40 years of Quadrophenia

The 40th anniversary of the seminal Who album Quadrophenia will take place this October. While other Who albums frequently get all the attention and plaudits, this one is too often overlooked. For one thing, it is the last Who album to feature the height of Keith Moon's drumming ability. For this reason alone, it is well worth a listen. The songs as ever are typical Townshend gems which explore the self like few others.

"The Real Me" is a cracking opener featuring the peerless rhythm section of Entwistle and Moon at their peak. Try listening to it without moving to the infectious beat - impossible. Much covered, this song remains a great favourite among Who afficionados. "5:15" is perhaps the stand out rock song with its imaginative use of the French Horn which John Entwistle played so well. Bell Boy provided the usual vehicle for Keith Moon to lend his comic lyrics to the project and the closing song "Love reign o'er me" was very obviously autobiographical. This was straight from the heart and delivered with raw energy by the dependable Townshend mouthpiece, Roger Daltrey. At this time, Daltrey was exploring a solo career with softer songs such as the beautiful "Giving it all away". Quadrophenia was the last Who album to give his vocal range the challenges which it merited.

As was often the case with Townshend projects, youth was the central theme and the he concentrated on the life of a young mod called Jimmy and his coming to terms with the responsibilities of everyday life. The youth culture of the Mods with whom the Who remain synonymous forms a central theme of the piece. Of course, youth culture has always been with us in its various guises. Townshend was writing about his own experience of being a young Mod in the 1960s.  It is, if anything, ironic to consider the large volume of his work which would fit much easier with the Rockers - the nemesis of the Mods. Songs such as "Won't get fooled again", "Who are you?" and "Heaven and Hell" are natural vehicles for Twonshend's power chord rock which spawned a whole new genre in the '80s and beyond.

Quadrophenia speaks of double schizophrenia or "four personalities". Each personality reflects that of one member of the Who. The tough guy, the helpless dancer represents the frontman Roger Daltrey. The romantic "Is it me for a moment" reflects the softly spoken Ox, John Entwistle and a bloody lunatic "I'll even carry your bags" is about Keith Moon their legendary percussion man. A beggar, a hypocrite, "Love reign o'er me" couldn't be about anybody other than Pete Townshend and the whole project is a masterpiece whose brilliance is now being brought to a whole new audience. Technology in the 1970s rendered its performance nigh on impossible with backing tracks and loops so it was seldom used on tour after the early attempts. I'm glad that Townshend and Daltrey have seen the sense to resurrect it because it deserves a wider audience. The songs sound as fresh and original now as when I first listened to them in 1981. There can be few songwriters alive capable of revealing themselves in such way as this and Townshend will be remembered as one of the very finest writers to emerge from the 1960s, that melting pot of British talent which changed popular music for ever.