You may as well say that the Beethoven guy, he's so underappreciated... That Shakespeare whatshisname, he's so underappreciated... His plays rarely get performed.
@@mikethebloodthirsty It's strangely apt in Pete's case. Let's face it: even before videos, sex appeal was a thing & Pete has always been overlooked strictly based on that. On a _recent_ live performance of "Baba O'Reilly" a young female over-excited violin player kissed Roger _Daltry_ with excitement after the song. I think even Daltry's biggest fans would have to acknowledge that his voice was already not what it used to be by the time this album was recorded.
Daltrey has mentioned the fact that hardly any artists cover WHO songs. He really wrote for the group and they don't translate. Roger was the ultimate interpreter
Yeah I thought the same hearing this. Must admit imo, other than Magic Bus, Pete didn't give away any real gems tho. Funny that The Who eventually recorded Magic Bus, so Pete didn't really give that one away.
I had never heard of most of these songs and I'll definitely give them more of a listen. Pete Townshend's songwriting has always been very unique. His use of words and expressions really grabs the listener's attention. The line in "Substitute" "I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth" He's just very different from other songwriters. Great video as always, YP 💖
Thanks, Sophie! He's definitely unique as a songwriter. The stuff he was writing in the 60s was certainly quite different compared to other bands, very artsy.
@@SophieLovesSunsets …..I enjoyed your comment and you chose a great example of PT’s songwriting. I’ve always thought all of the lyrics to “Substitute” were very clever.
there's only one thing that can be said of Pete Townshend. he is a musical genius. am a 65 year old man I saw the who 5 times. and I have seen a lot of great rock bands back in the 70s. living in North Philadelphia PA all the great bands came to Philly. BUT I HAVE REALIZED THAT PETE TOWNSHEND IS A MUSICAL GENIUS. THE WHO IS THE GREATEST ROCK BAND EVER.
Ray Davies may have given away better songs than Pete, but this was a historical deep dive into the workings of Swinging London in the 60s that amazes. This channel is a goldmine of historical things in the music scene.
Also of note is Townshend's song "After the Fire" which he gave to Roger Daltrey for this solo album in 1985. I think this song was originally intended for a mid-eighties Who album, but rancor in the band prevented the completion of creation of this album so Townshed gave it to Daltrey as a peace offering.
‘Club Of Lights’ written by Pete’s big pal Speedy Keen. He wrote ‘Armenia City ln The Sky’ for The Who ( Who Sell Out) and later wrote that massive hit ‘ Something in the Air’ for Thunderclap Newman. I can see you doing something on Speedy pretty soon. This is great by the way . Had no idea about ‘ Magic Bus’ coming out as a single by The Pudding well before The Who released it .
@@bluesrocker91 Didn’t know that. With the remaining members of The Who still out on the road, often with orchestration, l wonder has Pete ever thought of giving ‘Something in the Air’ a crack (live) with the orchestral backing? It was after all a massive hit and would be a nice tribute to Speedy. I think the fans would dig it😀
Yay, Townshend, my favourite! He's always been an incredible songwriter and an amazing guitar player, but not many people seem to ackowledge that. All this song have the charm of the early Who numbers Maybe they would have been better if performed by the Who themselves, like 'Magic Bus'.
Paul Nicholas also co-starred in Lisztomania (1975) with Roger Daltrey, so there's another connection to The Who. You can see him in an early movie called See No Evil (1971) starring Mia Farrow, which is taut little thriller if you haven't seen it. Another interesting tidbit, Nicholas was managing the band The Sweet in the late 60's and recommended them to the record producer who would take them on to international acclaim.
"And I Moved" written for Betty Middler, but declined by her management for being too corny. She would have made it to a global hit. He did it himself, however, it would have revealed it's true charms by Ms. Middler. He was spot on.
You keep knocking out of the park with these videos. And I have to say that 'I Can't Explain' was one of the first songs I ever learned to play on the guitar (Pete, we owe you so much)!
I LOVE your incredible web page! I always look forward to what you have next up your sleeve. Never knew about the Pudding. Absolutely brilliant. The Naturals was released on Liberty records in the States, and The Barron Knights was released on Decca. Never knew Armenia was a speedy keen song. Fleur De Lys cut a song called Liar. In my opinion, this is the best Who song that isn't a Who song, which might be a project for the future, sound-a-likes. Cheers!
I loved the history lesson on The Barron Knights. Weird Al must have heard some of their stuff in his student DJing days. I play The Barron Knights' Never Mind the Presents medley with the Christmas themed parody of Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 every Christmas.
Love that you covered the brilliant Pete Townshend (however after losing my closet person in the world a couple years ago, the intro music of 21 is bittersweet to me). Pete deserves his place at the top of the rockpile for his ahead of their time concepts, his powerful, melodic music and his maximum r&b!
Great episode Yesterday! Lots of stuff I didn’t know! Thanks! I also think of Circles by the Fleur De Lys but I’m not sure if that came out before the Who’s version. Have a good one! Jon
Crazy coincidence! I discovered “Lazy Fat People” earlier in the week was quite intrigued. Thanks for the context. The parody songs by the Knights were hilarious lol.
Very good! I remember reading a review from either Mel Ody Maker or NME maybe that Townshend did a short solo gig and he treated the audience to a cassette tape recording of the demo "Join My Gang". I'm sure someone taped it or it was bootlegged but I've never heard it. Arguably it should be mentioned Townshend contributed music to the art film " The Lone Ranger"( available on You Tube.) Thanx
The Merseys version of So Sad About Us predated The Who's own by five months; sadly it's not up to the standards of "Sorrow" or "The Cat", especially. I look forward to your YP every weekend!
Now, this was something. Ed Oldham must have been psychic. Allen Klein carried a black cloud over him everywhere he went. Paul Nicholas has had a great career from pop singer to dramatic actor. I remember in The Jazz Singer he told Neil Diamond to piss off.
love Pete of course, but i can't help comment on that Nichols fella (aka "Oscar", haha). as i'm watching it i'm thinking, 'that kid looks familiar", then we learn that Oscar became Paul Nichols and was the infamous Cousin Kevin!! YES!! I always liked the Cousin Kevin character and really liked how Nichols had that evil grin and seemed very eager to abuse Tommy. His portrayal of Cousin Kevin always reminded me of Alex in A Clockwork Orange. I've heard that Mick Jagger was almost cast to play Alex?? Maybe Oscar/Nichols would've been a decent play too? haha. forget it, Malcolm McDowell was the best and will go down in history as the face of young Alex FOREVER!!
Never knew that Klein, infamous for wreaking near-havoc on both The Fabs and The Stones, nearly got his avaricious serpentine tentacles around The Who as well. That would have been a perverse trifecta- the three top British bands of the '60s all falling under the Svengali spell of Klein. The Fabs' break-up was a result of many factors (mainly, the boy weren't boys anymore, but young men with differing tastes and personalities destined to go four separate ways) and The Stones to their good fortune happened on Prince Rupert Loewenstein, who saved them from financial ruin and/or serfdom. Townshend was lucky to have such a perspicacious solicitor. This video is fascinating in other ways as well. Never heard of The Barron Knights before; now I wish to know more about them. Thanks again, YP!
Didn't Pete recommend that The Stones hire Allen Klein? Klein had his fingers in a lot of pies including Pete's. But, to be fair, he probably would have done better by him than Lambert and Stamp who robbed The Who blind!
My personal favorite song Pete Townshend wrote for another artist is Peppermint Lump-released as a 45 by Stiff Records in 1979. It is credited to Angie (Angie Porter), a young girl who sings the lead vocal. Pete is completely involved, appearin' next to Angie on the front cover 'n also singin' backin' vocals and playin' some excellent guitar. This is a must hear track for any Pete Townshend fan!
Certain composers cannot have their styles obscured by any artist performing their songs. One can hear a song and think "That sounds like The Who" or "That sounds like Beatles/Wings/McCartney", and it will be because it is a Townshend or McCartney composition.
Like Ray Davies, Pete Townshend writes with a wonderfully skewed way of looking at life. Injecting humour with his social commentary, he gave us so many great songs that could be considered throwaways by many. Doctor, Doctor is a great example as it looks at an unfortunate person with an appalling case of hypochondria. Just like Davies, he peels back the layers to examine what lies beneath the exterior of his subjects. Just brilliant! Pete would probably tell me off for it, but the Oscar track, Join My Gang, has an obvious Monkees influence to it. As for me, I love it! ♥ Contrarily, Heaven On The Seventh Floor is supremely awful!
The title is of the video isn't entirely accurate, YP. Pete didn't specifically write any of those songs for those artists. He submitted his demos to his publishing company in the hopes that anyone would record his songs. 'Join My Gang' is a great song. I never heard his demo but Pete performed it at his first solo concert at the Roundhouse in 1974. You can find the full concert here on TH-cam. Pete tells a funny story about how he met David Bowie. A kid runs up to him telling him a list of songs he liked that Pete wrote. Pete asked the kid how he knew those songs because they were unreleased demo's. The kid said he was an office boy working at Pete's publishers office. He heard all the demo's. That was David Bowie. It was 1966.
Well, he did write "Join My Gang" specifically for Oscar. And the rest were songs that he wrote for other artists to record so the title still applies even if they were not specifically written for anyone in particular
@@YesterdaysPapers Im not so sure he specifically wrote that for Oscar. Where did you read that? If it's in Pete's autobiography, then it's obviously settled. Now, it's entirely possible he did, but to me he had The Who in mind when he wrote it. Many Who songs of that era had the same sort of teenage subject matter. Happy Jack Pictures of Lily Tattoo Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand Little Billy
@@tomcarl8021 According to Townshend, Oscar's father worked for The Who for a while and he asked him to write a song for his son. He was part of the music business in the UK and worked with several arists from the 50s and 60s.
@@YesterdaysPapers I suspect he gave the song to him. I have a feeling it was already written and intended for The Who, but was rejected. I'm sure I'm splitting hairs. I'll leave you alone now.
@@sg-yq8pm If he was so well known how come Pete Townshend didn't know him? And I happen to think that you're still a kid at nineteen, and Pete Townshend apparently does as well, because that's what he called him when he told the story. So, do me a favor, and STFU.
I just love that there was a band called "THE PUDDING." I was friends with a group called "Bangers and Mash" and I myself was in "Afternoon Tea" but I think THE PUDDING has us beat.
The Pudding's version of Magic Bus was also released in Australia as was The Naturals single. Note that Barry Gray also took a slice of It's Was You's credit, along with Eula Parker. Paul 'Oscar' Nicholas released four singles on Reaction, written in turn by Speedy Keen, Pete Townshend, David Bowie, and Barry & Robin Gibb (Holiday). A fifth single, on Polydor after Reaction had folded, was one of his own songs Open Up The Skies.
The song _Fiddle About_ is great, so dramatically disturbing and darkly humorous. Townsend is such an outstanding songwriter, and that guy, Oscar, then? (he sure changed his name a lot, lol), his performance of it in the film was fantastic and stunning, especially when you’re only 9 or 10, haha, and so memorable. I never knew who he was until now. He certainly played and sang a charismatic creep really wonderfully. I’m going to listen to that hit song he had. His vibrato-style singing seemingly predates Johnny Rotten/John Lydon’s similar Sex Pistols “vocal stylings,” ha. IMO. Love your channel❣️
@@daveyvane9431 I had to look it up. Cousin Kevin, the sadistic babysitter, was played by Paul Nicholas, so awesomely psychotic, lol. That song and performance was great too, the whole record is, and the film, too, imo. I get confused, I guess, because I was so young, so long ago. I was thinking: “Gee, I remember that F-A Uncle as an older, or scruffy bum type- looking character. It was Keith Moon. 😵💫🫠
I believe that David Gilmour on his 1980's album titled " About Face " had a tune on it called " All Lovers Are Deranged " was penned by Pete Townshend .
@@rundoetx Screw him. He has thousands of completed songs he won't release. He doesn't need a record label. He can release it all online but he won't. I'm done with him.
So well documented, again, amazing. Funny, the Baron Knights took the direction that was the only one tolerated here in France for a Rock band, while it's totally unusual in England. "French rock? It's like english wine, no?" (J. Lennon). Lucky you, poor us...
Just as Steve Jones and Paul Cook make uncredited appearances as the targets of "preaching from my chair" in "Who Are You", so does Allen Klein in the "lost verse", where the lyric was "One-nighters in the boardroom / Petrify the human brain", referring to a marathon encounter that Pete had with Klein some years later. I know I've seen him talk about the initial encounter and then Klein's flying back into the group's orbit to try to make good on threats to have control over their music.
Never heard any of these songs except of course Magic Bus by the Who. Not even Heaven on the 7th Floor here in America. Big thanks for this musical education YP.
If an artist writes a song for another band/artist then decided to do their own version is it a cover or not? That's what I've been asking myself since I found out Magic Bus was written for a different group 😂
Video full of great stories! I like the story of "Magic Bus" and the band Oscar. Didn't Pete Townshend wrote "There's Something In The Air" by Thunderclap Newman? (1969) Anyway, Pete Townshend was and still is a great songwriter and musician!
The keyboard player from Thunderclap Newman wrote "Armenia City In the Sky" for The Who and he was friend of Townshend. I don't think Townshend co-wrote "Something In the Air", though. Thanks, Edwin! Glad you enjoyed the video.
I remember reading that Pete wrote "And I Moved' off the Empty Glass album for Bet Midler and she turned him down. Don't know if that's true or not, but it is one strange song.
I remember Paul Nicholas was in The Jazz Singer starring Neil Diamond. He played a British punk musician named Keith Lennox who took Diamond’s character’s song, the ballad, Love On The Rocks and punked it out. The soundtrack to that movie was fantastic but the movie…meh. Sorry Neil.
I hadn't known of The Pudding's version of Magic Bus previously, but the Jonjo publishing credit on the label gave it away that they had a Jonathan King connection as well as your mention of members of Hedgehoppers Anonymous being partially responsible.
I thought that the last one was going to be the massive hit he gave to Thunderclap Newman with Something in The Air, as far as I know, it was a song written by Townshend. Unless you have plans for a part 2, of course. 😅
Paul nicholas. I love that top five us hit. I remember when it came out I was 6 years old. I hadn't heard it for like 25 years and heard it again in the late '90s. Pretty cool. He is much more known for his acting since he did a lot more of that though check out the pictures leave on that record. It's really 1970s glam.
Magic Bus ultimately became known as the encore song in the era of destroyed instruments. Entwistle never smashed his bass and they could perform the song with bass and Moon playing blocks instead of his (broken) drums.
This was a very highly interesting video clip, as always here. But in regards Pete Townshend pitching songs, you left out one. In 1966, he gave a song to a group called The Rocking Vickers, It's Alright. It was his answer to The Kids Are Alright, but the lyrics are different, and only tiny snippets of the tune are the same. Their lead guitarist was Ian Kilmister, who years later became better known as Lemmy of Motorhead fame. Pete had already recorded a demo of Lazy Fat People which appeared on a bootleg CD Scoop 4, but is playable on TH-cam, and is worth a listen, as it is amusing in it's own way, in fact even more amusing. Somebody here pointed that he gave another song, So Sad About Us to The Merseys, five months before The Who themselves recorded it. But before then, he recorded a demo of it, not then released, but is now on his official Scoop 1 CD. th-cam.com/video/ssxrmX2qJGY/w-d-xo.html Pete Townshend's original demo of Magic Bus that you mentioned is now on that same Scoop 1 CD, and I think is a more interesting pre-Who version. th-cam.com/video/5Z7QX0GUUMg/w-d-xo.html You also explained that The Who travelled to the States in 1967 to meet Allen Klein as a solicitor to sort out the group's legal battle with their former producer Shel Talmy. But according to an autobiography book I have of theirs, it appears that that dispute was settled in mid 1966. They claimed themselves that they did not like his recording techniques, so they signed to another producer, breaching their contract with him. He sued the band in court which resulted in them not being allowed to record further material until the dispute was finalized. This was after the release of their Substitute single. They then made an out-of-court settlement with him, entitling him to a percentage of royalties of their record sales for the next seven years, including early sales of their then-future Tommy double album. They did not state what this percentage was. But they did state that he agreed, so The Who were then allowed to start recording new material again. Furthermore, I did not know that Allen Klein was a solicitor, I thought he was an accountant, manager, record company executive, and a music publisher. I was aware that The Rolling Stones had a disastrous fall-out with him during the early seventies, and he got the copyrights to ALL of their material up to then. But that was another story.
It’s funny how over the last 20ish years the media and world has finally realised about Pete Townshend. He was always placed in ‘tier 2’ at best from the 60s artists, but I’ve always felt he can stand alongside the Beatles. A moment that made me realise this at a young age (12) was when it was him stood with McCartney and Bowie lifting Geldof onto their shoulders. They were the ones that really knew.
No mention of Pete's contributions to David Gilmour's second solo album "About Face" after Pink Floyd broke up?! I suppose that since none of Gilmour/Townsend songs were released as singles then this fits the theme of this video. Still, I would think that an honorable mention to draw attention to those songs would be a good idea and informative. Pete was a prolific songwriter not just in the 60's and 70's but into the 80's as well. "About Face" was released in the early 80's and had at least 3 songs from Pete on it. I believe I have that info correct. I spent a lot of time listening to that album as there was no new Floyd album to listen to at that time and I had to wonder about David and Pete's musical relationship.
Interesting doc didn't realize Pete had given away songs to others🥒had heard of the Merseys So Sad about us but not these,might look them up for the full versions particularly like the covers of It was you thanks for the post Auckland New Zealand 2023
Pete has a high place in Rock and Roll Olympus. Criminally under appreciated.
always an 'under appreciated' guy in the comment section...
You may as well say that the Beethoven guy, he's so underappreciated... That Shakespeare whatshisname, he's so underappreciated... His plays rarely get performed.
I guess the comment and these 19 thumbs up morons are criminally over appreciated😊
@@mikethebloodthirsty It's strangely apt in Pete's case. Let's face it: even before videos, sex appeal was a thing & Pete has always been overlooked strictly based on that. On a _recent_ live performance of "Baba O'Reilly" a young female over-excited violin player kissed Roger _Daltry_ with excitement after the song.
I think even Daltry's biggest fans would have to acknowledge that his voice was already not what it used to be by the time this album was recorded.
Daltrey has mentioned the fact that hardly any artists cover WHO songs.
He really wrote for the group and they don't translate.
Roger was the ultimate interpreter
Long- time Who fan. I feel like I’m living in an alternate universe learning this stuff, especially about ‘Magic Bus’!
Yeah I thought the same hearing this. Must admit imo, other than Magic Bus, Pete didn't give away any real gems tho. Funny that The Who eventually recorded Magic Bus, so Pete didn't really give that one away.
me too....
I had never heard of most of these songs and I'll definitely give them more of a listen. Pete Townshend's songwriting has always been very unique. His use of words and expressions really grabs the listener's attention. The line in "Substitute" "I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth" He's just very different from other songwriters.
Great video as always, YP 💖
Thanks, Sophie! He's definitely unique as a songwriter. The stuff he was writing in the 60s was certainly quite different compared to other bands, very artsy.
@@YesterdaysPapers You described it much better than me. It was very artsy ❤
@@SophieLovesSunsets …..I enjoyed your comment and you chose a great example of PT’s songwriting. I’ve always thought all of the lyrics to “Substitute” were very clever.
@@lindadote Thank you, Linda 🙂💖
The lyrics to Substitute are up there with Dylan's Like A Rolling Stone from the year before which was a game changer.
Townsend had the measure of Allan Klein early on. Another excellent vlog
Lol @ Pete’s debriefing of Klein meeting 😂😂😂 Thanks for these gems, your pick on 1921 and Long live rock and Peter Towshend
there's only one thing that can be said of Pete Townshend. he is a musical genius. am a 65 year old man I saw the who 5 times. and I have seen a lot of great rock bands back in the 70s. living in North Philadelphia PA all the great bands came to Philly. BUT I HAVE REALIZED THAT PETE TOWNSHEND IS A MUSICAL GENIUS. THE WHO IS THE GREATEST ROCK BAND EVER.
Magic Bus is a great song.... when done by The Who.
Ray Davies may have given away better songs than Pete, but this was a historical deep dive into the workings of Swinging London in the 60s that amazes. This channel is a goldmine of historical things in the music scene.
Thanks!
I really like this new songwriter series… First Ray Davies, and now Pete Townshend. Hope you can keep it up! I suggest Roy Wood…
@mick rathe Hazel Eyes which was Neil Reid's comeback single after the former child star's voice broke, and Ayshea's Farewell.
Only hit outside the move wizzard and solo for Roy wood was hello Suzy by amen corner , in the uk that is .
And Bowie.
Pete’s intros are the greatest of any band! Prove me wrong!
Pete is legend as he was the primary composer for The Who outside of the couple of Ox songs on an album and equal to Ray Davies - amazing career.
Also of note is Townshend's song "After the Fire" which he
gave to Roger Daltrey for this solo album in 1985.
I think this song was originally intended for a mid-eighties
Who album, but rancor in the band prevented the completion
of creation of this album so Townshed gave it to Daltrey as
a peace offering.
Townshend also gave 2 songs to David Gilmour for his early eighties solo album "About Face" Murder and All Lovers Are Deranged. Great Album.
‘Club Of Lights’ written by Pete’s big pal Speedy Keen. He wrote ‘Armenia City ln The Sky’ for The Who ( Who Sell Out) and later wrote that massive hit ‘ Something in the Air’ for Thunderclap Newman. I can see you doing something on Speedy pretty soon. This is great by the way . Had no idea about ‘ Magic Bus’ coming out as a single by The Pudding well before The Who released it .
I saw the Classic Albums episode about The Who Sell Out and it was a surprise to me that Speedy Keen sang on as well as wrote Armenia City In The Sky.
Armenia is my favorite Who song. Love that freaky guitar solo
Pete actually played the bass on 'Something in the Air' under the pseudonym Bijou Drains.
@@bluesrocker91 Didn’t know that. With the remaining members of The Who still out on the road, often with orchestration, l wonder has Pete ever thought of giving ‘Something in the Air’ a crack (live) with the orchestral backing? It was after all a massive hit and would be a nice tribute to Speedy. I think the fans would dig it😀
Pete Townshend. A legend if there ever was one.
@DARKO I wasn't talking about you, but thanks for playing 😀 👍
@DARKO alright, then... maybe have them check your dosages? Oh, and spend less time with the bunny 🐰
To say John Entwistle disliked Magic Bus would be understating things. He hated the “Ten minutes of A”.
Cool photos of the detours bid who fan from day #1 thanks YP great fun cheers!
Cheers, Jerry!
Love Pete and The Who very much!! Never heard of some of the songs you mentioned
Thank you for this video ❤
Yay, Townshend, my favourite! He's always been an incredible songwriter and an amazing guitar player, but not many people seem to ackowledge that.
All this song have the charm of the early Who numbers Maybe they would have been better if performed by the Who themselves, like 'Magic Bus'.
Paul Nicholas also co-starred in Lisztomania (1975) with Roger Daltrey, so there's another connection to The Who. You can see him in an early movie called See No Evil (1971) starring Mia Farrow, which is taut little thriller if you haven't seen it. Another interesting tidbit, Nicholas was managing the band The Sweet in the late 60's and recommended them to the record producer who would take them on to international acclaim.
Mia was a taut little thriller, too.
When I turned 40 a few years ago I purchased a crusty 1967 VW Splitscreen bus. I play The WHO’s vers of Magic Bus a lot and I love it
The Barron Knights sounded like a fun group in concert--love the song parody genre!
"Love on the Air" written for David Gilmour / About Face album.
"And I Moved" written for Betty Middler, but declined by her management for being too corny. She would have made it to a global hit. He did it himself, however, it would have revealed it's true charms by Ms. Middler. He was spot on.
What an interesting video, apart from Magic Bus, the Who's version, i'd never heard any of those other artists or songs. Thanks Yesterdays Papers
Cheers, Neil!
You really ought to do a video on Screaming Lord Sutch. You are one hell of a historian. Great channel. Glad I subscribed.
Yes! There would be no Alice Cooper if not for Lord Sutch!
You keep knocking out of the park with these videos. And I have to say that 'I Can't Explain' was one of the first songs I ever learned to play on the guitar (Pete, we owe you so much)!
I LOVE your incredible web page! I always look forward to what you have next up your sleeve. Never knew about the Pudding. Absolutely brilliant. The Naturals was released on Liberty records in the States, and The Barron Knights was released on Decca. Never knew Armenia was a speedy keen song. Fleur De Lys cut a song called Liar. In my opinion, this is the best Who song that isn't a Who song, which might be a project for the future, sound-a-likes. Cheers!
Brilliant piece of digging and delving. Other than the Who's version of "Magic Bus", I've never heard any of these.
I loved the history lesson on The Barron Knights. Weird Al must have heard some of their stuff in his student DJing days. I play The Barron Knights' Never Mind the Presents medley with the Christmas themed parody of Another Brick in the Wall Part 2 every Christmas.
Love that you covered the brilliant Pete Townshend (however after losing my closet person in the world a couple years ago, the intro music of 21 is bittersweet to me). Pete deserves his place at the top of the rockpile for his ahead of their time concepts, his powerful, melodic music and his maximum r&b!
Great episode Yesterday! Lots of stuff I didn’t know! Thanks! I also think of Circles by the Fleur De Lys but I’m not sure if that came out before the Who’s version. Have a good one! Jon
Thanks, Jon! That version of "Circles" is better than the original, IMO. Brilliant version. It was released after the original by The Who.
Very cool outro with Paul Nicholas whose bonzo portray of Richard Wagner in LISZTOMANIA " Out TOMMY'S TOMMY!"😄
Magic Bus was my second favorite song of 1968. The Ultimate Who is the best greatest hits album ever.
in America Majid Bus was very popular...
and not a sole cares, o one came here hopiong to fnd out what chasjohn's fav song is we truly couldn't care any less this is not about you
@@slowery43 Locate the room at the place you live with the porcelain bowl and soak your head in it.
Oscar = Cousin Kevin. Mind blown
This channel is just a gem. Thank you for all these videos.
Thanks!
Crazy coincidence! I discovered “Lazy Fat People” earlier in the week was quite intrigued. Thanks for the context. The parody songs by the Knights were hilarious lol.
I love these episodes that go on about this vibrant British music scene that we in the States got only a small part of.
I know he didn't write the song for them but Le Fleur De Lys pretty much made Circles their own. Far superior to The Who's version in my opinion.
I agree, brilliant cover. The definitive version of "Circles", in my opinion.
I prefer the Who's lesser known EP version of Circles, the one without horn section.
Love both versions but the Who just edge it.
An excellent explanation of how the Barron Knights got to record Lazy Fat People and I hadn't known before it was written about Allen Klein!
Very good! I remember reading a review from either Mel Ody Maker or NME maybe that Townshend did a short solo gig and he treated the audience to a cassette tape recording of the demo "Join My Gang". I'm sure someone taped it or it was bootlegged but I've never heard it. Arguably it should be mentioned Townshend contributed music to the art film " The Lone Ranger"( available on You Tube.) Thanx
The Merseys version of So Sad About Us predated The Who's own by five months; sadly it's not up to the standards of "Sorrow" or "The Cat", especially. I look forward to your YP every weekend!
The Who's version is sonically one of their very best recordings 😎
Thanks!
Beat me to it!
Now, this was something. Ed Oldham must have been psychic. Allen Klein carried a black cloud over him everywhere he went. Paul Nicholas has had a great career from pop singer to dramatic actor. I remember in The Jazz Singer he told Neil Diamond to piss off.
Definitely, the Beatles and the Stones should've had Edward Oldham as their solicitor as well.
Excellent! I've been learning new stuff from you guys and I thought I was well versed. Glad I'm wrong.
love Pete of course, but i can't help comment on that Nichols fella (aka "Oscar", haha).
as i'm watching it i'm thinking, 'that kid looks familiar", then we learn that Oscar became Paul Nichols and was the infamous Cousin Kevin!! YES!!
I always liked the Cousin Kevin character and really liked how Nichols had that evil grin and seemed very eager to abuse Tommy. His portrayal of Cousin Kevin always reminded me of Alex in A Clockwork Orange.
I've heard that Mick Jagger was almost cast to play Alex?? Maybe Oscar/Nichols would've been a decent play too? haha. forget it, Malcolm McDowell was the best and will go down in history as the face of young Alex FOREVER!!
Never knew that Klein, infamous for wreaking near-havoc on both The Fabs and The Stones, nearly got his avaricious serpentine tentacles around The Who as well. That would have been a perverse trifecta- the three top British bands of the '60s all falling under the Svengali spell of Klein. The Fabs' break-up was a result of many factors (mainly, the boy weren't boys anymore, but young men with differing tastes and personalities destined to go four separate ways) and The Stones to their good fortune happened on Prince Rupert Loewenstein, who saved them from financial ruin and/or serfdom. Townshend was lucky to have such a perspicacious solicitor. This video is fascinating in other ways as well. Never heard of The Barron Knights before; now I wish to know more about them. Thanks again, YP!
Didn't Pete recommend that The Stones hire Allen Klein?
Klein had his fingers in a lot of pies including Pete's. But, to be fair, he probably would have done better by him than Lambert and Stamp who robbed The Who blind!
Very interesting i didn't know about magic bus being brought out first by another music artist.
Two great discoveries, for me: ''LAZY FAT PEOPLE'' and ''JOIN MY GANG''. This last one captivated me.😍9:11
Thanks, YP.😀
Cheers, Kat!
@@YesterdaysPapers Cheers! 🤗🤗🤗
My personal favorite song Pete Townshend wrote for another artist is Peppermint Lump-released as a 45 by Stiff Records in 1979. It is credited to Angie (Angie Porter), a young girl who sings the lead vocal. Pete is completely involved, appearin' next to Angie on the front cover 'n also singin' backin' vocals and playin' some excellent guitar. This is a must hear track for any Pete Townshend fan!
It's a Who song with a different singer - you hear Townshend on backing vocals.
Love it
Yes" I still have this Angie Single, Peppermint Lump, Glad Somebody Mentioned it, Dident Know Pete Townshend Played On It..👍
His presence is unmistakable.@@ronaldyardley8965
The intro has "And I Moved" all over it, and whoever played the drums on that one had the ghost of Keith Moon looking over their shoulder.
Brilliant production - I swear these are getting better and better!
Thank you very much, Delbert!
Definitely digging The Barron Knights 😎
Certain composers cannot have their styles obscured by any artist performing their songs. One can hear a song and think "That sounds like The Who" or "That sounds like Beatles/Wings/McCartney", and it will be because it is a Townshend or McCartney composition.
shel talmy who's still with us today at 85 produced the first 5 or 6 singles of both the who and the kinks. that's a tremendous success rate.
These are the best, I really enjoy them.
Like Ray Davies, Pete Townshend writes with a wonderfully skewed way of looking at life. Injecting humour with his social commentary, he gave us so many great songs that could be considered throwaways by many. Doctor, Doctor is a great example as it looks at an unfortunate person with an appalling case of hypochondria. Just like Davies, he peels back the layers to examine what lies beneath the exterior of his subjects. Just brilliant!
Pete would probably tell me off for it, but the Oscar track, Join My Gang, has an obvious Monkees influence to it. As for me, I love it! ♥
Contrarily, Heaven On The Seventh Floor is supremely awful!
Yeah, that guitar is remniscent of "Last Train to Clarksville".
@@YesterdaysPapers Huzzah! I'm not the only one who hears it 😁
Don’t you mean Ray Davies?
@@danieleyre8913 Yeah, sorry. Don't know why my brain said Dave. It was only a few days ago I was extolling Ray's virtues so call it a brain fart.
The title is of the video isn't entirely accurate, YP. Pete didn't specifically write any of those songs for those artists. He submitted his demos to his publishing company in the hopes that anyone would record his songs.
'Join My Gang' is a great song. I never heard his demo but Pete performed it at his first solo concert at the Roundhouse in 1974. You can find the full concert here on TH-cam.
Pete tells a funny story about how he met David Bowie. A kid runs up to him telling him a list of songs he liked that Pete wrote. Pete asked the kid how he knew those songs because they were unreleased demo's. The kid said he was an office boy working at Pete's publishers office. He heard all the demo's. That was David Bowie. It was 1966.
Well, he did write "Join My Gang" specifically for Oscar. And the rest were songs that he wrote for other artists to record so the title still applies even if they were not specifically written for anyone in particular
@@YesterdaysPapers Im not so sure he specifically wrote that for Oscar. Where did you read that? If it's in Pete's autobiography, then it's obviously settled.
Now, it's entirely possible he did, but to me he had The Who in mind when he wrote it. Many Who songs of that era had the same sort of teenage subject matter.
Happy Jack
Pictures of Lily
Tattoo
Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand
Little Billy
@@tomcarl8021 According to Townshend, Oscar's father worked for The Who for a while and he asked him to write a song for his son.
He was part of the music business in the UK and worked with several arists from the 50s and 60s.
@@YesterdaysPapers I suspect he gave the song to him. I have a feeling it was already written and intended for The Who, but was rejected.
I'm sure I'm splitting hairs. I'll leave you alone now.
@@sg-yq8pm If he was so well known how come Pete Townshend didn't know him?
And I happen to think that you're still a kid at nineteen, and Pete Townshend apparently does as well, because that's what he called him when he told the story.
So, do me a favor, and STFU.
I just love that there was a band called "THE PUDDING." I was friends with a group called "Bangers and Mash" and I myself was in "Afternoon Tea" but I think THE PUDDING has us beat.
I might be wrong but didn’t some members of The Pudding form a supergroup with The Sweet?
@@lthompson7625 Yes, they also toured with Hot Chocolate and the lead singer's daughter was in Bananarama!
Awesome again, interesting to find out how early he was signed into a deal.
this is really cool, could you do one about marriott/lane that would be really cool
The Pudding's version of Magic Bus was also released in Australia as was The Naturals single.
Note that Barry Gray also took a slice of It's Was You's credit, along with Eula Parker.
Paul 'Oscar' Nicholas released four singles on Reaction, written in turn by Speedy Keen, Pete Townshend, David Bowie, and Barry & Robin Gibb (Holiday). A fifth single, on Polydor after Reaction had folded, was one of his own songs Open Up The Skies.
The song _Fiddle About_ is great, so dramatically disturbing and darkly humorous.
Townsend is such an outstanding songwriter, and that guy, Oscar, then? (he sure changed his name a lot, lol), his performance of it in the film was fantastic and stunning, especially when you’re only 9 or 10, haha, and so memorable.
I never knew who he was until now.
He certainly played and sang a charismatic creep really wonderfully. I’m going to listen to that hit song he had. His vibrato-style singing seemingly predates Johnny Rotten/John Lydon’s similar Sex Pistols “vocal stylings,” ha. IMO. Love your channel❣️
Thanks!
Fiddle is John Entwistle.
@@daveyvane9431
I had to look it up. Cousin Kevin, the sadistic babysitter, was played by Paul Nicholas, so awesomely psychotic, lol. That song and performance was great too, the whole record is, and the film, too, imo. I get confused, I guess, because I was so young, so long ago.
I was thinking: “Gee, I remember that F-A Uncle as an older, or scruffy bum type- looking character. It was Keith Moon. 😵💫🫠
Fiddle sounds more townshend based.
I believe that David Gilmour on his 1980's album titled " About Face " had a tune on it called " All Lovers Are Deranged " was penned by Pete Townshend .
Pete Townshend is a fine songwriter. I hope he is feeling alright.
He has a new solo album coming out soon.
@@rundoetx He has a new single. I don't think he's releasing an album.
@@tomcarl8021 I can dream cant I? Lol
@@rundoetx Screw him. He has thousands of completed songs he won't release. He doesn't need a record label. He can release it all online but he won't. I'm done with him.
@@tomcarl8021 The NME says its possibly a new album.
So well documented, again, amazing.
Funny, the Baron Knights took the direction that was the only one tolerated here in France for a Rock band, while it's totally unusual in England. "French rock? It's like english wine, no?" (J. Lennon). Lucky you, poor us...
Just as Steve Jones and Paul Cook make uncredited appearances as the targets of "preaching from my chair" in "Who Are You", so does Allen Klein in the "lost verse", where the lyric was "One-nighters in the boardroom / Petrify the human brain", referring to a marathon encounter that Pete had with Klein some years later. I know I've seen him talk about the initial encounter and then Klein's flying back into the group's orbit to try to make good on threats to have control over their music.
Never heard any of these songs except of course Magic Bus by the Who. Not even Heaven on the 7th Floor here in America. Big thanks for this musical education YP.
Cheers, Willie.
Brilliant stuff aa usual, some stuff I didn't know in there
If an artist writes a song for another band/artist then decided to do their own version is it a cover or not? That's what I've been asking myself since I found out Magic Bus was written for a different group 😂
No it's not,how can someone cover their own material?
Video full of great stories! I like the story of "Magic Bus" and the band Oscar. Didn't Pete Townshend wrote "There's Something In The Air" by Thunderclap Newman? (1969) Anyway, Pete Townshend was and still is a great songwriter and musician!
The keyboard player from Thunderclap Newman wrote "Armenia City In the Sky" for The Who and he was friend of Townshend. I don't think Townshend co-wrote "Something In the Air", though. Thanks, Edwin! Glad you enjoyed the video.
@@YesterdaysPapers
Thank you for your friendly reply! Interesting information! Cheers!
Townshend played bass and produced Thunderclap Newman’s album Hollywood Dream…
@@cameronlewis1218 Under the pseudonym of “Bijou Drains”!
Peter produced it
I remember reading that Pete wrote "And I Moved' off the Empty Glass album for Bet Midler and she turned him down. Don't know if that's true or not, but it is one strange song.
The Pudding's version was never a hit because they lost the Bo Diddley rhythm that defines the song.
Townshend is the kind of genius where even his fails are fascinating
I remember Paul Nicholas was in The Jazz Singer starring Neil Diamond. He played a British punk musician named Keith Lennox who took Diamond’s character’s song, the ballad, Love On The Rocks and punked it out. The soundtrack to that movie was fantastic but the movie…meh. Sorry Neil.
I hadn't known of The Pudding's version of Magic Bus previously, but the Jonjo publishing credit on the label gave it away that they had a Jonathan King connection as well as your mention of members of Hedgehoppers Anonymous being partially responsible.
I thought that the last one was going to be the massive hit he gave to Thunderclap Newman with Something in The Air, as far as I know, it was a song written by Townshend. Unless you have plans for a part 2, of course. 😅
That song wasn't written by Pete Townshend.
@@YesterdaysPapers Wait, I made a mistake, Pete was just the catalyst behind the formation of the band; sorry, I was confused 😅
@@mendezsalvadormendez8150 Yep, he produced that song as well.
Paul nicholas. I love that top five us hit. I remember when it came out I was 6 years old. I hadn't heard it for like 25 years and heard it again in the late '90s. Pretty cool. He is much more known for his acting since he did a lot more of that though check out the pictures leave on that record. It's really 1970s glam.
Great video YP 👍
Thanks! Glad you liked it.
Chairman Townshend never disappoints. Join my gang is a wonderful tune. It’s a drag there’s not a proper PT version of it released to the world.
Far out stuff...I dig it man !
As always brilliant xxx
Magic Bus ultimately became known as the encore song in the era of destroyed instruments. Entwistle never smashed his bass and they could perform the song with bass and Moon playing blocks instead of his (broken) drums.
Gee calling yourself the Pudding is a recipe for success.🎉 Didn't even know about that one ,sounds okay too.
Very cool. Anyone know what the footage is starting at 2:22?
This was a very highly interesting video clip, as always here. But in regards Pete Townshend pitching songs, you left out one. In 1966, he gave a song to a group called The Rocking Vickers, It's Alright. It was his answer to The Kids Are Alright, but the lyrics are different, and only tiny snippets of the tune are the same. Their lead guitarist was Ian Kilmister, who years later became better known as Lemmy of Motorhead fame.
Pete had already recorded a demo of Lazy Fat People which appeared on a bootleg CD Scoop 4, but is playable on TH-cam, and is worth a listen, as it is amusing in it's own way, in fact even more amusing.
Somebody here pointed that he gave another song, So Sad About Us to The Merseys, five months before The Who themselves recorded it. But before then, he recorded a demo of it, not then released, but is now on his official Scoop 1 CD.
th-cam.com/video/ssxrmX2qJGY/w-d-xo.html
Pete Townshend's original demo of Magic Bus that you mentioned is now on that same Scoop 1 CD, and I think is a more interesting pre-Who version.
th-cam.com/video/5Z7QX0GUUMg/w-d-xo.html
You also explained that The Who travelled to the States in 1967 to meet Allen Klein as a solicitor to sort out the group's legal battle with their former producer Shel Talmy. But according to an autobiography book I have of theirs, it appears that that dispute was settled in mid 1966. They claimed themselves that they did not like his recording techniques, so they signed to another producer, breaching their contract with him. He sued the band in court which resulted in them not being allowed to record further material until the dispute was finalized. This was after the release of their Substitute single. They then made an out-of-court settlement with him, entitling him to a percentage of royalties of their record sales for the next seven years, including early sales of their then-future Tommy double album. They did not state what this percentage was. But they did state that he agreed, so The Who were then allowed to start recording new material again. Furthermore, I did not know that Allen Klein was a solicitor, I thought he was an accountant, manager, record company executive, and a music publisher. I was aware that The Rolling Stones had a disastrous fall-out with him during the early seventies, and he got the copyrights to ALL of their material up to then. But that was another story.
I was going to comment about that song glad you did!
Townsend is a genius Tommy
Interesting that he saw through Klein’s BS immediately.
It’s funny how over the last 20ish years the media and world has finally realised about Pete Townshend. He was always placed in ‘tier 2’ at best from the 60s artists, but I’ve always felt he can stand alongside the Beatles. A moment that made me realise this at a young age (12) was when it was him stood with McCartney and Bowie lifting Geldof onto their shoulders. They were the ones that really knew.
Is the John Stewart who produced Magic Bus from the Kingston Trio?
I thought for sure you were winding up to say Paul Nichols came to a grisly, unseemly end. Apparently he's still alive.
Hahaha!
No mention of Pete's contributions to David Gilmour's second solo album "About Face" after Pink Floyd broke up?! I suppose that since none of Gilmour/Townsend songs were released as singles then this fits the theme of this video. Still, I would think that an honorable mention to draw attention to those songs would be a good idea and informative. Pete was a prolific songwriter not just in the 60's and 70's but into the 80's as well. "About Face" was released in the early 80's and had at least 3 songs from Pete on it. I believe I have that info correct. I spent a lot of time listening to that album as there was no new Floyd album to listen to at that time and I had to wonder about David and Pete's musical relationship.
Pete Townshend solo albums were good also especially his first one-all the songs were good not one filler in the lot.
There's another song that Pete wrote to the band called (thunderclap Newman) it was "something in the air"
He produced that song but he didn't write it.
Ever do a story on the detours what songs they had and who played in the band and what band they turned into?
Not Magic Bus!!!!!
I Love that Song!!! Who does it Fantastic!!!!! A Fav!
Interesting doc didn't realize Pete had given away songs to others🥒had heard of the Merseys So Sad about us but not these,might look them up for the full versions particularly like the covers of It was you thanks for the post Auckland New Zealand 2023
Substitute, fantastic song.
Join My Gang sounds a bit like Do You Wanna Be In My Gang...
I love the early Who, but "Magic Bus" sounds like a re-writing of "My Generation" in a hippy way
4:21 Weird Al stole their act, complete with the food themes.
What about "Something In The Air" by Thunderclap Newman? Pete even played bass on that recording. Possibly his biggest non-Who song.
He produced that song but he didn't write it.
"Magic Bus", the Live at Leeds version!