Page updated December 1, 2024. This is a highly abridged version of all the things that happened to and around The Who in December. Click for access to the full history.
December 1956
New music releases: Hymns - Tennessee Ernie Ford; "Young Love" - Tab Hunter; "The Garden of Eden" - Frankie Vaughan; "Day O (The Banana Boat Song)" - Harry Belafonte
On Christmas Day, Pete's Grandmother Denny gives him a guitar. Pete later describes it as the sort of cheap guitar one would see decorating the wall of an Italian restaurant. Despite calling this his first guitar early in his career, he will reveal in 2007 that his mother had earlier given him a 1936 Radiotone guitar (left) that belonged to his Uncle Jack. He will give this guitar to Rachel Fuller (later Mrs. Townshend) to auction for charity and then provide its backstory in 2007.
December 1958
New music releases: "Run Rudolph Run" - Chuck Berry; The Star Carol - Tennessee Ernie Ford; Flower Drum Song - Original Cast; The Little Drummer Boy - The Harry Simeone Chorale
On the 6th, John and Pete's trad jazz band The Confederates (so named because the official school band was called The Union) have their first paying gig at the Congo Club at the Congregational Church in Acton. The audience is about ten people.
Form Master Parkinson describes the 12-year old Keith Moon on his report card: "His behavior is rather young for his age. His air of perky spriteliness, while refreshing for a time, is, I feel, largely put on for effect. It is time he adopted a different line."
December 1962
New music releases: "Hey Paula" - Paul & Paula; The Lonely Bull - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass; The Glorious Sound of Christmas - The Philadelphia Orchestra/Eugene Ormandy; "The End of the World" - Skeeter Davis
At Ealing Art College, Pete attends a lecture by the Austrian artist Gustav Metzger. The title of the lecture is "Auto-Destructive Art, Auto-Creative Art: The Struggle For The Machine Arts Of The Future." Metzger argues that the act of destroying a machine can be a valid artistic statement. He illustrates by smashing a bass violin.
December 1963
New music releases: "Little Saint Nick" - The Beach Boys; Volume 2 - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass; "Hippy Hippy Shake" - The Swingin' Blue Jeans"; "Dead Man's Curve" - Jan and Dean
Pete's American friend, Tom Wright, is busted for cannabis and deported. Before he goes, he gives his mammoth record collection of American R&B to his schoolmates Pete and Richard Barnes.
The St. Mary's Hall, Putney show on the 22nd is a watershed for Pete as The Detours open for the Rolling Stones. Pete gets to meet the Stones through an introduction brokered by his friend Glyn Johns, then the lead singer for the group The Presidents. Brian Jones and Mick Jagger are quite friendly to a star-struck Pete. Standing backstage, he sees Keith Richards swinging his arm in a circle as a warm-up before the curtain is raised on the Stones' performance. Within the next week, Pete takes that motion and makes it part of his stage act; spinning his arm furiously while crashing his fingers against the strings of the guitar, a move called "the windmill" that becomes his trademark.
December 1964
New music releases: "My Girl" - The Temptations; Beatles '65 - The Beatles; Beatles For Sale - The Beatles; "You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You" - Dean Martin
The Who begin their last month before they smash their way into national consciousness playing their second Tuesday at the Marquee Club in London on the 1st. 298 attend, 10 times as many as the previous week. Opening act on this date is The Clique. Other Marquee dates are the 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th. The Sneakers open for them at those dates except the 29th when The Boys open.
On the 12th, Billboard magazine has the first U.S. press mention of The Who in an article on Decca Records declaring that "I Can't Explain" backed with "Bald Headed Woman" will be "coming out this week". Four days later the first review appears in Variety followed by Cash Box on the 19th. Variety calls "I Can't Explain" a "typical rocking entry with a good sound." Cash Box gets confused, assuming "Bald-Headed Woman" is the A-side, and dismisses "I Can't Explain" as "an attention-getting shuffle-rock'er." It is unclear whether the single has its national release at this time but producer Shel Talmy said December 19 was the U.S. release date in a 2022 post on Facebook.
December 1965
New music releases: Rubber Soul - The Beatles; A Charlie Brown Christmas - The Vince Guaraldi Trio; "California Dreamin'" - The Mamas & The Papas; "Christmas Time Is Here" - The Vince Guaraldi Trio
On the 3rd, The Who play their last date at their home base, The Goldhawk Club in Shepherds Bush. In the crowd along with the ecstatic Mods is famed Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni soaking up the atmosphere of Swinging London before making a film about it. He is entranced by The Who's act and writes them into his script but The Who ultimately do not perform in the movie. Excuses given are Who manager Kit Lambert asking for too much money, Pete disagreeing with the director on how it would be shot and Antonioni declaring The Who's show has too much meaning and he wants to express meaninglessness. In any case, Antonioni hires another band, The Yardbirds, to copy The Who's act when the film Blow-Up is shot the following year.
Also on the 3rd, after almost a year of delays, The Who finally manage to release their first album, My Generation. It will go to mythic status years later; its angry cover and loud, thrashing music providing the spark to the garage-rock and punk-rock movements to follow.
One bad review of the album comes on the 4th from Pete himself! Under the headline "I hate it!...Rubbish!...It's Crap!" He tells the Record Mirror he dislikes a lot of the record, complaining about the presence of so many tracks recorded earlier in the year. He says his, John's, and Keith's favorite cut is "The Kids Are Alright."
The 6th sees the first instance where Keith Moon has to be replaced, due to a bout of whooping cough that leaves him bed-ridden with his mom taking care of him. Viv Prince, formerly of The Pretty Things, takes the drum chair for most of The Who dates over the next fortnight.
On the 14th, "My Generation" tops out at #2 on the official British charts, unable to push The Seeker's limp "The Carnival Is Over" out of the way.
Alan Freeman interviews Pete and John for Rave magazine. Pete claims The Who's sound is affecting his hearing. He also says that the story of him accidentally breaking the neck of his guitar on a low ceiling is false; that he was in fact inspired by the auto-destructive art of Gustav Metzger during art school. He also says of North Englanders, "You'd have to be thick to even live there."
The Who are also the cover story in this month's Beat Instrumental. Pete talks about how unhappy the band is with American Decca's lack of promotion: "[Our first two singles] didn't do anything at all, except in Detroit, because they had practically no promotion at all. If it was Brenda Lee then it'd be a different matter -- they'd probably hold a National Brenda Lee Week to promote her new single."
December 1966
New music releases: "For What It's Worth" - Buffalo Springfield; "Sugar Town" - Nancy Sinatra; "Hey Joe" - The Jimi Hendrix Experience; Here Where There Is Love - Dionne Warwick
On the 2nd the single "Happy Jack" backed with "I've Been Away" is released in the U.K. A problem at the Polydor printing plant causes a quick sell-out for the disc and a wait until the 9th for most fans. For promotional ads, The Who hire illustrator Ralph Steadman who draws The Who as intertwined snakes. In Disc & Music Echo, Penny Valentine says "Happy Jack" proves Pete is "definitely one of Britain's finest writers, with so much charm in his work he's a sort of modern day Hans Christian Andersen."
On the 9th, The Who's second album A Quick One has its British release. Chris Welch reviews it for Melody Maker and declares that, although he found the first album a "disappointment," the second disc "captures The Who's essence, humour, cynicism, nervous drive, violence and delicacy." Most reviews comment on the novelty of the multi-song mini-opera. "It's all very well bandying about words like freak-out and psychedelic, but when it comes to actually doing something different – well!" says Music Maker magazine. The album ultimately peaks at #4.
On the 10th, Billboard runs a full-page ad for The Who's new single in the U.S., "I'm A Boy" backed with "In the City". Despite being their biggest U.K. hit and Who co-manager Chris Stamp flying to New York to coordinate promotion, "I'm A Boy" fails to appear on any of the U.S. singles charts.
On the 15th, The Who perform at the Locarno Ballroom in Streatham, South London. Making his first appearance behind the sound board is new hire Bobby Pridden. Bobby will give his name to the hero of Pete's Life House, appear on the back cover of Odds and Sods and remain The Who's live soundman until his retirement in 2016.
On the 19th, The Who assemble in costume as burglars at their managers' office in Caroline House in London for the shooting of the "Happy Jack" promotional video. The Monkees-style short is directed by Ready Steady GO! director Michael Lindsay-Hogg and premieres three nights later on BBC-1 TV.
On the 21st, Pete and Eric Clapton go out on the town together for the first time and check out the Blaises Club to hear Jimi Hendrix perform. They meet Jeff Beck coming out after Hendrix's first set shaking his head. "Is he that bad?" Pete and Eric ask. "No," says Jeff, "he's that good." Pete and Eric go in and are completely blown away by Hendrix's guitar prowess. Both Eric and Pete later say they thought that night, "the game is over for us."
December 1967
New music releases: Axis: Bold As Love - The Jimi Hendrix Experience; "Sunshine of Your Love" - Cream; John Wesley Harding - Bob Dylan; "Everlasting Love" - Love Affair
On the 15th, The Who Sell Out LP is released. Pete's tinkering driven by his dissatisfaction with some of the album's songs followed by the need to get permission from all the companies mentioned in the commercials is responsible for the delayed release. While getting the rights for the commercials, someone forgets to secure the rights for the Radio London jingles and a lawsuit erupts. Those who rush out to buy the first copies of the album in the U.K. find a psychedelic poster designed by Adrian George inside. Good condition original posters are now one of the most sought-after Who artifacts.
Melody Maker declares: "The Who drop out of everything that is supposedly fashionable and therefore valid in 1967's flowery year...On the whole, this album easily surpasses anything The Who have done before." They are one of the few to review it as Track Records forgets to send copies of the album to music reviewers. This and the late release damage the album's commercial chances and it peaks at #13 in the U.K. charts, failing to make the top ten as their two previous albums had done. In the U.S. it does a bit better, topping out at #48, nearly 20 numbers higher than Happy Jack. It will be another decade or more before this seeming pop throwaway is re-evaluated as one of 1967's greatest triumphs.
December 1968
New music releases: "Touch Me" - The Doors; "Sympathy for the Devil" - The Rolling Stones; Beggars Banquet - The Rolling Stones; Elvis TV Special - Elvis Presley
In Billboard on the 7th, The Who's new U.S. album Magic Bus - The Who on Tour reaches its chart peak at #39, becoming their first album to break the Top Forty barrier.
On the 11th, filming for The Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus begins. The Who record three takes of their mini-opera "A Quick One While He's Away" and, despite being one of the first acts filmed, they don't come on until after 4pm. The Stones don't come on until after 1am, performing a set before a tired audience. Once the Stones see the film of their low-energy act back-to-back with The Who's road-tested, white-hot performance, they reject the material, planning to reshoot the next July. After Brian Jones' firing and death, the Stones try to sell the show to The Who, then stick it on the shelf. Bootlegs appear during the next decade, but none of the film is seen until The Who's performance is unearthed for The Kids Are Alright. A break between the Stones and then manager Allan Klein causes more delays, until the entire special is released on video in 1996.
Through the rest of the month, The Who continue working on the Tommy opera at IBC Studios Monday through Thursdays while performing live to pay for the studio time.
December 1969
New music releases: "Spirit in the Sky" - Norman Greenbaum; Grand Funk - Grand Funk Railroad; Okie From Muskogee - Merle Haggard and The Strangers; "House of the Rising Sun" - Frijid Pink
On the 14th, The Who play their opera at The Coliseum in London's Covent Garden. The entire concert is recorded and filmed but rejected as the lack of proper film lighting produces a very dark image. The footage is re-discovered years later by Jeff Stein while seeking Who film for The Kids Are Alright and "Young Man Blues" is included in that movie. The entire concert is released in 2008 on the DVD The Who: Kilburn 1977. Denied the privilege of performing their rock opera at London's Sadler's Wells, The Who still get a post-show party at the venue thrown by Who manager Kit Lambert with guests "Legs" Larry Smith of the Bonzo Dog Band, Jimmy McCulloch of Thunderclap Newman and the American band The Rascals.
December 1970
New music releases: Pendulum - Creedence Clearwater Revival; Rose Garden - Lynn Anderson; "I Really Don't Want to Know" - Elvis Presley; Love Story (Original Soundtrack) - Frances Lai
During the month, Chris Stamp and Mike Shaw bring their old pal Bill Curbishley in to work at the Track Records office. Within a few years Curbishley will replace Chris Stamp as Who manager, a position he holds to this day.
On the 19th, Billboard runs an article on The Who's upcoming movie projects. They say that Tommy will eventually be made into a movie but that for now, Pete is proceeding on a film with the working titles "Your Turn In The Barrel" and "Barrel One, Barrel Two." These titles actually refer to a document Pete prepared for The Who's managers explaining that the resulting film would have a fictional script (one barrel) while also developing stories from real life coming from people attending a series of public Who concerts staged for this purpose (another barrel).
On the 20th, The Who's 1969-1970 performances of a near-complete Tommy finally come to an end with a performance at the Roundhouse in London. They will not play it again at close to its full length until 1989. The show is dedicated to one of their opening acts, Elton John, and proceeds go to funding a Christmas party for poor children and old people living in Camden. The other opening acts are Jeff Dexter, America and Patto.
December 1971
New music releases: Hot Rocks 1964-1971 - The Rolling Stones; "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" - John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band; America - America; Carole King Music - Carole King
On the 10th is a show at the Long Beach Arena. At one point Pete reminds the audience, "this is a fuckin' rock 'n' roll concert, not a fuckin' tea party!" His rant becomes the opening for the 30 Years Of Maximum R&B boxset. The entire show is also bootlegged as Closer to Queen Mary. On the same day The Los Angeles Free Press begins the first part of a huge four-part interview with Pete.
On the 12th and 13th, The Who head up the coast to San Francisco's Civic Auditorium. On the first night Keith overdoses on pills and begins to pass out halfway through the show. His minder Dougal Butler and a free-clinic doctor have to sneak up behind Keith while he is playing and inject cortisone shots into his legs to keep him upright. The night of the 13th is recorded and tracks later officially released: "Baby Don't You Do It" on the b-side of "Join Together", and more in the 1980s and 1990s until the entire concert is officially released on the Who's Next / Life House boxset in 2024.
Nik Cohn recounts his recent adventures touring with The Who in this month's Creem magazine. He accompanied the band, ostensibly to adapt the script of "Guitar Farm" for The Who but he is actually writing a script called "Rock Is Dead (Rock Lives)" where a young Who fan embodies the four members of The Who within himself. Pete, meanwhile, is envisioning a sort-of super-A Quick One with each member writing or curating one side of a double album.
December 1972
New music releases: Hot August Night - Neil Diamond; Made in Japan - Deep Purple; Separate Ways - Elvis Presley; "Love Train" - The O'Jays
The 5th marks the beginning of three days of rehearsal for the upcoming live performance of the orchestral Tommy. During a break, Pete tells Roy Carr of New Musical Express that he is working on a new rock opera he calls "Jimmy."
On the 9th, Tommy is presented with the London Symphony Orchestra in two live performances at the Rainbow Theatre in London. The production was originally planned for the LSO's regular venue at the Royal Albert Hall, but the Hall's management refuses because rock stars would be involved and because they consider Tommy to be "unsavory." Roger performs the title role, John is Cousin Kevin, Keith is Uncle Ernie and Pete sings the narrator. Rod Stewart, Peter Sellers, Stevie Winwood, Richie Havens, Sandy Denny and Merry Clayton round out the cast.
The theater stage is designed to resemble a giant pinball machine. Keith has a great time playing Uncle Ernie but Pete gets drunk on brandy, misses cues, insults the audience and, at the end, pretends to wipe his bottom with the libretto before walking offstage. Tickets for the show are the highest in British theatrical history at that time, £200 each, but both shows sell out and raise £10,000 for the Stars Organization For Spastics. Both Rolling Stone and Melody Maker pan the show, decrying the "showbiz quality" of the event.
On the 23rd, The Who's newest single, "Relay" backed with "Waspman," is released in Britain. It is The Who's last stand-alone single not pulled from an album until 2004. Tony Stewart reviews "Relay" for New Musical Express: "Why don't this band ever fail? Simply because they're the guv'nors in rock 'n roll. And this composition by Pete Townshend must be their best single to date. It's a calculated time-structure piece and not an all-out rocker, thus giving Big John and Keith room to prove their feel and expertise, as well as allowing Roger to use the full force and range of his voice. There's an unforgettable chorus line, and some neat guitar lines hitting out. I do believe they've done it again." What they've done peaks at #21 in the U.K. charts.
December 1973
New music releases: Band On The Run - Paul McCartney & Wings; "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" - Wizzard; Sabbath, Bloody Sabbath - Black Sabbath; "Seasons in the Sun" - Terry Jacks
Early the morning of the 3rd, The Who and twelve members of their entourage are jailed in Montreal after Pete and Keith wreck their hotel suites. They manage to post bail at 1:15pm when the local promoter pays $5,995.34 in cash to the police station and they perform that night at the Boston Garden where they rail to the audience about the Montreal police. John will go on to commemorate the arrest in the song "Cell Number Seven" on his solo album Mad Dog.
Before the show on the 5th at the Capital Center, John Swenson interviews Pete who says Quadrophenia now seems "incredibly calculated; a winding up of Who affairs in that era," and adds that he as a writer and The Who as a band will have to find a new direction. "I don't want to wave the rock 'n roll flag for the rest of my life."
Rolling Stone carries their article on The Who tour, "Who's spooky tour: awe and hassles." Pete and Roger comment on the friction between them during the recording of Quadrophenia. Pete says the band tried to accomplish too much and admits that the lack of audience reaction was not what he expected.
Lester Bangs gives a more positive review of Quadrophenia in Stereo Review than had Dave Marsh or Lenny Kaye, but he questions whether any rock 'n roll band should be doing rock operas no matter how successful. Meanwhile Mike Jahn in High Fidelity pans Quadrophenia saying it has no plot, but it would have been a masterpiece if it contained "words that one could follow."
As soon as Pete comes home from the tour, he begins work in his home studio on the soundtrack for Tommy: The Movie.
December 1974
New music releases: "Some Kind of Wonderful" - Grand Funk Railroad; "Lonely This Christmas" - Mud; Stormbringer - Deep Purple; New & Improved - The Spinners
On the 8th, John premiers his solo group The Ox at the City Hall in Newcastle upon Tyne. Only 300 people show up. John and The Ox play only one more U.K. date, appearing at the City Hall in Sheffield on the 17th. A planned date at the Odeon Theatre in Southport on the 13th is cancelled. On the 14th, Chris Charlesworth reports on the band in Melody Maker in an article entitled "Entwistle's £25,000 hobby."
Dougal Butler has the first of his major fallings-out with Keith and leaves him in Los Angeles to care for himself. Naturally, Keith fails to do anything of the sort.
After months of grueling work with the movie's editors, Pete finishes all the post-production recording for Tommy: The Movie.
December 1975
New music releases: We Sold Our Soul For Rock 'n' Roll - Black Sabbath; "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" - The Four Seasons; "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll) - AC/DC; Mothership Connection - Parliament
The audience at The Pontiac Silverdome on the 6th is the largest crowd of the 1975 tour, numbering 76,000. Some of the attendees are later reported injured in the crush to get inside. The Who use 50 tons of equipment for the show and project it on a 30-by-40-foot video screen. The show is videotaped and "Roadrunner" and part of "My Generation Blues" appears later in the movie The Kids Are Alright.
Also on the 15th, Roger is the cover story of People magazine. Their headline reads, "For Roger Daltrey, The Who is no longer the question: it's whether to be a star."
December 1977
New music releases: Running On Empty - Jackson Browne; "Lovely Day" - Bill Withers; "Stayin' Alive" - The Bee Gees; Abba: The Album - Abba
On the 13th, Pete is interviewed by Dave Schulps of Trouser Press. He says he won't be touring with The Who in the foreseeable future but does not mention the reason, his concern that Keith is not in fit shape to tour. The interview appears in the April and May 1978 issues.
On the 14th, The Who rehearse for the next day's concert. On the 15th, The Who perform a set at the 2000-seat Gaumont State Theatre in the London suburb of Kilburn. The audience is made up of those lucky enough to have heard an announcement that morning on Capitol Radio. Jeff Stein, director of The Who documentary The Kids Are Alright, set up the show because he had found no good footage of The Who performing their hits "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again." The show turns into a full-length concert with the only live complete performance of "Who Are You" with Keith on drums.
Roger has to go under the knife as nodules are found on his vocal chords, delaying further work on the Who Are You album until March. Meanwhile work continues on recording and mixing the orchestral parts added to "Had Enough" and "Love Is Coming Down".
December 1978
New music releases: Minute By Minute - The Doobie Brothers; Destiny - The Jacksons; Incantations - Mike Oldfield; "Shake Your Groove Thing" - Peaches & Herb
On the 27th, Roger is interviewed by members of the Who's News fanzine. He says that Pete has already signed his solo contract with Atlantic but that The Who haven't decided on a new label (he would prefer CBS). He says Kenney Jones is "the fourth member of the band from now on" but that this is just for studio work; other drummers (or multiple drummers) will be used live. He says The Who "are like an open wound; we need to seal it up."
December 1979
New music releases: Christopher Cross - Christopher Cross; Gold & Platinum - Lynyrd Skynyrd; The Rose - Bette Midler; London Calling - The Clash
On the 3rd, The Who arrive at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati around 6pm and begin a sound check. Outside the thousands of people that make up the general admission audience have been outside for hours in the freezing cold packed against the few doors that are scheduled to be opened at 7pm. When some members of the crowd hear The Who's soundcheck they begin to push harder and harder on the crowd yelling "One, two, three, push!" The pressure grows to a level that some in the crowd can no longer take in air. Anyone who falls has the crowd forced over them, crushing them underfoot. Those few who know what is happening and can escape run to the hired security guards only to be rebuffed.
The leader of the security guard requests that the doors be opened to relieve the pressure but the promoter refuses because the sound check isn't over and there aren't enough ticket takers. At 7:15, four doors are opened but most of the time two of the doors are blocked by security guards. The pushing grows even stronger into the tight bottleneck as the tickets are slowly gathered and the crowd races into the arena. The first body is found at 7:54pm.
Ambulances and firetrucks are brought in. As there are few marks on the bodies, the medical crews incorrectly suspect drug overdoses. It is almost an hour before news filters backstage to The Who's manager Bill Curbishley about the tragedy outside. The fire marshal wants the concert stopped but Curbishley refuses fearing that a cancellation would spark a riot or send the crowd rushing back over the plaza where the wounded are being treated.
The Who go on, unaware of what has occured outside. By the end of the show Curbishley has been told that eleven fans have died. He tells The Who that something serious has happened and to hurry the encore. When they come backstage again Curbishley breaks the news to them. Roger begins to cry, the rest are silent and stunned.
The next morning The Who hold a short press conference before heading to their next show. Roger does most of the speaking. Fighting back tears, he defends The Who against charges that their stage show is violent and denies that The Who had anything to do with security and the opening of too few doors that he blames for the tragedy. By late that evening and the next day, video of the carnage is airing on news around the world. While Variety magazine blames the tragedy on the large number of unreserved seats, Cincinnati's local television station, with no evidence, calls it a "stampede" by a drug-crazed mob fueled by rock music and this is reported as fact by Walter Cronkite on the CBS Evening News and by The New York Times.
On the 12th, the initial report of the Cincinnati inquiry is released. It blames the late opening of too few doors, inadequate security and the festival seating format.
On the 17th, The Who make their one appearance on the cover of Time magazine. The article deals more with The Who's place in rock than the Cincinnati tragedy. Author Jay Cocks says "no other group has ever pushed rock so far, or asked so much from it."
On the 19th the survivors of the Cincinnati tragedy file a $27 million dollar lawsuit against the Electric Factory who were the concert's promoters, the city of Cincinnati and The Who.
On the 28th The Who headline the third night of the Concerts For Kampuchea benefit at the Hammersmith Odeon in London. Pete bangs his guitar at the beginning of "Baba O'Riley" and is completely out of tune for the entire song. Oddly, it is later chosen to be the lead track of the 1981 Concerts For The People Of Kampuchea album. The show is also filmed and parts of it are shown in a television special. "Behind Blue Eyes" is later released on the 30 Years Of Maximum R&B video. The entire performance is also released on bootlegs.
The next day Pete is required to show up for the end of the last night's concert as part of Paul McCartney's Rockestra. He gets there way too early and ends up spending the day in a pub. By evening he is completely sloshed and refuses to put on the silver lamé jacket everyone else in Paul's Rockestra is asked to wear.
December 1980
New music releases: "Back In Black" - AC/DC; Arc of a Diver - Steve Winwood; Gap Band III - The Gap Band; The Best of Bowie - David Bowie
After nine months of on-and-off work, more off than on, The Who finally complete the recording of the album Face Dances. They listen to a preliminary mix and are pleased with the results. Producer Bill Szymczyk then takes the master tapes to his own Bayshore Recording Studios in Coconut Grove, Florida to complete the mix.
December 1982
New music releases: December - George Winston; "Electric Avenue" - Eddy Grant; The Distance - Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band; Raiders of the Pop Charts - Various Artists
Finally, The Who reach what was then believed to be the end of the line; their last two concerts of the tour at the Maple Leaf Garden in Toronto. The Who hold a press conference on the afternoon of the 15th followed by the first concert the next evening.
The show on the 17th is shown live in theaters around the world and pay-per-view on cable television. Professionally recorded and videotaped, the concert, missing three songs, is later released on home video as Who Rocks America and on CD and DVD in 2006 as Live From Toronto.
On the 18th, Variety reports that a Cincinnati judge has ruled that punitive damages could not be awarded to the plaintiffs in the 1979 Riverfront Stadium tragedy. On the 18th, Variety also reports that a court decision has cleared the city of Cincinnati of all responsibility in the eleven deaths at the concert.
On Christmas Day, "Eminence Front" backed with "One At A Time" hits the U.S. charts. The single peaks at #68 in Billboard and #77 in Cash Box. A planned release in ine U.K. is cancelled. It is the last Who single to appear on Billboard's Hot One Hundred Singles chart.
December 1983
New music releases: "Walking on Sunshine" - Katrina & The Waves; "Jump" - Van Halen; Greatest Hits Vol. II - Barry Manilow; Portrait - Diana Ross
On the 7th, at Pete's request, Warner Brothers terminates The Who's contract despite their failure to deliver another two albums as specified. A sizable amount of the advance money has to be returned.
On the 16th, Pete releases a statement declaring he is breaking up The Who. "I will not be making any more records with The Who. It's already been stated that our tour of America in 1982 was our last, and I can now add that I will not perform live again anywhere in the world with The Who." Roger, John and Kenney have nothing to do with the statement and afterwards express shock and anger at Pete's decision and the idea that he could break up the group on his own. "It was a wonderful Christmas present," Roger tells the press, sarcastically.
December 1985
New music releases: 10 From 6 - Bad Company; Les Misérables - Original London Cast; "Superbowl Shuffle" - The Chicago Bears' Shufflin' Crew; 17 Greatest Hits - David Allan Coe
On the 2nd, Roger Daltrey begins his first solo tour at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, New Jersey. His backup band is Russ Ballard on lead guitar, Mark Williamson on keyboards and backing vocals, John Seigler on bass, Stuart Elliott on drums, Clem Clempson on guitar and Alan Shacklock additional keyboards. The 4th sees them at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., then Tower Theater in Philadelphia (5th), Boston (8th), Madison Square Garden (9th) and the Palace Theater in Albany, New York (12th). The Boston show is played on the King Biscuit Flower Hour and is later bootlegged as Summertime Blues. Roger later admits that touring without the other members of The Who is an unpleasant experience.
On the 22nd, Pete and his wife Karen preside over the Snowball Review in aid of the Chiswick Family rescue and Pete plays a short set of "That's All Right, Mama," "Stop Hurting People" and "Pinball Wizard" with a band including Simon Phillips, John "Rabbit" Bundrick, Steve Barnacle, Les Davidson, Billy Nicholls, Coral Brown, Gina Foster and the Kick Horns. Following that Pete dons drag to play the traditional role in British Christmas pantomimes, the Widow Twankey, with Joanna Lumley as his "son" Aladdin. After this the entire cast, led by Pete, sings "Night Train." Other performers that night include Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Rik Mayall, Bill Wyman, Andy Summers, Ian Dury and Virginia Astley.
On the 28th, another single from Roger's album Under A Raging Moon is released. "Let Me Down Easy", written by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance, backed with "Fallen Angel" peaks at #86 in the Billboard charts. It is the last Who-related single to make it to the U.S. Top One Hundred.
December 1986
New music releases: "Ocean Front Property" - George Strait; Live Magic - Queen; Life, Love & Pain - Club Nouveau; Hot, Cool & Vicious - Salt 'n Pepa
The Who plan a one-off reunion concert this month at The Marquee in London. Just to be ready Who manager Bill Curbishley books them on a U.S. tour. When Pete hears about the U.S. bookings he pulls out of the Marquee show.
Pete signs a contract with Virgin to write a musical production of Ted Hughes' children's story The Iron Man. The sizeable advance allows Pete to gift himself with a Synclavier system and a new composition suite for his boathouse/recording studio.
December 1988
New music releases: "Driving Home for Christmas" - Chris Rea; "Can You Stand the Rain?" - New Edition; "She Drives Me Crazy" - Fine Young Cannibals; "The Living Years" - Mike + The Mechanics
On the 3rd, Billboard says they have been told that Pete, Roger, and John will reunite as The Who for a world tour in 1989 that will begin with a charity concert performance of Tommy at Radio City Music Hall.
On the 5th, Pete, Roger, John, and Who manager Bill Curbishley meet to discuss the 25th Anniversary tour. John says he has found new bass equipment that will allow him to play quieter. Roger says he has written some new songs. Things are going well until Curbishley brings up possible dates for the tour. As the reality of the tour sinks in, Pete has a panic attack and abruptly leaves.
The next day, Pete is visited by his friend Robert Greenfield as he works on The Iron Man at his home studio in Twickenham. Pete tells Robert that, despite pressure, he will not tour with The Who. The day after that, Pete informs Curbishley, Roger, and John of his decision.
December 1999
New music releases: "Otherside" - Red Hot Chili Peppers; ...And Then There Was X - DMX; Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter - Jay-Z; Songs from the Last Century - George Michael
On the 5th, Pete's radio version of Lifehouse premieres on BBC Radio 3. Heavily re-written by Pete and Jeff Young from Pete's 1971 conception, the story is now set at the millennium as a farmer leaves his wife to search for his runaway daughter in London. He is accompanied by himself as a young boy and an imaginary playfriend from childhood on a voyage that takes them through the scarred landscape of a post-World War II and post-Thatcher Britain. His daughter, meanwhile, hooks up with a "hacker" who leads her and many others to the Lifehouse where they vanish, leaving the farmer alone, stripped of his family, in an teenage-less wasteland. The musical accompaniment is a mix of Pete's demos and orchestrated versions of tunes from Who's Next and Vivaldi. The script is published the next day by Simon & Schuster in the U.K. and the play is sold first as a two-cassette tape from the BBC then included in Pete's Lifehouse Chronicles boxset.
On the 7th, John is voted Bass Guitarist of the Millennium by readers of the British magazine Guitar. On the same day a press report is released that details Pete's 3-year relationship with the 26 year-old musician Rachel Fuller.
On the 22nd and 23rd, the new edition of the five-man Who makes its British premiere as The Who play their home ground at the Shepherd's Bush Empire. The later release The Blues to the Bush has "I Can't Explain" and "My Wife" from the first night and "Anyway Anyhow Anywhere," "Baba O'Riley," "I'm a Boy," "The Real Me," and "My Generation" from the second night. All these tracks except "My Generation" feature studio overdubs.
December 2002
New music releases: "All I Have" - Jennifer Lopez; I Care 4 U - Aaliyah; "Sound of the Underground" - Girls Aloud; "Feel" - Robbie Williams
On the 10th, Cheltenham and district coroner Lester Maddrell concludes the official British inquest into John Entwistle's death: "He died from the effects of a single moderate usage of cocaine superimposed upon ischaemic heart disease caused by naturally-occurring coronary atherosclerosis." The verdict confirms the findings of the U.S. coroner from July.
December 2003
New music releases: The Diary of Alicia Keys - Alicia Keys; Friday's Child - Will Young; Wicked - Original Broadway Cast; Ultimate Dirty Dancing - Original Soundtrack
On the 28th, Pete is interviewed in The Observer. His remark that, during the investigation of the early part of this year, he would have shot himself if he had owned a gun, is widely reported.
On the 30th, Q magazine, in their just-published Feb. 2004 issue, declare Keith Moon's entire life to be the "Most Insane Moment In Rock."
On the 31st, Pete closes this dark year by writing the first draft of a poem/song called "More Misery."
December 2005
New music releases: Curtain Call: The Hits - Eminem; "When I'm Gone" - Eminem; "Temperature" - Sean Paul; The Breakthrough - Mary J. Blige
On Christmas Eve, Pete writes a diary entry confirming an upcoming Who tour of North America and the forthcoming Who album: "I certainly don't give a flying f**k whether anything I write is a hit, or will get played on my beloved rock radio, or sell a million - or might not fit because it sounds like a Broadway tune, or as though I've 'stolen' Tom Waits' voice..."
December 2008
New music releases: "Dog Days Are Over" - Florence + The Machine; The Circus - Take That; "Circus" - Britney Spears; "Hallelujah" - Alexandra Burke
On the 6th, Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey receive their Kennedy Center Honors from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice at a State Department dinner.
On the 7th, Pete and Roger attend the Kennedy Center gala with outgoing President George W. Bush and fellow honorees, Barbra Streisand, Morgan Freeman and George Jones. A brilliant, soulful performance of "Love Reign O'er Me" by Bettye LaVette brings tears to Pete's eyes and causes Streisand to lean over to Pete and ask "You wrote this?"
December 2009
New music releases: "In My Head" - Jason Derulo; "Nothin' On You" - B.o.B. featuring Bruno Mars; "Naturally" - Selenz Gomez & The Scene; "Imma Be" - The Black Eyed Peas
On the 12th, a blue plaque is placed at the site of the Railway Hotel in Harrow commemorating where Pete Townshend first smashed a guitar. Members of the Harrow Council place the plaque on the site of a public housing block erected on the site of the Railway Hotel that burned down in 2000. The housing block's name is "Daltrey House".
Shortly before Christmas, Roger Daltrey secretly enters the Mass General Voice Center in Boston for surgery. Dr. Steven Zeitels who performs the surgery had discovered pre-cancerous growths on Roger's vocal chords. Using an experimental technique, Dr. Zeitels rebuilds Roger's vocal chords but afterwards Roger goes through a terrible two weeks before he is allowed to try them out and see if he can still speak, much less sing. "I had two weeks of silence. Silence and no drinking. How's that for a good Christmas?" Naturally, a planned appearance by Roger on Jools Holland's New Year's Hootenanny is cancelled.
December 2015
New music releases: "Love Yourself" - Justin Bieber; Cheap Thrills" - Sia featuring Sean Paul; "Panda" - Desiigner; "Faded" - Alan Walker
On the 3rd, a crowd gathers in cold temperatures outside the U.S. Bank Arena to mark the 36th anniversary of the 1979 Cincinnati concert disaster with a memorial marker. Who manager Bill Curbishley sends a message that is read to those in attendance: "Many people suffered as a result of that day and I am sure that many still do. If myself and the band can be of any assistance in the healing process going forward we are there for you."
On the 6th, Roger tells The Sun about his own recent health scare from viral menegitis. "It was touch and go. But out of all that I came to terms with my own mortality. I was ready to go, and if I had to go I would have gone out with a smile on my face." Roger is working with The Sun on their Christmas Appeal raising money for the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre in London.
December 2016
New music releases: "Goosebumps" - Travis Scott; "iSpy" - Kyle featuring Lil Yachty; "What Ifs" - Kane Brown featuring Lauren Alaina; "How Far I'll Go" - Auli'i Cravalho
Sometime during this month Pete marries for the second time to musician and partner Rachel Fuller. The ebulliant Rachel reports: "It was fabulous! It was eight minutes long and there were no guests. We had two witnesses and it was like 'Hello, I love you. Marry me. Yes, I do.' And we went to the local pub for lunch."
December 2018
New music releases: "Wow." - Post Malone; "Look Back at It" - A Boogie wit da Hoodie; "Crazy Story" - King Von; "Valuable Pain" - YoungBoy Never Broke Again
On the 2nd, Pete's wife Rachel reports she is just back from New York where she has been workshopping her musical work The Seeker in collaboration with the New York Public Library. Pete will be performing the role of The Ferryman. Unfortunately, Covid-19 delays completion of the project until 2024.
Roger listens to Pete's demos for the new WHO album. Pete later says Roger was unsure if he could add anything to the songs, but Pete talks him 'round.
On or near the 24th, the contracts are signed for the WHO album and a 2019 tour.
December 2019
New music releases: "Adore You" - Harry Styles; Fine Line - Harry Styles; "Jealous" - Eyedress; "Breaking Me" - Topic and A7S
On the 1st, Pete is interviewed on Scala Radio about his new novel The Age of Anxiety and his love of Purcell.
On the 3rd reviews begin to come in for the new WHO album. Rolling Stone Gives it 3 1/2 stars out of 5: "But even when Townshend, who wrote the majority of Who hits, is the one ripping himself off, it sounds as authentic as it does ironic. The fact that the song, and much of the record, feels like Classic Rock Comfort Food may be why the band tiled the album simply Who — their first, official self-titled record." Paul Moody in Uncut gives it 4 1/2 out of 5: "It’s spellbinding, shiver-down-the-spine stuff, and enough to have any self-respecting Quadropheniac dusting down their scooter for one last run down to Brighton." And Will Hodgkinson in The Times goes all the way to 5 stars out of 5.
On the 5th, Pete is interviewed on the PBS News Hour. He says, "If I'm absolutely honest, I'm really only working as hard as I am at the moment for money."
On the same day, Pete dissects the covers of six classic Who albums for Entertainment Weekly.
On the 6th, WHO is released by Polydor. It reaches #2 on the Billboard 200 chart, #3 in the U.K., #5 in Germany, #28 in Ireland, #35 in Italy, #51 in Japan, and #64 in Australia. The Deluxe Edition adds the bonus tracks "This Gun Will Misfire," "Got Nothing To Prove," and "Danny and My Ponies." The Japanese edition adds the song "Sand" as well.
Also on the 6th, Roger is interviewed in USA Today. He says he is fine after throat surgery.
And also on the 6th, is the release of a new Who book, The Last Four Years: A Rock Noir Romance: Living with Rock's Wildest Drummer of All Time as told by Anette Walter-Lax, Keith's girlfriend from 1974 until his death, to author Spencer Brown.
On the 9th, Jimmy Fallon gives out copies of WHO to everyone in the audience of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
On the 12th, Pete posts on Instagram: "I was up until five. Six hours signing CDs. I hope it gets our new album back up to #1 as Rod Stewart just knocked us off, the c**t. Bless us. We old dudes are chucking our appliances at each other. I'm hoping mine will land on his head. At least Roger and I still pay tax in the UK. Vote for The Who today. Don't get fooled again. Don't vote again for Maggie or May. Bloomin' politicians."".
On the 13th, comes the news that The Who failed to beat Rod the Mod to #1. Rod Stewart tweets, also referring to Boris Johnson's recent re-election victory: "Well done Robbie, well done Boris, no hard feelings Pete Townshend!"
Pete responds on Instagram on the 14th: "My guitar gently weeps. Maybe not so gently. Well done Rod for number one and Robbie for number two. Thanks for the 'no hard feelings' Rod. I’ve always loved you since you fixed me up with a date with Julie Driscoll. I would complain about Christmas albums, do they need their own chart? But suddenly Christmas spirit is filling the air, and down the pub the Christmas songs are cheering me up. Rod, Robbie, you are above all amazing artists and long time friends. Now just p**s off and make some room at the top for an album that is almost as unexpected as the miracle of Christmas itself. LOVE IN ABUNDANCE and FELLOWSHIP. It’s all just music ......after all.... it will fade....."
On the 16th, Pete does more promotion on Sirius/XM radio.
On the 19th, WHO makes #27 on The Sun list of the Best Albums of 2019 and the following day it receives Silver certification from the BFI.
