History Music / TheWho

* TeethClenchedTeamwork: The band often argued with each other in the early years. In the original lineup, Doug Sandom had been the peacemaker and settled disputes. Keith Moon, by contrast, was as volatile as Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend, but some of his wild antics were often done to diffuse tension between them. John Entwistle was too passive to become involved in arguments. The group established their live reputation and stage show in part out of insecurity and aggression among its members, and Townshend recalled that all decisions had to be made democratically "because we always disagreed". The only friendship in the band during the 1960s was Moon and Entwistle, who enjoyed partying together. Daltrey and Townsend frequently argued over the band's direction well into the 1970s.

* BadassBoast: Keith Moon joined the band after pointing at their then-drummer and saying, "I can play better than him". He then proceeded to smash the drums to pieces.

* PunkRock: Along with Music/TheVelvetUnderground, they're considered the forerunners of the genre.

** Similarly, Townshend's nervous breakdown during the ''Lifehouse'' sessions was triggered by [[RantInducingSlight their manager calling him "Townshend".]]

* CloudcuckoolandersMinder: Pete Townshend saw John Entwistle as this to Keith; they even used to share an apartment. [[NotSoAboveItAll The trouble was that sometimes Keith's crazy antics were just too much fun for John not to join in on...]]

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Keith Moon. Let's face it: when you're a touring band and your drummer's antics have gotten you banned from several notable hotel chains, he's gotta be a pretty amazing drummer.

* NeoclassicalPunkZydecoRockabilly: Several of Pete Townshend's late '90s recordings mashed up classic Who songs with freestyle rap sections performed by Hame.

* DentedIron: Roger and Pete are both partially deaf in one ear(opposing ears, as they were facing each other)due to a stunt during their appearance on ''Series/TheSmothersBrothersComedyHour''; Keith's drumkit was loaded with dynamite, and set to explode at the end of their performance, and, as it turns out, too much was used, causing a bigger, not to mention louder explosion than was intended.

* DrugsAreBad: Roger Daltrey was straight-edge, and heavily objected to the other members' drug abuse. Once, he lost it on Keith Moon and flushed his pills down the toilet. Townshend also developed this stance after a bad acid trip aboard a plane.[[note]]That didn't stop him from being an alcoholic and junkie though [[/note]] Daltrey was actually nearly kicked out of the band (for the space of about a week) because he beat up Keith Moon for giving out drugs to the rest of the members. From then on out, he wasn't quite as violent.

* EpicInstrumentalOpener: The synth riff at the start of "Baba O'Riley," similarly the buildup in "Eminence Front." Also, the Overture from Music/{{Tommy}}.

* TropeMaker / TropeCodifier: Though not the UrExample of RockOperas (''The Story Of Simon Simopath'' by [[NamesTheSame Nirvana]] and ''Music/SFSorrow'' by Music/ThePrettyThings both predate it), The Who's ''Music/{{Tommy}}'' was the earliest one to become a hit. The Who maintain that ''Music/SFSorrow'' wasn't an influence in any major way, but several critics, and Music/ThePrettyThings themselves have disagreed. No one seems to have asked them about ''The Story Of Simon Simopath'' since Nirvana never got too popular. As for the Codifying, ''Music/{{Tommy}}'' is still one of the best examples of a continuous narrative via music there is, and uses several common RockOpera Tropes, particularly {{Leitmotif}}.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Never outright stated but strongly implied in "Pictures of Lily". The singer is a young man who has insomnia. When his father gives him the titular pictures of Lily, he feels better and is able to sleep.

* IntercourseWithYou: "Squeeze Box", "Pictures of Lily", "Mary Ann with the Shaky Hand".

** ''Series/CSIMiami'' grabbed "Won't Get Fooled Again", which makes less sense, but still some--they don't want to be fooled. Of course, the song is really about revolution.

* RockersSmashGuitars: The Who were perhaps the first ever to do this.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Generally between a 3 ("Pinball Wizard", "I Can See for Miles") and 5 ("Who Are You", "Won't Get Fooled Again")

* AchievementsInIgnorance: John Entwistle's instrument defining playing style was by his own admission because he was a guitarist, who basically took on the bass to fill out the band, and because his fingers were too big for guitar strings. All his flashy techniques were for the most part nabbed from various lead guitarists.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: Keith Moon. Let's face it: when you're a touring band and your drummer's antics have gotten you banned from several notable hotel chains, [[CrazyAwesome he's gotta be a pretty amazing drummer]].

-->--"'''My Generation'''"

However, one month after the album's release, Keith Moon died after accidentally overdosing on Heminevrin, a drug he had been prescribed to treat alcohol withdrawal. (He had taken to [[TooDumbToLive downing them by the dozen and mixing them with alcohol]]; 31 undigested pills were found in his stomach during his autopsy.) He was replaced by Kenney Jones of Music/TheSmallFaces and Music/{{Faces}}, who lacked Moon's characteristic hyperactive drumming style, with John "Rabbit" Bundrick unofficially added as the band's keyboardist, a position which Townshend (and occasionally Nicky Hopkins) had filled in the past. With Jones, they recorded two more albums: ''Face Dances'' in 1981 and ''It's Hard'' in 1982, which suffered from uninspired songwriting, the only notable songs being "You Better You Bet" and "Another Tricky Day" from the former, and "Athena" and "Eminence Front" from the latter. Finally, in December 1983, Townshend issued a public statement that The Who had disintegrated.

* AlwaysSecondBest: The Who never had a #1 single in the UK or US throughout their career, being constantly denied the top slot by Music/TheBeatles, Music/TheSmallFaces, Music/BobDylan, and others. Which is funny because Music/TheSmallFaces were AlwaysSecondBest in the mod-rock genre right behind The Who... This is possibly lamp-shaded by Pete in the ''Live at Leeds'' album. When introducing "Substitute", "Happy Jack", and "I'm a Boy", he mentions that the first "was our first #4", the second "was our first #1... ''In Germany''", and the third, "according to Melody Maker, was our first #1 in England... For about half an hour."[[note]]Which is true - ''Melody Maker'' published its own charts in the 1960s, and it '''did''' list "I'm A Boy" at number one, for two weeks - their only #1 on ''any'' of the major competing charts of the era. However, the ''Melody Maker'' chart wasn't the one that ended up being accepted as canon, so "I'm a Boy" is now recognised as only a #2 in the UK. What had beaten it to the top? Of all things, "Distant Drums" by the late (having died two years earlier) country crooner Jim Reeves.[[/note]]

** Pete Townshend has speculated in interviews that John Entwistle had Aspergers Syndrome, which seems to be plausible, given that he was a very introverted guy, with strong, unusual fascinations and odd social behaviors.

** John Entwistle had a ''deep'' speaking voice, and could somehow sing even deeper. Interestingly, he also had the strongest falsetto in the band, which was notably deployed on "A Quick One, While He's Away."

*** This nearly got Pete arrested at one point since the person who climbed onstage turned out to be a cop who was trying to get the venue to evacuate due to a fire next door. [[note]]To be fair to Pete, the cop was in civilian clothes so all he saw was some idiot who got on the stage trying to wrestle the mic away from Roger[[/note]]

** Roger Daltrey. Despite being well-below average height (5'6), he ''was'' a former steelworker and a part-time bodybuilder who physically dominated his much taller bandmates when they stepped out of line.
** One interpretation of the title of the compilation album ''Meaty, Beaty, Big & Bouncy'' was that Daltrey was "Meaty" (due to his muscular physique) Moon was "Beaty" (due to his beating the drums), and Townshend was "Bouncy" (due to his habit of leaping around onstage). Entwistle was "Big," of course.
* BigYes: A "YEEEEEEAHHH!" heard towards the end of "Won't Get Fooled Again." Which has now undergone MemeticMutation thanks to the song's status as [[RealSongThemeTune theme song for]] ''Series/CSIMiami''.
* {{Bowdlerise}}: For its US single release, "Substitute" had a line changed from "I look all white but my dad was black" to "I try walking forward but my feet walk back." {{Lampshaded}} in an early interview, where Pete Townshend said that, in America, their records only sold in cities that tended to have race riots.

** From "You Better You Bet," released on the 1981 album ''Face Dances'' (and as the band's last top 20 single): "I drunk myself blind to the sound of old T.Rex / and ''Music/WhosNext''."

** According to Pete Townshend, one motivator for the Who's reunion was to help John Entwistle with his money problems, brought on by decades of completely batshit insane purchases including hundreds of vintage guitars, authentic suits of armor, horror props, and an effigy of freaking Quasimodo.

** "Mary Anne With the Shaky Hands."

* EpicRocking: "A Quick One, While He's Away," "Won't Get Fooled Again," "Love Reign O'er Me," "Baba O'Riley," "We're Not Gonna Take It"... Among others.

* ExpositoryHairstyleChange: An interesting RealLife example. During their "pop period" (roughly 1965 to early 1968), Daltrey essentially destroyed his naturally curly hair with a product called Dippity-Doo to make it straight, which he then styled into a Beatles-esque moptop. Around mid-1968, however, he stopped using the Dippity-Doo and grew his hair out, coinciding with the band's transition to a heavier rock sound.
* FadingIntoTheNextSong: All of ''Music/TheWhoSellOut'', most of ''Music/{{Tommy}}'' and ''Music/{{Quadrophenia}}'', "Love Ain't for Keeping," "My Wife" from ''Music/WhosNext'', "They're All in Love," "Blue, Red and Grey" from ''The Who by Numbers''...

* FourMoreMeasures: "Baba O'Riley."

* HenpeckedHusband / WomanScorned: "My Wife."

* ICanExplain: Averted with "I Can't Explain."

* IntercourseWithYou: "Squeeze Box," "Pictures of Lily," "Mary Ann with the Shaky Hand."
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: "The Kids Are Alright."

** "Love, Reign O'Er Me" has two: the first being Roger's explosive "'''''LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!!!!'''''", the second being the mournful horn sting after Keith's solo, accompanied, appropriately enough, by the sound of broken glass.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Generally between a 3 ("Pinball Wizard", "I Can See For Miles") and 5 ("Who Are You", "Won't Get Fooled Again")

* TheNapoleon: Roger Daltrey is the shortest member of the group, and reports of his height vary between 5'5 (165 cm) and 5'7 (170 cm), which is quite short by British standards. This was particularly noticeable when he stood between Townshend and Entwistle, both of whom were over 6 ft tall. In the band's early days, he was known for being a self-proclaimed fighter and for having a very dominant role within the band, often getting into fistfights with the others to solve disputes. He calmed down a lot between the release of "The Who Sell Out" and "Tommy", but he remained a tough, assertive person and you still had to be careful what you said around him.

* NonAppearingTitle: "A Quick One, While He's Away," "Baba O'Riley," "The Punk And The Godfather."
* NotChristianRock: Pete Townshend is a follower of Meher Baba, an Indian pantheist guru, and as such many of the songs he wrote for the Who are either addressed to God ("Who Are You," "Bargain," "Listening To You"), written ''from the perspective of God'' ("Let My Love Open The Door," "God Speaks Of Marty Robbins"), or are about God in a more abstract sense ("Drowned", "Don't Let Go The Coat"). Most of Townshend's religious songs are oblique enough that one wouldn't notice it unless they were informed of it beforehand. His work with the Who aside, Townshend also recorded a trilogy of solo albums with Ronnie Lane which were explicitly dedicated to and based on the teachings of Meher Baba.

* OdeToYouth: "My Generation."

* PintSizedPowerhouse: Roger Daltrey is only 5'6", half a foot shorter than two of his band-mates, and known for [[TheNapoleon being in charge.]] Keep that in mind the next time you hear that [[BigYes famous scream]] from the end of "Won't Get Fooled Again."

** ''Live At Leeds'' has one at the end of "Young Man Blues."

** And there's one in "Real Good Looking Boy."

** When Music/MickJagger and Music/KeithRichards were briefly jailed for marijuana possession in 1967, the Who released a cover of "Under My Thumb," backed by "The Last Time," in protest. The plan was reportedly for the Who to keep covering Stones songs for as long as Jagger and Richards were in jail, but as it turned out the pair were released even before the "Under My Thumb" single was issued.

** "Man In A Purple Dress," on ''Endless Wire'', is a scathing attack against organized religion and the clergy, inspired after Townshend watched ''Film/ThePassionOfTheChrist''.
** Off the same album is "Black Widow's Eyes," a topical if not exactly protest-y song about StockholmSyndrome setting in during the Beslan school massacre.
** And of course, there's "Won't Get Fooled Again," an ''anti''-protest song about how revolutionaries always end up imitating the people they overthrew.

* RefrainFromAssuming: It's "Baba O'Riley," '''not''' "Teenage Wasteland." However, there is a Pete Townshend version of the song with a slower tempo called "Teenage Wasteland," making it easy to mistake. The song "Teenage Wasteland" has two verses, a bridge, and a second chorus section that were cut out when the song became "Baba O'Riley."
* ReplacementGoldfish: Oddly enough, ''not'' any of the drummers or bassists brought in to replace the classic rhythm section (With the exception of Kenney Jones): Pete calls the current touring band "Who-2" and maintains that Keith Moon and John Entwistle can never be truly replaced (however, some sources say touring drummer Zak Starkey was offered a spot as a full-time band member and declined). A more straight example is ''Simon Townshend'' for his yet-living brother; Roger Daltrey has taken him on his non-Who solo tours to basically do everything Pete would typically do (guitar-playing, various vocal parts in ''Music/{{Tommy}}'' songs). Pete's other brother Paul voiced Pete when The Who appeared on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' since Pete had lost his voice at the time.

** ''Series/CSIMiami'' grabbed "Won't Get Fooled Again," which makes less sense, but still some--they don't want to be fooled. Of course, the song is really about revolution.

*** WordOfGod says that Creator/AnthonyZuiker wanted to use "Behind Blue Eyes" to make reference to NYPD cops, but through ExecutiveMeddling, they ended up using "Baba O'Riley."
** ''Series/CSICyber'' continues the [[IncrediblyLamePun theme]] with "I Can See For Miles."
** Pete alluded to this trope on the band's 2006 album ''Endless Wire'' with the song "Mike Post Theme," which doubles as a ShoutOut to the legendary composer for crime-based TV shows.

** The song "Glow Girl," recorded during the ''Music/TheWhoSellOut'' sessions but unreleased for a number of years, ends with a short song fragment ("[[GenderBender it's a girl, Mrs. Walker, it's a girl]]") that is recycled almost verbatim as the second track of ''Music/{{Tommy}}''. The fragment is actually present in no less than four different songs all with a different meaning: Tommy's birth during "It's A Boy," the aftermath of the plane crash in "Glow Girl," the Rael-Red Chin war during "Rael 1," and Tommy on drugs during "Underture." In fact, "Underture" is completely made of the same leitmotif over and over again.

* SellOut: ''Music/TheWhoSellOut'' is a massive [[LampshadeHanging lampshade]] of the group's numerous commercial endeavours during the late '60s, including recording radio promos for Coca-Cola, Heinz Baked Beans, a car dealer, a maker of guitar strings, the United States Air Force, and anyone else they felt would reimburse them for their trouble. The original plan was to entice the companies mentioned on the album to pay for the references. No one was interested, but the band was blatant enough about it that many listeners [[IMeantToDoThat took the album as intentional satire]].

** In the middle of a concert in San Francisco in November 1973, Keith passed out after taking tranquilizers (which were meant for animals) mixed with brandy, and wasn't able to continue playing. After doing one song without drums, Pete asked the audience: 'Can anyone play the drums? I mean someone good!'. 19-year old fan Scot Halpin was plucked out of the audience and played with the band for the final three songs so that they wouldn't have to cut the show short. Scot did a good job and was awarded Rolling Stone Magazine's 'Pick-Up Player of the Year Award' for his performance.

* VocalTagTeam: Even though Roger Daltrey has the official position of lead vocalist, There are a handful of songs on every album that feature Pete Townshend on lead vocal or on co-lead vocal. John Entwistle has a few lead vocals too (mainly on songs he wrote) and even Keith Moon (who was not known for his singing abilities) gets to sing lead a couple of times. Whole songs featuring harmonizing between Roger, Pete, and John are not uncommon either.

1996 saw the band's next tour -- a similarly large-scale production of ''Music/{{Quadrophenia}}'', featuring guest vocals by Music/BillyIdol, Gary Glitter, and others, and the first appearance of Zak Starkey, son of Music/RingoStarr and childhood protégé of Keith Moon, as the group's regular drummer. Beginning in 2000, the Who returned to touring as a five-piece group, which they did on a biannual basis throughout the 2000s. The night before the scheduled kickoff of the 2002 tour in Las Vegas, John Entwistle died of heart failure after spending the night with longtime rock groupie/stripper Alycen Rowse and was replaced on short notice by session bassist Pino Palladino, who has played for the group since.

* CanonDiscontinuity: As Gary Glitter has been just a wee bit ''publicly disgraced and exposed as a pedophile'', his contributions to the 1996 ''Music/{{Quadrophenia}}'' tour have been excised from the CD and DVD releases. As Townshend had a run-in with the law himself on charges of possessing child porn not that long ago, his desire to avoid GuiltByAssociation is understandable.

* DarkerAndEdgier: A lot of their early material bordered on comedy: "I'm a Boy" was the lament of a child whose mother refused to acknowledge his gender, "Pictures of Lily" and "Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand" both serving as a cheeky attempt at [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar fooling 1960s censors]] with their jokes about masturbation, etc. Then there's ''Music/{{Tommy}}'', with its cynical take on adultery, child abuse, pop culture stardom, and social isolation only ''slightly'' obscured by the inclusion of a song about a blind kid playing pinball. And [[FromBadToWorse it gets much, much worse]] from there on out, with CreatorBreakdown leading to a string of bleaker and bleaker albums throughout the 1970s, culminating in 1975's ''The Who by Numbers'', sometimes referred to by fans as "Pete Townshend's suicide note." Joking and light-hearted songs didn't entirely disappear from the group's catalog, but they were increasingly relegated to one or two tracks per album if that, and they were often written by John Entwistle, ensuring that the comedy was ''dark.''

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Roger Daltrey clearly says "Who the fuck are you?" on two different occasions in "Who Are You?" Many radio stations play it uncensored.

* 1966 - ''The Who Sings My Generation'' [[note]] Released in the US only as the substitute to ''My Generation.'' It omitted "I'm a Man" and added "Instant Party (Circles)" [[/note]]

* 1967 - ''Music/HappyJack'' [[note]] Released in the US only as a substitute to ''A Quick One'', because of MoralGuardians. The title was changed, the track-listing was changed and it omitted "Heat Wave" and added "Happy Jack" [[/note]]

* 2000 - ''BBC Sessions'' [[note]] Recorded between 1965 and 1973 [[/note]]

* 2003 - ''Live at the Royal Albert Hall'' [[note]] Recorded in 2000 [[/note]]
* 2006 - ''Live from Toronto'' [[note]] Recorded in 1982 [[/note]]
* 2007 - ''View from a Backstage Pass'' [[note]] Recorded between 1969 and 1976 [[/note]]
* 2010 - ''Greatest Hits Live'' [[note]] Recorded between 1965 and 2009 [[/note]]
* 2012 - ''Live at Hull'' [[note]] Recorded in 1970 [[/note]]

* 1964 - "I'm the Face" [[note]] Released when the Who was called The High Numbers [[/note]]
** "Zoot Suit" as the B-side [[note]] Released before The High Numbers became The Who [[/note]]

The band was founded by Roger Daltrey as the Detours in 1959. After several line-up changes, by 1961 Daltrey (who played guitar in the band) recruited schoolmates John Entwistle on bass and Pete Townshend on guitar. With Townshend on guitar, Daltrey dropped the instrument and shifted to singing. They became The Who in 1964 after hearing of another band also known as The Detours. After firing founding drummer Doug Sandom, the band enlisted Keith Moon mid-gig. The group then spent a while beating around the bush as a mod-rock act, changing their name to the High Numbers and then back again to the Who. They finally struck gold in 1965 with the singles "I Can't Explain", "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" and the classic "My Generation". The [[Music/MyGeneration album of the same name]] however was a rushed affair generally lacking in memorable work. Guitarist and primary songwriter Pete Townshend had more ambition though, and included the 9-minute "mini-opera" "A Quick One, While He's Away" on the album ''Music/AQuickOne'', which was released the next year (and also featured the single "Boris the Spider", written and sung by Entwistle), as a taste of things to come.

Their first breakthrough was the 1967 ConceptAlbum ''Music/TheWhoSellOut'', which included their first Top 10 hit in the US, "I Can See for Miles". That, plus their appearance at the Film/MontereyPop Festival, marked their breakthrough in the US. In 1968, Townshend became a convert to the teachings of Meher Baba, an Indian guru who preached a gospel of love, pantheism, and music as the key to understanding the universe. Inspired by his new religion, and the rejection of psychedelic drugs that it called for, Townshend wrote what many consider the Who's best -- the famous RockOpera ''Music/{{Tommy}}'' in 1969, about a deaf, dumb and blind kid who sure plays a mean pinball. The tour in support of this album, which took the band to Film/{{Woodstock}} and often featured them performing ''Tommy'' in its entirety, established them as one of the most dynamic and exciting live acts of their day. Around this time Townshend conceived an epic project called ''Lifehouse'', a story set in a CrapsackWorld led by an authoritarian government in which hundreds of people gather at a concert and ascend to a higher plane of existence through ThePowerOfRock. However he over-exerted himself this time, and the absence of manager/co-producer Kit Lambert (who convinced the band about the ''Music/{{Tommy}}'' concept) to explain just what the fuck Pete wanted ended up killing the project until it resurfaced as a Townshend solo album in 2000. Instead, the Who regrouped in 1971 with producer Glyn Johns and [[RecycledSoundtrack reworked the songs written for Lifehouse]] to produce ''Music/WhosNext''. ''Who's Next'' reached #1 on the UK charts, #4 in the USA, was critically acclaimed and contains some of their best-known songs: "Won't Get Fooled Again", "Baba O'Riley" and "Behind Blue Eyes".

After a quick break, The Who recorded another ConceptAlbum[=/=]RockOpera, this time about a mentally ill teenager named Jimmy and his conflicts with his family and friends during the height of the mods-rockers conflict in the 1960s. Named ''Music/{{Quadrophenia}}'', it was released in 1973 to critical acclaim, and spawned another hit with the ballad "Love, Reign O'er Me". During the supporting tour, which proved less impressive than the ''Tommy'' tour due to an increased reliance on then-primitive synthesizers and backing tapes, a famous incident occurred on 20 November 1973 in San Francisco, when Keith Moon passed out twice during the performance due to tranquilizers (the put to sleep large animals kind of tranquilizers), the first time returning after a half-hour delay, and the second time he was carried off. After playing "See Me, Feel Me" with Daltrey on tambourine, Townshend asked "Can anybody play the drums? I mean someone good!" An audience member, Scot Halpin, filled in for the three-song encore and did a pretty good job. When interviewed by ''Rolling Stone'', he noted: "I only played three numbers and I was dead".

* NotChristianRock: Pete Townshend is a follower of Meher Baba, an Indian pantheist guru, and as such many of the songs he wrote for the Who are either addressed to God ("Who Are You," "Bargain," "Listening To You"), written ''from the perspective of God'' ("Let My Love Open The Door," "God Speaks Of Marty Robbins"), or are about God in a more abstract sense ("Drowne,d, "Don't Let Go The Coat"). Most of Townshend's religious songs are oblique enough that one wouldn't notice it unless they were informed of it beforehand. His work with the Who aside, Townshend also recorded a trilogy of solo albums with Ronnie Lane which were explicitly dedicated to and based on the teachings of Meher Baba.

** In ''Music/{{Tommy}}'' they used an instrumental tune from "Rael 1" (on the album ''Music/TheWhoSellOut'') as a leitmotif.

* YourCheatingHeart: "I Can See For Miles", "A Quick One, While He's Away".

* AmbiguousDisorder:
** Pete Townshend has speculated in interviews that John Entwistle had Aspergers Syndrome, which seems to be plausible, given that he was a very introverted guy, with strong, unusual fascinations and odd social behaviors.
** Roger Daltrey has also said that he suspected Keith Moon was some sort of autistic savant, given his natural, yet unorthodox talent for drumming and his flat-out bizarre behavior, and suggested that some of his substance abuse was a way for him to cope with said disorder, and the difficulties connecting with others that comes with it.
* AmbiguouslyBi: Townshend has flip-flopped on the matter of his attraction to men since the '80s, claiming that his song "Rough Boys" was specifically about gay sex and coming to terms with his interest thereof. He later revoked this and said that it was about his ''friends'' who were gay. In his autobiography, he writes that he's "probably bi", saying that he was certainly attracted to Music/MickJagger at one point.

* AlwaysSecondBest: The Who never had a #1 single in the UK or US throughout their career, being constantly denied the top slot by Music/TheBeatles, Music/TheSmallFaces, Music/BobDylan, and others. Which is funny because Music/TheSmallFaces were AlwaysSecondBest in the mod-rock genre right behind The Who... This is possibly lamp-shaded by Pete in the ''Live at Leeds'' album. When introducing "Substitute", "Happy Jack", and "I'm a Boy", he mentions that the first "was our first #4", the second "was our first #1... ''In Germany''", and the third, "according to Melody Maker, was our first #1 in England... For about half an hour."[[note]]Which is true - ''Melody Maker'' published its own charts in the 1960s, and it '''did''' list "I'm A Boy" at number one, for two weeks - their only #1 on ''any'' of the major competing charts of the era. However, the ''Melody Maker'' chart wasn't the one that ended up being accepted as canon, so "I'm a Boy" is now recognised as only a #2 in the UK. What beat it to the top? Of all things, "Distant Drums" by the late (having died two years earlier) country crooner Jim Reeves.[[/note]]

** Keith Moon used to sometimes take the lead vocal on rare occasions, on studio recording and during live performances, which would often also qualify as SugarWiki/FunnyMoments.

** John Entwistle had a hobby of building Fenderbirds, which basically involved gutting Gibson Thunderbirds, installing all new hardware, cutting off the neck, and routing a whole new neck pocket to fit a Fender bass neck -- which is no mean feat.

* MrFanservice: Roger Daltrey ''made'' the Rock God archetype, and definitely lived up to it with his physique and fondness for wide open shirts. Even more impressive is that he's still in fantastic shape to this day.

* AxCrazy: In the early days, you'd most likely get your head half knocked off if you pissed Roger off. He even got fired for it once, right before they made it big.
** Pete as well. His tendency for destroying guitars originally stemmed from fits of rage he would experience with technical malfunctions. Not to mention he swung a 12 pound guitar aiming for Daltrey's head during an argument.

* AmbiguouslyBi: Townshend has flip-flopped on the matter of his attraction to men since the 80s, claiming that his song "Rough Boys" was specifically about gay sex and coming to terms with his interest thereof. He later revoked this and said that it was about his ''friends'' who were gay. In his autobiography, he writes that he's "probably bi", saying that he was certainly attracted to Music/MickJagger at one point.

** Roger Daltrey. Despite being well-below average height (5'6), he ''was'' a former steel worker and a part-time bodybuilder who physically dominated his much taller bandmates when they stepped out of line.

** According to Pete Townshend, one motivator for the Who's reunion was to help John Entwistle with his money problems, brought on by decades of completely batshit insane purchases including hundreds of vintage guitars, authentic suits of armor, horror props and an effigy of freaking Quasimodo.

** John '''(Phlegmatic)''' - quiet, even-keeled, charming, witty and mischievous.

** Roger would regularly get into fist fights with the other members and even managed to knock Keith unconscious once, for which he was temporarily fired. He was eventually let back in on the condition that he'd keep his temper under control - outside of that one time in the mid-70's when he almost ''killed'' Pete with an ill-fated sucker punch.

** A lesser known one is John's Danelectro Longhorns, a bizarre lyre-shaped bass whose strings Entwistle grew particularly fond of, famously buying several basses because he kept breaking the incredibly thin (and incredibly rare) strings.

* LoudnessWar: Some of their recent remasters, especially ''Meaty''. You could argue the Who were the rock throwing cavemen from whom a direct line can be drawn to the high-tech, range compressing warriors of today. The Who just used plain old wattage (see "Heroic RROD" above). Dougal Butler, who wrote ''Full Moon'', a hilarious memoir of his days with the band, said: "The Who have been clocked at 120 decibels near the stage. This is a condition which can be exactly duplicated by sticking your head in a jet engine." This was only in live performances though, as thankfully technology back then couldn't stand as much abuse as [=CDs=] nowadays. In fact, The Who were somewhat actively engaged in a Loudness War with other bands, since they made it their goal to be the loudest band ''ever''. Pete's memoir even recounts how depressed he and his band-mates were in 1967 when they gained a serious loudness competitor in the form of Vanilla Fudge ("They had found a way of amplifying a Hammond organ up to rock guitar decibels. We were actually upset by this"). They were also in a Loudness War ''with themselves''; everyone wanted to be heard over the other guy, so Pete Townshend and John Entwistle went to [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Amplification Jim Marshall]] and wound up creating the now-classic "Marshall Stack", just so they could be heard over Keith Moon's hard-hitting drumming. This is why the band was once described as "a Lead Singer, a Lead Guitarist, a LeadBassist and a LeadDrummer".

* TheNapoleon: Roger Daltrey is the shortest member of the group, and reports of his height vary between 5'5 (165 cm) and 5'7 (170 cm), which is quite short by British standards. This was particularly noticeable when he stood between Townshend and Entwistle, both of whom were over 6 ft tall. In the band's early days, he was known for being a self-proclaimed fighter and for having a very dominant role within the band, often getting into fist fights with the others to solve disputes. He calmed down a lot between the release of "The Who Sell Out" and "Tommy", but he remained a tough, assertive person and you still had to be careful what you said around him.

* NobodyLovesTheBassist: Zig-zagged with John Entwistle. He is widely admired by fans, critics and bandmates alike for his bass playing skills. Plenty of people even consider him one of the best bass players of all time, but he was also often completely ignored by the cameras during live shows (even when he was playing LeadBassist during "My Generation") and was rarely asked questions during interviews, though this was also a side effect of him barely speaking or really moving at all on-stage.

* SellOut: ''Music/TheWhoSellOut'' is a massive [[LampshadeHanging lampshade]] of the group's numerous commercial endeavours during the late 60's, including recording radio promos for Coca-Cola, Heinz Baked Beans, a car dealer, a maker of guitar strings, the United States Air Force, and anyone else they felt would reimburse them for their trouble. The original plan was to entice the companies mentioned on the album to pay for the references. No one was interested, but the band was blatant enough about it that many listeners [[IMeantToDoThat took the album as intentional satire]].

* VocalTagTeam: Even though Roger Daltrey has the official position of lead vocalist, There are a handful of songs on every album that feature Pete Townshend on lead vocal or on co-lead vocal. John Entwistle has a few lead vocals too (mainly on songs he wrote) and even Keith Moon (who was not known for his singing abilities) gets to sing lead a couple of times. Whole songs featuring harmonizing between Roger, Pete and John are not uncommon either.

[[caption-width-right:350:[-The Who during their heyday. From left to right: John Entwistle, Roger Daltrey, Keith Moon, and Pete Townshend.-]]]

-->--"My Generation"

->''"Inside Outside / Leave me alone''\\
''Inside Outside / Nowhere is home''\\
''Inside Outside / Where have I been?''\\
''Out of my brain on the 5:15"''
-->-- "5:15"

->''"I don't need to fight''\\
''To prove I'm right''\\
''I don't need to be forgiven!"''
-->-- "Baba O'Riley"