The Devil’s Music
I was looking for something to play tonight and ended up pulling out The Who Sell-Out (1967)… Pete Townshend’s first concept album based on the rebel “Pirate” radio stations who would broadcast from ships off the coast of Britain and illegally play what the BBC thought was inappropriate.
The only hit song off this album is the under-rated “I Can See For Miles.” For WHO fanatics though, this album is indespensible, including a preview of Tommy, which would be later expanded on.
What I didn’t know, and took me 20 years to figure out, was why “Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand,” while not the prettiest girl, was so popular with the guys. When I told my wife, I got the stupid dumbass look! DUH!
As the disk repeated itself, I had to turn it off because it was bed-time and the kids were hoppin’ all over the place, feeling Pete’s power-cords, Roger’s strong vocals, John’s Entiwhistles driving Bass, and Keith’s insane drumming.
During the instumental “Hall Of The Mountain King,” my wife told me that this is the devil’s music… (I couldn’t disagree, and it was oh so way ahead of it’s time)