Jump to content

The Who discography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 24.218.159.184 (talk) at 22:35, 25 January 2006 (→Movie soundtracks). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Main article: The Who

The Who have an extensive body of work, being active to semi-active over the past four decades.

Discography

Studio albums

   YearTitleV? Genre: Concept material:
    1965My Generation√ "Maximum R&B" The Who's Debut Album
    1966A Quick One√Pop Music (with a capital 'P'). Includes 10-minute "mini-opera".
    1967The Who Sell Out Psychedelia and satire. Concept album. Also includes elements of an unfinished Rock opera called Rael.
    1969Tommy Rock, plus some late psychedelia. Rock opera.
    1971Who's Next Rock. Salvaged from the failed Lifehouse project.
    1973Quadrophenia Rock. Rock opera.
    1975The Who By Numbers Rock. Loose Concept as Pete Townshend's confessional album
    1978Who Are You Rock. Includes a few elements of John Entwistle's unfinished Rock opera. The final album with Keith Moon on drums.
    1981Face Dances Rock. The first album with Kenney Jones on drums.
    1982It's Hard Rock. As of 2005, the band's final album.
    2006WHO2 Rock. The codename for a rumored Who studio album
V? : √ = The album had a title and track list that varied between the UK and USA releases.
See the album links for more information.

Period collections

Notwithstanding their renown as a concept-album band, The Who had an active life as a singles band until 1972, when they released their last non-album single "Relay" in December. Their singles and various unreleased materials were occasionally collected and released as albums even while the band was still active, sometimes as stopgaps for years when no album was on the horizon.

The resulting albums are distinguished from the "Late Collections" (below) because they are collections of singles and other unreleased material of the relevant period rather than "greatest hits" or late "kitchen sink" collections. The material tends to be very good, and these albums are often thought of as Classic Who Albums along with the regular studio albums.

    YearTitle Comments:
    1968Magic Bus: The Who On TourUSA only Not a live album, as the title might imply. The material is chronologically localized, and includes several psychedelic goodies.
    1968Direct HitsUK only
    1971Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy A good history of the pre- Who's Next Who. Not available as a remastered CD, though most of the material appears as bonus tracks on the other remastered CDs.
    1974Odds and Sods The title describes it best!
    1994Thirty Years of Maximum R&BA four CD box set of The Who's most popular songs, as well rarities, interviews, commercials and sketches.
    2002The Ultimate CollectionA two disc greatest hits with both singles and top hits from albums.

Live albums

    YearTitle Comments:
    1970Live At Leeds Several variant editions exist; see the link.
    1970Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 Not released until the film came out in 1996; see the filmography below.
    1984Who's Last A double live album of The Who's first farewell tour in 1982 (It would not be their last).
   1990Join Together 25th anniversary reunion tour; accompanied by horn section, backup singers, etc.
   2003Live At The Royal Albert Hall Concert in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust, with special guests such as Bryan Adams and Paul Weller. Recorded on 27 November 2000, released in 2003.
The 1970 and 1990 live albums are available as two-CD sets including a performance of Tommy plus about an hour of other material. Live At Leeds is also available on a single CD without the performance of Tommy. "Live At The Royal Albert Hall" contains a bonus disc with 4 songs from a performance on 8 February 2002.

Other albums

The Soundtrack to the Who Biography. This album is mostly comprised of Rare Live Performances.
Another "greatest hits" collection which includes hits such as "Join Together," "Won't Get Fooled Again," and, of course, "My Generation."
The BBC Sessions is a collection 23 songs and 2 Jingles recorded solely for BBC Radio Transmission.
Another Who Greatest Hits Album + 2 Brand New Songs never released before, "Old Red Wine" and "Real Good Looking Boy". It is rumored that the two new songs will be featured on the next studio Who album.

UK Singles

The Who, until the release of Tommy, were known mostly as a singles band; that is, they were better known for their individual songs than the albums that they appeared on.

  • Zoot Suit / I'm the Face - 1964 (Released when they were known as The High Numbers)
  • I Can't Explain / Bald Headed Woman - 1965
  • Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere / Daddy Rolling Stone - 1965
  • My Generation / Shout and Shimmy - 1965
  • Substitute / Circles - 1966
  • A Legal Matter / Instant Party (Instant Party is the version of Circles as produced by Shel Talmy) - 1966
  • The Kids Are Alright / The Ox - 1966
  • La La La Lies / The Good's Gone - 1966
  • Happy Jack / I've Been Away - 1966
  • Pictures of Lily / Doctor, Doctor - 1967
  • The Last Time / Under My Thumb - 1967
  • I Can See For Miles / Someone's Coming - 1967
  • Dogs / Call Me Lightning - 1968
  • Magic Bus / Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde - 1968
  • Pinball Wizard / Dogs Part II - 1969
  • Go To The Mirror / Sally Simpson - 1969
  • The Seeker / Here For More - 1970
  • Summertime Blues / Heaven And Hell - 1970
  • See Me, Feel Me/Overture - 1970
  • Won't Get Fooled Again / I Don't Even Know Myself - 1971
  • Let's See Action / When I Was A Boy - 1971
  • Join Together / Baby Don't You Do It - 1972
  • Relay / Waspman - 1972
  • 5:15 / Water - 1973
  • Squeeze Box / Success Story - 1975
  • Who Are You / Had Enough - 1978
  • You Better You Bet / The Quiet One - 1981
  • Don't Let Go The Coat / You - 1981
  • Athena / A Man Is A Man - 1982
  • Twist & Shout (Live) / I Can't Explain (Live) - 1984
  • Real Good Looking Boy / Old Red Wine - 2004

EPs

  • Ready Steady Who! EP - November 11, 1966
Disguises / Circles / Batman / Bucket T / Barbara Ann
  • Tommy EP - November 11, 1970
Overture / Christmas / I’m Free / See Me Feel Me

Other appearances

  • The Who contribute two tracks to Pete Townshend's solo album The Iron Man, "Fire" and "Dig".
  • The last studio recording the band made before the release of Then and Now in 2004 was a 1991 cover of Elton John's "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting".

Songs

Original recordings of the Who's music were used intermittently in various contexts unrelated to the band, starting with the use of a track from Tommy in a March of Dimes television commercial during in the 1970s. However, starting in the late 1990s there was a marked increase in the rate of such usage, summarized below.

Movie soundtracks

Television shows

  • "Who Are You", CSI (2000) [title music]
  • "Won't Get Fooled Again", CSI: Miami (2002) [title music]
  • "Baba O'Riley", CSI: NY (2004) [title music]
  • "Behind Blue Eyes", Cold Case episode "The Woods" (2005) [end music, edited]
  • "Baba O'Riley", House episode "Control" (2005) [end music]
  • "You Better You Bet". Head Cases (2005) [trailer]

Commercials

  • "Love Reign O'er Me", 7-Up (199?) [chopped version]
  • "Bargain", Nissan (200?) [chopped version]
  • "Overture" from Tommy, Clarinex (2002) [chopped version]
  • "Happy Jack", Hummer (2003) [chopped version]
  • "Baba O'Riley", Hewlett-Packard (2004) [chopped version]
  • "I Can See for Miles", Sylvania "Silverstar" headlights (2005) [chopped version].
  • "I'm Free", Saab (2005) [chopped version].
  • "Pinball Wizard", Saab (2005) [chopped version]

Many Who fans consider the commercialization of these songs to be a crass sell out on Pete Townshend's part, especially the use of the originally spiritual "Bargain" to sell SUVs.

Filmography

Films

1970 Listening to You: The Who at the Isle of Wight Festival
Concert film of The Who's performance at the third Isle of Wight Festival. It was filmed in 1970, but not released until its direct-to-video release in 1996. For more information about the movie see its entry at The Internet Movie Database. (Excerpts from this performance are also included in the film Message to Love: The Isle of Wight Festival, released in 1997, and a sound recording of The Who's performance was released in 1996 under the name Live At The Isle Of Wight Festival 1970, as listed in the discography above.)
1975 Tommy
Ken Russell's camp treatment of the Rock opera, with Oliver Reed, Ann-Margret, Jack Nicholson, and an all-star cast of Rock musicians including The Who. For more information about the movie see its entry at The Internet Movie Database.
1979 Quadrophenia
A Franc Roddam film that expands on the sketchy story of the Rock opera. It tells of the coming of age of a young mod at the time of the Mod versus Rocker riots of 1964. Sting plays a prancing phony along with a cast of unknowns. The Who's participation was limited to the soundtrack, which includes songs from the Rock opera, new songs written for the soundtrack by Pete Townshend, and the original recordings of various Motown hits. For more information about the movie see its entry at The Internet Movie Database.
1979 The Kids Are Alright
A Jeff Stein documentary about The Who, including live performances, TV appearances, and interviews from all phases of their career up to that point, including their US debut on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. For more information about the movie see its entry at The Internet Movie Database.

Other film appearances

1967 Monterey Pop
The Who's stage-wide destruction competes with Jimi Hendrix's lighter fluid. For more information about the movie see its entry at The Internet Movie Database.
1968 The Rolling Stones' Rock And Roll Circus
Includes a for-the-occasion performance of "A Quick One While He's Away". Filmed in 1968, but not released until its direct-to-video release in 1996. Lore among Who fans holds that it was this performance that kept the film from being released, because The Who so upstaged the Rolling Stones' performance with it. For more information about the movie see its entry at The Internet Movie Database. (A portion of this performance is also included on the album The Kids Are Alright, described in the discography above.)
1969 Woodstock
The movie about the famous music festival. Includes excerpts from The Who's performance of Tommy. For more information about the movie see its entry at The Internet Movie Database.

Roger Daltrey also had an ongoing career in film and television, unrelated to his work with The Who, notably a role as Franz Liszt in Ken Russell's Lisztomania.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=The_Who_discography&oldid=36704617"