The secret contributor on Ramones cover of The Who song ‘Substitute’
The Who, comprised of Roger Daltrey, Keith Moon, Jon Entwistle and Pete Townshend, shook the very foundations of rock and roll when they arrived with their thunderous single ‘My Generation’ amid the swinging boom of pop culture emanating from London. The band were quickly touted as the most destructive rock group in the world, and their penchant for smashing their instruments made them a proverbial lightning rod for rebellious rock and roll. In many ways, the group can be cited as some of the first forbearers of the punk rock movement.
So much so that the genre’s other gatekeepers, the Ramones, paid tribute to the iconic London group on more than one occasion in their career. The New York punks were huge fans of the Who and regularly cited them as legends. It is, however, their cover of ‘Substitute’ which most fans will remember. But, the song also had a secret contributor on the track.
The song was actually an attempt from Pete Townshend to parody the Roling Stones, once noting of the track: “I pinched it, we did it, you bought it.” It has become a rich part of the band’s iconography and can be considered one of their finest songs. Townshend wrote the track after hearing ’19th Nervous Breakdown’ by The Rolling Stones and can even be regarded as taking some serious learnings from Richards’ riff on the song, with others suggesting he ripped it off completely. When Townshend was writing the song, he even performed it with an exaggerated Mick Jagger accent — it was clear the guitarist was a huge fan.
Later, Townshend would cite The Whisperers as the main inspiration for the track, but its simple and effective beat would inspire the Ramones to cover the song. Joey and the rest of the band would add the song to their 1993 record Acid Eaters, which features a run of covers. But, to get the sound just right, the band invited a member of The Who to help out.
As Joey Ramone later recalled: “For ‘Substitute,’ Pete Townshend came down and sang background vocals, which was a real highlight for me, because I was always a big Who fan from the first time they came to America, and Townshend had always been kind of an unseen mentor for me.”
Townshend happened to be in town with his stage play Tommy: “He heard we were doing the song, he came down, heard the track and got all excited. He did a great job, he was really into it. I was very nervous, because the day he came down was the day I was laying down my lead vocal for the song. I had never met him before.” What transpired is a secret collaboration between The Who and The Ramones.
Listen to The Ramones’ cover of The Who song ‘Substitute’ below.
