Saturday, December 15, 2012
the who sell out
The Who celebrated and sent up pirate radio with the lush harmonies and hilarious fake commercials of this triumphant psychedelic pop masterpiece. 'The Who Sell Out' was produced by Kit Lambert at Talentmasters Studios in New York City; IBC Studios, Pye Studios, De Lane Lea Studios, CBS Studios, and Kingsway Studios in London, England; and Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles, California with Roger Daltrey on lead ("Armenia City in the Sky", "Tattoo", "I Can See for Miles", "Relax", and "Rael") and backing vocals, as well as percussion; John Entwistle on bass guitar, backing and lead vocals ("Medac", "Heinz Baked Beans" and "Silas Stingy"), and horns; Pete Townshend on lead guitar, backing and lead vocals ("Odorono", "Our Love Was", "I Can't Reach You", "Relax", and "Sunrise"), keyboards, pennywhistle, and banjo; and Keith Moon on drums, backing vocals, percussion, and lead vocals on "Girl's Eyes" with the addition of Al Kooper on keyboards and organ; and Thunderclap Newman's John Keen sharing lead vocals with Daltrey on "Armenia City in the Sky".
Townshend remembers: "It all started with this number I had written called 'Jaguar'. The number was a really powerful and loose thing like 'The Ox' from our first album, with Keith thrashing away like hell and us all pumping out 'Jag-u-ar' like the Batman theme tune. At this time we were working on new ideas for the album. As it stood I could see that we had an album of good songs, but there was nothing to differentiate it from our last LP, 'A Quick One'. It needed something to make it stand out. We thought of using a powerful instrumental number that we made for Coca Cola, and then I linked it up with the number 'Jaguar'. Then, of course, we thought, 'Why not do a whole side of adverts?' As things progressed, we realized that the whole album could be built around this aspect of commercial advertising. At the same time, Radio London and the pirates were being outlawed. You don't realize how good something like the pirates are until they've gone – so to give the album that ethereal flavor of a pirate radio station, we incorporated some 'groovy' jingles, And so The Who sell out."
The album features several fake commercials scattered between the songs and actual jingles from pirate radio station "Radio London". The band faced litigation over there use of the jingles without permission. 'The Who Sell Out' went to forty-eight in the US and thirteen in the UK.
http://www.thewho.com/
The single for 'I Can See for Miles' went to number ten in the UK and nine in the US.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4BBQMjbX3c
'The Who Sell Out'
full album:
"Radio London"
"Armenia City in the Sky" (John Keen) - 0:31
"Radio London"
"Heinz Baked Beans" (John Entwistle) - 3:52
"More Music"
"Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand" - 4:52
"Premier Drums"/"Radio London" (Instrumental) "Odorono" - 2:16
"Radio London" "Tattoo" - 2:42
"Radio London" (Church of Your Choice) "Our Love Was" - 3:07
"Radio London" (Pussycat) /"Speakeasy"/"Rotosound Strings" "I Can See for Miles" - 4:17
"Charles Atlas" "I Can't Reach You" - 3:03
"Medac" (Entwistle) - 0:57
"Relax" - 2:38
"Silas Stingy" (Entwistle) - 3:04
"Sunrise" - 3:03
"Rael 1" - 5:44
"Track Records" (Instrumental) (locked groove on original vinyl)
extra tracks from the 1995 reissue:
"Rael 2" - 0:47
"Top Gear" "Glittering Girl" - 2:56
"Coke 2" "Melancholia" - 3:17
"Bag O'Nails" "Someone's Coming" (Entwistle) - 2:29
"John Mason's Cars" (Rehearsal)
"Jaguar" - 2:51
"John Mason's Cars" (Reprise) "Early Morning Cold Taxi" (Roger Daltrey/Dave Langston) - 2:55
"Coke 1" "Hall of the Mountain King" (Edvard Grieg) - 4:14
"Radio 1" (Boris Mix) "Girl's Eyes" (Keith Moon) - 3:28
"Odorono" (Final Chorus)
"Mary-Anne with the Shaky Hand" - 3:19
"Glow Girl" - 2:24
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