Two things made me cringe... the smashing of the guitar and the ****** song. IMHO The Who were vastly over-rated and that clip reminded me why I never liked the band in the fist place, smashing guitars or not.
(ps: did I mention that this is just my humble opinion?)
Watch The Who smash a 1993 RM !!!
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There were others. It became a "mod" trademark to express some angst about the grind of every day life.
For example there were clashes with "rockers". In reality though, the clashes were over publicized and blown out of proportion to the actual events that took place.
Pushing and shoving and some vandalism was reported as if their were two highly organized rival gangs fighting it out tooth and nail in some poor unsuspecting seaside town or village.
Looking back, I wonder if the reporters that covered these supposed clashes ever actually saw what was really going on.
The Who represented the rise of "mod" music to be seated at it's appropriate place in history. It was their moment in the spotlight.
Their song "My Generation" said it all. Much better than I can.
Perhaps smashing guitars was just an extension of the "mod" culture. I am not sure. I am not able to read PT's mind. So as a result, only he knows for certain.
For example there were clashes with "rockers". In reality though, the clashes were over publicized and blown out of proportion to the actual events that took place.
Pushing and shoving and some vandalism was reported as if their were two highly organized rival gangs fighting it out tooth and nail in some poor unsuspecting seaside town or village.
Looking back, I wonder if the reporters that covered these supposed clashes ever actually saw what was really going on.
The Who represented the rise of "mod" music to be seated at it's appropriate place in history. It was their moment in the spotlight.
Their song "My Generation" said it all. Much better than I can.
Perhaps smashing guitars was just an extension of the "mod" culture. I am not sure. I am not able to read PT's mind. So as a result, only he knows for certain.
“We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” - Albert Einstein
"You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother" - Albert Einstein
"You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother" - Albert Einstein
There was a guy here in the 60s who used to smash a guitar pretty much every time he gigged. Maybe his parents were rich because they were Strats and SGs every time!! Harry Stevenson was his name.
Seems the days of trashing hotel rooms are over too. Quite often in days gone by you would hear about that before you heard about the band or its music.
One could say "ahh.... the good old days!" but I'm inclined not to. Mindless stuff IMO - trashing guitars and rooms, that is.....
We had "Mods and Rockers" wars here too but it was tame stuff. The "Jazzers and Rockers" wars were a bit heavier. I got beaten up once for wearing white socks with jeans - an obvious sign that I was a Jazzer! Rockers wore black everything....
Seems the days of trashing hotel rooms are over too. Quite often in days gone by you would hear about that before you heard about the band or its music.
One could say "ahh.... the good old days!" but I'm inclined not to. Mindless stuff IMO - trashing guitars and rooms, that is.....
We had "Mods and Rockers" wars here too but it was tame stuff. The "Jazzers and Rockers" wars were a bit heavier. I got beaten up once for wearing white socks with jeans - an obvious sign that I was a Jazzer! Rockers wore black everything....
"Never eat more than you can lift." - Mr. Moon
Well... perhaps it's still here - i've heard that Green Day members trashed lots of stuff on their 2001 (or was it 2000?) tour, along with lots of hotel rooms (oh well... they are known for a mud fight at Woodstock '94... and BTW, they've made a nice version of "My generation")... the thing is, while way back it was, like, "original", now it seems just sort of usual... like, when many young bands do it, it's not interesting anymore...
Sorry for going a bit offtopic...
Sorry for going a bit offtopic...
Nothing will get you dead quicker than being deadly serious about yourself.
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fenderslash
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Off on a tangent...
I remember years ago there was a episodic comedy radio show about the history of rock music, and they had an interview with someone from the Who reminiscing about the wild old days. I'm pretty sure it was John, although he was probably the least prone to that kind of behaviour out of the four of them. During the interview he kept accidentally destroying parts of the radio studio... just through sheer clumsiness! So the joke was that they were never wild young rebels at all, and all the destroyed hotel rooms and instruments were just them being clumsy. It was pretty funny, and I think I've still got it on tape somewhere.
I agree with Pete... It's his bloody guitar and he can do what he likes with it. But I admit that when I was too poor to own a high quality guitar I used to think "Just spare ONE of them and let me have it, PLEASE".
To be objective about it, people paid their money to be entertained and, as well as the music, it was just part of the show they presented. Obviously from the posts here that kind of thing is not everyone's cup of tea, but Pete has said in interviews that when he stopped doing it the ticket buyers left the shows thinking they hadn't got what they paid for.
They got much publicity from it which helped them enormously at the time, and their reputation from those days still carries them today to a degree. Rickenbacker itself is still getting publicity to this day too from old footage and photographs of Pete doing his thing too.
I feel a bit sad for the destroyed guitars which would be collectors items today, but in the big picture I'm sure both the band and Rickenbacker benefited from it.
Actually, speaking of collectors items - I bet that if anyone had all the bits from a smashed Townshend Ric it would be worth more than an identical one in top condition.
I remember years ago there was a episodic comedy radio show about the history of rock music, and they had an interview with someone from the Who reminiscing about the wild old days. I'm pretty sure it was John, although he was probably the least prone to that kind of behaviour out of the four of them. During the interview he kept accidentally destroying parts of the radio studio... just through sheer clumsiness! So the joke was that they were never wild young rebels at all, and all the destroyed hotel rooms and instruments were just them being clumsy. It was pretty funny, and I think I've still got it on tape somewhere.
I agree with Pete... It's his bloody guitar and he can do what he likes with it. But I admit that when I was too poor to own a high quality guitar I used to think "Just spare ONE of them and let me have it, PLEASE".
To be objective about it, people paid their money to be entertained and, as well as the music, it was just part of the show they presented. Obviously from the posts here that kind of thing is not everyone's cup of tea, but Pete has said in interviews that when he stopped doing it the ticket buyers left the shows thinking they hadn't got what they paid for.
They got much publicity from it which helped them enormously at the time, and their reputation from those days still carries them today to a degree. Rickenbacker itself is still getting publicity to this day too from old footage and photographs of Pete doing his thing too.
I feel a bit sad for the destroyed guitars which would be collectors items today, but in the big picture I'm sure both the band and Rickenbacker benefited from it.
Actually, speaking of collectors items - I bet that if anyone had all the bits from a smashed Townshend Ric it would be worth more than an identical one in top condition.
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leftyguitars
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I have a BBC recording of PT from around 1985 saying that he "sometimes felt bad" that he had trashed those guitars but in his defence they were just "regular" production line instruments" which "fell apart if you blew on them" and that he sponsored the PT-LE "partly out of guilt".
He also says that the first one that he bought (1965) cost him £375 (around seven months gross wage for the average man at that time).
He also says that the first one that he bought (1965) cost him £375 (around seven months gross wage for the average man at that time).
"If only quilted maple grew on trees!"
http://www.leftyguitars.co.uk
http://www.leftyguitars.co.uk
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firstbassman
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My two cents.
I don’t know about “art,” but agree that it was intended as entertainment. And I will admit, as an adolescent I was entertained by the guitar smashing. As an amateur musician now, yes, I cringe a little when I see that.
At Monterey, Hendrix spent a good part of the day painting his Strat that he played later that evening. Then he lit it on fire and banged it against the stage. He mumbled something about it being a kind of sacrifice for the audience.
RE: Pete has said in interviews that when he stopped doing it the ticket buyers left the shows thinking they hadn't got what they paid for.
I can believe that. After seeing the Experience at Madison Square Garden, I remember myself and others being disappointed that Hendrix didn’t play behind his back, do other “tricks” or break his guitar.
As far as The Who being “vastly over-rated.” Well, that song did suck and to each his own, I guess. But give a listen to Live At Leeds. Amazing stuff.
I don’t know about “art,” but agree that it was intended as entertainment. And I will admit, as an adolescent I was entertained by the guitar smashing. As an amateur musician now, yes, I cringe a little when I see that.
At Monterey, Hendrix spent a good part of the day painting his Strat that he played later that evening. Then he lit it on fire and banged it against the stage. He mumbled something about it being a kind of sacrifice for the audience.
RE: Pete has said in interviews that when he stopped doing it the ticket buyers left the shows thinking they hadn't got what they paid for.
I can believe that. After seeing the Experience at Madison Square Garden, I remember myself and others being disappointed that Hendrix didn’t play behind his back, do other “tricks” or break his guitar.
As far as The Who being “vastly over-rated.” Well, that song did suck and to each his own, I guess. But give a listen to Live At Leeds. Amazing stuff.
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studiotwosession
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>>I must be a bit thick. How is it art when you smash a beautiful instrument?<<
Though PT has said it was, in the end, just a gimmick, it is interesting that the height of the Who's auto destruction period was also the height of the Vietnam war, not to mention the gimmick getting more and more attention between JFK's killing and those of MLK and RFK and the riots which followed. Those were extraordinarily violent times. Of course, the smashing was something the Who regretted most of all not because of the instruments lost but because they wanted to move on with their act, get past it (maybe this is why Pete threw his SG into the crowd at Woodstock instead of trash it.) And because Keith blew Pete's eardrum out on the Smothers Brothers show. Pete has said after 67 or so, he stayed away from drugs. So I guess it's better to trash your gear than destroy your life. As for the entertainment factor, is there any difference between getting off seeing a guitar explode or going to see Terminator?
Though PT has said it was, in the end, just a gimmick, it is interesting that the height of the Who's auto destruction period was also the height of the Vietnam war, not to mention the gimmick getting more and more attention between JFK's killing and those of MLK and RFK and the riots which followed. Those were extraordinarily violent times. Of course, the smashing was something the Who regretted most of all not because of the instruments lost but because they wanted to move on with their act, get past it (maybe this is why Pete threw his SG into the crowd at Woodstock instead of trash it.) And because Keith blew Pete's eardrum out on the Smothers Brothers show. Pete has said after 67 or so, he stayed away from drugs. So I guess it's better to trash your gear than destroy your life. As for the entertainment factor, is there any difference between getting off seeing a guitar explode or going to see Terminator?
This is off the record
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leftyguitars
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Er, yes. Terminator isn't real.
"If only quilted maple grew on trees!"
http://www.leftyguitars.co.uk
http://www.leftyguitars.co.uk
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chefothefuture
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leftyguitars
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WHAT? ....so then there IS no Cyber-Dyne?....
Yes there is, I think that it is a Fender amp!
Yes there is, I think that it is a Fender amp!
"If only quilted maple grew on trees!"
http://www.leftyguitars.co.uk
http://www.leftyguitars.co.uk
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studiotwosession
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