Your dog keeps licking my nose, and chewing up all those letters that say

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

...you BETTER...

Just a reminder that The Who...if you can really call Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, Pino Palladino and Zakk Starkey "The Who"...are planning an album of new material in 2005, the first since 1982's "It's Hard," with Kenny Jones on drums, which means they STILL weren't "The Who."

They need to make a living. Godspeed, but it sucks. Keith Moon WAS The Who, and Townshend has pretty much acknowledged this.



http://www.petetownshend.co.uk/

[MikeG]

1. If you get lonesome for Keith, listen to "Happy Jack".

He's all over it.

[Orsino]

2. Saw 'Em in 2000...

...with Entwistle. They rocked so hard my hair still has a permanent wave, summoning every bit of the majesty of their greatest recordings--including the final scream in "Won't Get Fooled Again," which was to be my litmus test.

Townsend explained that young Starkey (for anyone unaware, his father Richard once drummed to some fame under the stage name of Ringo) received his first drum kit as a child from Moon, and I for one was convinced. Starkey is no stick-to-the-beat Jones. No, he was all over his enormous kit, invoking demons left and right. I don't think Moon could ever have been much beter than that. The Who Mark 2000, at least, was still the Who.

Entwistle seems a more serious loss, as his bass tone was instantly recognizable.

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

3. That's pretty much my point...

...if you saw the "Concert For New York," the post-9/11 superstar bash...The Who (WITH Starkey) were DANGEROUS.

If I had to choose between Kenny Jones and Zakk Starkey, there IS no choice. Plus, Jones was considered to be pretty much of a prick by Daltrey...he HATED the man.

I know that Townshend said that Jones was selected in order to give the group "greater flexibility" in songwriting, but this band screams for a power drummer, and I have every confidence that Zakk can not only surpass his dad, but maybe even Moon. He's gifted, he ROCKS.

But Entwistle...I know Pino Palladino had played on hits and he has a distinctive, "snaky, slithery" style...and I've always HATED his "distinctive style." Townshend has acknowledged Moon as "The Heart Of The Who" and Entwistle as the soloist...the man was NOT simply "keeping a beat."

Page and Plant said that they would never record as Led Zeppelin again because of the death of John Bonham. They had no problem whatsoever in kicking John Paul Jones to the curb when they reunited as Page & Plant.

In my mind...personal opinion only...Starkey ROCKS and Palladino is the LAST bassist I would have EVER picked for "The Who." If the band were called "Townshend-Daltrey"...a la "Page-Plant"...MAYBE.

But calling THIS configuration "The Who" is a TRAVESTY.

George Harrison once said that The Beatles would never reunite "as long as John Lennon remained dead." Of course, Harrison went back on his words with the archive-pillaging "Real Love" and "Free As A Bird" from the "Anthology" series...but it was only two tracks, and I think most fans cut them that slack.

"The Who"...2004-2005 edition...is NOT "The Who." It COULD be "Townshend-Daltrey." It SHOULD be.

:toast: