MEMORIES ON VINYL – THE WHO – “WHO'S NEXT”

"I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me”

Very fitting words here on the steemit platform don't you think ?
They come from the lyrics for 'Won't get fooled again' the last epic song on the iconic rock album 'Who's Next' by The Who.

Since I was born in 1965, the year The Who really took off with 'My Generation', you can imagine that by the year 'Who's Next' was released, in 1971, it didn't have much resonance with me haha.

In fact I only found out about The Who in the late 70's at a more proper age. At first at school where our music teacher talked to us about the Woodstock Festival back in 1969. He played 'Star Spangled Banner' performed by Jimi Hendrix and I was completely blown away. I was already discovering some temporary hardrock like UFO and Michael Schenker but I immediately could sense that this was the inception of heavy rockmusic. I was intrigued and learned soon that there was another band that set the world on fire so to speak....The Who. Later I saw footage of both Jimi and The Who at the Woodstock Festival. It was mindblowing for a young adolescent.

So when some classmates talked about a concert of The Who that had been on the television (for the famous german Rockpalast TV show) I was truly disappointed that I had missed that one. It was back in 1981 so long before the internet or youtube for that matter. Luckily the WDR TV-station often re-broadcasted this 'Rockpalast-Nacht'. The Who opened that night for a marathon-gig by The Grateful Dead, at that moment a band that said nothing to me, but that would also change later. Finally there was that moment, I don't remember exactly when it was, that I saw The Who live on stage for a full concert. An experience I'll never forget !

They closed off with the absolute powerhouse track 'Won't get fooled again' and when they came to the famous synth part with the lasers(!) and Roger marching through them, suddenly the tv screen went completely blank.

A gigantic flash of light and a deafening YEEAAAHHHHH was thrown to the audience in the Grugahalle and obviously on the tv screen. I was truly 'enlightened'.

From that moment on I was really diggin' deep in The Who's discography, taping their albums on cassette etc. So did the 'Who's Next' album end on a TDK cassettetape and it stayed there for I don't know how many years.
Fastforward to the late 90's and early 00's when the internet became the ultimate source (rather than the local library) and when another music format ruled the world (no LP's of even CD's but) mp3s, I was able to 'acquire' the complete Who discography. But after a couple of years these digital versions of the music (mp3 or recently streaming) didn't always fullfill the complete experience for me.
So some weeks ago I finally bought the album on VINYL and I relived those magic moments from decades ago.

From the opening synth patterns on 'Baba O'Reilly' until the ultimate scream on 'Won't get fooled again' this album is an absolute rock classic: coherent songs, flawless musicianship and an astonishing production . For me they ultimately nailed it with their 5th album to date.

Finally, it strikes me that somehow the lyrics of 'Won't get fooled again' resonate with the blockchain-movement don't you agree (well some parts anyway) ?
Maybe we should make this a sort of anthem here on steemit ?
WE DON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN !