40 Years ago today I was photographing the Who at Shepperton Studios where they played for invited fans for the Kids Are Alright film. I became a photographer because I wanted to shoot the Who, the same as people tell me they want to shoot Metallica.
It is slightly inconceivable to a twenty year old me to think I’d be writing this forty years later. The last time I saw the Who or the ‘Two’ was last year at Rock In Rio - I had a night off from the Aerosmith Tour and they were live on TV. Did I like it ? honestly I thought Pete Townshend walking on and screaming ‘Rock In Fucking Rio’ was a great moment the rest was ‘Alright’ I mean three keyboard players was not the band I loved in my teens, I made myself like it - I wanted to like it. Still I’m in Los Angeles as I write this and in Amoeba Records they had a half speed master version of the original six track 'Live At Leeds', I actually got ‘EXCITED’. I had to have it, you have to fully understand I have thirty different copies of the record at home. Fuck knows why it made my day my week my trip to LA it was The ‘OO as we’d say in London. Are they still The Greatest Rock And Roll Band In The World ? Noooooo but in their day no one could touch them that is a fact ,and to me at the odd moment in my old age age while browsing in a record store I can be reminded just by looking at an album cover they are and always will be The Greatest Rock And Roll Band In The Fucking World . And never forgot that is a fact.
