Tag: Who’s Next

Popular Culture (Music) 20110812: Lifehouse

This is an extremely difficult piece to write, because the only living soul who understands it is Peter Townshend, and he still has a bit of difficulty articulating the concept in terms that we mere mortals can understand.  This is not in any way a criticism of Mr. Townshend, but more of a comment of my own poor understanding of his high goals.

In a nutshell, perhaps a cracked one, the concept for Lifehouse was sort of like A Brave New World, or 1984, in that society has been overtaken by a monied elite and thought suppression was the norm.  Does that sound timely?  I think that Townshend has presaged the ideas that the “modern” Republican Party is trying to impress on us all, but perhaps I give him too much credit.  I think not.

The concept that I finally came with was that individuality was suppressed, and group think was being imposed by the technocrats that ruled.  I ask for everyone’s thoughts on this, because it is so hard to decipher.

Popular Culture (Music) 20110729. Who’s Next

Those of you who read my pieces know that I often write about my favourite band, The Who.  (I used the UK spelling intentionally this time, rare for me these days).  This time we shall examine what many people say was their finest work.  I am not sure that I agree completely, but it was extremely good.

Who’s Next is actually a compilation of songs, most from Townshend, that became an album after the ill fated Lifehouse project, Townshend’s opus, never came to light.  He finally finished it, many years later, but the final product was far different than this record.  We shall discuss Who’s Next tonight, and will continue the discussion about Lifehouse next week, after I see your comments and questions.

First let us get to the facts.  Ready to go?