Last update: Oct. 17, 2024
January 1995
New music releases: "Children" - Robert Miles; Balance - Van Halen; Leftism - Leftfield; "Freak Like Me" - Adina Howard
On the 12th, an edited version of the Daltrey Sings Townshend Carnegie Hall concert of 1994 airs as a special on the U.S. Disney Channel.
Maximum BBC, a bootleg made up of The Who's appearances on BBC radio 1965-1970, is released in Japan.
Around this time, Ye Olde English releases Tommy A Rock-Steady Opera, a version of The Who's opera performed in ska style.
Pete meets a man named Oleg collecting for a charity on the street in Teddington. He says he is collecting money for a new orphanage in Russia to fill the gap between State and criminal facilities. Pete will try to help, but an Internet search for information about Russian children exposes him to the then-vast Internet market for pictures of child sexual abuse. Pete, who had already seen the effects of child sexual abuse on women helped by he and his wife's charity work for Chiswick Women's Aid, vows to do something to bring attention to the issue.
February 1995
New music releases: The Woman in Me - Shania Twain; Pieces of You - Jewel; Greatest Hits - Bruce Springsteen; "This Is How We Do It" - Montell Jordan
On the 7th, The Who were scheduled to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame but it is cancelled when they say they cannot be there.
An updated edition of Richard Barnes' Who biography The Who: Maximum R&B is published in the U.K.
Des McAnuff, trying to get a movie version of Pete's musical The Iron Man made, meets with Warner Brothers who have agreed to put up $50 million. Their one requirement is that the title be changed to The Iron Giant to avoid copyright problems with the Marvel Comics' character.
On the 27th, Roger's character, the immortal Hugh Fitzcairn, is beheaded on the episode "Star-Crossed" of Highlander: The Series. He proves he is immortal by coming back for several more episodes over the show's run.
On the 28th, fourteen days after the 25th anniversary of the performance, an expanded CD of Live At Leeds is released. It includes the entirety of the non-Tommy part of the concert (with a few edits) plus "Amazing Journey/Sparks" from Tommy. Almost all of the "crackle" present on the original recording is removed electronically. The CD is released both in jewel-case form and as a limited-edition album sized package that includes reproductions of the Who documents that were in the original album release. The CD reaches #59 on the British charts.
March 1995
New music releases: Did I Shave My Legs for This? - Deana Carter; The Cream of Clapton - Eric Clapton; Medusa - Annie Lennox; John Michael Montgomery - John Michael Montgomery
On the 1st, Pete attends the Toronto opening of the The Who's Tommy at the Elgin Theatre.
Also on the 1st, The Wall Street Journal reports that Roundbook, the company originally slated to create the Tommy CD-rom, has filed for bankruptcy after Kardena Productions, producers of The Who's Tommy on Broadway, voided their contract. Pete reportedly lost $30,000 as a result.
On the 9th, Roger guest stars on the BBC1 sitcom Jobs for the Girls in an episode entitled "Pauline and Linda Get a Bite".
On the 21st, a 10-part syndicated program called The History of Rock n' Roll goes on sale as 10 VHS cassettes. It contains a number of Pete interviews including one heartbreaking moment where Pete comments, "Jimi Hendrix. Brian Jones. Janis Joplin. Keith Moon. The list is f***ing endless. They're dead people. My life is full of dead people. My friends are dead. My friends. They might be your f***ing icons. They're my f***ing friends. They're dead."
A Pete interview also appears this month in Spin magazine's 10th Anniversary issue. He says, "My analytical process as a writer is based on a control group of mods, five boys and one girl from Shepherd's Bush, who came backstage to see me in the 60's and said, 'We love what you do and you must go on doing it.' To this day my work is 80 percent what I think that group wants me to say and 20 percent whatever froths up."
On the 25th, Billboard reports that EMI has closed the Townhouse 3 Studio in London. It had been operating as a studio since The Who set it up under the name Ramport Studios for the recording of Quadrophenia.
April 1995
New music releases: Picture This - Wet Wet Wet; "Any Man of Mine" - Shania Twain; Friday (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) - Various Artists; Astro-Creep: 2000 - White Zombie
On the 4th, a press release announces that John will be the bass guitarist on that summer's tour of Ringo Starr's Third All-Starr Band.
On the 10th, the Finnish artist Pate Mustajärvi releases his album Ikurin turbiini featuring a song called "Minä olen Pauli" which is actually "Boris The Spider".
On the 28th, Pete travels to Offenbach, Germany for the opening of The Who's Tommy - Das Musical. In an interview there he says he will concentrate on writing for the theatre from this point on.
May 1995
New music releases: Stanley Road - Paul Weller; Pulse - Pink Floyd; Pocahontas: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack - Various Artists; "Waterfalls" - TLC
On the 1st, filming begins on the movie Bad English 1: Tales Of A Son Of A Brit in London and Baltimore with Roger, Olivia Hussey and Dennis Christopher.
On the 13th, Roger reprises his Hugh Fitzcairn role on Highlander: The Series in an episode called "Till Death".
During this month, Chris Charlesworth retrieves the tapes used to make the bootleg From Lifehouse To Leeds. The tapes contain The Who's first attempt to record the Who's Next album in New York in March 1971.
June 1995
New music releases: Jagged Little Pill - Alanis Morissette; HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book 1 - Michael Jackson; Tigerlily - Natalie Merchant; These Days - Bon Jovi
On the 6th, a children's CD, Barnyard Beat, is released. It contains a parody of "We're Not Gonna Take It" credited to The Hoooo.
On the 14th, John and Zak perform with the Ringo Starr All-Starr Band as they open a tour in Japan. The tour will continue there for the next two weeks. The show in Tokyo on the 27th is filmed for later broadcast.
A bootleg called Life with the Moons - Upgrades from the Box Set on Yellow Dog label appears in select record stores.
On the 17th, The Who's Tommy closes on Broadway after 900 performances.
On the 20th, two more CD's are released from the reissue program. The Who Sell Out features ten new tracks in a reformatting that expands the original album's concept. It receives rave reviews. The other release, A Quick One, is more controversial. It also contains ten new tracks, but inferior mono and fake stereo tapes are used for all but one of the tracks on the original album. Improvements come with later releases.
July 1995
New music releases: E. 1999 Eternal - Bone Thugs-N-Harmony; Dreaming of You - Selena; 311 - 311; Miss Thang - Monica
On the 2nd, Ringo Starr's All-Starr Band, featuring John Entwistle on bass, begins its U.S. tour in St. Louis. The rest of the band is Billy Preston, Randy Bachman, Mark Farner, Felix Cavaliere, Mark Riveria and Ringo's son and future Who drummer Zak Starkey.
On the 7th, The punk-revival band Clowns For Progress release a CD with a cover of "The Kids Are Alright."
Ollie Lundin's picture and reminiscences book The Who in Sweden is published by Squeeze Books. Included with the book is a CD of Who covers by 60's Swedish bands.
Roger and Simon Townshend travel to Australia to promote a continuation of his "A Celebration Of Pete Townshend" tour, now to be called the "Who's Coming?" tour. A five date tour is set for mid-October and tickets are sold before Roger discovers the tour would put him £200,000 in the red and cancels it.
On the 29th, Roger is a guest on the Australian TV show Hey Hey It's Saturday where he is presented with a plaque from Polydor Records celebrating the 30 years of The Who. After this he performs "Pinball Wizard" accompanied by Simon Townshend on guitar.
August 1995
New music releases: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - Lauryn Hill; "Fantasy" - Mariah Carey; "Gangsta's Paradise" - Coolio featuring L.V.; "Macarena (Bayside Boys Remix)" - Los Del Rio
On the 3rd, a planned Roger, John, Simon Townshend and Zak Starkey tour without orchestra called "From Tommy To Quadrophenia" is announced for Germany in November with shows in The Netherlands for December. The shows are later cancelled.
On the 26th, twenty-five years after he shot it, Murray Lerner premiers his film of the 1970 Isle Of Wight music festival. Message To Love: The Isle Of Wight Festival features The Who performing "Young Man Blues" and "Naked Eye" as well as a small bit of Keith being comical for the camera.
John Entwistle and Zak Starkey spend the month continuing their tour with Zak's dad, Ringo Starr, through the U.S. The tour is abruptly cancelled on the 23rd after Ringo's daughter Lee becomes seriously ill.
On the 29th, MCA releases Who's Next as a gold CD in the U.S., only two months before the release of the expanded, remastered CD.
September 1995
New music releases: Strait Out of the Box - George Strait; Ocean Drive - Lighthouse Family; "Check Yes or No" - George Strait; Christmas in the Aire - Mannheim Steamroller
In an article in Studio Sound Magazine, Andy Macpherson reveals that the re-issue of the Who's Next album was hampered because only half the multi-track masters could be located. Some are later found and used for the 2003 re-issue but one reel (containing "Bargain" and some other tracks) remain missing to date.
On the 10th, Pete does a fifty-minute set playing acoustic guitar and piano at the Paramount in New York as the opening act for Paul Simon & Friends. although the full band including Simon comes out for the opening song "The Kids Are Alright." Pete plays acoustic guitar and a long set at the piano. After Paul's set, Pete returns to play and even sing some lines of Paul's "You Can Call Me Al". The experience is so enjoyable for Pete that he begins to think about touring again.
On the 16th, Roger, John, Simon Townshend, Zak Starkey and other members of the extended Who perform 21 Who songs at a Who fan convention at the Bottom Line in London. This almost-Who was to tour Europe and Australia later in the year but on the 22nd, it is announced that those shows have been cancelled due to poor ticket sales.
On the 26th, the soundtrack to National Lampoon's Senior Trip is released. It features Ian Moore performing a cover of "Magic Bus."
October 1995
New music releases: (What's The Story) Morning Glory? - Oasis; Daydream - Mariah Carey; Tragic Kingdom - No Doubt; Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness - Smashing Pumpkins
Chris Welch's history of The Who Teenage Wasteland: The Early Who is published in the U.S.
On the 10th, MCA takes a chance on the then-thought-dead format of vinyl by reissuing Who's Next on 180-gram "virgin" vinyl.
On the 17th, The Hampton String Quartet release their CD Sympathy For The Devil featuring covers of "Who Are You" and "See Me Feel Me - Pinball Wizard."
On the 31st, the band Phish continue their tradition of performing an entire classic rock album in honor of Halloween. This year they perform Quadrophenia at The Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois. A CD of the show is released in 2002.
November 1995
New music releases: Anthology 1 - The Beatles; Fresh Horses - Garth Brooks; Waiting to Exhale: Original Soundtrack Album - Various Artists; Robson & Jerome - Robson & Jerome
On the 5th, Roger plays the Tin Man and sings "If I Only Had a Heart" in an all-star concert of "The Wizard Of Oz" at Avery Fisher Hall in New York for the benefit of the Children's Defense Fund. The U.S. cable network TNT airs the concert and rehearsal video in a special on the 22nd. It is later released on CD and home video.
On the 7th, an expanded CD of Who's Next is released. In addition to the original nine-track album, it also includes three tracks from the earlier New York sessions, two tracks from the late April 1971 Young Vic Theatre concert, and a lengthy essay by Pete about the album's tortured genesis.
On the 20th, Roger and John were supposed to perform in concert in Offenbach, Germany but the show is cancelled.
December 1995
New music releases: "Sittin' Up in My Room" - Brandy; "Down Low (Nobody Has To Know)" - R. Kelly featuring The Isley Brothers; "Fu-Gee-La" - Fugees; Hits 96 - Various Artists
On the 6th, FM releases their live album RetroActive featuring a cover of "Baba O'Riley".