I Get My Back Into My Living
By Mitch Berg
It was my 15th birthday. We were having dinner at my grandma’s house.
That was our family tradition – Grandma Bea lived four blocks away, so we spent a lot of time there. I knew it was a blessing at the time, and that’s only grown moreso over time.
I actually remember two presents: the Avalon Hill game “Gettysburg”, which was actually three games in one (introductory, intermediate and incredibly mind-warpingly complex – and you can probably guess the one I went straight to) from my parents…
…and, from my little sister, this album:
…which fairly scandalized Dad, gave Mom a chuckle, and drew a “kids these days” roll of the eyes from my Grandma.
Hard to beliieve Who’s Next turns fifty today.
Of course, I played that album nearly white over the next few years. In its day, it was the perfect album for channeling adolescent angst into a fury of…well, activity, anyway. Rolling Stone, in one of its periodic “Best Albums” lists that came out in the magazines tween years, referred to it as “a mature. punk’s War and Peace“, which is the sort of wannabe-Hemingway dross that passed for rock critiicism then as now…
…but it wasn’t wrong.
More than a few of my high school classmates remember me as “the kid who was always dropping Pete Townsend references” – sometimes literally (I could slip a lyric into nearly any situation) or physically (when I played in garage bands, I scissor kicked and duck-walked and windmilled away, and in one gig, when I cut my thumb on an exposed thread on a toggle switch on my guitar, just like Pete, it was the most joyous injury of my life.
I mean, has there ever been a more perfect explosion of adolescent energy?
And yes, of course they were caricaturing themselves – but then, what explosion of adolescent energy, angst and unfocused emotion isn’t, really?
Townsend has spent going on six decades exploring the world of the angry, angsty adolescent – he may be the world’s oldest t twenty-year-old art student, even today; even as The Who turned into a disappointment (after the death of Keith Moon) and then a nostalgia act after John Entwistle’s passing, he kept mining that same vein – often brilliantly. But I can’t say The Who grew with me.
But then there are days that there is no substitute for putting on Who’s Next and smiling at the sky.
August 27th, 2021 at 8:47 am
“no substitute” — of course, that song was already a few years old by this time.
Coincidentally, I have been listening to The Who’s “30 Years of Maximum R&B” compilation while driving. The first 500 or so times I heard Baba O’Riley and Won’t Get Fooled Again, I thought they were just interesting if mildly boring tunes. I grew to appreciate them both, of course, and I am loving the hell out of this compilation.
August 27th, 2021 at 8:55 am
I think I have seen at least 5 of their Farewell concerts.
August 27th, 2021 at 8:56 am
LOL. I saw their first farewell tour.
Forty years ago next year.
August 27th, 2021 at 8:58 am
that song was already a few years old by this time
I could see that one coming for miles.
I need to get that collection, BTW.
August 27th, 2021 at 9:17 am
I could see that one coming for miles.
Miles and miles and miles and miles, actually…
August 27th, 2021 at 9:58 am
Coincidentally, I have been listening to The Who’s “30 Years of Maximum R&B” compilation while driving. The first 500 or so times I heard Baba O’Riley and Won’t Get Fooled Again, I thought they were just interesting if mildly boring tunes. I grew to appreciate them both, of course, and I am loving the hell out of this compilation.
It’s an outstanding overview. “Who’s Next” is the best overall album, but I have come to like “The Who Sell Out” more. You can’t go wrong either way.
August 27th, 2021 at 10:18 am
Mitch, we played “Bargain” in my first garage band. Fun fun fun.
August 27th, 2021 at 10:21 am
In 4 years “Who’s Next” will closer in years to the end of WW1 than the present day.
August 27th, 2021 at 11:49 am
Saw them the last time through @ Excel a couple years ago. Granted, not REALLY The Who, but I’ll take what I can get. (really great show by the way). I know It’s Hard is usually last on Who’s fan lists, but Eminence Front is one of their great live songs. The Who had one of Rock’s rare winning streaks of albums from Tommy to Live at Leeds to Who’s Next to Quadrophenia. They almost acheived that rarified air of 5 album winning streak, but The Who Sell Out (67) or Who By Numbers (75), I don’t think reach that level.
Off Topic, but here’s my rare Rock 5 Album Winning Streak:
Zep – I, II, III, IV, Houses (I’d put in Physical Graffitti for the ultra rare 6 album)
Beatles – Sgt. Pepper, Magical Mystery Tour, White Album, Abby Road, Let it Be. (feel free to add Revolver and drop Let it Be; going by release date, not last recorded. You could add more earlier albums, but Beatles had goofy US vs UK album releases, I’ll stick with these 5)
U2 – War, Unforgettable Fire, Joshua Tree, Rattle & Hum, Achtung Baby. Open for discussion, but if you drop War, you have to include Zooropa, no thanks
Stones – Beggar’s Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile and I’ll argue Goat’s Head Soup. It’s the lesser of the 5, but still has the hits (Angie, Heartbreaker) and underrated classics (Winter, Hide your Love, Star Star)
Honorable mention:
Pink Floyd – With Dark Side, Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Wall. But they’re derailed Top 5 with The Final Cut or Obscured By Clouds
Allman Bros. Band – their debut, Idlewild South, @Fillmore , Eat a Peach and Brothers and Sisters. I think Idlewild stops the streak early.
August 27th, 2021 at 11:59 am
Paint,
Good list, interesting premise.
I’ll add to that:
Springsteen: Born to Run, Darkness on the Edge of Town, The River (the “Holy Trinity”), Nebraska, Born in the USA, Tunnel of Love. Streak hit a hard stop with the ’91 post-E-Street records. Some would add “The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle” to the beginning, maybe drop Tunnel of Love. Enh.
Pretenders: Their first four albums.
Richard Thompson: Shoot Out the Lights, Hand of Kindness, Across a Crowded Room, Rumour and Sigh…D’oh, Daring Adventures was in there. Almost hit the five-peat. Blah.
Nobody better drop War from any “Best of U2” lists.
August 27th, 2021 at 12:39 pm
Huh. Your version of Gettysburg must’ve been an upgrade over mine. I just pulled mine out; the one I bought at Nichol’s Hobby Store in wonderful downtown Austin in 1969, and it has only one game version.
August 27th, 2021 at 1:34 pm
Like the premise a lot, painteddog. Five album winning streaks would also include:
Van Morrison — Astral Weeks, Moondance, His Band and Street Choir, Tupelo Honey, Saint Dominic’s Preview. Top of his game.
Steely Dan — Can’t Buy a Thrill, Countdown to Ecstasy, Pretzel Logic, Katy Lied, The Royal Scam, Aja, Gaucho. Actually, that’s 7 in a row; some would argue against The Royal Scam, but I like it a lot.
Joni Mitchell — Blue, For the Roses, Court and Spark, The Hissing of Summer Lawns, Hejira. All great in their own way.
Neil Young — Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere, After the Gold Rush, Harvest, On the Beach, Tonight’s the Night. The best overall discography of the 1970s.
August 27th, 2021 at 2:47 pm
Genesis: Trespass, Nursery Crime, Foxtrot, Selling England By the Pound, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.
Best prog band of the 70’s, some argue best ever, 5 Mt Rushmore albums.
August 27th, 2021 at 3:27 pm
ur version of Gettysburg must’ve been an upgrade over mine.
Yep. That was in the notes in the rulebook – AH had released three different Gettysburg games over the years:
. Now I need to find it again.
August 27th, 2021 at 4:32 pm
kinlaw… I’ve recently been getting into Steve Hackett’s Genesis Revisited videos on YT. I may have to give up my MN birthright when I admit that I am utterly enthralled by how good those dorky 20-somethings were.
August 30th, 2021 at 10:19 am
The knife – for those who trespass against us. My fave song.