CLASSIC song from THE WHO's rock opera TOMMY, about a deaf, dumb, and blind wonderchild who leads a movement. It's just one song that's part of a whole story. It's an awesome album loaded with lots of other classic songs in it, and it eventually became a movie as well as an on Broadway show.
I had to run get my computer to make sure someone told them the reason the vocals sound so clear is because it was a "Rock Opera"! Strange movie I saw it when it came out I was only 13 I think and I actually felt high when I came out. WASN"T but felt like it. It was a trip for sure!
This is on the album "Tommy", which was released in 1969 and written as a rock opera by Pete Townsend. This song is a small part of a larger album length story. Kind of like their album Quadrophenia.
Brad & Lex - I have been watching your platform religiously for the last - I think - 6 months and love your reactions and your other content. I am impressed how you both (as a team) have been able to listen to decades of music in random sequence - and then re-orient the music back into sequence through the decades. It would be like a literature student randomly reading the classical, romantic & modernist writers and then figuring out where everybody belongs on a time frame and trying to understand their influences. Not easy to do. So i love watching you do that. Some day - here in rock-n-roll school - you will get to the subculture known as "The Mods" - which began in London (60s & 70s) and spread here to the States (80s). In the Mods' subculture of music & style - fans wore nice suits with long green coats or "parkas" over them and they rode around on scooters made by Vespa or Lambretta. The Mods were actually rivals with "rockers" and the two acted like rival gangs often getting into fights with each other. You can explore this subculture in movies like Quadrophenia & Tommy. But here's an important point: the Who are the kings of the Mod subculture. The band was worshiped by the Mods. So when you say this song sounds "old" - remember - it's music that comes from a specific subculture of 60s & 70's. Other popular bands with the Mods were the Kinks and the Yardbirds. Of course. all 3 bands were loved by rock fans outside of the Mod subculture as well. Thanks & I hope you further explore this music.
You're right. This was kind of a transitional period for the Who. This was released in 1969 as part of the "Tommy" rock opera LP. (It would later become a movie, and even a Broadway Show.) They were leaving behind the pop-sounding 3 minute songs of the 60's, and moving into the 70's where would they would become a major force in rock. An interesting reaction!
The guitarist, Pete Townsend is known for whipping his hand in a full windmill to get that huge power chord. Also, all the different CSI shows each use a different Who song as the show open song.
@@cdm46290 how do you drab yourself with a whammy bar? Did it not have the plastic tip on the end or something? Also, what guitar was he playing that has a whammy?
I've heard this song literally hundreds of times over the years, but I never once stopped to appreciate the clear enunciation. It's amazing what you can pick up from a fresh pair of ears.
When I was a young kid in the 70s my single mom took me with her to biker bars. I always loved when I heard the guys roll in with their bikes. They would come in and put dimes on the pinball machine for me to play endlessly. I realized later in life me sitting on a bar stool playing pinball kept me busy while they were partying. Love this song
You guys need to listen to the whole album of Tommy, it is a Rock Opera that tells the story of Tommy. He is the deaf and blind pinball wizard. Kind of a dark story, great album and there is a movie. I have also seen the production of it in Vegas years ago.
My father was at Woodstock in August of 69 he saw them play Tommy. 4 years later he took me to my first Who concert. I was 11. Obsessed with them since "My Generation" I was an instant fan, my Uncle bought me the 45 when I was 5. All I wanted was to be like Keith Moon. Naturally I became drummer and a heavy partier. lol Saw them live on T.V on the famous Smothers Brothers explosion incident. lol
Rod did turn down the part for the movie. At the time he wasn't interested in being in movies. He did perform it for the London Symphony recording of Tommy.
To appreciate The Who you have to see them live in their prime. Check out Young Man Blues at the Isle of Wight 1970. They may be the best live band of all time.
No “maybe” in about it. But you’re right, seeing them live really set their songs on fire! They were the greatest live act I’ve ever seen by a country mile. I knew Townshend was a wild man on stage, but I had no idea how hard Daltrey threw himself into their live performances, both have incredible stage presence.
Tommy was the first rock opera. Pinball machines are quite an outdated mode of amusement. But the malls and arcades were full of them back in the day. Elton John did the remake in the 1975 movie
The My Generation jams they are doing during that era are often Rock at it's most powerful, intense and musically amazing, so emotional. They should do the Live at Leeds version, they wold then know why they were one of he best live bands, ever!
I envy you. What a great memory. Wish I could go back in a musical time machine & see groups I've missed. In 69 I was 12. Will see Killer Queen in 2 days. Tribute bands keep the tunes alive. Awaken my younger self. Big bands don't show up in my small town in Central Pa. 🎸 Rock on.
In the earlier days of music they didn't have all the gadgetry and magical mixing equipment they have in studios today. When you hear the voices that's all you're hearing. No one has to auto tune them because they knew how to sing on key.
This is an early example of the hard edge style that was developing at the time that would soon become the hard rock/metal genre. It sounds old because it doesn't have that "wall of sound" with heavy guitar/reverb and monster drums that would define this type of music within a short few years.
I was 12 years old. We snuck into the theater to see movies all the time. One night we snuck in and saw the movie (Tommy) the Who rock opera ... My life changed forever.
When I was a kid in the 70's you always went to the movies Saturday regardless what's playing. Tommy was one of them. Side note. Jesus Christ Superstar was another 😎
Fun Fact: When the Stones crowd was busted in '67, coming down from a day of tripping, this (the "Tommy" l.p.) is what was on the stereo. Tommy was concieved as a "rock opera" by Pete Townshend.
The words are so crisp and clear cause this is from the Who's Rock opera! Its an actual opera! They Madeira movie and the put it on Broadway which I was lucky enough to be part of the cast. You should check it out!
It's from the movie Tommy. You HAVE to see it to really get it! It's The Who's musical where singer Roger Daltry plays Tommy whose been traumatized since childhood. Elton John plays the guy singing this song in the movie. Tina Turner and Eric Clapton also sing and perform songs in the movie. Very much like Pink Floyd's The Wall, it's a musical where these songs only really make sense if you see them in the context of the whole movie or story.
This track is a metaphor for meditation (focus and concentration). The album this is taken from (Tommy, Om, the mantra being the central syllable of the name) is based on the teachings of Meher Baba, an Indian mystic of whom Pete Townshend (the composer guitarist of the band) was at the time, a follower. The album was made into a movie, the first rock opera, in 1975. The cast reads like a who's who of big name actors and musicians of the time. From music, performances from (everybody sings, it's like an opera) The Who, Eric Clapton, Arthur Brown, Paul Nicholas, Tina Turner, Elton John, From acting, Oliver Reed, Ann Margaret, Jack Nicholson, Robert Powell. It's kinda essential viewing and listening for serious music fans.....as much as Pink Floyd's, The Wall, album and movie.
In 1975, this Rock opera was made into a movie starring Ann Margret as Tommy's mother, for which Ann won the Best Actress Academy Award (although she was great, it was a weak year so she had little competition). Also, Oliver Reed as Tommy's stepdad, Eric Clapton as the preacher, a bunch of other popular rockers in various roles, Jack Nicholson as the Specialist/doctor and most of all, Elton John as the Pinball Wizard. You MUST watch a video of his performance in the movie. It is outrageous and his version rocks SO much harder than the Who's original.
In the film (Tommy), Roger Daltrey their lead singer plays the wonderkid. Elton John plays the defending champion singing about him, whilst wearing extremely high platform shoes, that need to be seen to be believed !!
Sometimes I would swear you two somehow got your hands on my work playlist. This and about 25 other songs you've reacted to. I feel like I should send you the 5 or 6 you missed.
My mum just casually dropped into conversation that she saw the who back in 60s everyone except beatles I was well shocked I knew she knew the hollies but the who!!
I met a guy my work had hired to teach a class. Not sure where he was from, but i asked him if he was ever a mod. He said yes, with the mirrors, etc, & that The Who played at his highschool when they 1st started out. His name was Malcolm.
@Vern Sherris erm yeah Quadrophenia is a great album too, doesnt take away from another albums brilliance too, you can like both lol. I have both on original double vinyl lps, love em both, probably play Quadrophenia more though
That was a good observation where the 1960s were a cleaner sound. The late 60s and early 70s added more distorted guitars and faster screaming lyrics. Late 70s transitioned to more electronics.
"Pinball Wizard" was from The Who's 1969 rock opera "Tommy", which was also turned into a movie. In the movie version, this song is performed by Elton John.
Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo, Like everytime someone reacts to a song from a concept album/rock opera, I have to point out that this song is part of a narrative. Tommy is the rock opera by The Who in which this song is featured, and like songs in musicals, it’s important to sing in a way where the lyrics are audible to an audience-though they did perform Tommy as a live “rock opera” they also released the film version (1975) featuring artists like Elton John (The Pinball Wizard) and Tina Turner (The Acid Queen.)
The Who's album "Tommy" begins with a song called "Overture", it's amazing, and it begins the journey through Tommy's life. This album and "Quadrophenia" are two of the best, and the first progressive rock operas ever recorded.
This song is about a "pinball machine" (pre-video game era) played by a kid named Tommy...(deaf dumb blind). I think it's important to appreciate the story. One other interesting point: Elton John did a very good, creative, cover of this very song.... So good!! Both songs rock!!
It sounds old because it is old 😆. Lots of clean words and harmony. True. The Who is old school rock. Good band. Lots of their music is on CSI tv shows.
I remember when this hit the radio and pinball games were very popular. We use to hang out at a pinball game room and play for hours it was our entertainment back in the day. And you could always count on this song being played sometime while we were there. Fun days with lots of interaction with friends face to face instead of online get togethers.
Old School? You should listen to Roger Daltrey's (lead singer of The Who) primal scream on "Won't Get Fooled Again," and see how avant garde The Who were and how much rock and roll owes them :) Thanks!
They WERE at the cusp of a new sound!! The Who starting from '63 to '68 -- they had a heavier guitar/bass sound than their competition, and always the manic drumming of Keith Moon and the growl of Roger Daltrey. BUT. With Tommy, not only did the songwriting mature, but the guitar sound really started settling into what would become in the next couple years the defining sound of the Who. Like in Who's Next, where a couple songs you've reacted to -- Baba O'Reilly and Won't Get Fooled Again -- were first heard. Live shows were always harder-edged than their current studio albums, but you'll hear the boys really turn it up and grind it out in 1969/70/71 live shows, leading up to the release of Who's Next in 1971.
Just standing there enunciating. Your listening to the WHO. Seen em 5 times gonna see them May 15 in Cincinnati. They have never just enunciated. Except maybe My Generation (Enunciating in there own way) I do enjoy checking you guys out. I think you do a great job of putting it together. I see so many phony's on reactions. And I see you all are the real deal. Great job, as we say back in the 70's, keep on trucking
If you want the full Who experience - (the lightness & heaviness, the musicianship, the total epicness) Amazing Journey / Sparks from Tommy provides it all.
Another song that pre-saged their 1970's sound was 1967 release "I Can See For Miles," which I bet you'd find similar to Pinball Wizard in overall sound.
From one guitar owner to another, I have a Schecter PT SLS Elite Evil Twin. The "PT" stands for Pete Townsend unofficially. He is a legend and so are the Who!
They are telling a story, so the words are pretty important. "Tommy" is an odd, odd, beautiful, and horrible thing. This is written for the stage pretty much. It's been on Broadway, it's been a movie. It's really a story of a child who gets PTSD based on a traumatic event. PTSD wasn't a thing until the 1980's, ok, it was and is a real thing. But mental health professionals didn't get it well figured out until the 1980's... or probably it took awhile to get the research vetted. In the 1980's, PTSD when discovered was in war vets. They didn't understand how it effects childhood mental development. But Pete Townshend wrote a very human, very tragic story about a child suffering with PTSD, and I was a child with PTSD (which I hid from everyone for over 40 years). I couldn't hear it enough. I don't know if I made the connection, but I loved it anyway. Years later when Mr. Townshend was arrested for signing up for child porn on the internet, he was actually thinking he needed to do something that was so openly advertised back on internet v1.0. It broke my heart hearing about it. But, I do believe that he wasn't doing it for any other reason than trying to expose and stop it. Even the songs on "Tommy" that actually deal with child sexual abuse weren't written by Pete. Years later he wrote his autobiography. There is a chapter early in the book, I forgot which one. But, evidently his parents sent him to his Grandmothers house. He details that the mom of his Dad(?) used to bring home, uh... either truck drivers or train engineers to sleep with, and she'd bring in a young Pete. He doesn't remember much. I remember a lot of what happened to me, but not the parts my mind doesn't want me to see.
You are partially correct... the symptoms of PTSD have been known since the Civil War and even earlier but was first correlated as a type of diagnoses in the 1920's but was known as "Shell shock" at that time and was mostly confined to veterans of the trench warfare of World War 1 and the massive shelling and bombs... Later on Shell Shock morphed between several similar names like warfare neurosis, Battle Fatigue or Combat Stress Reaction (CSR) but were all associated with catastrophic danger or damage to life and limb and were added and studied in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. In the 1980s, the final incarnation arrived with the addition of PTSD to the research which had been expanded to include a wider range of traumatic experiences, usually involving extreme or prolonged violence or variations of sexual violations. It wasn't until after September of 2001 that it was expanded again to mark the new "wave" of diagnoses that occurred in people that were not directly involved in the tragic events of that day but had some kind of closer connection... The diagnoses has spread further since then and encompassed lighter and less stressful events that produce lesser variants of similar reactions. It is strongly suspected that forms of PTSD are fairly common and existed through previous centuries but was not known as a common thread in mental health diagnostics. Many people are able to snap back and/or cope with it far better than others but it is now estimated that 4 to 10% of the population will experience the symptoms in their lifetimes. I have also had PTSD for almost forty years... I have learned to cope with most of it.
@@edwardpaulsen1074 Yeah, I cut out a lot of that because for me. I was 7, nobody knew what it was. That was probably about 6 or 7 years until PTSD made the DSMIII.
This song was the reason I picked up the guitar as a kid. I bought the album, Tommy, with my paper route money not knowing anything about it but I'd listen to it over and over, just mesmerizing. I saw the SJ200 Townsend used on this album at the RNRHOF.
Years ago, in the Navy, I went to NYC for the weekend. The USO was giving out free tickets to concerts or plays. You had no choice they just handed you the ticket. Mine was for The Who at Carnegie Hall doing the opera Tommy. Lucky day
My dad LOVES this song. He told me a story about him when he was younger, he had taken some ~illegal substances~ and was playing pinball at the pizza shop and he felt like he was in the machine 😂
Pete Townsend ( guitarist ) Wrote all the songs ,played all the music ,Instruments and sang the song ,then recorded a demo in his home studio ,took the tape to the band and would say this is our next Album /Song.Then the band would record it.
Lex senses something different. She’s got good instincts. It’s the first real rock opera. The whole Tommy album was about the life of the Pinball Wizard. It’s a musical play and has been performed on stage even very recently.
One of my favorite Rock Stories has to do with this song. When they made the movie version of Tommy, they asked David Bowie to play the part of the Pinball Wizard. He called Elton John and asked if he should take the part, Elton told him it was all wrong for him. Then he called the Who and told them he heard they were looking for someone to play the Pinball Wizard and volunteered his services.
To get the concept, in short - Tommy as a little boy witnessed his father ( I think he was M.I.A. in the War, supposed dead) come back to the home, find his wife in bed with her lover and Dad was murdered in front of the kid's eyes. Mum and lover, to protect themselves, convinced Tommy that he had not seen or heard anything and could not speak of it either. Hence the trauma that made him the way he was.
Pinball...before video gaming (yes, an old song). Little trivia...I was told in the 70's and 80's that nobody's concerts were louder than The Who's...but Def Leppard was close...People would say it took them about 3 or 4 hours after shows to fully hear again.
Great music in every decade, but what you mean by "old music" is the best, in my opinion. There was an explosion of genius level musicians in the late 60's through the 70's that is unparalleled in music history.
The story was that Pete Townshend had to do an interview with am opinionated London critic/reporter who would have been soured on the idea of their next work being a rock opera. So, in order to jazz up the reporter to write a good story about them, he knew the reporter loved pinball, so he told him that the album would be about the best pinball player ever. Then he had to go write a song to make it happen, and fit it into his opera in progress (which they first played later that year at Woodstock!)
You need to see the movie, "Tommy" and Elton John sang this song in the movie with 10-foot platform shoes on and Roger Daltrey was Tommy and the movie was loaded with big stars from back in the day!
The Who were certainly on the cusp of developing their mature sound on their album "Tommy" (which this song was from). Their mature sound really exploded on their next (?) and great album "Who's Next", from which comes "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again". While a transitional album, Tommy is still a great album, and this song was huge when it was first released. Indeed, the album was a very popular Christmas gift the year it was released!
This is from the rock opera movie " Tommy " . And Elton John is the Pinball Wizard . Also Tina Turner is in it as The Priest & Tina Turner as The Hooker in the part playing The Acid Queen. Clapton in TOMMY sings " Eyesight To The Blind ".
The Who had a wide range of attitudes and deliveries back then. They may have sung clean here, but in other tunes, earlier and later, they could sing and play really dirty. In fact, many say that the Who was like the first punk band before punk was a thing.
They wanted to do a run on a acoustic leading the way, this was done in either 74 or 76, I don't remember, it was also when Keith Moon was still alive. But everybody would put a quarter in the jukebox in the pimble amusement amusement hall and play that song
Now you guys gotta see the movie.😉Elton John was the pinball wizard plus lots of other cameos from the band themselves, Clapton & Tina Turner as the acid queen. Not too mention the classic Ann Mageret swimming in baked beans 🤩
The vocals are chrisp because it was written as a rock opera. This is the album version, in the movie version (which came out 6 years later) this part is played by Elton John. His vocals give it a heavier edge. I saw this film as a 12 year old pinball fanatic and soon turned into a rock addict thanks to the who. You should check out Tina Turners "Acid Queen" from the same movie. Oliver Reed, Anne Margaret, Jack Nicholas and others all contribute vocals to the film.
This was 1969, a few years later this album/ rock opera was made into a movie and the soundtrack has Sir Elton John doing this song. Also in the movie/sound track is Jack Nicholson, Ann Margaret just to name two. LOVE the album and movie, though still not sure what the hell the baked beans bath was all about. Actually studied the lyrics in music class back in the 6th grade (1975)...Scared the hell out of my mom singing "Cousin Kevin"...lol
The Who did have some nice harmonies although they are not generally know as a band that harmonize. The best example of their vocal abilities is the barbershop quartet like intro to 'A Quick One (While He's Away)' from the historic film The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus filmed on December 11 & 12, 1968.
Two things: 1. The members of the band (who) were just kids at this time. this was from a movie abut that pinball wiz named Tommy" Never liked it myself,but there are some solid pats on the LP that shows offf the band. There was a movie soundtrack, an LP and a TV remake that featured other stars of the day that was far more popular. Elton John sang "Pinball Wizard".
CLASSIC song from THE WHO's rock opera TOMMY, about a deaf, dumb, and blind wonderchild who leads a movement. It's just one song that's part of a whole story. It's an awesome album loaded with lots of other classic songs in it, and it eventually became a movie as well as an on Broadway show.
I'd like to see their reactions to Cousin Kevin, The Acid Queen, or Fiddle About. Or better yet, to the entire opera in one sitting.
@@c.j.skamarakas4965 Uncle Ernie.
Yes. Ann Margret as Tommy’s mother❤️.
Although he isn't actually deaf, dumb and blind. He's just brainwashed into thinking he is, it's psychological.
I had to run get my computer to make sure someone told them the reason the vocals sound so clear is because it was a "Rock Opera"! Strange movie I saw it when it came out I was only 13 I think and I actually felt high when I came out. WASN"T but felt like it. It was a trip for sure!
This is on the album "Tommy", which was released in 1969 and written as a rock opera by Pete Townsend. This song is a small part of a larger album length story. Kind of like their album Quadrophenia.
and Mcvicar
Brad & Lex - I have been watching your platform religiously for the last - I think - 6 months and love your reactions and your other content. I am impressed how you both (as a team) have been able to listen to decades of music in random sequence - and then re-orient the music back into sequence through the decades. It would be like a literature student randomly reading the classical, romantic & modernist writers and then figuring out where everybody belongs on a time frame and trying to understand their influences. Not easy to do. So i love watching you do that. Some day - here in rock-n-roll school - you will get to the subculture known as "The Mods" - which began in London (60s & 70s) and spread here to the States (80s). In the Mods' subculture of music & style - fans wore nice suits with long green coats or "parkas" over them and they rode around on scooters made by Vespa or Lambretta. The Mods were actually rivals with "rockers" and the two acted like rival gangs often getting into fights with each other. You can explore this subculture in movies like Quadrophenia & Tommy. But here's an important point: the Who are the kings of the Mod subculture. The band was worshiped by the Mods. So when you say this song sounds "old" - remember - it's music that comes from a specific subculture of 60s & 70's. Other popular bands with the Mods were the Kinks and the Yardbirds. Of course. all 3 bands were loved by rock fans outside of the Mod subculture as well. Thanks & I hope you further explore this music.
You're right. This was kind of a transitional period for the Who. This was released in 1969 as part of the "Tommy" rock opera LP. (It would later become a movie, and even a Broadway Show.) They were leaving behind the pop-sounding 3 minute songs of the 60's, and moving into the 70's where would they would become a major force in rock. An interesting reaction!
Ann-Margret, Oliver Reed, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, Elton John, and Jack Nicholson starred in the movie version.
Just adding that it was a double album.... 4 sides!
And maybe they should watch the movie
The guitarist, Pete Townsend is known for whipping his hand in a full windmill to get that huge power chord. Also, all the different CSI shows each use a different Who song as the show open song.
😎 YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHH
He stabbed his hand with the whammy bar doing that once.
@@cdm46290 how do you drab yourself with a whammy bar? Did it not have the plastic tip on the end or something?
Also, what guitar was he playing that has a whammy?
@@cdm46290 and came back and finished the show....was in Tacoma.
You forgot to mention them actually setting off explosives in the bass drum.
I've heard this song literally hundreds of times over the years, but I never once stopped to appreciate the clear enunciation.
It's amazing what you can pick up from a fresh pair of ears.
It's the difference between a good singer and a shouter.
IT'S because when we first listened to it, there was no internet to tell us what the words were.
Daltry said he purposely pronounced the words clearly.
I appreciated that Lex used "cuspish" because I do see them as being a vital part of rock's progression.
When I was a young kid in the 70s my single mom took me with her to biker bars. I always loved when I heard the guys roll in with their bikes. They would come in and put dimes on the pinball machine for me to play endlessly. I realized later in life me sitting on a bar stool playing pinball kept me busy while they were partying. Love this song
Some things never change , pinball machine was your babysitter at the time
So you're mother could relax .
Now it's a cellphone
You guys need to listen to the whole album of Tommy, it is a Rock Opera that tells the story of Tommy. He is the deaf and blind pinball wizard. Kind of a dark story, great album and there is a movie. I have also seen the production of it in Vegas years ago.
The acid queen.
Tommy is an album that needs to be listened to from beginning to end to really appreciate the lyrical and musical themes throughout.
You guys should react to…
The Who - Behind Blue Eyes
🎸🤘
My father was at Woodstock in August of 69 he saw them play Tommy. 4 years later he took me to my first Who concert. I was 11. Obsessed with them since "My Generation" I was an instant fan, my Uncle bought me the 45 when I was 5. All I wanted was to be like Keith Moon. Naturally I became drummer and a heavy partier. lol Saw them live on T.V on the famous Smothers Brothers explosion incident. lol
Cheers from, Argentina!!! 🍷 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷
You should see/hear Elton John sing this on the film "Tommy". Apparently they offered it to Rod Stewart first and he turned them down.
Rod did turn down the part for the movie. At the time he wasn't interested in being in movies. He did perform it for the London Symphony recording of Tommy.
@@scottgardner9304 as I said... Just as well though, Rod would have been crap.
Elton's version is crazy better.
@@gallery963 , absolutely; he puts a better spin of entertainment, storytelling, and add a touch of Elton's dandy flamboyancy to it.
Rod Stewart can't sing. Why would they offer it to him?
“Deaf, dumb and blind” isn’t PC today but was a very common term in the old days. Like Helen Keller.
To appreciate The Who you have to see them live in their prime. Check out Young Man Blues at the Isle of Wight 1970. They may be the best live band of all time.
No “maybe” in about it. But you’re right, seeing them live really set their songs on fire! They were the greatest live act I’ve ever seen by a country mile. I knew Townshend was a wild man on stage, but I had no idea how hard Daltrey threw himself into their live performances, both have incredible stage presence.
Tommy was the first rock opera. Pinball machines are quite an outdated mode of amusement. But the malls and arcades were full of them back in the day. Elton John did the remake in the 1975 movie
Not to "Uhm actually" you lol. But I think that S.F Sorrow from The Pretty Little Things was actually the first, if I'm not mistaken.
@@ratzenking5405 You could throw in Jesus Christ Superstar and Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as well.
@@ratzenking5405 First concept album that one but I'd love to see a musical of it. Would love a reaction to Love is Good or Sickle Clowns.
@@quarkwrok not really. The first Concept album was likely "In The Wee Small Hours" by a Frank Sinatra. Polyphonic did an excellent synopsis of it.
I really miss you guys.
It is from way back in the day. I am 60. I believe this came out when I was in grade school.
The Who is TOP TEIR. Their rabbit hole is as deep as it gets. 👍👍👍😎
"Pinball Wizard" and "Love Her Madly" by the Doors were the first 2 45's to be issued in Stereo.
I saw The Who in concert in 1970. The album Tommy was about a year old and they did pretty much the whole album including this song
The My Generation jams they are doing during that era are often Rock at it's most powerful, intense and musically amazing, so emotional. They should do the Live at Leeds version, they wold then know why they were one of he best live bands, ever!
That had to ROCK
I envy you. What a great memory. Wish I could go back in a musical time machine & see groups I've missed. In 69 I was 12. Will see Killer Queen in 2 days. Tribute bands keep the tunes alive. Awaken my younger self. Big bands don't show up in my small town in Central Pa. 🎸 Rock on.
Back in the 70's, Pinball was a huge thing and this song definitely depicts it.
In the earlier days of music they didn't have all the gadgetry and magical mixing equipment they have in studios today. When you hear the voices that's all you're hearing. No one has to auto tune them because they knew how to sing on key.
It was a Concept Album! Lol. They are telling a story! The Who “Rocked”
This is an early example of the hard edge style that was developing at the time that would soon become the hard rock/metal genre. It sounds old because it doesn't have that "wall of sound" with heavy guitar/reverb and monster drums that would define this type of music within a short few years.
Yes, Brad this is CLASSIC. One of the songs that you know are from this band when you hear it. "You Better You Bet" is another good one.
Um, Daltry just had a great voice, that's why so clean. He pours it on when he wants to.
One of the great songs from one of the greatest bands in rock and roll!!!!
I was 12 years old. We snuck into the theater to see movies all the time. One night we snuck in and saw the movie (Tommy) the Who rock opera ... My life changed forever.
"This sounds old."
Yeah, the Cops *still* show-up at our parties to tell us to turn the music down.
😂😂👍
Because it's part of the first Rock Opera. Tommy.
Lex, you have what it takes to be a top level music critic.
"Sounds old school".....meaning good !
When I was a kid in the 70's you always went to the movies Saturday regardless what's playing. Tommy was one of them. Side note. Jesus Christ Superstar was another 😎
This song makes me think of beans. Lots and lots and lots of beans.
As a young teenager, when this song came on the radio, you just stopped what you were doing and listened and imagined
"the real me" is a great song by the who, and one that people tend to forget about. Definitely worth a listen
Fun Fact: When the Stones crowd was busted in '67, coming down from a day of tripping, this (the "Tommy" l.p.) is what was on the stereo.
Tommy was concieved as a "rock opera" by Pete Townshend.
The words are so crisp and clear cause this is from the Who's Rock opera! Its an actual opera! They Madeira movie and the put it on Broadway which I was lucky enough to be part of the cast.
You should check it out!
FWIW - there is old and there is timeless. There are LOTS of GREAT old songs out there. The Who are timeless.
It's from the movie Tommy. You HAVE to see it to really get it! It's The Who's musical where singer Roger Daltry plays Tommy whose been traumatized since childhood. Elton John plays the guy singing this song in the movie. Tina Turner and Eric Clapton also sing and perform songs in the movie. Very much like Pink Floyd's The Wall, it's a musical where these songs only really make sense if you see them in the context of the whole movie or story.
This song is so goofy it makes me smile. Iconic build up in the intro and chorus.
This track is a metaphor for meditation (focus and concentration). The album this is taken from (Tommy, Om, the mantra being the central syllable of the name) is based on the teachings of Meher Baba, an Indian mystic of whom Pete Townshend (the composer guitarist of the band) was at the time, a follower. The album was made into a movie, the first rock opera, in 1975. The cast reads like a who's who of big name actors and musicians of the time. From music, performances from (everybody sings, it's like an opera) The Who, Eric Clapton, Arthur Brown, Paul Nicholas, Tina Turner, Elton John, From acting, Oliver Reed, Ann Margaret, Jack Nicholson, Robert Powell. It's kinda essential viewing and listening for serious music fans.....as much as Pink Floyd's, The Wall, album and movie.
YES! They were on the edge of a sound going into a new sound. This album (Tommy) was when The Who changed and found their direction.
In 1975, this Rock opera was made into a movie starring Ann Margret as Tommy's mother, for which Ann won the Best Actress Academy Award (although she was great, it was a weak year so she had little competition). Also, Oliver Reed as Tommy's stepdad, Eric Clapton as the preacher, a bunch of other popular rockers in various roles, Jack Nicholson as the Specialist/doctor and most of all, Elton John as the Pinball Wizard. You MUST watch a video of his performance in the movie. It is outrageous and his version rocks SO much harder than the Who's original.
Some of the most clever lyrics ever penned.
In the film (Tommy), Roger Daltrey their lead singer plays the wonderkid. Elton John plays the defending champion singing about him, whilst wearing extremely high platform shoes, that need to be seen to be believed !!
Sometimes I would swear you two somehow got your hands on my work playlist. This and about 25 other songs you've reacted to. I feel like I should send you the 5 or 6 you missed.
My mum just casually dropped into conversation that she saw the who back in 60s everyone except beatles I was well shocked I knew she knew the hollies but the who!!
I met a guy my work had hired to teach a class. Not sure where he was from, but i asked him if he was ever a mod. He said yes, with the mirrors, etc, & that The Who played at his highschool when they 1st started out. His name was Malcolm.
Stunning song, love the into build up, Tommy is a great film and album
@Vern Sherris erm yeah Quadrophenia is a great album too, doesnt take away from another albums brilliance too, you can like both lol. I have both on original double vinyl lps, love em both, probably play Quadrophenia more though
That was a good observation where the 1960s were a cleaner sound. The late 60s and early 70s added more distorted guitars and faster screaming lyrics. Late 70s transitioned to more electronics.
"Pinball Wizard" was from The Who's 1969 rock opera "Tommy", which was also turned into a movie. In the movie version, this song is performed by Elton John.
His version is one of the top covers of all time as well.
Yes the song before and after go, the whole album..lovelovelove ❤️🌸✌🏻
Now you've done it! This is the song that made "Tommy" the 4th or 5th album I ever bought, 40 years ago.
Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo,
Like everytime someone reacts to a song from a concept album/rock opera, I have to point out that this song is part of a narrative. Tommy is the rock opera by The Who in which this song is featured, and like songs in musicals, it’s important to sing in a way where the lyrics are audible to an audience-though they did perform Tommy as a live “rock opera” they also released the film version (1975) featuring artists like Elton John (The Pinball Wizard) and Tina Turner (The Acid Queen.)
The Who's album "Tommy" begins with a song called "Overture", it's amazing, and it begins the journey through Tommy's life. This album and "Quadrophenia" are two of the best, and the first progressive rock operas ever recorded.
This song is about a "pinball machine" (pre-video game era) played by a kid named Tommy...(deaf dumb blind). I think it's important to appreciate the story. One other interesting point:
Elton John did a very good, creative, cover of this very song.... So good!! Both songs rock!!
It sounds old because it is old 😆. Lots of clean words and harmony. True. The Who is old school rock. Good band. Lots of their music is on CSI tv shows.
I remember when this hit the radio and pinball games were very popular. We use to hang out at a pinball game room and play for hours it was our entertainment back in the day. And you could always count on this song being played sometime while we were there. Fun days with lots of interaction with friends face to face instead of online get togethers.
"Doesn't sound that electrified" Haha, fun fact The Who was in the Guinness Book as "The World's Loudest Band" until 1984.
Old School? You should listen to Roger Daltrey's (lead singer of The Who) primal scream on "Won't Get Fooled Again," and see how avant garde The Who were and how much rock and roll owes them :) Thanks!
They WERE at the cusp of a new sound!! The Who starting from '63 to '68 -- they had a heavier guitar/bass sound than their competition, and always the manic drumming of Keith Moon and the growl of Roger Daltrey. BUT. With Tommy, not only did the songwriting mature, but the guitar sound really started settling into what would become in the next couple years the defining sound of the Who. Like in Who's Next, where a couple songs you've reacted to -- Baba O'Reilly and Won't Get Fooled Again -- were first heard. Live shows were always harder-edged than their current studio albums, but you'll hear the boys really turn it up and grind it out in 1969/70/71 live shows, leading up to the release of Who's Next in 1971.
Just standing there enunciating. Your listening to the WHO. Seen em 5 times gonna see them May 15 in Cincinnati. They have never just enunciated. Except maybe My Generation (Enunciating in there own way)
I do enjoy checking you guys out. I think you do a great job of putting it together.
I see so many phony's on reactions. And I see you all are the real deal. Great job, as we say back in the 70's, keep on trucking
If you want the full Who experience - (the lightness & heaviness, the musicianship, the total epicness)
Amazing Journey / Sparks from Tommy provides it all.
Tommy is the greatest rock album of them all..
I love this channel. Brad's all analytical and Lex is all feelings. What a great pair.
Another song that pre-saged their 1970's sound was 1967 release "I Can See For Miles," which I bet you'd find similar to Pinball Wizard in overall sound.
From one guitar owner to another, I have a Schecter PT SLS Elite Evil Twin. The "PT" stands for Pete Townsend unofficially. He is a legend and so are the Who!
Tommy is one of the trippier mainstream movies you could ever watch. And awesome cameos by music legends.
Incredible song. One of the first songs I learned to play through on drums.
They are telling a story, so the words are pretty important. "Tommy" is an odd, odd, beautiful, and horrible thing. This is written for the stage pretty much. It's been on Broadway, it's been a movie. It's really a story of a child who gets PTSD based on a traumatic event. PTSD wasn't a thing until the 1980's, ok, it was and is a real thing. But mental health professionals didn't get it well figured out until the 1980's... or probably it took awhile to get the research vetted.
In the 1980's, PTSD when discovered was in war vets. They didn't understand how it effects childhood mental development. But Pete Townshend wrote a very human, very tragic story about a child suffering with PTSD, and I was a child with PTSD (which I hid from everyone for over 40 years). I couldn't hear it enough. I don't know if I made the connection, but I loved it anyway.
Years later when Mr. Townshend was arrested for signing up for child porn on the internet, he was actually thinking he needed to do something that was so openly advertised back on internet v1.0. It broke my heart hearing about it. But, I do believe that he wasn't doing it for any other reason than trying to expose and stop it. Even the songs on "Tommy" that actually deal with child sexual abuse weren't written by Pete.
Years later he wrote his autobiography. There is a chapter early in the book, I forgot which one. But, evidently his parents sent him to his Grandmothers house.
He details that the mom of his Dad(?) used to bring home, uh... either truck drivers or train engineers to sleep with, and she'd bring in a young Pete. He doesn't remember much.
I remember a lot of what happened to me, but not the parts my mind doesn't want me to see.
You are partially correct... the symptoms of PTSD have been known since the Civil War and even earlier but was first correlated as a type of diagnoses in the 1920's but was known as "Shell shock" at that time and was mostly confined to veterans of the trench warfare of World War 1 and the massive shelling and bombs... Later on Shell Shock morphed between several similar names like warfare neurosis, Battle Fatigue or Combat Stress Reaction (CSR) but were all associated with catastrophic danger or damage to life and limb and were added and studied in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. In the 1980s, the final incarnation arrived with the addition of PTSD to the research which had been expanded to include a wider range of traumatic experiences, usually involving extreme or prolonged violence or variations of sexual violations. It wasn't until after September of 2001 that it was expanded again to mark the new "wave" of diagnoses that occurred in people that were not directly involved in the tragic events of that day but had some kind of closer connection... The diagnoses has spread further since then and encompassed lighter and less stressful events that produce lesser variants of similar reactions. It is strongly suspected that forms of PTSD are fairly common and existed through previous centuries but was not known as a common thread in mental health diagnostics. Many people are able to snap back and/or cope with it far better than others but it is now estimated that 4 to 10% of the population will experience the symptoms in their lifetimes. I have also had PTSD for almost forty years... I have learned to cope with most of it.
@@edwardpaulsen1074 Yeah, I cut out a lot of that because for me. I was 7, nobody knew what it was. That was probably about 6 or 7 years until PTSD made the DSMIII.
This song was the reason I picked up the guitar as a kid. I bought the album, Tommy, with my paper route money not knowing anything about it but I'd listen to it over and over, just mesmerizing. I saw the SJ200 Townsend used on this album at the RNRHOF.
Years ago, in the Navy, I went to NYC for the weekend. The USO was giving out free tickets to concerts or plays. You had no choice they just handed you the ticket. Mine was for The Who at Carnegie Hall doing the opera Tommy. Lucky day
The hippie area had a LOT of clean sounds.
My dad LOVES this song. He told me a story about him when he was younger, he had taken some ~illegal substances~ and was playing pinball at the pizza shop and he felt like he was in the machine 😂
Poor Brad, will he ever chill and relax on these reactions 😂
Must be a really nice guy to have such a cute lady though 👍
Pure genius concept album from the rock opera Tommy... Must listen to the WHOLE album. Even watch the movie!!
Here's a tip, it wasn't old when they recorded it.
Imagine a land and a time without video games or computers… a time without cell phones… you had Pinball!
Pete Townsend ( guitarist ) Wrote all the songs ,played all the music ,Instruments and sang the song ,then recorded a demo in his home studio ,took the tape to the band and would say this is our next Album /Song.Then the band would record it.
Lex senses something different. She’s got good instincts. It’s the first real rock opera. The whole Tommy album was about the life of the Pinball Wizard. It’s a musical play and has been performed on stage even very recently.
One of my favorite Rock Stories has to do with this song. When they made the movie version of Tommy, they asked David Bowie to play the part of the Pinball Wizard. He called Elton John and asked if he should take the part, Elton told him it was all wrong for him. Then he called the Who and told them he heard they were looking for someone to play the Pinball Wizard and volunteered his services.
To get the concept, in short - Tommy as a little boy witnessed his father ( I think he was M.I.A. in the War, supposed dead) come back to the home, find his wife in bed with her lover and Dad was murdered in front of the kid's eyes. Mum and lover, to protect themselves, convinced Tommy that he had not seen or heard anything and could not speak of it either. Hence the trauma that made him the way he was.
Pinball...before video gaming (yes, an old song). Little trivia...I was told in the 70's and 80's that nobody's concerts were louder than The Who's...but Def Leppard was close...People would say it took them about 3 or 4 hours after shows to fully hear again.
Great music in every decade, but what you mean by "old music" is the best, in my opinion. There was an explosion of genius level musicians in the late 60's through the 70's that is unparalleled in music history.
The story was that Pete Townshend had to do an interview with am opinionated London critic/reporter who would have been soured on the idea of their next work being a rock opera. So, in order to jazz up the reporter to write a good story about them, he knew the reporter loved pinball, so he told him that the album would be about the best pinball player ever. Then he had to go write a song to make it happen, and fit it into his opera in progress (which they first played later that year at Woodstock!)
You need to see the movie, "Tommy" and Elton John sang this song in the movie with 10-foot platform shoes on and Roger Daltrey was Tommy and the movie was loaded with big stars from back in the day!
This song is an all-time classic. If you want to see a true LEGEND of a band, The Who is making their last US tour this year.
The Who were certainly on the cusp of developing their mature sound on their album "Tommy" (which this song was from). Their mature sound really exploded on their next (?) and great album "Who's Next", from which comes "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again". While a transitional album, Tommy is still a great album, and this song was huge when it was first released. Indeed, the album was a very popular Christmas gift the year it was released!
This is from the rock opera movie " Tommy " . And Elton John is the Pinball Wizard . Also Tina Turner is in it as The Priest & Tina Turner as The Hooker in the part playing The Acid Queen. Clapton in TOMMY sings " Eyesight To The Blind ".
An entire Tommy live stream would be mind blowing
The Who had a wide range of attitudes and deliveries back then. They may have sung clean here, but in other tunes, earlier and later, they could sing and play really dirty. In fact, many say that the Who was like the first punk band before punk was a thing.
They wanted to do a run on a acoustic leading the way, this was done in either 74 or 76, I don't remember, it was also when Keith Moon was still alive. But everybody would put a quarter in the jukebox in the pimble amusement amusement hall and play that song
Now you guys gotta see the movie.😉Elton John was the pinball wizard plus lots of other cameos from the band themselves, Clapton & Tina Turner as the acid queen. Not too mention the classic Ann Mageret swimming in baked beans 🤩
The vocals are chrisp because it was written as a rock opera. This is the album version, in the movie version (which came out 6 years later) this part is played by Elton John. His vocals give it a heavier edge. I saw this film as a 12 year old pinball fanatic and soon turned into a rock addict thanks to the who. You should check out Tina Turners "Acid Queen" from the same movie. Oliver Reed, Anne Margaret, Jack Nicholas and others all contribute vocals to the film.
This was 1969, a few years later this album/ rock opera was made into a movie and the soundtrack has Sir Elton John doing this song. Also in the movie/sound track is Jack Nicholson, Ann Margaret just to name two. LOVE the album and movie, though still not sure what the hell the baked beans bath was all about. Actually studied the lyrics in music class back in the 6th grade (1975)...Scared the hell out of my mom singing "Cousin Kevin"...lol
Of course it’s old. It’s good music!
The Who did have some nice harmonies although they are not generally know as a band that harmonize. The best example of their vocal abilities is the barbershop quartet like intro to 'A Quick One (While He's Away)' from the historic film The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus filmed on December 11 & 12, 1968.
this song was smoking hit in 8th grade when elton johnn did it back when pinball was the shit...iy was like an xbox!!!!
At least lex can transcend time. Brad always looks confused.
Two things: 1. The members of the band (who) were just kids at this time. this was from a movie abut that pinball wiz named Tommy" Never liked it myself,but there are some solid pats on the LP that shows offf the band. There was a movie soundtrack, an LP and a TV remake that featured other stars of the day that was far more popular. Elton John sang "Pinball Wizard".