History Trivia / TheWho

* CashCowFranchise: They broke up in 1982, but seemingly never stopped performing comeback shows once a 1989 tour proved a huge hit.

** In the early 2000s, Pete began personally researching sexual abuse in children under the belief that he may had been molested as a child and didn't remember. Unfortunately, his research led him to a child pornography site, which landed him on a sex offender's list for eight years.
* DevelopmentHell: Since at least the early 1990s, Roger Daltrey has been attempting to put a Keith Moon biopic on the big screen. Creator/RobertDowneyJr. was once considered for the lead role before, in Daltrey's words, he read the script and did everything in it. Creator/MikeMyers was teased all throughout the 2000s to be playing the man himself, but after its intended release day in 2007 passed, nothing has come of it. Currently, IMDB lists the film as "Untitled Keith Moon Project", with Myers still attached to the title role.

* CoveredUp:

** The band hated their iconic performance at Woodstock. Roger Daltrey declared it as "the worst gig [they] ever played" and Pete Townshend said, "I thought the whole of America had gone mad."
* CreatorBreakdown: ''Lifehouse'', ''[[LampshadeHanging The Who By Numbers]]''.
** Pete Townshend [[WordOfGod claimed]] in his 2013 memoir, ''Who I Am'', that ''The Who By Numbers'' turned out the way it did almost [[EnforcedTrope by accident]], as a result of Roger Daltrey handpicking the tracks which were released on the album:
--> ''[Roger] called the next day, very positive about what he heard. I had come up with a broad sweep of material, some upbeat, some R&B influenced, some reggae, some very light in tone, and some introspective and angry. I was surprised by the songs he liked best - the angry, cynical, depressive ones. The music was only partly complete, though; what I lacked on this collection, once again, was a defining context, a theme or concept. The songs Roger selected may have been the ones he liked best, but as a group they were later described as a kind of "suicide note" from me, and better suited to a solo album. I wasn't feeling suicidal at all, but I was terribly tired. ''

* TroubledProduction[=/=]WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''Lifehouse'', the project that started out as an idea for another RockOpera but failed and became ''Music/WhosNext'' partially due to Townshend's inability to explain the idea and make anyone understand it.
** A second abandoned ConceptAlbum project, ''Rock Is Dead--Long Live Rock'' chronicling the history of the Who, was worked on in 1972. According the TheOtherWiki, tracks salvaged from the piece included the singles-only tracks, "Join Together", "Relay" and ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Long Live Rock]]", "Put The Money Down" from ''Odds And Sods'', and early versions of the ''Music/{{Quadrophenia}}'' tracks, "Is It In My Head", "The Punk And The Godfather" and "Love Reign O'er Me", among other tracks.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: "Magic Bus" manages to still sound reasonably timeless until it betrays the fact that it was written before British currency was decimalised with "Thruppence and sixpence every day just to drive to my baby".

* CreatorBacklash: Pete Townshend's ''Scoop'' liner notes include a rather bitter comment of "It's the silly songs they like, daft punters." after mentioning how their concerts always included shouted requests for "Magic Bus" and "Boris the Spider".

* DevelopmentHell: A biopic of Keith Moon, with MikeMyers in the lead, was teased in the early 2000s but has since dropped off the radar (possibly owing to Myers' [[TheCatInTheHat increasingly bad]] [[TheLoveGuru role choices]]).

** ''The Who By Numbers'' took an unusually long time to complete. This was not because of technical difficulties, but because of the band members's lack of interest and because of Pete's [[CreatorBreakdown writer's block and feeling of disenchantment from his music]]

** Also, when the Who made a guest appearance on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Pete Townshend had lost his voice and was unable to read his parts. His brother Paul recorded them instead.

** The first verse of "Who Are You" describes an actual incident. Pete, depressed from having just reached a settlement in a dispute with the band's management, got very drunk at the Speakeasy club with [[Music/SexPistols Steve Jones and Paul Cook]], tried to leave and passed out in a doorway not far from the club. He was recognised by a policeman, who woke him up and told him he could go free if he was able to walk away by himself. Pete managed to get himself together long enough to walk into a nearby tube station and catch a train home.

* PromotedFanboy: Scot Halpin, a nineteen-year old fan who played with the band during one concert. Keith Moon had passed out mid-show and was unable to play the drums, so Halpin stepped in for him.

** ''The Who By Numbers'' took an unusually long time to complete. This was not because of technical difficulties, but because the band members's lack of interest and because of Pete's [[HeroicBSOD writer's block and feeling of disenchantment from his music]]

* PromotedFanboy: Scot Halpin.

** Also, when the Who made a guest appearance on WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons, Pete Townshend had lost his voice and was unable to read his parts. His brother Paul recorded them instead.

** A band whose image was largely built around [[RockersSmashGuitars their at-the-time-shocking and revolutionary act of wrecking their equipment onstage]] and for wrecking hotel rooms and causing havoc on tour[[note]]The Holiday Inn chain banned them for life from their hotels in the 1960's[[/note]] had the misfortune of being in constant debt for much of that decade, until {{Tommy}} became a success in 1969. This, and whatever "legal matters" the band went through over this behavior became a constant source of pressure for the band, and the group was very close to breaking up many times. It can easily be said, then, that any attempts by the band of, erm, "sell(ing) out", affixing a quirky pop song like "Pinball Wizard" onto ''Tommy'' to help sales, or playing Woodstock [[MoneyDearBoy for the money]] would be [[JustifiedTrope very well justified and understandable]]. The inside fold out of ''Live At Leeds'' shows bills sent to the band for their antics and instrument destruction.

* TropeNamer: For MeetTheNewBoss, MagicBus and TeenageWasteland

* TropeNamer: For MeetTheNewBoss.

** ''The Who By Numbers'' took an unusually long time to complete. This was not because of technical difficulties, but because the band members's lack of interest and because of Pete's [[HeroicBSOD writer's block and feeling of detachement from his music]]

** ''The Who By Numbers'' took an unusually long time to complete. This was not because of technical difficulties, but because the band member's lack of interest and because of Pete's [[HeroicBSOD writer's block and disenchantment with his music]]

** A second abandoned ConceptAlbum project, ''Rock Is Dead--Long Live Rock'' chronicling the history of the Who, was worked on in 1972. According the TheOtherWiki, tracks salvaged from the piece included the singles-only tracks, "Join Together", "Relay" and ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Long Live Rock]]", "Put The Money Down" from ''Odds And Sods'', and early versions of the ''Music/{{Quadrophenia}}'' tracks, "Is It In My Head", "The Punk And The Godfather" and "Love Reign O'er Me", among other tracks.

** Townshend had also burned out on Music/{{Tommy}} by the beginning of the 1970s, particularly as it [[ToughActToFollow threatened to eclipse]] everything the band had done at that point and was the yardstick by which all subsequent Who/Townshend works were measured. He was faced with the task of replacing ''Tommy'' as the centerpiece of the Who's live set. Unfortunately for him, ''Lifehouse'' and ''Rock Is Dead--Long Live Rock'' were abandoned, and ''Music/{{Quadrophenia}}'' suffered technical issues live which led to friction that threatened to split up the band. These events, and Keith Moon's tragic death in 21978, may have continued to haunt Townshend at least until the first breakup of the Who in 1982.

** Townshend had also burned out on Music/{{Tommy}} by the beginning of the 1970s, particularly as it [[ToughActToFollow threatened to eclipse]] everything the band had done at that point and was the yardstick by which all subsequent Who/Townshend works were measured. He was faced with the task of replacing ''Tommy'' as the centerpiece of the Who's live set. Unfortunately for him, ''Lifehouse'' and ''Rock Is Dead--Long Live Rock'' were abandoned, and ''Quadrophenia'' suffered technical issues live which led to friction that threatened to split up the band. These events, and Keith Moon's tragic death in 21978, may have continued to haunt Townshend at least until the first breakup of the Who in 1982.

* Townshend had also burned out on Music/{{Tommy}} by the beginning of the 1970s, particularly as it [[ToughActToFollow threatened to eclipse]] everything the band had done at that point and was the yardstick by which all subsequent Who/Townshend works were measured. He was faced with the task of replacing ''Tommy'' as the centerpiece of the Who's live set. Unfortunately for him, ''Lifehouse'' and ''Rock Is Dead--Long Live Rock'' were abandoned, and ''Quadrophenia'' suffered technical issues live which led to friction that threatened to split up the band. These events, and Keith Moon's tragic death in 21978, may have continued to haunt Townshend at least until the first breakup of the Who in 1982.

** A band whose image was largely built around [[RockersSmashGuitars their at-the-time-shocking and revolutionary act of wrecking their equipment onstage]] and for wrecking hotel rooms and causing havoc on tour[[note]]The Holiday Inn chain banned them for life from their hotels in the 1960's[[/note]] had the misfortune of being in constant debt for much of that decade, until {{Tommy}} became a success in 1969. This, and whatever "legal matters" the band went through over this behavior became a constant source of pressure for the band, and the group was very close to breaking up many times. It can easily be said, then, that any attempts by the band of, erm, "sell(ing) out", affixing a quirky pop song like "Pinball Wizard" onto ''Tommy'' to help sales, or playing Woodstock [[MoneyDearBoy for the money]] would be [[JustifiedTrope very well justified and understandable]]. The inside fold out of ''Live At Leeds'' shows bills sent to the band for their antics and instrument destruction

* TroubledProduction[=/=]WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''Lifehouse'', the project that started out as an idea for another RockOpera but failed and became ''Music/WhosNext'' partially due to Townshend's inability to explain the idea and make anyone understand it.

* DevelopmentHell: A biopic of Keith Moon, with MikeMyers in the lead, was teased in the early 2000s but has since dropped off the radar (possibly owing to Myers' [[TheCatInTheHat increasingly bad]] [[TheLoveGuru role choices]].

* BreakthroughHit: "My Generation", "I Can See for Miles" in the U.S.

-->[Roger] called the next day, very positive about what he heard. I had come up with a broad sweep of material, some upbeat, some R&B influenced, some reggae, some very light in tone, and some introspective and angry. I was surprised by the songs he liked best - the angry, cynical, depressive ones. The music was only partly complete, though; what I lacked on this collection, once again, was a defining context, a theme or concept. The songs Roger selected may have been the ones he liked best, but as a group they were later described as a kind of "suicide note" from me, and better suited to a solo album. I wasn't feeling suicidal at all, but I was terribly tired.

** The 1989 ''Tommy'' anniversary tour: "The Who on Ice".

* LifeImitatesArt: ''The Who Sell Out''? Rock stars doing commercials? Hilarious in 1967. Now ''de rigeur'' for every musician, including The Who themselves.
* OneOfUs: Pete Townshend is a big animation fan. He produced ''TheIronGiant'' and based on his positive review of ''Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded The U.S.'' he loves anime, as the book heavily covers the subject as well as anime porn, and cosplay among other things.

** Also, when the Who made a guest appearance on TheSimpsons, Pete Townshend had lost his voice and was unable to read his parts. His brother Paul recorded them instead.

** At the end of "Happy Jack," Pete Townshend shouts, "I saw ya!" to Keith Moon. Moon was banned from the studio during vocal recordings because he'd always crack the others up and wreck takes, so he would always try to sneak in, and Pete had just noticed him that one time. It became a part of the song, even when performed live.

* TroubledProduction[=/=]WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''Lifehouse'', the project that started out as an idea for another RockOpera but failed and became ''Who's Next'' partially due to Townshend's inability to explain the idea and make anyone understand it.

-->[Roger] called the next day, very positive about what he heard. I had come up with a broad sweep of material, some upbeat. some R&B influenced, some reggae, some very light in tone, and some introspective and angry. I was surprised by the songs he liked best - the angry, cynical, depressive ones. The music was only partly complete, though; what I lacked on this collection, once again, was a defining context, a theme or concept. The songs Roger selected may have been the ones he liked best, but as a group they were later described as a kind of "suicide note" from me, and better suited to a solo album. I wasn't feeling suicidal at all, but I was terribly tired.

** A band whose image was largely built around [[RockersSmashGuitars their at-the-time-shocking and revolutionary act of wrecking their equipment onstage]] and for wrecking hotel rooms and causing havoc on tour[[note]]The Holiday Inn chain banned them for life from their hotels in the 1960's[[/note]] had the misfortune of being in constant debt for much of that decade, until {{Tommy}} became a success in 1969. This, and whatever "legal matters" the band went through over this behavior became a constant source of pressure for the band, and the group was very close to breaking up many times. It can easily be said, then, that any attempts by the band of, erm, "sell(ing) out", affixing a quirky pop song like "Pinball Wizard" onto ''Tommy'' to help sales, or playing Woodstock [[MoneyDearBoy for the money]] would be [[JustifiedTrope very well justified and understandable]]. The inside fold out of ''Live At Leeds'' shows bills sent to the band for their antics and instrument destruction