Record Stars, 1966

    There is really no resting on laurels. The pop world isn't so secure that you don't have to worry about what is going to happen next. Maybe with several No. 1 records and being able to choose our work we'll relax a little.
    Yet, none of the events which have turned us into a top group would have happened without a lot of hard thinking, a lot of ambitious, sometimes outrageous ideas, a win or bust attitude and, above all, a lot of heartbreaking and frustrating work.
    In the end, of course, it all depends on us. We were the productand you have to have something worth while to sell. But most of the credit should go to our two managers, Chris Stamp and Kit Lambert, who practically split themselves wide open to get us to the top.
    When they found us we were just another group called the Highnumbers, who had made one very ordinary disc and were scratching around making a living by playing all the small-time dates.

V.......V.......V

    They were film makers are were just touring around on the look-out for odd groups for a picture. They found us and for some reason we knocked them out. They auditioned us, liked us, got all excited and signed us. It was a memorable turning point and boy, we needed them
    Do you know how hard it is getting break in pop? You can beat your head against a brick wall, spend thousands of pounds and get nowhere. Chris and Kit were determined to knock that wall down. They were going to get us there even if they had to break every rule in the book to do it.
    Our name was changed. The Who was so impersonal. It immediately invited corny remarks and interest but it was such an impersonal name it couldn't be dated.
    Then began the endless slog to break through. The tiring round of trying to get a name known, posters, leaflets, telling producers and promoters how great your group is and pushing for those vital plugs. New hair styles - it took us three hours every fortnight to have these. Pete experimented with sounds (he's the musical brain) to come up with something original, and perfected a deafening "feedback" noise which became our trademark which other bands later cottoned on to.
    The clothes had to be right. A lot of money was spent. We searched for way-out gear, shopping in Carnaby Street and in the women's stores where the colours were brighter. Appearance is the most immediate association with an audience and they had to be right. Photo sessions lasting for hours came next, striving to get something good, away from those sickly, grinning pin-up shots.
    The campaign to make us headline news in pop and a big part of the scene, ended up with many dissappointments, but gradually we began to be known. A night at London's Marque Club started it when after a poor turn out we practically ruined our equipment and ourselves to project something exciting and different. It was a form or rootlessness. We weren't saying here are four nice, clean-cut lads come to entertain you. We were saying, here is something outrageous - go wild.
    But it was success on records that would finally clinch it for us, as well as exposure on radio and TV. A good start came through a lucky "Ready Steady Go" booking when a crowd of fans turned an ordinary plug into a riotous success.
    Our record "I Can't Explain" jumped around the charts a bit and ended up as a resonable hit. We still couldn't take it easy. Chris and Kit had poured endless time and energy into the success of the Who and rewards weren't being reaped by any means.
    However, the press latched on to us. Headlines read, "love them or lathe them, the Who have made themselves something that other groups have longed for - a new image."
    Then we hit on something quite by accident which was to change things drastically and send us zooming to the top. We were the first in the field with Pop Art. Roger had a gimmick of sticking black Sellotape on to to a white sweater, changing the design from night to night. John bought dozens of medals which he pinned on a diamond-check jacket. keith wore a white T-shirt with a coloured target, a picture of Elvis and the word "Pow!" And a Union Jack which used to be draped over Pete's speaker became his jacket. The Pop Art sound was born and we started a whole new scene going.
    Our record, "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" shot up the charts. We had cracked it.
    We went on tour playing the big theatres and clubs. At last success was coming big, and also at last some money was coming back. Our record "My Generation" rose to an even higher spot in the charts. Now we were a group to be reckoned among the top names.

V.......V.......V

    Some groups have it easy; for us it was hard. We were fired by the enthusiasm of our managers and like to think that we put as much energy, thought, and work into the success of the group.
    We think that we have created an image, feeling, and sound, unlike that of any other in british pop music. We're a group born right out of the teenagers, we're trying to entertain, their fashions, their longing to go wild, lose inhibitions. It's a wavelength which cannot be penetrated by anyone else.
    There's a tremendous atmosphere around us so that our relationship with our audience and our picture in the public mind is almost a savage kind of love-hate.
    Not that it is all honey yet. There are a lot of obstacles still to be conquered. However, the risk of failure in pop gets greater and greater, so we can't afford to relax.

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