One more Who tour? You better you bet

A lot of people dismiss the work by The Who in the '80s. But they're missing out on some genius song-work in two of the band's last albums: "Face Dances" and "It's Hard."

"Face Dances" is one of those few albums that needs to be replaced immediately after it's worn out. To this day, that CD remains on my "must-not-lend" list, and I feel an over-whelming urge to buy back-up copies of it whenever I see it in record-store racks. (And sorry, Roger Daltrey, but I absolutely cherish the drumming of Kenney Jones on that disc.)

Some people in our generation don't "get" The Who, but I can empathize. It's like watching Roger, Pete and pals in the 1975 flick "Tommy" for the first time some 30 years later. A frightening and altogether unsettling experience, not unlike catching "Red Dawn" for the first time outside the warm, comfy confines of the '80s. Some bands need more context for full appreciation.

Still, with The Who just announcing another short tour of the U.S. beginning Oct. 21 in Detroit, now's a good as time as any to reacquaint yourself with the band's "new classics." (And please don't make me explain my attachment to "Cache Cache" -- bears or no bears, I just like it.)

TOP 5 WHO SONGS OF THE 80s:

5. DON'T LET GO THE COAT: "I can't bear to live forever like a loner."

4. CACHE CACHE: "I'll tell you something for nothing. There ain't no bears in there."

3. IT'S HARD: "Any stud can reproduce ... few can please."

2. EMINENCE FRONT: "That big wheel spins, the hair thins. People forget."

1. YOU BETTER YOU BET: "I got your body right now on my mind but I drunk myself blind to the sound of old T-Rex."

Comments

[The Lunchbox]

I remember cassette-taping The Who's "Final Concert" in Toronto, in 1984, at my high-school buddy's house, because he paid for the cable-cast. It was billed as "the Last Who-rah". We're about to celebrate the Silver Anniversary of their "Final Concert".

[buffalochipz]

I remember the full-size poster that came with the Face Dances vinyl. It was just a larger version of the cover art but it was awesome. Townsend's creepy, superlong nose in the upper right, Daltrey's exposed skull and Kenney Jones' almost photographic painting in the lower right. Good stuff.

[John Hays]

By the way, according to someone on Twitter, they are apparently playing a Rock Band party right now, I'm guessing in San Francisco!

[John Hays]

I LOVE The Who, but I prefer their older stuff, Baba O'Reilly, Won't Get Fooled Again, Behind Blue Eyes, etc...I wish they were playing Texas!

[Former Producer Dave]

Does my old heart good to see you young'uns still loving The Who. They were a big part of my teen years and "Who's Next" is one of the all-time classics. Make sure you have an old original MCA copy of it on CD for the best mastering.

[Bassnote]

Yep, I bought it, and I got Pete Townshend's "All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes" too.

[surfdog]

Hey all you 80's fans...I hope your watchin tonight cause I have some exciting news to report:

Right now on Sunshine network the "1984 Orange Bowl Classic"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Orange_Bowl
between the Nebraska Cornhusker's and the Miami Hurricane's is being shown!!
A classic 1980's game in a classic Stadium that is no more.
Go Cane's! hope they pull it out!

[Blaine]

Glad to see "Eminence Front" getting some "love," as the kids of today say. I've always really liked that song. Love the sequenced synth bit, somewhat reminiscent of the stuff Tangerine Dream did for "Risky Business" (speaking of which, can't wait for the long-overdue DVD re-release of that in Sept.).

[Miguel]

Both "Face Dances" and "It`s Hard" are interesting albums.Not as iconic as "My Generation","Tommy" or "Quadrophenia" but still very good.By the way,Bassnote did you buy it?It wasn`t on Championship Vinyl,was it?

[Bassnote]

I was just perusing my local used CD store today, and found "Face Dances" for under $8.00. Very under-rated album.

[Al]

Hey Steve,

Saw the last reunion tour in 2006........it was pretty good, with Ringo Starr's son on drums. "Eminence Front" was sweet live. I have to give it the edge.

[Marissa]

Steve, I have a question for you:

Do you like dooawgs?

[surfdog]

saw the who at Miami baseball stadium
Robin Trower opened for them
was greeeeaaaatttttt!
BTW Qaudraphenia BEST ALBUM

[Spears]

"Your dog keeps licking my nose
And chewing up all those letters
Saying 'you better' "

[Sean Kilkelly]

"You opened me with open arms...and open legs" is one of my favorite lines in all of rock!

You Better You Bet is def. #1

[Spears]

From what I've read, Daltry never really liked Kenney Jones. He felt Jones wasn't "out there" enough to be a Who drummer.

From what I've read, it came down to an "either him or me" demand by Daltry in the late 80s before their reunion. And so ended Jones' career with The Who.

[%]

Why is it I can't explain that dudes like The Who more, but chicks always dig The Stones??

[Kurt's Krap]

And seriously, how great was the video "live" version of Eminence Front? Blew the album version away!

[Jeff from Vegas]

Wait...didn't they already do a farewell tour?

[CHAD]

add another classic band i havent seen, probably never will. the documentary miquel mentioned is great. i think over the years pete and roger have developed a great friendship, lots of respect on their parts. lets face it, they are all thats left of the band. i recently got the ultimate who 2-disc compilation, very nice set. i did see john entwhistle jamming with sammy hagar in 2000, at sammys b-day bash down in cabo. they did a few who covers, was pretty awesome. but, to tell you the truth, it was an awesome show, especially with a good bit of cabo wabo tequila flowing through my veins.

[sparky]

Saw the Who on the concert tour right after Ox died. It was a great show.

Thought it was going to have a great opening act with Robert Plant. However, Plant was promoting a new album and was content on singing those songs instead of what the crowd wanted to hear. I was never so glad to see the opening act leave the stage. It was total rubbish.

[Brian Munroe]

I would put eminence Front #1 and You better #2 on this list. Both songs would be in the top ten Who tunes from any decade.

I saw one of the farewall tours at Giant Stadium ('88 maybe). They were excellent, but the show itself had no rhythm - they stopped after each song, no flowing from one into the other.

[Tom]

I think "Face Dances" is one of the best albums of the 80's and it is often overlooked. "Another Tricky Day" is my favorite track from that disc. Roger Daltrey also had a solo album "Under a Raging Moon" which is quite good as well.

[joe]

Saw The Who at The Chicago Stadium. Don't remember the year, don't remember much else - except it was GOOOOD!

[jane]

Thanks joe -- I have been listenting to my Stewart playlist on and off all morning, in honor of this important day ;-)

Saw The Who in '82. Still ranks in the top tier of concerts I've attended. Even have the concert poster (Schlitz Who Rocks America!) hanging around here somewhere.

[Neil]

Bassnote, I always preferred Roger's voice and I actually thought "Rough Boys" would have been a better song if Daltrey sang it. I do like it when Pete sings a line or two in a song, especially in "Baba O'riley", their voices complinent each other but Daltrey just has such a powerful voice...although lately seems to be losing it a bit.

[joe]

For Jane: Off topic, but hope you're celebrating Stewart's B~day.

[Neil]

"Face Dances" and "It's Hard" are both underrated Who albums. I really enjoy both of these albums. I wish they would have spaced out the release dates of these albums because they sort of blend into each other, they came out back to back in 81 and 82 with Pete putting out solo albums previous to and after these albums. So there was a lot of music in a short time. I really hated the cover to "It's Hard", it felt like the Who was trying to be hip showing a kid playing an arcade game, but it just came off as cheesy to me. I was completely into video games at that time and still felt the Who was trying to be hip. Just be yourselves, the cover work to "Face Dances" is much better. Hey Spears, I agree "Cache Cache" is a great song. What happened with Kenny Jones and Daltrey, did they have a falling out? I never heard what happened with that. I think Kenny was a decent drummer, I really think they wanted to go into a completey different direction after Keith Moon died.

[Spears]

Pete's solo work was incredible and worthy of a blog item and podcast of its own. Totally agreed.

I just thought Eminence Front was a little too droning and repetitive to overtake "You Better You Bet," which has too many clever lines to mention in a single post.

"I'm not into your passport picture ... I just like your nose."

[Miguel]

Did anybody see "Amazing Journey:The Story of the Who"? Excelent documentary.
I love the line Pete Thownshend said:"Keith was a genious,John was a genious,I was on the edge of it....Roger was a singer."

[Bassnote]

I would put "Eminence Front" as the #1 because of Pete doing the lead vocals. I have always preferred Townshend's voice to Daltrey's. Maybe that is why I have always been a bigger fan of Pete's solo work than the Who's.