The Who Being Honored at The White House...and that's not all!

The Who's surviving members Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey (pictured with Aerosmith's Joe Perry) are being honored by the Kennedy Center in December which means a trip to the White House. What's funny about this is that Morgan Freeman, George Jones, Barbra Streisand and Twyla Tharp are also being honored. Funny, you say? Think about it, Streisand in the same room as President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condie Rice? As my old friend Gorilla Monsoon would say, "The tension, you could cut it with a knife!" The full story is here.

Remember September 11, 2001

Remember

2,998 deaths

6,291 injured



September 11, 2001 was one of the saddest days of my life and for many other people all over the world, as well as one of the worst days in the history of this great country. America's engagement in partisan politics for years is one of the reasons, I believe, which led to the events of that day and was also a culmination of us not being prepared for the wide-reaching capabilities of Islamic terrorism, in general.



No other song encapsulates my feelings about September 11 as this Who classic has come to doing. A few weeks after the attacks, The Who performed “Won’t Get Fooled Again” at the Concert for New York City, which was a star-studded event at Madison Square Garden honoring the first responders of September 11, 2001.

The Who "Athena"

I search and search and search for articles on the Georgia-Russia battle - maybe I should just follow the oil - and all I find are stories covering the John Edwards' fiasco. America's unquenchable desire for the salacious is befuddling, no doubt. Nonetheless, the whole thing makes me think of The Who's "Athena." This one comes off of the band's 1982 album, It's Hard.

Zak Starkey Out Of Oasis

The guy who used to have the two best part-time jobs in the world, Zak Starkey, is out of one of those gigs. Oasis has apparently dropped Zak from the band after some dustups between Zak and Noel Gallagher. Now, though, it looks like there are problems already with the new drummer, Chris Sharrock. Zak's other pt job is as The Who's drummer. Click here for more.

Pete Townshend Speaks On: Feud With Roger, VH1 Rock Honors, Eddie Vedder

He's one of the better interviews in rock and really in all of entertainment for that matter because he never gives canned remarks. Pete Townshend may say things tongue-in-cheek that get the usual tightasses of the world even more uptight (Prozac is strongly recommended for those folks), but he always has something interesting to say. This link is from Rolling Stone in which Pete talks about the VH1 Rock Honors Show, Eddie Vedder and some other items.

He also wrote recently the following in regards to his alleged dustup with bandmate Roger Daltrey:

"The delicious gossip from (blogger) Perez (Hilton) is that Perce (Daltrey) and I have separate dressing rooms. That may be true but we chat about the show in the steam room and whip each other with birch twigs."

Canned comments? I think not!

The Who Rocks VH1

VH1 did a very nice job last night with their VH1 Honors The Who show. I liked the way they mixed up the commentary from musicians and actors with the performances of the Foo Fighters, Incubus, Flaming Lips and Pearl Jam. Tenacious D and Adam Sandler also were very good – especially Sandler! Sprinkled in with all of it were interviews with The Who and their associates talking about the band and their music. Some of the clips were taken from rockumentary Amazing Journey, however, I would say the majority was fresh stuff.

The Who predictably knocked the ball out of the park with their usual classics and then closing with the tune "Tea and Theatre" from Endless Wire (2006).

A couple of other quick ones (pun intended): Check out my top 20 songs by The Who by clicking (20-11) and (10-1). Also, find out why there are 100 million reasons why Pete and Roger will put aside their differences for the upcoming U.S. Tour by clicking here.

Now, this report is according to an “unnamed source” that spoke with the New York Post. Hmmm….Kind of reminds me of how in 1996 the Post reported the trade of Wayne Gretzky from the L.A. Kings to the New York Rangers was imminent and that Gretz was shopping in Rye for a home. Hmmm…I was so excited I think I stayed up all night watching the ESPN crawl and listening to WFAN to hear when the deal would be finalized. It never came. Another New York Post exclusive! Which like my old friend Gorilla Monsoon (yes, him again) would say, that and a subway token gets you to Brooklyn as long as you don’t get robbed along the way. Hmmm…

VH1 Honors The Who

Tonight VH1 Honors The Who will air at 9 p.m on both VH1 and VH1 Classics; to say that I am looking forward to the show would greatly understate my feelings.

I usually scoff at having pop culture figures as heroes because they WILL let you down at some point as they are human just like we all are. That’s what the song “Won’t Get Fooled Again” is all about; not putting anyone on a pedestal, nor making someone or some ideology the “new religion.”

Yet, I will say that The Who have had a profoundly positive impact on my life and if there was anyone in the world that I would love to meet and chat with, it would be the surviving members of the band: Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend. I particularly would love to sit with Pete Townshend as I have always been intrigued by his creative prowess.

Nonetheless, I hope VH1 does the right thing and in addition to paying homage to the original members, gives due to all of those that have contributed so greatly to the band over the years such as the group’s early managers, Kit Lambert ( May 1935 – April 1981) and Chris Stamp; the group’s late publicist Pete Meaden; producer Shel Talmy; the incredibly brilliant producer Glyn Johns; Who soundman Bob Pridden and former drummer Kenney Jones. I also hope they give a nod to current Who members Zak Starkey (drums), Pino Palladino (bass), Simon Townshend (extra guitar) and John”Rabbit”Bundrick (keyboards).

R.I.P. Keith John Moon (August 23, 1946 – September 7, 1978)

R.I.P. John Alec Entwistle (October 9, 1944 – June 27, 2002)

Long Live The Who!