Categories: uncategorized
Date: 15 May 2006 13:16:23
I got quadrophenia.
I must have been exposed to it earlier because I've seen the film and I guess that must have been around 20 years ago. Still it took me a little longer to appreciate the magic of the music. The Who have always been a bit of a let down for me. They are always labelled as "maximum R&B" and yet it always struck me as a bit half-hearted and far from maximal. Their early stuff makes great pop, but it doesn't have much punch to it. I suppose the label "maximum R&B" conjured up a pretty clear notion in my head of music that I definitely wanted to hear, and the songs the Who produced definitely did not match what I heard in my head. Probably if I'd seen them live it would have been a different thing, but I'm not that old.
Once they'd kicked off their pop origins then the next big thing was supposed to be Tommy. What a lot of rubbish - it's got one good song (yes, that one) and a half-decent coda, and the odd good guitar riff (and if you've got a Rickenbacker, you can't fail to make some good guitar sounds), and 65 minutes of pointless tosh. A stupid theme, and not very good songs either.
Still, it seemed to kick-start the band as the next few albums actually had some oomph, culminating in Quadrophenia where almost every song is electric. Every song makes you want to get up and do something, even if it's not to go down to Brighton and fight with some rockers. Of course, it helps that all four of them were virtuosos - the guitar is stunning, the bass constantly throws punches that you're not expecting, the drums just keep coming at you, and the voice, well, it just has that strength to it.
I certainly couldn't identify with the desire to fight that the protagonist feels (I was a pacifist then) and nor could I identify with the doubts and confusion he feels (that came later for me) but somehow the music carries the words beyond their obvious meaning.
I don't know when and where I bought the album but eventually I replaced it with a CD. That I bought second hand from Gibert Joseph in Paris. There's a lot to hate about Paris, but with a carte orange and a dozen Fnac shops to explore there was always something good to buy. And if you've an eye for a bargain then being able to go to the huge second-hand section in Gibert Joseph (which is bigger than any CD shop here) is an absolute godsend. I hope I was more self-disciplined, but it felt like every working day ended with a detour to one or other of the shops and the solace found there helped wipe away the day's unpleasantnesses.