About this episode

This episode explores the formation and influence of The Who, featuring insights from guest Mark Wilkerson on Pete Townshend's innovations and the band's tumultuous history.

Take yourself back to Swinging London for the formation of The Who in 1964. Guest Mark Wilkerson, author of Who are You: The Life of Pete Townshend discussed The Who's enormous influence on rock music sound, album structure and concert staging all while navigating through the offstage mayhem that become synonymous with this group. In this episode you'll learn: How lead songwriter and guitarist Pete Townshend became rock's foremost innovator How a mysterious religious figure’s theories were embedded in the band’s most famous songs The bizarre tale of The Who's manager in a violent crime in an uncharted area of Amazon Rainforest How the band used an opera structure to create new formats for music Why the band was banned from a major hotel chain for life How band members' distaste for one another was a cited key to their success Anchored by songwriter and guitarist Pete Townshend, an art school student, who as you will hear brought art concepts into the band's songs and stage performance. Townsend continued that innovation by creating incredible forms of rock music, modeled after operas and integrating computers into music before any other band. Guest Bio: Mark Wilkerson wrote Who…

People in this episode

Host: Dave Anthony

Guest: Mark Wilkerson

Topics covered

• The Who
• rock music
• album structure
• concert staging
• Pete Townshend
• music innovation
• band dynamics

Keywords

• The Who
• Pete Townshend
• rock music history
• album structure
• concert staging
• music innovation
• band dynamics
• Swinging London
• Amazon Rainforest
• Mark Wilkerson

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Who, Pearl Jam

Books & works: Who are You: The Life of Pete Townshend

Places: Swinging London, Amazon Rainforest

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