The Who: My Top Ten Singles

Like The Rolling Stones, The Who are entering their seventieth decade and, also like the Stones, have only two original members left - a charismatic lead singer and an equally iconic lead guitarist. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend - British rock royalty. London rock royalty. Whereas The Stones were Dartford and the Thames Estuary, The Who were Acton, Shepherd's Bush and Goldhawk Road. The Stones were grounded in the blues of the Mississippi Delta, for The Who it was US rhythm and blues (although they had their typically 1964 bluesy moments). They were hugely influential on bands like The Jam in particular, who pretty much worshipped them and covered several of their songs.

My own top ten has changed, even since I wrote the last one in my comments on The Who Hits Fifty album. That's top tens for you....

⑩ ATHENA (1982)

From the comparatively-ignored It's Hard album is this little gem. See further down and Eminence Front for its delicious slightly funk-lite sound. Apparently it was originally titled "Theresa" after Pete Townshend had tried, unsuccessfully, to bed US actress Theresa Russell. Quite an amusing tale. It took me ages to get what the lyrics said on the "she's a bomb" line. I originally thought it was "whore"! Funny how old-style radios led to so many mis-heard lyrics, didn't they? Whatever, it's a really good, lesser-known and pretty atypical Who song. There are several better-known songs that could have replaced a few in this top ten, of course there are - The Who had s many - but right now it is these ten that float my Who boat. 

⑨ ANYWAY, ANYHOW, ANYWHERE (1965)

The Who's second single here, after I Can't Explain, coming just before the iconic (but not included here) My Generation. I have included it here because of its unique (at the time) use of chaotic guitar feedback and Keith Moon's crazy accompanying drumming. The Beatles had used feedback on I Feel Fine, just a bit earlier, but there was Beatles feedback and there was Who feedback. The Who went apeshit in comparison. It sort of represented what a crazy bunch of fuckers The Who were. All in one short, mad single. Some achievement. Pete Townshend confirms this - "in fact, (Roger) Daltrey was really a hard nut then, and he changes quite a few words himself to toughen the song up to suit his temperament. It is the most excitingly pig-headed of our songs. It's blatant, proud and, dare I say it, sass". Trivia note - it's the seemingly ubiquitous Nicky Hopkins on piano, by the way. 

⑧ SUBSTITUTE (1966)

Yet another great single from the fertile 1964-66 period. Beneath its jangly, poppy sheen, it is a hard-hitting (controversial for the time) song about the disparity between rich and poor. Here's some interesting trivia about the song - it was primarily inspired by the 1965 Motown single, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles' The Tracks of My Tears. Pete Townshend became obsessed, apparently, with the line, "Although she may be cute/She's just a substitute." For the American single, released in April 1966, a different vocal take was used that changed the line in the chorus, "I look all white but my dad was black", to "I try walking forward but my feet walk back." The complete second verse and chorus were also edited from the US release, reducing the track's length to two minutes and fifty-nine seconds. I didn't know that. 

⑦ EMINENCE FRONT (1982)

Another excellent, undervalued song from the early eighties, coming from the It's Hard album. It has that appealing, vaguely funky sound that The Who briefly dabbled in around this time. I really like that sound, it's most appealing and quite infectious in a subtle way. Pete Townshend said of the song - "Eminence Front was written around a chord progression I discovered on my faithful Yamaha E70 organ. I hesitate to try to explain what it was about. It's clearly about the absurdity of drug-fuelled grandiosity, but whether I was pointing the finger at myself or at the cocaine dealers of Miami Beach is hard to recall". So there you go. He doesn't quite know himself. It's often the way. I never really knew what it was about, either. It is one of those songs that does it as much for its sound as its lyrics. 

⑥ I CAN'T EXPLAIN (1964)

What a debut single this was (as The Who, not The High Numbers, who put out Zoot Suit). Bloody marvellous. The music from the 1964-65 period was marked by just as many great riffs as The Stones had. I Can't Explain exemplifies that perfectly, doesn't it? Considering it hails from 1964, this is one hell of a song. Pete Townshend rolled riffs out on a speed-fuelled, arm-windmilling conveyor belt. Plus, he loved a bit of chaotic-sounding feedback. John Entwistle was the "quiet man" on bass - reliable and taciturn. Roger Daltrey was punchy, confrontational and spunky on vocals and then there was the antithesis of shy, introverted Charlie Watts or everybody's mate Ringo Starr in the complete nutcase behind the kit that was the soon-to-be legendary Keith Moon. Perfect. David Bowie also covered the song on his 1973 Pin Ups album. 

⑤ DON'T LET GO THE COAT (1981)

A bit of an off-the-wall choice here at number five. A most underrated and appealing song from this period is Don't Let Go The Coat, which this time is a little-acknowledged Who classic. Not in a bombastic, grandiose way, but in a quirky, rhythmic way. It features an almost Brit-pop style jangly, melodic guitar riff underpinning it and Daltrey's vocal is softer and soulful here. There is a certain new wave-ish appeal to this and it sounded fine in 1981, not out of date in any way. Apparently, it is a song about spiritual torment and Pete Townshend's spiritual relationship with notable guru Meher Baba. Yeah yeah yeah. I don't go fr all that guff, man. It just sounds good to me so I'll take that. Sometimes there's far too much analysis of songs - wha he meant, what this or that signifies. Just play the music.....(this from someone who writes a blog of analytical album reviews!).

④ THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT (1966)

The Who came of age in the mod era - their generation. Scooters, multiple wing mirrors, parkas, expertly tailored zoot suits, immaculately neat short haircuts, reverse RAF roundels, Carnaby Street, fighting rockers on Brighton Beach, popping pills, fucking in alleyways, eating fish and chips before Friday's night out and venerating the US sounds of Motown alongside Jamaica's ska and bluebeat. Into that evocative sub-culture The Who came snarling, full of youthful attitude and vigour and boy, did they gave us some killer 45s - this anthemic number was one of them. Pete said of it - "When I wrote this song I was nothing but a kid, trying to work out right and wrong through all the things I did. I was kind of practising with my life. I was kind of taking chances in a marriage with my wife. I took some stuff and I drank some booze. There was almost nothing that I didn't try to use. And somehow I'm alright."

③ 5:15 (1973)

Taken from 1973's titanic double "concept" album Quadrophenia, the barnstorming 5.15 is a real favourite of mine, with a great brassy riff and some towering Daltrey vocals. It starts quietly, with that haunting “why should I care” backing vocal and the piano before the signature riff, the brassy bits and then good old Keith blasts in. Great rock song. This was The Who at their very best. "Girls of fifteen - sexually knowing" - I loved that line aged fourteen thinking of what may lay in store for me! It's a great teenage rebellion sort of song too, in a way, particularly when you see the movie - Phil Daniels sitting on a train wearing make up. Again, on this, Roger Daltrey's vocals are superb on what is a monster of a track. It is Quadrophenia's best one, up there with The Real Me, which, unfortunately, was not a single, so doesn't get in this list. Rules are rules. 

② YOU BETTER YOU BET (1981)

After a hiatus from 1978 and losing Keith Moon, The Who would not resurface until 1981 and they did so (with ex-small Faces drummer Kenney Jones replacing Moon) on the barnstorming You Better You Bet. It remains a long-time favourite of mine. It is a latter-era (i.e. post Moon, post seventies) Who classic, full of pounding, beaty drums, excellent guitar, more subtle keyboards than on the previous album and a very strong Roger Daltrey vocal. The lyrics are great too, suitably perplexing and crudely but gloriously sexual in places - "you welcome me with open arms and open legs...". It reminds me of my girlfriend back then. (Hold on Panther - no need for that!) We played the single endlessly (among other things). I really loved the single in those heady 1981 days, feeling it was The Who roaring back with a vengeance. After I had forgotten about them considerably during my punk years, I was ready to welcome my old 1973 favourites back again. This track certainly did that. 

① BABA O'RILEY (1971)

Baba O'Riley opened the Who's Next album with surely one of rock music's greatest ever introductions - that infectious keyboard loop that draws you in, seemingly never ending, before good old Keith Moon comes thumping in, followed by Roger Daltrey's titanic vocal - "out here in the fields" - and then Pete Townshend's immense guitar blows the whole fucking thing apart. The bit where Daltrey first sings "it's only a teenage wasteland" and Moon's drums power their way in is just pure rock nirvana, up there as one of its greatest moments, bar none. It is truly one of rock's greatest ever songs, isn't it? Why it was called Baba O'Riley and not Teenage Wasteland has always puzzled me, though. In true Who Are You style, I will say who the fuck was Baba O'Riley? That Meher Baba guy, I guess. Anyway, who cares, it is not remotely relevant to the song. 

Bubbling under - Won't Get Fooled Again, My Generation, Squeeze Box, The Seeker, Let's See Action, Magic Bus, Who Are You.....