The other night I caught some of the VH1 telecast of the concert in NY. This is actually something I’ve thought about for a while, but the concert brought it into sharp focus for me.
One the one hand, you have the Stones. Keith, one of the great riffmeisters of all time, and Mick, one of the elder statesmen of rock. Dependable Charlie and Ron, and whoever they’ve got on bass now. Every few years, they put out an album and announce a tour with great fanfare and a huge press conference.
Now, their place in rock history is assured, no doubt about that. Yet they continue to release increasingly marginal music, diluting their legend, IMO. When the Stones tour, is anyone going to hear them play “Harlem Shuffle,” or “Undercover (of the Night),” or “Love is Strong,” or “Mixed Emotions”? No! They’re going to hear the classics. But seeing Mick and Keith at the concert, I was just bored by them.
On the other hand, you have the Who. Their original music recording career as a band came to an end in 1982 with “It’s Hard.” They tour together every once in a while, but don’t record and release new music. They don’t pretend to be anything other than what they are: A great rock band doing a “greatest hits” tour when the mood strikes them, for fun and for money. But Saturday night, they brought the house down. They sounded as good as they ever have. I got a lot more thrills watching Pete Townsend do his windmilling than I did listening to Keith Richards babble at the mic.
So, which band still floats your boat? Either? Both? If you’re still into the Stones, what’s your opinion on their musical career since, say, Tattoo You? If you’re still into the Who, do you think they should record together again?
I really do like the Who but they never moved me to the degree the Stones did. I want to grab the Saran Wrap and a zippo every time I hear a live version of Honkey Tonk Woman being belted out. But you’re right that the Stones have put out an unforgivably mind-numbing amount of crap in recent years.
The thought of an intellectual discussion between Pete Townsend and Keith Richards crack me up. I can see the expression on Pete’s face already. Bwha!
Hey, now…the Stone’s last album, Bridges to Babylon, had a great, classic-caliber song on it…“Saint of Me”. Most of the rest was pap, but at least they can still strike gold once in a while.
The Who? Exactly. (Too glib? Not glib enough?) I dunno, the Who never gave me the uncontrollable ass-shakin’ the Stones do.
Now, I love the Stones–or I loved the Stones as they were in their heyday–but I agree with the OP–they are very silly for pretending that they are still relevant. Everything they did after Tattoo You was really lame.
Now, with The Who, I agree fully that they needed Keith Moon. The albums after Who Are You are pretty lame–though there are a few good songs on them. But, how many albums did they do after Keith Moon’s death? 2? Then they broke up. good job!
In the aftermath of the breakup, they didn’t try to pretend they were still 23-year-old rock stars. Pete Townsend’s solo work is wonderful. Daltrey is doing his own thing. I have no idea what Entwistle is up to. Anyway, they are not old men impersonating rock stars and impregnating young models to whom they are not married. As the OP said, they get together every now and again (I saw them in '89) and that is cool.
The Who are aging gracefully and can still rock the house. The Stones have become an embarrassing parody.
When you listen to the remastered live work by the Who such as on the** Thirty Years of Maximum R & B** box set the aggression, attitude and energy just blows you away.
It just has not been equalled and it shows up those rapping gangsta’s for the cream puffs they really are.
…and they don’t need to use obscenities to sound hard either, it comes so naturally and vital instead of the hyped up, over-marketed put up jobs that todays ‘hard boys’ act out.
Now you won’t find a bigger Stones fan than me, but the newer stuff - well, they should just forget about it. I was just thinking I LIKE “Mixed Emotions” when I realized I don’t know much of that song after all.
I guess I would have to go with The Who. They don’t bother us with new stuff and Roger Daltrey still looks and sounds good.
