My John, Paul, George and Ringo

“You have to resign yourself to the fact that a large part of the audience is sort of thick, you know, and don’t appreciate quality however much you put it over. The fact that our group hasn’t - hasn’t got any quality. It’s just musical sensationalism. You do something big on the stage and a thousand geezers sort of go, “Ah!”. It’s just basic Shepherds Bush enjoyment.” - Pete Townshend

Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon - my John, Paul, George and Ringo. Other than Bob Dylan, there is no other musical artist that comes close to being more influential to my life than The Who. All the years I spent listening to music prior to doing a deep-dive into their work feels fake in retrospect, almost as if I didn’t discover what music truly is and what it can do until The Who came into the picture of my life. You can’t truly appreciate this band and what they contributed to rock’s history until you see their live performances. There was a time where I couldn’t appreciate live performances and live albums, and The Who were the ones to change that for me completely.

So easily could The Who have been one of the many obscure bands from the mod-era of Swinging London in the 1960s who were popular very briefly and were never heard from again, like The Creation, and The Action, and Small Faces. This was the fate many bands from this time and place were resigned to by the time the British Invasion ceased well and truly at the end of the 60s. What I believe separated The Who from all these other bands is that they were never afraid to move with the times, with their sound evolving with each album - each album the band put out is a reflection to the changing trend of music of that respective year. My Generation in 1965 is reflective of the garage-rock and R&B stylings of the British Invasion. A Quick One in 1966 goes down the more bratty power-pop route. The Who Sell Out in 1967 is more psychedelic focused. Tommy in 1969 was a blend of both psychedelia and hard-rock. Who’s Next in 1971 was pure hard-arena rock, and Quadrophenia in 1973 was progressive. As you progress through their albums in chronological order, you can hear how their sound develops, with the sound of the previous album even foreshadowing the sound of the next, like they’re bridges. The Who never betrayed the heart of their sound. Even when they experimented and tried new things, never did they get so full of themselves to the point The Beatles did in their later albums. They were the living embodiment of everything rock music stood for, and I don’t think any other band seized and realized this more so than my boys Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon.

If you’ve never really breached The Who deeply before or you’ve only ever heard a few of their big hits like Baba O’ Riley, Who Are You, and Won’t Get Fooled Again, then I couldn’t recommend The Kids Are Alright enough. Nearly two hours of The Who at their absolute prime, released shortly after Keith Moon’s death. If anything, this film serves as a culmination of their prime years together. Not that they weren’t still great after Keith’s passing, but of course, a part of the band died on September 7th 1978, just as another part of the band died on the 27th June 2002 when John Entwistle died. The best years of the band, through the ups, the downs and the absurd, are all showcased in The Kids Are Alright. Once you watch it, you’re a fan for life.