The Who Sell Out
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The Who Sell Out (see 1967 in music) is The Who's third album. It is a concept album, formatted as a collection of unrelated songs interspersed with faux commercials and public service announcements. The album purports to be a broadcast by pirate radio station Radio London. Part of the intended irony of the title was that The Who was actually making commercials during that period of their career, some of which are included as bonus tracks on the remastered CD.
The cover is divided into panels featuring each of the band members, two on the front and two on the back. Front: Pete Townshend applying Odorono brand deodorant from an oversized stick; Roger Daltrey sitting in a bathtub full of Heinz baked beans. Back: Keith Moon applying Medac from an oversized tube; John Entwistle in a leopard-skin Tarzan suit, squeezing a blonde woman in a leopard-skin bikini with one arm and a teddy bear with the other (an ad for the Charles Atlas course mentioned in one of the album's faux commercials). Originally Moon was seen applying a tube of Clearasil, but the manufacturer objected and the cover was changed for the US and subsequent editions.
The album's release was reportedly followed by a bevy of lawsuits due to the mention of real-world commercial interests in the faux commercials and on the album covers, and by the makers of the real jingles (Radio London jingles), who claimed The Who used them without permission. (The jingles were produced by PAMS Productions of Dallas, Texas, which created thousands of station ID jingles in the 1960s and 1970s.)
"I Can See For Miles" was released as a single and became a hit; it remained in The Who's concert repertoire throughout the rest of their career. "Rael" was an excerpt from one of Pete Townshend's early attempts at rock opera. The plot is not clear from the excerpt, but it apparently involves a heroic "Captain" who is betrayed by his crew during a clandestine attempt to save Rael (Israel) from a looming invasion by the Red Chins (Red Chinese). The dramatic instrumental section in the second half of the song shows up as a dreamy sequence in both "Sparks" and "Underture" of the later rock opera Tommy. A live version of "Tattoo" appears on the remastered CDs of the Live at Leeds album. The remaining songs on The Who Sell Out have had little impact, and are almost unknown outside the circle of Who fans. "Mary-Anne With The Shaky Hand" is variously listed with and without the hyphen, and with or without an -s pluralizing Hand.
In 2005, singer Petra Haden released a complete re-creation of the entire album, done entirely a capella (even the instruments). Pete Townshend said of her interpretation, "I love it. It is exquisite." ([1]) He also remarked, "I felt like I'd received something better than a Grammy." Haden's work has prompted a number of fans (and others) to take a closer look at the original.
In 2003, the album was ranked number 113 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Track listing
- All tracks written by Pete Townshend, except where noted.
The Who Sell Out (original 1967 release)
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Bonus tracks (1995 remastered CD)
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Editions
[ 1967] Track 612 002 (mono) / 613 002 (stereo)- Original UK LP release. Cover and tracks as described above. The first 1000 copies of the UK release included a psychedelic poster by Adrian George; a detail is shown on the inside of the remastered CD's case. Producer
[ 1968] Decca DL 4950 (mono) / DL 74950 (stereo)- Original USA LP release. Cover and tracks as described above. Producer
[ 1974] Track/MCA MCAD2-4067 (stereo)- Re-issued as one of a two-LP set along with A Quick One. Track list and order as described above.
[ 1995] MCAD-11268 (ISBN 08811-12682)
References
- Many of the factual details in this article are derived from the insert to the remastered CD of 1995, ISBN 08811-12682.
External links
| The Who |
|---|
| Roger Daltrey | Pete Townshend | John Entwistle | Keith Moon |
| Kenny Jones - John "Rabbit" Bundrick - Pino Palladino - Zak Starkey Simon Townshend - Jon Carin - Simon Phillips - Doug Sandom - Colin Dawson |
| Listings |
| Discography - Filmography |
| Other related people |
| Peter Meaden - Kit Lambert - Chris Stamp |
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