Month: May 2020

1963 – The Detours play at the Grand Ballroom in Broadstairs, opening for Freddie and the Dreamers

1964 – The Who play the White Hart Hotel in Acton

1964 – Pete, Peter Meaden and Richard Barnes attend a Chuck Berry/Gene Vincent/Carl Perkins concert at the Hammersmith Odeon, which Barnes remembers as one of the first large gatherings of Mods he and Pete had seen

1965 – The Who fly to Paris to begin their invasion of the continent

1968 – The Who play Manchester University in Manchester

1969 – The Who play in Chicago at Kinetic Playground with Joe Cocker and The Grease Band & Soup

1969 – Billboard carries a full page ad for Tommy

1969 – Melody Maker runs a review of Tommy entitled “An extremely tasteful pop opera”

1975 – New Musical Express carries the interview Roy Carr did with Pete on his birthday

1976 – The Who start a three-date tour of the UK at the Charlton Football Ground. Since all three dates are at football stadiums, the tour is known as the “Who Put the Boot In” tour. Fans who attend wonder “who’ll stop the rain” as it pours buckets throughout the day. This show also puts The Who in the Guinness Book of World Records as “The World’s Loudest Pop Group” as their output registers 120 decibels at 50 meters. Supporting acts are The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Little Feat, The Outlaws and Streetwalkers. Sold at the show is an elaborate program called “Bellboy” that features a centerfold of a nude Keith Moon

Outside Keith is approached by Australia’s Garry McDonald portraying his satirical local TV reporter character Norman Gunston. Keith pours a bottle of vodka on his head and tells him, “you Australian slag, piss off!”

2016 – The Who a Private Concert for Who Cares About The Next Generation benefit in Pacific Palisades, CA. With Eddie Vedder on the Real Me and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.

1965 – The Who play The King Mojo Club in Sheffield, Yorkshire

1965 – The Who’s pre-recorded appearance from the Marquee Club on May 25 is broadcast on “Ready, Steady, Radio!”

1966 – The Who play at the Sincil Bank Football Ground in Lincoln for the Whit Monday Pop Gala Festival. The Kinks, the Small Faces, and the Yardbirds are also on the bill.

1966 – Pete is in an auto accident on the M1 on his way back to London after the Morecambe gig the night before. It is incorrectly reported in the Netherlands, Germany and France that Roger has been killed in the crash and Polydor is inundated with calls.

1969 – The Who play in Chicago at the Kinetic Playground with Buddy Rich and His Orchestra & Joe Cocker and The Grease Band

1970 – Live at Leeds enters the Billboard “Top LP’s” chart at #52. It would stay in the chart for 44 weeks, peaking at #4

1970 – An interview with Roger appears in New Musical Express. Roger calls the way Tommy has taken over their live set “a bit of a monkey.” He says the upcoming shows at New York’s Metropolitan Opera will be the last live performances of the rock opera.

1974 – The first day of filming of the “We’re Not Gonna Take It” sequence at Harry Pound Scrapyard in Portsmouth. Watch the results here

1975 – Roger’s disco-style single “Get Your Love” backed with “World Over,” both from his forthcoming solo album Ride A Rock Horse, is released in Britain. It fails to chart.

1977 – Official production of Who fan Jeff Stein’s movie of the band, The Kids Are Alright, begins. He had proposed the movie to Pete two years before. The first weeks of production are spent in New York scouring archives for rare Who film.

1981 – Pete plays a solo show at Brockwell Park in Brixton in support of a march against unemployment in Britain. He performs “A Little Is Enough” (twice due to bad PA mix), “Cats In The Cupboard,” “Big Boss Man,” “Substitute,” “Corrina Corrina,” “Body Language,” “Join Together” and “Let My Love Open The Door.” He is accompanied by Neil Abbott (guitar), Peter Hope-Evans (harmonica), Mark Brzezicki (drums) and Tony Butler (bass). Jim Capaldi comes out to do vocals for “Substitute.”

2001 – The John Entwistle Band plays at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park

2006 – Rachel’s In The Attic does a tribute to the movie The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. Pete is shown in session recording “Trilby’s Piano” for Endless Wire and on the show playing “Here For More” and “Sheraton Gibson”. The show ends with the cast recreating the underwater “tiger shark” sequence with Pete in the Bill Murray role.

2007 – The Who play the Peel Bay Festival in Peel Bay, Isle of Man

2010 – The press reveals that Pete Townshend has invested in Ashdown House, a National Trust property. Pete’s investment allows renevations to be made to the estate that had been built for the daughter of King James I and is now a tourist destination. You can learn more about the house here and here

2012 – The Who Sell Out (mono & stereo mixes) and Quadrophenia (original mix) are released on SACD as a limited addition in Japan

2015 – The Who play Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in New York

2019 – The Who play the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania

1964 – The Who play the Corporation Hotel in Derby. After the show The Who’s van, a Dormobile, blows up. Their manager, Helmut Gorden, shells out for a low-powered Commer diesel as replacement.

1965 – The Who play the Pavilion Gardens Ballroom in Buxton, Derbyshire

1965 – The Who’s May 24 appearance on “Saturday Club” is broadcast. It features The Who performing “Good Lovin'”, “Anyway Anyhow Anywhere”, “Leaving Here”, “Please, Please, Please”, and Just You And Me, Darling”. Also appearing on the broadcast are Peter and Gordon, Unit 4 Plus 2, the Walker Brothers, Ottilie Patterson, and the Chris Barber Band.

1965 – The Who appear on pirate Radio London’s “Big L” afternoon show. They did not perform, but were interviewed by the hosts and met fans.

1965 – “Thank Your Lucky Stars” is broadcast, featuring The Who miming to “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere” which they recorded on the 22nd.Also appearing on the show are Billy Fury, The Nashville Teens, The Rockin’ Berries, Chad Stuart and Jeremy Clyde, The Four Tops, Paul Dean, The Three Bells and Connie Francis.

1965 – Pop Weekly magazine carries a short review of “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere” calling it “a little bit too frenzied”

1966 – The Who play the Winter Gardens in Morecambe for two shows with supporting acts The Merseys, The Fruit-Eating Bears, Mike Berry and The Innocents, Philip Tait & The Stormsville Shakers, She Trinity and Oscar. Around this time Keith expands his drum kit from its single bass drum to a double bass drum, nine piece kit: the price of his return?

1967 – The Who play the Locarno Ballroom in Glasgow, Scotland. A friend of Roger’s, Julian Covey of The Machine, sits in as they perform that night at the Locarno Ballroom in Glasgow. It is believed that this date is one of the few that featured a live performance of Pete’s new rock opera “Rael.”

1969 – The Who play the first of three nights in Chicago at Kinetic Playground along with Buddy Rich and His Orchestra & Joe Cocker and The Grease Band

1970 – The Who rehearse at the Granada Theatre in Wandsworth, London

1971 – Record Mirror reviews John’s “Smash Your Head Against The Wall”

1976 – Record Mirror features a story titled “The Man In The Moon”. They also carry an ad for Sounds magazine which indicates they have a story about Keith as well.

1984 – Pete, his wife Karen and Kenney Jones are among the celebrities who attend a preview of the play Little Me at the Prince Of Wales Theatre in London.

2001 – The John Entwistle Band play a private show at the B. B. King Blues Club in New York where they are joined by Page McConnell and Mike Gordon of Phish and Mike Abts of Gov’t Mule

2007 – Pete is on his girlfriend Rachel Fuller’s webcast In The Attic where he performs an acoustic rendition of “I Can’t Reach You”

2016 – The Who play at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas