The Who

When The Who came together for its classic lineup in 1964, little did their members expect that they would go on to become one of the era’s most significant acts, a group that would have a great hand in changing the trajectory of popular culture. However, the four Londoners, frontman Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon, had a combined creative power that remains unmatched.

The group’s founding members, Daltrey, Townshend and Entwistle, grew up in the leafy west London area of Acton and attended school together. The Townshend-Entwistle aspect of the band originated in a trad jazz outfit started by the pair when they were in their second year at grammar school, but as both had a keen interest in rock ‘n’ roll, they soon made their segue into the future.

Townshend had been supported in his interest in the flourishing form of guitar music because his parents were musicians, whereas Entwistle’s creative metamorphosis was more complex. He moved from the French Horn to the guitar but struggled to gel with it due to his large fingers. Duly, he repositioned to the bass thanks to the style of the indomitable Duane Eddy, but because he couldn’t afford to buy the instrument, he built one instead. This kind of inventiveness was to make its way into his bass playing and see him regarded as one of the finest to do it over the next decade.

Elsewhere, Roger Daltrey was in the year above the guitarists and had moved to Acton from Shepherd’s Bush, which at the time was a more blue-collar area than what he now found himself in. Due to his roots, Daltrey struggled to fit in at school, and as a naturally boisterous figure, he found himself deeply ensconced in the exciting world of rock and roll and gangs. Seemingly one step ahead of his future bandmates, in 1959, he started The Detours, where he cut his teeth playing various shows from the corporate to the wedding. It was in this group that The Who would have their origins.

After a chance meeting between Daltrey and Entwistle in the street, the latter joined The Detours and then, in mid-1961, Townshend also entered the fold. Playing covers of The Shadows and The Ventures, they went from strength to strength, with Daltrey, the lead guitarist, their de facto band leader. They would have a revolving lineup, with the three ex-school peers remaining in the group and Daltrey eventually moving to vocals. Townshend became their sole guitarist at the behest of Entwistle, and it was this tinkering with their configuration that would set the scene for the brilliance that we know them for today.

The band started supporting some of the most prominent acts of the day, such as Screaming Lord Sutch, Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers and Johnny Kidd and the Pirates, which only added to their artistic fire. Playing with The Pirates directly inspired Townshend to develop his iconic playing style, which fused the rhythm and lead parts, as their only guitarist, Mick Green, did something similar. Then, in 1964, they were alerted that another group was going by the name of The Detours, so after a short debate, they became The Who.

Before too long, the group were courting Fontana Records, and after the explosive departure of drummer Doug Sandom in the face of the label’s criticism of his work, they needed a drummer. They eventually came across the prodigal Wembley native, Keith Moon, who was playing with the semi-professional outfit The Beachcombers but wanted to go full-time.

Impressed by his first session with the band, wherein he broke a bass drum pedal and tore a drum skin, The Who knew this diminutive ball of energy, who would go on to be labelled ‘Moon the Loon’, was the perfect man for the job. After schedules with The Who and The Beachcombers clashed, Moon decided to dedicate himself fully to Daltrey, Entwistle and Townshend’s band, and thus, the stage was set for them to take the world by storm.

The Who released their first single ‘Zoot Suit’ in July 1964, which was swiftly followed up by ‘I Can’t Explain’ that December. After developing their style artistically, they released the timeless anthem ‘My Generation’ in 1965, and afterwards, they never looked back, releasing iconic cuts such as ‘Substitute’ and ‘The Kids Are Alright’. They became heroes for both the mods and the counterculture and released a host of classic albums that included ‘The Who Sell Out’, ‘Tommy’, ‘Who’s Next’, ‘Quadrophenia’, and ‘Live at Leeds’. By the mid-1970s, they had long hailed as one of the most influential bands of their era and of all time.

Their story is a famous one, with Moon tragically succumbing to his penchant misadventure in 1978. Although this might have changed the trajectory of The Who, their exploits were cast in stone, and no one was to doubt their tremendous cultural legacy.