Breaking out as The High Numbers, Pete Townshend, Roger Daltry, Keith Moon, and John Entwistle embraced the 1960s Rock and Roll explosion with tunes tailored to Britain's Mod scene. The flip side of their initial single echoed the sub-culture slang, "I'm the Face." To be The Face meant to be popular or cool. With a change in management, the group was reborn as The Who, and embodied the youth generation through Pop Art and Auto-Destructive Art concepts. The use of military insignia (the RAF target) and other icons as fashionable Pop symbols ignited the imagination, and continues to sell T-shorts today! In 1965, the year of the big spy boom and The Beatles' Help, The Who released "Can't Explain" and "My Generation" and rocketed to stardom. As the culture evolved in 1966 and beyond, The Who began to experiment with concept albums and linked song cycles, first in short story/Pop Art form (A Quick One, The Who Sell Out), and then moving into full-blown rock opera (Tommy). Along with The Beatles, perhaps no other band stands today as a reflection of the 1960s as an era of ever-changing narrative and visual revolution. On March 2nd, Universal Music Group will release the excellent documentary, The Kids Are Alright on Blu-ray. Play it loud! Spy Vibers may also want to check out a new (still unseen) documentary called The Who, The Mods, and The Quadrophenia Connection. Looking for Mod clothes? Check out I'm The Face.
