Feb 24: W is for The Who

An alphabet of bands and artists as a series for the next 26 days. These were selected by the Spotify algorithm.

The Who have been around for decades, and have just concluded a final tour (although they've said that before) and were also in the news in early 2025 for sacking their drummer... twice.

They were founded in 1964 - the year after my birth. They were a massively successful band, playing festivals such as Woodstock and the Isle of Wight Festival. Their aesthetic grew out of the Mod subculture.

I was pleased to catch the band on one of their final performances in the UK.  

They played at Sandringham House in the summer of 2023, supported by the Lightning Seeds and Richard Ashcroft - who later went on to support Oasis in their comeback gigs.

They were accompanied by an orchestra and performed a selection of songs from Tommy. 

This is my son's favourite film and the music and visuals were excellent. The Wikipedia entry describes the various film locations used for the shooting of the film.

The film was directed by Ken Russell. Pete Townshend received an Oscar nomination for the music.

Image: Alan Parkinson

Here's a much earlier version of 'The Who', performing, when they had all the band members and had such power. This was the final performance of Keith Moon.

This 1989 performance features the excellent Simon Phillips on drums. I have seen him performing with Mike Oldfield and he has appeared on a great many albums as a session musician.

For many there are some key songs in the set that they hope to be played. They include songs from 'Tommy' and also 'Quadrophenia' - which is based on the battles between Mods and Rockers down in Brighton.

They played a final tour in the USA - with no UK dates - as they were massive in the country. One sign of this is that they were the half-time act at the Superbowl - one of the major cultural moments in the year - back in 2010, playing a medley of songs...

And this post finishes with one of my favourite of their tracks, and one that they ended their concert at Sandringham with... one of the last times they played in the UK (for now?)

Who are the 'W' bands in your algorithm?

Add in the comments, or in the Google Form I posted on February the 1st.