The Kids Are Alright

All week long on the Independent Film Channel. Kieth Moon and John Entwistle=The greatest rhythm section in the history of rock'n roll. God rest their indestructable souls.

You forgot about Paul Cook and Glenn Matlock/Sid!

That movie rocks. As a beginning bass player back then, I don't know how many hours I spent trying to get Entwistle's solo on "My Generation" down note fer note. The Who's Live At Leeds and Cream's Wheels of Fire presented some of the most incredible live bass/drum onstage riffing then (and now). Tim Bogart & Carmine Appice and the Sales bros. also deserve mention though.

Pierre van der Linden & Cyril Havermans.

I just caught the end of 'The Kids Are Alright' on IFC like a half hour ago. I've seen that flick so many times and bought the recently released DVD, which I urge all Who fans to get.

What can you say about the power of The Who that hasn't been said already? They were so amazingly, incredibly powerful. Most of these new up and coming bands (that suck) should take a hard look at how The Who handled themselves live. They channeled their energies so impressively and never looked like (complete) imbeciles doing it (like all the new bands do....see 'Simple Plan' , 'Good Charlotte' and 'New Found Glory' for example. What the F*CK are THOSE guys doing? Not a clue!!)

I only got to see The Who once at Madison Square Garden in October of 2000. A friend had free tickets and I honestly didn't go expecting the power of the early Who, but it didn't take long to see that they were still on top of their game 36 years on. Amazing! And Zak Starkey was a suitable fit to sit in place of Moonie. Also glad I got to see John Entwistle before he left the building!

Got to meet Roger Daltrey a couple of months ago as well, which was also very cool!

LONG LIVE ROCK!

There will never be another Who.

Although Kenny Jones was the drummer at the time, I always liked "Athena" from "It's Hard". Every now and then, I still hear it on the radio. "Happy Jack" is also a favorite of mine (for an older one).

http://www.samgambino.com

On a related story, Ray Davies of the Kinks saved the day.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/Music/01/05/davies.shot/index.html

I bet he was singing "(Wish I Could Fly Like) Superman" while he was chasing the robber. But he wasn't "faster than a speeding bullet". I'm just glad he's OK.

I NEED the DVD of The Kids Are Alright! I got the DVD of Quadrophenia for Christmas and what a great restoration of a great film. The director's commentary was revealing: they filmed it all on location in less than 2 months time, he hired only inexperienced actors (many had no acting experience at all), most of the mod and rocker extras in the scenes in Brighton were actual mods and rockers who never gave it up throughout the hippie era, and they had incredible luck with the weather in Brighton (which allowed some beautiful shots of the ocean and beaches).

The Kids are Alright trivia: When they were rehearsing for their appearance on the Smothers Brothers show (the first scene in the movie) Keith and Pete kept adding more and more explosives to Keith's drum. When they actually did My Generation with the cameras rolling the explosion was so huge that it singed Roger's hair and you can hear the audience gasping. Watch carefully and you can see Keith put his foot up on the bass drum right before the guitar solo to set off the bomb. At that point they also stop pretending to play with the piped in music, and actually play the feedback part live.

On 2004-01-06 11:28, thejab wrote:
The Kids are Alright trivia: When they were rehearsing for their appearance on the Smothers Brothers show (the first scene in the movie) Keith and Pete kept adding more and more explosives to Keith's drum. When they actually did My Generation with the cameras rolling the explosion was so huge that it singed Roger's hair and you can hear the audience gasping. Watch carefully and you can see Keith put his foot up on the bass drum right before the guitar solo to set off the bomb. At that point they also stop pretending to play with the piped in music, and actually play the feedback part live.

I believe that is the initial incident that Pete blames his failing hearing loss (not to mention the volume of your band, Pete)

The first time I really experienced The Who I was right in the middle of the hardcore scene, and into stuff like Minor Threat, Youth Brigade and Black Flag. I caught part of "The Kids Are Alright" on a friend's videotape. I remember looking at him, pointing to the screen and saying "This is it, man....this is where punk rock came from, right here!" It was like when Luke met Yoda! The next day there was an arrow poster in my bedroom.

On 2004-01-06 12:06, Basement Kahuna wrote:
The first time I really experienced The Who I was right in the middle of the hardcore scene, and into stuff like Minor Threat, Youth Brigade and Black Flag.

Ah, the memories! Whey I lived in the US, they showed 'The Kids Are Alright' at our Junior High School in a moment of rare genius. I went straight out and bought a Who Union Jack (British Flag) t-shirt. Just a few months later, the force of the Hardcore punk scene hit Boston, and I scrawled 'I hate' onto my Who t-shirt! These days, The Who & Black Flag nestle besides each other in my record collection quite nicely.....
(Well not literally, but you know what I mean)

Trader Woody