Record Box - 3, The Who

The Who: The Ox, Tommy, Quadrophenia, Who's Next
I had more on tape

Continuing to look through my boxes of vinyl LPs before passing them on. 

Moving from Beethoven's Symphonies to The Who: quite a contrast. 

The Who were different. While other bands sang about A Groovy Kind of Love, and How Do You Do What You Do To Me, the Who sang about their mates in The Kids are All Right and My Generation. Aggressive disaffected young males and Mods and Rockers. Pete Townshend saw it as his mission to give voice to this misunderstood, inarticulate generation as Britain was changing after the war, moving from the relative certainties of the 1950s into the unknowns of the 1960s. 

They also sounded different. That what was essentially only a 3-piece band with a singer could make such a big sound was astonishing. They were all top at their game. Roger Daltrey's vocals were amazing. When Keith Moon joined the band on drums, they said it was like a furnace starting up behind them. Pete Townshend's song writing, arrangements, and backing vocals were original, and he played ringing, wide-spaced guitar chords no one else seemed to know: every amateur guitarist was baffled by I Can See For Miles and the beginning of Pinball Wizard. But, for me, who always had a hankering to play bass, it was John Entwistle who captured my attention. Listen to Can You See The Real Me from Quadrophenia for example: 

A video of the original is at https://youtu.be/IDqr9t1Zn6Q but I am more impressed by this deconstructed bass part from online teacher Stuart Clayton:  

https://youtu.be/SSAQGGD89pE

As I have mentioned before, I always heard the music first and the lyrics very little. Only now, after all this time, do I realise how unpleasant and uncompromising some of them are. Yes, I was mildly amused by "Hope I die before I get old" and "Why don't you all f-fade away?" in My Generation, but could one write the following today? 

(from Doctor Jimmy in Quadrophenia)

You say she's a virgin
But I'm gonna be the first in
Her fellah's gonna kill me?
Oh fucking will he

What is it?
I'll take it
Who is she?
I'll rape it

Well, maybe if you are a rapper. Exploitation and denial of opportunity is as bad as ever. 

Yet, for many years, astonished by the music, Quadrophenia was one of my favourite LPs.

Pete Townshend was writing about a character, of course, there are some pretty nasty ones in Tommy, too, and unpleasant characters warrant unpleasant lyrics. So when, in 2003, Pete Townshend was arrested, cautioned, and put on the sex offenders register for five years, for using a credit card on a child pornography website (a transaction he cancelled immediately without viewing or downloading anything), and said he had been there for research purposes, I see no reason to doubt him. 

He talked about the incident and his songs in this BBC interview in 2012, although it may not be available outside the UK. Listening now brings home how profound they were. Yes, the Who were different.

Supermarket Launches New Loyalty Badge Scheme

New Month Old Post: a rather silly piece originally from 11th December, 2016, that Debby reminded me of recently. 

An exclusive to Tesco Dunham’s Yorkshire Memories

A leading supermarket is to launch a new loyalty badge scheme inspired by the post Be Prepared in Tasker Dunham’s Yorkshire Memories, which describes how Wolf Cub proficiency badges promote strong feelings of achievement and loyalty. With this in mind, Tosco are to launch a similar scheme for customers.

Customers will be able to earn discounts by collecting shopping bag badges and car window stickers. Products bought throughout the duration of the scheme will be grouped into categories, such as fruit and vegetables, pet food and alcoholic drinks. Once a qualifying amount has been spent in a particular category, customers will be awarded a proficiency badge to show they have earned a 1% discount on all future purchases within that category. Spending twice the qualifying amount earns a 2% discount, and so on, up to 10% until the scheme ends. Customers who purchase a full range of products will therefore be able to earn a whopping 10% discount on the whole of their weekly shop.

One unique aspect of this innovative scheme is the collection of proficiency badges to display on shopping bags and in car windows. As in the Wolf Cubs scheme, badges will be colour-coded according to whether they reflect character, skills, service to others or health. Here are some of the badges that will be available:

Blue Badges for Character

Customers will be able to show they possess depth of character through blue badges earned when they buy meat and poultry, tobacco products, and beers, wines and spirits.

Yellow Badges for Skills

Customers who buy tools and maintenance products, cookware, kitchen equipment and materials for household cleaning and laundry will be able to display their accomplishments on yellow badges.

Red Badges for Service to Others

Caring red badges will be awarded to customers who buy baby care products such as formula milk and disposable nappies, and also to those who buy pet care and first aid items.

Green Badges for Healthy Lifestyle

Healthy green badges will be awarded to buyers of fresh fruit and vegetables, wholesome food supplements, vitamin pills, over-the-counter medicines, denture fixative and incontinence pads.

Just as in the Wolf Cubs scheme, the Tosco scheme will also allow customers to qualify for glitzy silver stars to fix to the front of their cars and shopping trolleys. For the first star, customers will have to show they can successfully carry out a set of difficult tasks, including steering a loaded shopping trolley safely through a crowded supermarket while collecting a list of fifteen specified items in less than fifteen minutes, using an automated self-service checkout, packing items efficiently into bags, learning Tosco slogans by heart (e.g. Every Little Helps) and executing the Tosco two-fingered salute.