1. "I Can't Explain" - Specifically, this live version of it, from the American TV series "Shindig", recorded in 1965. The original recording is a sub-Kinks, Shel Talmy produced two minutes of mediocrity. They got Jimmy Page in to play the lead guitar, and led someone (perhaps Townshend) to say, "Perhaps they should get Clem fucking Cattini in to play the drums and have done with it". Anyway, this live version is incredible - I saw it on the television when I was about twelve, and the next day I was the owner of a drum kit.
2. "Love Ain't For Keeping" - Not the version from "Who's Next", but the out-take version, sung by Pete Townshend that appears on the re-release CD version of "Odds & Sods". Townshend has a wonderfully fragile voice which really suits this song.
3. "So Sad About Us" - Curious, really. I think that this was probably nearest that they ever came to writing a "pop" song, but it was tucked away towards the second side of "A Quick One". It's their most covered song.
4. "Daddy Rolling Stone" - Pete Townshend says in "The Kids Are Alright" that The Who was too much about "bricks and stones, and smashing things up", and it's a bit unusual to hear them playing "soul" (it was a big part of their live set, but seldom made it onto vinyl), but Entwistle and Keith Moon were a strong enough rhythm section to be able to pull it off. There's a live version of it from the same "Shindig" set as the above version of "I Can't Explain" here.
5. "Substitute" - I like the subversion of the tradition of the dynamics of a band, and I think "Substitute" is probably the best example of that. The bass and the drums are the melodic instruments with the who, with the guitar providing 90% of the rhythm. There are probably about 50 examples of this, but I think that "Substitute" (which contrives to manage a bass solo in the middle of it without missing a beat or sounding in the slightest bit pretentious) is probably the best of the same example.
Honourable mentions: "Who Are You" (but you have to take out all the wankery in the middle of it and leave in the extra verse on the album version that isn't on the 7" version), "Pictures Of Lily" (hur hur, it's about wanking) & "5.15" (let down by Moon's brandy and coke-addled drumming, sadly).
It’s nigh on impossible to name a top five, but here’s what you might call my ‘Squeezebox’ in no particular order.
The Real Me – I love the way that this kicks in after the low-fi I Am The Sea intro for Quadrophenia; it still scares my cat who runs away every time I put it on. The Ox is also responsible for some great bass solos but this is possibly his most dynamic.
Baba O’Riley – Warning; this song contains the most hypnotic synth intro ever. Also works just as well with the violin solo on the studio version or Roger’s harp when performed live.
Won’t Get Fooled Again – The rawness and energy that represents The Who can be summed up in that one moment in the performance used to conclude The Kids Are Alright; Roger yells ‘Yeah’ as only he can and Pete Townshend slides across the stage in slow-motion just as the lights explode like a rocket. It’s an image that will remain with me until I drop.
Love Reign O’er Me – Best break up song in the world ever (but that’s another story).
Amazing Journey –I always found the original Tommy album frustrating as I never liked the finished product of so many great songs that have been performed better live (such as See Me Feel Me/Listening To You which kind of meanders at the end of the album but has provided such a rousing finish to their live shows). However this, along with Pinball Wizard, is an exception.
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