I’m pretty sure I’m not the only long-time Who fan who was
initially perplexed, eventually exasperated, that the most over-compiled band
in Rock & Roll was celebrating its fiftieth anniversary with yet another compilation. I was exasperated
because The Who’s discography in the U.K. and U.S. is in such a bad state. John
Astley and Andy Macpherson’s radical remixes were an interesting experiment in
the nineties, but they’ve been the only versions of The Who’s albums in the
West for way, way too long. In 2011, Astley remastered those albums, leaving
the original mixes intact, for Universal Japan. Finally, The Who’s back
catalogue was in shipshape with excellent sound, cool bonus tracks, and respect
to the albums we old-timers grew up hearing. A domestic release of these
expensive Japanese imports was what I wanted for the fiftieth anniversary, not
another greatest hits.
Then my exasperation turned to curiosity when I found out
what was on The Who Hits 50! Sure “Be
Lucky”, Townshend and Daltrey’s first studio collaboration in eight years,
intrigued me (it’s really good, by the way, though I could have done without
the brief use of auto-tune, which is the most nauseating pop trend of the past
ten years). However, I was more interested in the first domestic remasters of
“The Last Time”, “Relay”, and “Dogs” in twenty years. I was curious to hear
which mixes were going to be used: the original ones or the nineties ones. And
when I found out that Hits 50! was to
include the long mix of “Magic Bus” never issued on CD in the states, I decided
to get over my exasperation and give The
Who Hits 50! a listen.
Let’s get the big questions out of the way first: these are
almost all original mixes. “Postcard” has John’s bass line you heard on Odds & Sods in 1974. “Trick of the
Light” does not have an over-extended fade. The vocals are misaligned on the
first chorus of “Eminence Front” just as they were in 1982. Old timers, this
is, indeed, The Who you grew up with. The one notable remix is that long
version of “Magic Bus” that first appeared on the vinyl version of Meaty, Beaty, Big, and Bouncy in 1971
that has only made it to CD on a couple of releases outside the U.S. The mix on
Hits 50! is true mono with full
percussion intro, not the fake stereo one with clipped intro from the old Meaty, Beaty LP. This mix first appeared
on the 2011 edition of The Singles
released in Japan only. The mastering here is better than that version, which
was a bit muddy. The same can be said of “Dogs”. Both songs never sounded
better than they did on The Who Hits 50! The
rest of it sounds great too.
You may still be wondering why a new compilation is
necessary. Why did the compilers once again trot out the absurdly edited versions of “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and “Who Are You”? I won’t try to convince
you another compilation is necessary, because it isn’t even though The Who Hits 50! is still essential for
things you can’t get in such high quality
on another U.S. CD like “Magic Bus”, “Dogs”, and “Relay”. I do think it may have a purpose though
My theory is that The
Who Hits 50! isn’t really intended to be “the best sampler” of The Who’s
music, as Howie Edelson writes in his liner notes. If this were the case, we’d
get all 8:33 of “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and all 6:22 of “Who Are You”. We
wouldn’t be burdened with three tracks from It’s
Hard while A Quick One and Sell Out are short-changed with one
measly track apiece. Odds & Sods
would be represented by a better song than “Postcard”: “Naked Eye”, “Long Live
Rock”, “Pure and Easy”, or “Glow Girl”, for example. My theory is that The Who Hits 50! is actually an improved
and expanded version of that Japanese edition of The Singles. Everything on it is here with the notable exceptions
of “Long Live Rock” and the mono single mix of “I Can See for Miles”; the
stereo album one is included instead. “Postcard” might be here because it was
released as a single. There are three tracks from It’s Hard because the album produced three singles (though as is
the case with a lot of these songs that weren’t on Japan’s The Singles, the album mix of “Eminence Front” is used instead of
the single edit). Essential tracks “Baba O’Riley”, “Boris the Spider”, and
“Bargain” (a great track that is now considered essential because it was used
in a stupid SUV commercial) are the only songs never released on 45 in the U.S.
or U.K. If this is the rationale behind this new compilation, am I out of line
in thinking / hoping that we in the U.S. and U.K. may soon receive domestic
releases of all those great editions of The Who’s back catalogue Japanese
Wholigans have been enjoying without paying hefty import prices for the past
three years? If The Who Hits 50! is
just the start of a revamped release campaign, maybe I’m not out of line and
maybe the next few years will make us U.S. and U.K. Who fans a bunch of Happy
Jacks.
