THE WHO should be in protoprog - Progressive Rock Music Forum

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giantenemycrab View Drop Down

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Topic: THE WHO should be in protoprog
Posted: January 26 2007 at 22:28

Did the TC suggest Meat Loaf? ... I just died a little inside.

Dick Heath View Drop Down

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Posted: January 26 2007 at 13:49

More a case for Pete Townshend's inclusion:

Lifehouse Project,

Psychederelict

Iron Man

White City

being 4 obvious concept albums issued under his own name.

Amazed so few people not made the effort to check out Lifehouse Project - although the cost of a 6 CD set is marginally off-putting - especially when there are claims of Who's Next being prog - surely a couple of tunes at best? Who's Next along with parts of albums through to Who Are You? were salvaged from the original wreckage of demos and ideas for the Lifehouse. It took Townshend 30 years to get Lifehouse into shape and be able to issue a significant amount of material generated between 1969 and 2000 on that 6 CD set. Psychederelict was another attempt to utilise a little of the Lifehouse material.

Edited by Dick Heath - January 26 2007 at 13:56

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Dick Heath View Drop Down

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Posted: January 26 2007 at 13:39

Bilek wrote:

I am a little late to join in this forum maybe (and I certainly doubt it will be viewed by anyone else!) but I searched, and only this one came out...

Otherwise I was going to suggest Who myself (I did, indeed... look at the topic "what the heck are the criteria"...). They certainly deserve a place a lot more than many other bands in proto prog and "so called" prog related sections... (I wouldn't defend Who against Deep Purple, either!!!)

They may not have influenced any following "prog" bands (but they certainly influenced many hard rock- heavy metal bands... look how many bands covered Who tracks, notably The Real Me...) but their work stand on their own. Please listen to Sell Out (released in 1967, for God's sake!), Who's Next, and Quadrophenia albums, if you're sick of the Tommy phenomenon...

By the way, I really don't understand why they are not considered at least "Art Rock" by music sites (notably AMG), though several of their albums are listed as such...

Thumbs up

for The Who!

You have it wrong wrt Sell Out - Pete Townshend's idea (and no doubt Kit Lambert was involved somewhere) was to have an album reflecting the then current music output into the UK of off-shore pirate radio (a concept of sorts but no way prog) - indeed the Who were writing advertising jingles for Radio London, some of which are replayed on the album. Sell Out was an album of psychedelic rock interdispersed with real radio adverts - all largely written by Townshend. BTW I Can See For Miles was the Who's valiant attempt to achieve a UK No 1 for the first time - made No.2, only No. 1 in (guess what) Radio London's chart, and this failure was said to be then cause of the Who abandoning the UK to concentrate on full American success for a couple of years.

And isn't about time we stop reading the claim that Tommy was the first rock OPERA (thanks TR for the very quick spot). (I suppose now for the 50th time in PA we beg to report) SF Sorrow is Townshend's personal reference point - and then it was well known Mark Wirtz and Tomorrow's Keith West had started working on one - for goodness sake they had a No 1 in the UK Charts called Excerpts From A Teenage Opera. And I wonder how much Townshend was aware of the Kink's Ray Davis's first and what turned out delayed concept album, which were greatly impeded by the Kinks' inability to record for a year because of legal action. Read around and you will also find folks suggesting the first rock opera dates back to 1963 - but then other people suggest (the most notably Joe Boyd) that real rock didn't happen until the summer of 1964..........

Edited by Dick Heath - January 26 2007 at 13:54

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Ricochet

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Posted: January 26 2007 at 11:57

It's not about the ratings flood or much of the controversy.

Except the elevated distinct music and movement that "Tommy" & "Quadrophenia" meant (and mean), plus a classic that's "Who's Next" for the band, nothing else of The Who is entirely progressive or strictly influential about prog.

progismylife View Drop Down

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Posted: January 26 2007 at 11:36

Why is there a very strong resistance to the idea? I think The Who's rock opera's are wonderful! But thinking of how the front page would be possibly flooded with Who reviews, that doesn't sound like such a cool idea. But they do have proggy elements to them! I mean The Who's "new" release has a rock opera on it (an old one they rerecorded I think).

Raff

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Posted: January 26 2007 at 11:30

progismylife wrote:

Now I feel bad for resurrecting this thread. Cry

Ben, please, don't.... You couldn't know about what happens in our inner sanctum! Wink

One thing, though: The Who couldn't be in PP, because their proggier albums - "Tommy" and "Quadrophenia" - were both released after 1970, when Prog had already started. So, the only option would be Prog-Related, though there is very strong resistance to the idea of inducting them in the ranks of the Collabs.

Easy Livin View Drop Down

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Posted: January 26 2007 at 11:29

Controversial additions and debates are the lifeblood of the site!

(Is that controversial too?)

progismylife View Drop Down

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Posted: January 26 2007 at 10:41

Ricochet wrote:

Bad Ben, not this kind of thread revival!

I'M SORRY!!! Cry

Ricochet

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Posted: January 26 2007 at 10:38

Bad Ben, not this kind of thread revival!

progismylife View Drop Down

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Posted: January 26 2007 at 10:33

Now I feel bad for resurrecting this thread. Cry

Raff

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Posted: January 26 2007 at 10:32

Please, let's not go into that again Unhappy

... There was a recent thread in the Collabs section about a possible addition of The Who to the DB, and the result was overwhelmingly against it. So, I'd advise you not to hold your breath... Controversial additions only bring turmoil to the site, as I have discovered to my everlasting distress when I added Iron Maiden.

progismylife View Drop Down

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Posted: January 26 2007 at 10:22

I love resurrecting old threads!! Tongue

I think some of The Who's concept albums are almost enough merit to add them.

Zepology101 View Drop Down

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Posted: May 11 2006 at 14:52

Ekzodo wrote:

I recently re-listen some old work of the who an they are impresive, they start as a kind-a-like beat band but 1969 with "Tommy" touch the sky, I think that have a lot of prog moments, but before in 1967 thay play in Rolling Stones Circus a mini-opera song call "A quick one while she`s a away" is awesome.

I even think THE WHO have more right to be here than DEEP PURPLE

Also They have to be included:

LED ZEPPELIN (stairway to heaven is a prog hymn)

THE BEATLES (from revolver to abbey road)

JAPAN ( if SYLVIAN is in why not his lead band)

WHAT DO YOU THINK???

I agree with you

Cheesecakemouse View Drop Down

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Posted: May 11 2006 at 05:10

stonebeard wrote:

I doubt any of the prog bands were really influence by The Who, so I would say no.

Genesis were, I've read a critic review their first album saying some of their songs sounded like the Who. I also remember when I firsgt heard Harold the Barrel by Genesis, I originally thought it was a Who song!!

. Listening to Tommy I do hear similarities with Genesis but whether they should be on the archives I don't know.

Edited by Cheesecakemouse - May 11 2006 at 05:10

Chicapah

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Posted: May 10 2006 at 13:34

My feeling is that if Deep Purple is considered proto-prog (which they deserve to be) then so should the Who. Just because they didn't feature keyboards doesn't make their music any less progressive for their time. Give a listen to "Armenia city in the sky" and "Rael" from The Who Sell Out as proof positive of their early and considerable influence on progressive rock.

"Literature is well enough, as a time-passer, and for the improvement and general elevation and purification of mankind, but it has no practical value" - Mark Twain

Bilek

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Posted: May 10 2006 at 12:35

I am a little late to join in this forum maybe (and I certainly doubt it will be viewed by anyone else!) but I searched, and only this one came out...

By the way, I really don't understand why they are not considered at least "Art Rock" by music sites (notably AMG), though several of their albums are listed as such...

Thumbs up

for The Who!

Listen to Turkish psych/prog; you won't regret:
Baris Manco,Erkin Koray,Cem Karaca,Mogollar,3 Hürel,Selda,Edip Akbayram,Fikret Kizilok,Ersen (and Dadaslar) (but stick with the '70's, and 'early 80's!)

Lindsay Lohan View Drop Down

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Posted: November 23 2005 at 09:24