They were a mod band by the way "Mods did not like Rockers" both groups clashed violently on many occasions, Mods wore fashionable cloths and rode Lambretta or Vespa scooters sometimes fitted with as many extra headlights and wing mirrors as they could adorned with British symbolism, Rockers wore studded leather jackets with tight denim or leather trousers greased hair and rode British motorcycles modified into cafe racers
Definitely should watch them do this on The Smothers Brothers Show. It’s how Pete lost his hearing, Keith was injured and John turned away and protected his bass. Must see performance 😂
The was the rumor (that the drum explosion was the cause of his hearing loss), but I'm 99% sure that I saw an interview with Pete where is said that was in fact not the cause. The real cause was him plugging in to an amp and turning it on and hitting the strings thinking that the amp was set to a reasonable level, but it was in fact turned up to 10. I could be wrong, but that's what I remember.
1965… A band with a bass player that plays lead! Way ahead of their time… Great song & reaction 😊 I met John Entwistle at a NAMM show back in the early 80’s, very nice gent and allowed me to take an amazing picture of him… a prized possession!
I saw The Who right after Keith passed in 1979. John and Pete made an appearance when I saw Roger Daltry sings Pete Townsend with Symphony in 1994. I saw John with Ringo's all star band in 1995, then saw the John Entwistle band in 1996 and he did not come on until midnight! I saw The Who after on their Quadrophenia tour w/o John and Keith.
Some friends went to see Entwistle when he was doing some solo stuff where he played at a local hotel. My best bud, a bass player was there, huge fan of the Ox. They wound up hanging out after the show, but then John wound up in a room alone with a gal my friend was with and he went a bit nuts. Climbed out on the balcony of the room next door, 5 stories in the air, and jumped across to that room and busted in on them. Everybody proceeded to freak out. But in the end, John signed my friend's Rickenbacker bass (eventually, Squire signed it too but with less drama).
Released in 1965 this was The Who’s second single that became well known. “I Can’t Explain”, their first, was not as angst-driven. The Who’s youthful defiance is pronounced here. Its words and sentiment, along with what I call “this wall of sound power rock” with driving drums, bass and at times discordant guitar chords, along with rebellious lyrics became The Who’s signature. Though they expanded their repertoire far beyond, it always remained central to their music. Truly a very early proto-punk, proto-grunge, proto-metal song. This was released within several months of both the Beatles “Rubber Soul” album and the Stones “Satisfaction” single. These works formed the foundation of rock music to come. Each of these legendary bands were exploring their sound and diverging from each other and from what came before. The Beatles were expanding pop rock ‘n roll into new musical instrumentation and mystical yet humanly relatable songs, while still releasing very singable songs. The Stones, always more blues based, were incorporating the gritty delta guitar sounds and lyrics into digestible, but edgy rhythmic pop and deep cut songs. The Who had already shifted from “The Mods” sound into a defiant power rock group, whose lyrics captured the British working class anger against a royal-based hierarchical traditional society. Daltrey, from South London, growing up remembered his parental generation still largely traumatized from the incessant shelling at the hands of the German Luftwaffe. In addition, the British colonial empire that largely dominated the global order for two centuries had fallen as a result of WWII, with the serious industrial decline reaching deep into British society. The Who became the music of the struggling young male British working class. It transferred well into the Northeastern and Rust Belt de-industrializing US also. Though it was at its core rebellious, it was much more personal than the protest music rising around the same time.
Compare this song to 90% of the Billboard top 100 for 1965. Yes the Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Yardbirds, Byrds, Dylan and James Brown all had one or more songs listed. There is a stark difference between this and the drivel being released by The Herman’s Hermits. Also compare JB with what Motown was still releasing. This year it began to change
I love the Who and their energy, especially in the late 60s, early 70s , but the "Wall of Sound" is the name of the greatest concert sound system ever created. It was devised by Owsley Stanley for Grateful Dead. Google it.
Personally- I always felt that the stutter was a device used to infer the 'F' word on the phrase 'Why don't you all FFFade away' It seems obvious to me that what he actually wants to say is 'why don't you all FFF**k off!' The stutter is continued on the other phrasing for consistency - and also because it sounds so cool.
Loved your reaction to The Who's signature song. I saw them numerous times staring in 1967. They were explosive every time. Daltrey's stutter is an inspired bit of rock genius.
It was a little before my time but not a whole lot, and it was still very much in the culture when I first went through puberty and yeah, like a lot of my friends, we found ourselves playing it all the time and just totally rocking out to it. We all love their later classic albums and iconic songs, and live performances, but I really like their very many hits and gems from this earlier era as well. And I hate to say it, but I actually think John Entwistle is driving this one for the most part, you've got to listen to his bass lines when Keith Moon is going off at the same time, and you can tell. What a wonderful machine they made.
The Beatles' Help and Rubber Soul albums both came out in 1965. It's also the year Bob Dylan went electric. The Rolling Stones released two albums in the UK that year. John Entwistle had discovered roundeound bass strings and loved the sound, but you could only get them in England if you bought a Danekectro bass. So, every time he broke a string, he bought a new bass.
when you think of my generation you think of the bass solo and John and moon's great playing. but no mention of the bass player only the stutter was the highlight?
This Who debut album has a rawness I have always enjoyed. It has a few covers by James Brown and one by Bo Diddley, besides some interesting early Townshend songs. Definitely worth checking out as an album. As far as My Generation is concerned, there is a great extended live version on Live at Leeds (which many consider one of the best live rock albums of all time). It's a 14+ minute long (and wishing it to be longer!) medley which includes snippets of other Who songs as well. All four members are at the top of their game.
In the film Quadrophenia (based on a later album by The Who) which is about the Mods of 1965 in Brighton, there's a great scene where the lads are watching The Who play this live on Ready Steady Go, and when Roger sings, "Why don't you all f-f-f-f-f-fade away?" all the guys sing, "Why don't you all f-f-f-f-F*CK OFF?"
The joy and sense of vindication we felt when this busted out onto the scene; after years and years of listening to the belittlement and scorn our parents dished out upon our musical icons, and us for identifying with them... Why don't ya just f--‐----ade away - 'n don't try t dig what we all say? Things they do look awful cold - 'Hope i die before i get old.
When the Who were recording this Pete Townshend said to John Entwistle - there's a bass solo in the middle play whatever you want. BUT! Whenever they played it live people would come up to Entwistle and say "you played the wrong notes in the middle" to which he replied "It's a bass solo" - "Yeah! And you played the wrong notes!"
I was below the stage in Vancouver March '68 when Townsend threw his guitar off stage at the end of My Generation and then retrieved it from my outstretched hands with his coiled curly cord.
Every generation thinks that they got the right course,or the right path to travel through life until in the end they find it is the same destination for everyone….no matter what happens.So live right and be kind.
There's a video of them performing this song live on the Smothers Brothers Show. You gotta watch it. It's a classic! They were Mods, which was a cultural movement in England. The Mods were fond of amphetamine pills called "blues" which often made them stutter. That's what Roger Daltrey was recreating by stuttering as he sang.
This song is timeless and great but John Entwistle on bass is what shines for me especially on those breaks. The Who album that needs to be on your radar is "Live at Leeds". Thank you gentlemen, great reaction.
This whole albums has keith going absolutely hard on the drums, i recommend the deluxe or the anniversary version. One of these has the shel talmy mixing, which makes the drums more prominent!
You also do 2002 live performance of 5:15 bassist John entwhistle shreds his bass during his solo and shows why he is considered the greatest bassist of all time
I saw The Who at Sydney Stadium (Australia) in 1968. They headlined with The Small Faces, Paul Jones (ex Manfred Mann lead singer) and a local Australian group The Questions. Great concert as it was the first international concert at the age of 16. Cheers ✌
I have read a few statements about Roger Daltery's "stutter flow" as you do aptly termed. The one that stuck with me was at that time speed was pretty prevalent among a portion of the youth in England & when the kids were high they would stutter when speaking in some cases. Daltrey delivered the lyrics in a stutter as kind of a wink to the speed freaks out there.
BTW, you guys have two of the very best t-shirts on today: Heroes of "my generation"--and subsequent ones. The Ali picture is (as you know) him yelling at Liston to "get up"! My niece, who was an All-American basketball player at Notre Dame in the 2010s, had a huge poster of this on her bedroom wall in high school (still there). She was (is) tough as nails.
If that was the invention of punk, then the following song on the album, "The Kids Are Alright", was arguably the invention of power pop. The Who were always ahead of the game. Great stuff again guys. You got more Jimi coming?
Townsend is making fun of the singer's attitude, not endorsing it. They are the words of an ignorant punk: hope I die before I get old, indeed. Daltrey is stutter flowing to imitate a speed freak: an ignorant, high, punk. And the stuttering "Why don't you all just f-f-fade away" teases that he might drop the f bomb. Anyway, I believe the singer is being an "unreliable narrator": singing a view that the writer doesn't endorse, in order to lampoon or criticize it. Like Money For Nothing, Sympathy For The Devil, or most of Steely Dan's songs. 😆 Anyway, some of The Who's pre-breakout songs were so sarcastic that they were virtually comedy songs--for an example, check out their live version of A Quick One While He's Away. Thanks for having me along, I'm a big fan. 🙏
Great song, great reaction. Love it when you guys try to put the song in its time or context. FYI Dec 65 was when Yardbirds recorded Shapes of Things, some say the first psychedelic song. There was a lot of cooking and competition going on then.
In the early sixties the "generation gap" was a very potent and popular idea. The older generation or the "the greatest generation" as it was referred to, were extreme conformists and patriotic defenders of the status quo which was seen(correctly) by the younger generation(the counter culture) as being blinded by the stars and stripes to America's multitude of sins and many faults such as racism at home and militarism abroad(Vietnam etc.) The younger generation and what they represented, sometimes referred to as the counterculture, developed a healthy distrust and critique of the establishment and this found expression in the popular culture with notions of a very real generation gap and sayings like "don't trust anyone over thirty" and with extreme expressions of that sentiment, like in this song, "I hope I die before I get old".
always loves brithish rock because at the time here in the US, u had the slow stoner vibe going. Europe had the who , the kinks( fast van halen ) and even the Beatles. But my 2nd favorite 4 in a band behind L.Z. The Bargain is a good one
Guys, Listen to the entire - The Who Live At Leeds album. It is seen as the best live album of all time! And I agree. Dont listen to just the 6 track or the 15 track version. Listen to the 33 track version that has the Live Version of Tommy in it too. It is easilu available on youtube in good quality. The live version My Generation at Leeds with leave you stunned!
Love this song! Also, Che's t-shirt reminds me to ask you guys to please do Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile", the long studio version (over 14 min.), not "Voodoo Child Slight Return." With organ by Steve Winwood, bass by Jack Casady.
Everybody my age (and many younger) know the song, but also the most famous line: "Things they (older people/adults) do look awful cold. Hope I die before I get old!" Especially the last part, which was a sentiment among working class young people in Britain then (this was kind of punk ahead ahead of punk).
Some people in the comments said it allready,the LIVE AT LEEDS version is crazy good. It will take about 15 minutes ,if you're in for the whole thing. You'll like it, I'm sure. Thanks guys, this is my nr1 favorit rockband. 😁👍👊💪
You guys need to watch the version live on the Smothers Brothers show! When Keith put explosives in his bass drum but didn't tell anyone. Pete Townsend said he went permanently deaf in his right ear after that explosion! BOOOOOM!! 💥
The Stutter thing was what the a Mod thing in 65 in England. Lots of Mods had the Stutter from cheep uppers they were popping would make you stutter from being to wired up .
The BEST, most definitive version of this song. The subsequent live versions were a thrash, THIS one is done with a swing beat. Dee-lightful The stutter? When the mod kids would take uppers/drugs, it would make them stutter. Niiice.
This was the closing number when I saw the WHO during the "The Who Sell Out" tour in Connecticut. That big finish ended with the drums being trashed, Petes guitar being destroyed. ( I had a tuning peg from that concert). Skinniest guys I had ever seen. Great LOUD show.
FINALLY - the beginning; this is where it all started and you better believe this song made everyone's heads spin back in the day haha! A true game changer in the history of rock'n'roll
The mod’s used to do a lot of speed and if they were really messed up their Speech would be affected so it would sound like they were stuttering. The who were mods and they were reacting to how the kids sounded when they were messed up on speed thus the stuttering
I've always thought the stutter thing was a mechanism to set the listener up for the moment that Daltrey stutters the line "F... f... f... fade away". Think about it. I've always sung that line as 'Why don't you all 'F.. k Off!' :0)
This song has what other rock artists list as greatest bass line dropped in a song. You need to do reaction of who performing this song on smothers brothers show. It's explosive.. literally. The real reason pete lost most of his hearing. Actress bette davis fainted after they performed on that show
roger was mimicking the kids at the time popping dexedrine called the pills purple hearts and they'd get your heart racing and get you stut..tut..tutering lol
The original punk rockers
The Beatles wanted to hold your hand, the Stones wanted to get into your pants, and The Who wanted to burn your house down.
Spunk punk
The Kinks
They were a mod band by the way "Mods did not like Rockers" both groups clashed violently on many occasions, Mods wore fashionable cloths and rode Lambretta or Vespa scooters sometimes fitted with as many extra headlights and wing mirrors as they could adorned with British symbolism, Rockers wore studded leather jackets with tight denim or leather trousers greased hair and rode British motorcycles modified into cafe racers
Mods
Daltry's stutter flow is modeled after a teenage hopped up on speed - the Mod's drug of choice at the time.
Exactamundo. And Townsend isn't espousing the short-sighted speed-freak philosophy, he's lampooning it, while having a smashing good time.
From 1966, and for that time, it was just really waaaay ahead of its time.
A lot of things about The Who was way ahead of its time, and of everybody else.
1965
It was released in 1965
Definitely should watch them do this on The Smothers Brothers Show. It’s how Pete lost his hearing, Keith was injured and John turned away and protected his bass. Must see performance 😂
I watched that as a kid when it was originally on TV. Jaw dropping!
The was the rumor (that the drum explosion was the cause of his hearing loss), but I'm 99% sure that I saw an interview with Pete where is said that was in fact not the cause. The real cause was him plugging in to an amp and turning it on and hitting the strings thinking that the amp was set to a reasonable level, but it was in fact turned up to 10. I could be wrong, but that's what I remember.
@@Deviloc1 I wouldn’t doubt that happened either lol. They were loud
1965… A band with a bass player that plays lead! Way ahead of their time…
Great song & reaction 😊
I met John Entwistle at a NAMM show back in the early 80’s, very nice gent and allowed me to take an amazing picture of him… a prized possession!
I saw The Who right after Keith passed in 1979. John and Pete made an appearance when I saw Roger Daltry sings Pete Townsend with Symphony in 1994. I saw John with Ringo's all star band in 1995, then saw the John Entwistle band in 1996 and he did not come on until midnight! I saw The Who after on their Quadrophenia tour w/o John and Keith.
Some friends went to see Entwistle when he was doing some solo stuff where he played at a local hotel. My best bud, a bass player was there, huge fan of the Ox. They wound up hanging out after the show, but then John wound up in a room alone with a gal my friend was with and he went a bit nuts. Climbed out on the balcony of the room next door, 5 stories in the air, and jumped across to that room and busted in on them. Everybody proceeded to freak out. But in the end, John signed my friend's Rickenbacker bass (eventually, Squire signed it too but with less drama).
Entwistle’s bass and Moon’s drumming on this song will instantly make you a fan of The Who; if not, we can never be friends 🤷🏼♂️
Nice!
The stutter was meant to sound like a kid on speed.
“Hope I Die Before I Get Old” the greatest line in rock history.!! Thanks guys been waiting for you to this one!!
I’m kinda partial to, “Rockin ‘ and a rollin’ is only howlin’ at the moon” by Kansas 😎
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss...
Keith Moon took that to heart.
I live and breath Led Zeppelin, but The Who Live At Leeds is one of, if not the greatest live album out there.
I agree. My Generation from Live at Leeds is one of the most epic live performances ever yet few seem aware of it.
👍
You forgot to mention Black Sabbath, but I generally agree with you. 😊
THE
Young Man, Summertime Blues, Magic Bus
I think Roger's stuttering makes the song iconic.
The motto in the 1960s was: "Don't trust anyone over 30."
A defining song by the who. Always in rock top 20s of all time.
You making the Ali shirt look like he was dancing to the music. Great review guys ✌️
Released in 1965 this was The Who’s second single that became well known. “I Can’t Explain”, their first, was not as angst-driven. The Who’s youthful defiance is pronounced here. Its words and sentiment, along with what I call “this wall of sound power rock” with driving drums, bass and at times discordant guitar chords, along with rebellious lyrics became The Who’s signature. Though they expanded their repertoire far beyond, it always remained central to their music. Truly a very early proto-punk, proto-grunge, proto-metal song.
This was released within several months of both the Beatles “Rubber Soul” album and the Stones “Satisfaction” single. These works formed the foundation of rock music to come.
Each of these legendary bands were exploring their sound and diverging from each other and from what came before. The Beatles were expanding pop rock ‘n roll into new musical instrumentation and mystical yet humanly relatable songs, while still releasing very singable songs. The Stones, always more blues based, were incorporating the gritty delta guitar sounds and lyrics into digestible, but edgy rhythmic pop and deep cut songs.
The Who had already shifted from “The Mods” sound into a defiant power rock group, whose lyrics captured the British working class anger against a royal-based hierarchical traditional society. Daltrey, from South London, growing up remembered his parental generation still largely traumatized from the incessant shelling at the hands of the German Luftwaffe. In addition, the British colonial empire that largely dominated the global order for two centuries had fallen as a result of WWII, with the serious industrial decline reaching deep into British society. The Who became the music of the struggling young male British working class. It transferred well into the Northeastern and Rust Belt de-industrializing US also. Though it was at its core rebellious, it was much more personal than the protest music rising around the same time.
Compare this song to 90% of the Billboard top 100 for 1965. Yes the Beatles, Stones, Kinks, Yardbirds, Byrds, Dylan and James Brown all had one or more songs listed. There is a stark difference between this and the drivel being released by The Herman’s Hermits. Also compare JB with what Motown was still releasing. This year it began to change
I love the Who and their energy, especially in the late 60s, early 70s , but the "Wall of Sound" is the name of the greatest concert sound system ever created. It was devised by Owsley Stanley for Grateful Dead. Google it.
It was their third single but you`ve described the times perfectly.
The Live At Leeds version you must have played. It’s. A Classic
Yes! A hard rockin' medley that includes a jam of some Tommy songs.
You would be in awe of the LIVE at LEEDS My Generation Medley...a true Who in all their majesty experience. It will leave you breathless..
I just saw Roger Daltrey interviewed for his Teenage Cancer charity. 80 years old and looking good.
It's Thunder Fingers who drives this song. Like he drives SO many of their songs.
Personally- I always felt that the stutter was a device used to infer the 'F' word on the phrase 'Why don't you all FFFade away' It seems obvious to me that what he actually wants to say is 'why don't you all FFF**k off!' The stutter is continued on the other phrasing for consistency - and also because it sounds so cool.
We had a saying back then: don't trust anyone over 30 😅 loved watching you dig that
Loved your reaction to The Who's signature song. I saw them numerous times staring in 1967. They were explosive every time. Daltrey's stutter is an inspired bit of rock genius.
The Ox on his Rick
It was a little before my time but not a whole lot, and it was still very much in the culture when I first went through puberty and yeah, like a lot of my friends, we found ourselves playing it all the time and just totally rocking out to it.
We all love their later classic albums and iconic songs, and live performances, but I really like their very many hits and gems from this earlier era as well.
And I hate to say it, but I actually think John Entwistle is driving this one for the most part, you've got to listen to his bass lines when Keith Moon is going off at the same time, and you can tell. What a wonderful machine they made.
The Beatles' Help and Rubber Soul albums both came out in 1965. It's also the year Bob Dylan went electric. The Rolling Stones released two albums in the UK that year.
John Entwistle had discovered roundeound bass strings and loved the sound, but you could only get them in England if you bought a Danekectro bass. So, every time he broke a string, he bought a new bass.
It's 1965... and you can see why punks love The Who
The Who, Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Seeds, The Kinks, all before The Stooges and MC5
They don’t even mention John Entwhistle’s bass😅😅😅😅😮
IKR🤷♂️ 😂
when you think of my generation you think of the bass solo and John and moon's great playing. but no mention of the bass player only the stutter was the highlight?
Roger’s stutter mimics the mod’s, a teen movement in Britain at the time, when they were hyped up on speed. Moon’s drumming drives this song.
This was definitely my generation! Mohammad and Jimi were jammin' too!
This Who debut album has a rawness I have always enjoyed. It has a few covers by James Brown and one by Bo Diddley, besides some interesting early Townshend songs. Definitely worth checking out as an album. As far as My Generation is concerned, there is a great extended live version on Live at Leeds (which many consider one of the best live rock albums of all time). It's a 14+ minute long (and wishing it to be longer!) medley which includes snippets of other Who songs as well. All four members are at the top of their game.
Hey La ... Ali looks like he's dancing when you move back and forth to the beat. 😁
In the film Quadrophenia (based on a later album by The Who) which is about the Mods of 1965 in Brighton, there's a great scene where the lads are watching The Who play this live on Ready Steady Go, and when Roger sings, "Why don't you all f-f-f-f-f-fade away?" all the guys sing, "Why don't you all f-f-f-f-F*CK OFF?"
The joy and sense of vindication we felt when this busted out onto the scene; after years and years of listening to the belittlement and scorn our parents dished out upon our musical icons, and us for identifying with them...
Why don't ya just f--‐----ade away -
'n don't try t dig what we all say?
Things they do look awful cold -
'Hope i die before i get old.
When the Who were recording this Pete Townshend said to John Entwistle - there's a bass solo in the middle play whatever you want. BUT! Whenever they played it live people would come up to Entwistle and say "you played the wrong notes in the middle" to which he replied "It's a bass solo" - "Yeah! And you played the wrong notes!"
You guys read minds . Four days ago you delivered and now The Who . Great channel
The WHO great song great band love it, thank you both for the memories
I was below the stage in Vancouver March '68 when Townsend threw his guitar off stage at the end of My Generation and then retrieved it from my outstretched hands with his coiled curly cord.
Every generation thinks that they got the right course,or the right path to travel through life until in the end they find it is the same destination for everyone….no matter what happens.So live right and be kind.
The three most seminal rock songs of the 60s--My Generation-The Who, You Really Got me-The Kinks, and Satisfaction-the Stones
There's a video of them performing this song live on the Smothers Brothers Show. You gotta watch it. It's a classic!
They were Mods, which was a cultural movement in England. The Mods were fond of amphetamine pills called "blues" which often made them stutter. That's what Roger Daltrey was recreating by stuttering as he sang.
This song is timeless and great but John Entwistle on bass is what shines for me especially on those breaks. The Who album that needs to be on your radar is "Live at Leeds". Thank you gentlemen, great reaction.
This whole albums has keith going absolutely hard on the drums, i recommend the deluxe or the anniversary version. One of these has the shel talmy mixing, which makes the drums more prominent!
The longer version of this on the Live at Leeds album is just fantastic!
Can't take my eyes off dancing Ali.
You need to see their live performance on the Smothers Brothers, which created Pete Townsends hearing loss and created quite a stir.
You also do 2002 live performance of 5:15 bassist John entwhistle shreds his bass during his solo and shows why he is considered the greatest bassist of all time
The live video on the Smothers Brothers show was great! Very entertaining!!!❤❤❤
I saw The Who at Sydney Stadium (Australia) in 1968. They headlined with The Small Faces, Paul Jones (ex Manfred Mann lead singer) and a local Australian group The Questions. Great concert as it was the first international concert at the age of 16. Cheers ✌
That is the first electric bass solo in a rock song. Fantastic.
While short, this is one of my favorite bass solos of all time!
I have read a few statements about Roger Daltery's "stutter flow" as you do aptly termed. The one that stuck with me was at that time speed was pretty prevalent among a portion of the youth in England & when the kids were high they would stutter when speaking in some cases. Daltrey delivered the lyrics in a stutter as kind of a wink to the speed freaks out there.
I was 9 when My Generation was released. I had the 45 of it and would blast it as loud as the GE record player would play, mono of course.
Zep, The Who, Stones, Sabbath, Deep Purple ... your premier, foundational, fundamental, all-inclusive 70s rock bands.
I would have agree with this list. Maybe include Pink Floyd, but I don't want to nit pick.😊
You both have the GOATs of their profession on you all's shirts
As we know, every generation is different for all of us.❤
But they all identify with this song!
BTW, you guys have two of the very best t-shirts on today: Heroes of "my generation"--and subsequent ones. The Ali picture is (as you know) him yelling at Liston to "get up"! My niece, who was an All-American basketball player at Notre Dame in the 2010s, had a huge poster of this on her bedroom wall in high school (still there). She was (is) tough as nails.
I've listened to this song for nearly 60 years now and this is the first time I've had the pleasure of watching The Greatest groove along with it!
If that was the invention of punk, then the following song on the album, "The Kids Are Alright", was arguably the invention of power pop.
The Who were always ahead of the game.
Great stuff again guys. You got more Jimi coming?
Townsend is making fun of the singer's attitude, not endorsing it. They are the words of an ignorant punk: hope I die before I get old, indeed. Daltrey is stutter flowing to imitate a speed freak: an ignorant, high, punk. And the stuttering "Why don't you all just f-f-fade away" teases that he might drop the f bomb. Anyway, I believe the singer is being an "unreliable narrator": singing a view that the writer doesn't endorse, in order to lampoon or criticize it. Like Money For Nothing, Sympathy For The Devil, or most of Steely Dan's songs. 😆
Anyway, some of The Who's pre-breakout songs were so sarcastic that they were virtually comedy songs--for an example, check out their live version of A Quick One While He's Away. Thanks for having me along, I'm a big fan. 🙏
Great song, great reaction. Love it when you guys try to put the song in its time or context. FYI Dec 65 was when Yardbirds recorded Shapes of Things, some say the first psychedelic song. There was a lot of cooking and competition going on then.
I always liked the "stutter" too!😄. Such a great song for the times back then. Remember it well.
In the early sixties the "generation gap" was a very potent and popular idea.
The older generation or the "the greatest generation" as it was referred to, were extreme conformists and patriotic defenders of the status quo which was seen(correctly) by the younger generation(the counter culture) as being blinded by the stars and stripes to America's multitude of sins and many faults such as racism at home and militarism abroad(Vietnam etc.)
The younger generation and what they represented, sometimes referred to as the counterculture, developed a healthy distrust and critique of the establishment and this found expression in the popular culture with notions of a very real generation gap and sayings like "don't trust anyone over thirty" and with extreme expressions of that sentiment, like in this song, "I hope I die before I get old".
About time! Please more early songs from The Who: Substitute, I'm a Boy, Happy Jack, I can't explain, The Kids are Alright, and Boris the Spider!
Pete Townsend was a music writing machine.
always loves brithish rock because at the time here in the US, u had the slow stoner vibe going. Europe had the who , the kinks( fast van halen ) and even the Beatles. But my 2nd favorite 4 in a band behind L.Z. The Bargain is a good one
Should see this performed on the Smothers Brothers-surprise ending.
"Nobody wants to grow old but nobody wants to die young either."
Muhammed Ali moving to the beat.
Guys, Listen to the entire - The Who Live At Leeds album. It is seen as the best live album of all time! And I agree.
Dont listen to just the 6 track or the 15 track version. Listen to the 33 track version that has the Live Version of Tommy in it too. It is easilu available on youtube in good quality. The live version My Generation at Leeds with leave you stunned!
LOL. I just noticed Ali on La's shirt looks like he is dancing to the music.
Love this song! Also, Che's t-shirt reminds me to ask you guys to please do Jimi Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile", the long studio version (over 14 min.), not "Voodoo Child Slight Return." With organ by Steve Winwood, bass by Jack Casady.
Everybody my age (and many younger) know the song, but also the most famous line: "Things they (older people/adults) do look awful cold. Hope I die before I get old!" Especially the last part, which was a sentiment among working class young people in Britain then (this was kind of punk ahead ahead of punk).
It blew my mind when I first heard this
An anthem! (Another stutter classic was Bowie’s “Changes”.)
And BTO’s B-b-b-baby you just ain’t seen n-n-n-nothing yet!
Some people in the comments said it allready,the LIVE AT LEEDS version is crazy good. It will take about 15 minutes ,if you're in for the whole thing. You'll like it, I'm sure.
Thanks guys, this is my nr1 favorit rockband.
😁👍👊💪
Sweet did this 10 years later. keep it the same energy.
You guys need to watch the version live on the Smothers Brothers show! When Keith put explosives in his bass drum but didn't tell anyone. Pete Townsend said he went permanently deaf in his right ear after that explosion! BOOOOOM!! 💥
The Stutter thing was what the a Mod thing in 65 in England. Lots of Mods had the Stutter from cheep uppers they were popping would make you stutter from being to wired up .
The song you might have heard that’s similar might be Magic Bus, also by The Who
You have to listen to "Live at Leeds" -for either the Tommy set or the My Generation set - incredible to listen to for either
The BEST, most definitive version of this song. The subsequent live versions were a thrash, THIS one is done with a swing beat. Dee-lightful
The stutter? When the mod kids would take uppers/drugs, it would make them stutter. Niiice.
And now Pete Townshend Who wrote the lyrics hope I die before I get old Just celebrated his 83rd birthday And he's still rocking
The LIVE Smothers Brothers version- where they explode the drum kit and smash their guitars is a necessary listen
I'm guessing that "ffffade" is not what he wanted to say LOL. Loved this since I was kid!
This was the closing number when I saw the WHO during the "The Who Sell Out" tour in Connecticut. That big finish ended with the drums being trashed, Petes guitar being destroyed. ( I had a tuning peg from that concert). Skinniest guys I had ever seen. Great LOUD show.
The stuttering relates to the youth at the time using amphetamines.
Check out the live version which is 12 minutes long on Live At Leeds. It's a burner!
One year shy of the song's 60th birthday, how ironic that the man who sang the lyrics is still alive and well at the age of 80. The WHO ROCKS!
FINALLY - the beginning; this is where it all started and you better believe this song made everyone's heads spin back in the day haha! A true game changer in the history of rock'n'roll
The mod’s used to do a lot of speed and if they were really messed up their Speech would be affected so it would sound like they were stuttering. The who were mods and they were reacting to how the kids sounded when they were messed up on speed thus the stuttering
Well, Pete Townsend wrote it… and he didn’t die before he got old. But Kieth did…. And now Pete and Roger are almost 80 and still touring.
I've always thought the stutter thing was a mechanism to set the listener up for the moment that Daltrey stutters the line "F... f... f... fade away". Think about it. I've always sung that line as 'Why don't you all 'F.. k Off!' :0)
Like Mohamed Ali rocking side to side too..
This song has what other rock artists list as greatest bass line dropped in a song. You need to do reaction of who performing this song on smothers brothers show. It's explosive.. literally. The real reason pete lost most of his hearing. Actress bette davis fainted after they performed on that show
That was classic Moon the Loon. Also, he refused to play the same music in concerts. You just never knew where he was going next.
Neither did he, to be honest!
Love the Ali shirt Laa! Chee is styling too!
The way you were grooving to the music made it look like Ali was dancing
This one's for the kids of every generation!
Released in 1965 this was WAY ahead of its time. And they were all really young, the drummer Keith moon being only 17.
roger was mimicking the kids at the time popping dexedrine
called the pills purple hearts and they'd get your heart racing and get you stut..tut..tutering
lol
Love your Jimi shirt!! 😊
Always love your reactions, guys! 😁👍
That rhythm section is like no other. A drummer and a bass player who solo through every song and the guitar player who hardly ever solos.