bother recording the filler stuff.
I’ve been annoyed with the music industry for a couple years, ever since one of the big labels sent the small store I worked for a couple of semi-threatening form letters to tell us that if we played the radio over the store’s loudspeakers, they could sue us if we didn’t have a license.
The Who needs a rhythm section. All that’s left of the Beatles is the rhythm section.
Hmm.
Sue, isn’t “Kokomo” from the movie “Cocktail”? That’s 1988, so it still counts as an oldie.
Frankenstein, that’s just scary. But I like it. As long as Pete Townsend does all the songwriting, anyway.
Chuck,
I think it’s scary that you saw “Cocktail”. Then again, while that’s a bad film, it’s “Citizen Kane” compared to “Roadhouse”.
Here’s a thought for all you rock fans out there: Am I the only one who thinks Frankenstein would be a great name for a rock band that featured the remaining members of The Beatles and The Who?
It’s even worse than that, William. I knew “Kokomo” was from “Cocktail” even though I’ve never actually seen “Cocktail”. This sort of ability may come in handy if I ever try out for Jeopardy, but it can be embarrassing to admit in public sometimes.
My wife and I totally lucked out and got tickets to see the Who at the Royal Albert Hall when we flew to England on March 29th.
It blew our entertainment budget for the trip but it was worth it.
Ringo’s son, Zak Starkey, played drums and they really rocked. Nothing perfunctory or just-going-through-the-motions about this show. They played a bunch of older hits and bits of Quadrophenia and Tommy.
I think it was one of the first shows they’ve done since Pete was busted for looking at kiddie-porn last year. He made a heart-felt statement about his band-mates and fans supporting him. I think he also may have commented on it while improvising lyrics during The Kids are Alright.
Real Good-Looking Boy is their other new tune and it’s classic Who.
You know, William, that would put the label “supergroup” absolutely to shame.