April 23, 2011 archive

Popular Culture (Music) 20110422: The Who Sell Out

The Who Sell Out, the third album by The Who, was their finest to date and in my opinion is still one of their best works.  To be sure, it fell short hither and thither, but I think that it was great.  There are a number of reasons why it is so good, one of them being Kit Lambert once again producing.  As you recall from the previous installment, he was so much better than the hack Shel Talmy that there is really no comparison.

Another reason that it was so good was that it has a lot of energy for a studio album.  The third reason that I shall cite is that it was one of the very first concept albums, in that there was a unifying theme throughout the record.  Since it was on vinyl, it only runs around 37 minutes, so lots of material got scrapped when the final edit was done.  I shall include some of that material late in the piece.

Why be out?

During the troubles of last weekend, a few people asked why I identified as a transwoman (or trans woman or transsexual woman) and not simply a woman.  Well, the truth is that I do identify as a woman.  Trans is simply a modifier, transsexual is an adjective.  The noun is “woman”.

Then I guess the question becomes, “Why do I add the modifier?”  The question strikes me in a couple of ways.  I wonder if the person is implying that everyone would be so much more comfortable if all the transpeople would just disappear into the closet after transitioning.

The truth is that many do…maybe even most.

But the serious question is,

How are we ever going to gain equal rights if none of us are out?

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