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The Who is a British rock band. They were noted for the dynamism of their live performances and for their thoughtful music, including Tommy, one of the first rock operas.

In its early days, the band was known as the High Numbers and played mostly rhythm and blues. They changed their name to The Who and became the most popular band among the British Mods, a social movement of the early 60s who rejected the older style of music favored by the Rockers. The album and film Quadrophenia are based on the story of the Mods and Rockers, particularly riots between the two factions at Brighton.

The Who's first hit was "The Kids are Alright", a mod anthem, but they vaulted to fame with another anthem, "My Generation", which included the line, "Hope I die before I get old". Another early favorite, showing Townshend's way with words, was "Substitute", which had the opening line, "I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth."

From the beginning, The Who drew attention because all three musicians, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon all played, in effect, lead parts. Singer Roger Daltrey was a dynamic front man, twirling his microphone on the end of its cord while Townshend played windmill chords on his guitar with great sweeps of his arms, and the maniacal Moon bashed and crashed like no drummer ever before him. Through it all, Entwhistle stood still and played intricate, innovative bass lines. At the end of their live performances in their first years, the band would smash their instruments and explode smoke bombs, signalling that they had given the audience all they had.

The Who were also notorious for treating their hotel rooms and dressing rooms the same way.

The band's gimmick of smashing their instruments backfired when they performed for a TV audience on the Smothers Brothers variety show. In order to give a more spectacular show for the audience, drummer Moon inserted an explosive device into his bass drum before the show began, and without the prior knowledge of the other members of the band. The drum exploded on live TV when the band smashed their instruments at the end of their set. Townshend was standing close to the drum when it exploded, however, and his hearing was permanently damaged as a result of the incident. Fans and defenders of Moon claim that Townshend's hearing damage came as a result of playing with the band for a long period of time, without wearing earplugs or other ear protectors.

The Who's shows have often had an extraordinary decibel output. For a period of time during the 1970s, they were listed in the Guiness Book of World Records as the loudest rock band in the world, though other bands have since taken the title from them.

Although they had great success as a singles band, the Who, or more properly their leader Townshend, had their sights set higher, and over the years their music became more complex and their lyrics more evocative and involving. The first sign of this ambition came in their album The Who Sell Out which purported to have been transcribed from a pirate radio station that played nothing but Who music. Tommy and Quadrophenia continued the trend to greater elaborateness. Other later albums were more personal, and eventually Townshend transferred this personal style to his solo albums.

Members include:

• Roger Daltrey - lead singer
• Pete Townshend - lead guitar/main songwriter
• John Entwistle - bass (until June 27, 2002)
• Keith Moon - drummer (until 1978) (was replaced by Kenney Jones, who left in 1985; Simon Phillips and Zak Starkey were later replacements for Jones)

Discography

Studio Albums

• 1965 - My Generation (released in the USA as The Who Sings My Generation)
• 1966 - A Quick One (released in the USA as Happy Jack), British album including their first essay at rock opera, "A Quick One While He's Away".
• 1967 - The Who Sell Out, the setting is a radio station that plays nothing but songs by The Who, even the commercials
• 1968 - Magic Bus: The Who On Tour
• 1969 - Tommy
• 1971 - Who's Next
• 1971 - Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy
• 1973 - Quadrophenia
• 1975 - The Who By Numbers
• 1976 - Odds and Sods -- a collection of singles and B-sides
• 1978 - Who Are You
• 1981 - Face Dances

Concert Albums

• year - The Kids are Alright
• 1970 - Live At Leeds, subsequent re-releases doubled the length

Films

• Monterrey Pop (1967), The Who's destruction upstages Jimi Hendrix's lighter fluid
• Tommy (1975), given the all-star treatment, unsuccessfully
• Quadrophenia (11979), expansion of the album into a story, Sting plays a prancing phony
• The Kids are Alright (1979), documentary including live performances, TV appearances, and interviews from all phases of their career, including The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour

The Band Name

They chose to give the band a short name because concert posters at the time typically ran a list of band names, devoting one line to each band. They figured that even if they were at the bottom of the bill their name would be printed in larger type because it was short.