The Who Sell Out
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| The Who Sell Out | |||||
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| Image:The who sell out album front.jpg | |||||
| Studio album by The Who | |||||
| Released | 15 December 1967 | ||||
| Recorded | May–November 1967 at: Talentmasters Studios (New York) IBC Studios (London) Pye Studios (London) De Lane Lea Studios (London) CBS Studios (London) Kingsway Studios (London) Gold Star Studios (Los Angeles) |
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| Genre | Rock, psychedelic rock, pop | ||||
| Length | 40:04 | ||||
| Label | Track (UK) Decca (U.S.) |
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| Producer | Kit Lambert | ||||
| Professional reviews | |||||
| The Who chronology | |||||
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| Back cover | |||||
| Image:The who sell out album back.jpg The back cover of The Who Sell Out |
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The Who Sell Out is The Who's third album, released in 1967. It is a concept album, formatted as a collection of unrelated songs interspersed with faux commercials and public service announcements. The album purports to be a broadcast by pirate radio station Radio London. Part of the intended irony of the title was that The Who were actually making commercials during that period of their career, some of which are included as bonus tracks on the remastered CD.
The album's release was reportedly followed by a bevy of lawsuits due to the mention of real-world commercial interests in the faux commercials and on the album covers, and by the makers of the real jingles (Radio London jingles), who claimed The Who used them without permission. (The jingles were produced by PAMS Productions of Dallas, Texas, which created thousands of station ID jingles in the 1960s and 1970s.)
In 2003, the album was ranked number 113 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
The album is also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[1]
In 2006, Pete Townshend did his first live interview for fifteen years with Opal Bonfante, in which he reminisced about the old Radio London Jingles, many of which are featured on this album. The live interview was punctuated with Townshend singing the jingles as he recalled them.
Contents |
[edit] Album information
The cover is divided into panels featuring a photograph by David Montgomery of each of the band members, two on the front and two on the back. On the front is Pete Townshend applying Odorono brand deodorant from an oversized stick; Roger Daltrey sitting in a bathtub full of Heinz baked beans (holding an oversized tin can of the same). Roger Daltrey is said to have actually caught pneumonia after sitting for a prolonged period in the bathtub. On the back is Keith Moon applying Medac from an oversized tube; John Entwistle in a leopard-skin Tarzan suit, squeezing a blonde woman in a leopard-skin bikini with one arm and a teddy bear with the other (an ad for the Charles Atlas course mentioned in one of the album's faux commercials).
Dave Marsh in chapter 22 of his Who biography Before I Get Old writes that this was the first pop album ever not to list the song titles on its cover.
"I Can See for Miles" was released as a single and peaked at #10 in the UK. Townshend, who had written the song, was sure it would have been a #1 hit and was disappointed with the success of the single, casting him into self-doubt about his abilities to write concise pop singles; consequently, he decided to focus his energies on writing thematic albums instead, resulting in Tommy:
"To me it was the ultimate Who record yet it didn't sell. I spat on the British record buyer." - Pete Townshend
"Rael" is an excerpt from one of Pete Townshend's early attempts at rock opera. The plot is not clear from the excerpt, but it apparently involves a heroic "Captain" who is betrayed by his crew during a clandestine attempt to save Rael from a looming invasion by the Red Chins. The dramatic instrumental section in the second half of the song shows up as a dreamy sequence in both "Sparks" and "Underture" of the later rock opera Tommy. Another element of Tommy can be heard in the nineties reissue bonus track "Glow Girl" with its chorus of "It's a girl, Mrs. Walker it's a girl." Like early pressings of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Sell Out ends with an audio oddity that repeats into a locked groove — in this case, an a cappella jingle for Track Records.
[edit] Track listing
All tracks written by Pete Townshend, except where noted.
[edit] Side one
- "Radio London"
- "Armenia City in the Sky" (John Keen) – 3:12
- "Radio London"
- "Heinz Baked Beans" (John Entwistle) – 0:57
- "More Music"
- "Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand" – 2:04
- "Premier Drums"/"Radio London" (Instrumental)
- "Odorono" – 2:16
- "Radio London"
- "Tattoo" – 2:42
- "Radio London" (Church of Your Choice)
- "Our Love Was" (aka "Our Love Was, Is") – 3:07
- "Radio London" (Pussycat)/"Speakeasy"/"Rotosound Strings"
- "I Can See for Miles" – 4:17
[edit] Side two
- "Charles Atlas"
- "I Can't Reach You" – 3:03
- "Medac" (Entwistle) – 0:57
- "Relax" – 2:38
- The 1995 remaster also adds a demo of the "Rotosound Strings" here
- "Silas Stingy" (Entwistle) – 3:04
- "Sunrise" – 3:03
- "Rael 1" – 5:44
- "Track Records"
[edit] Bonus tracks (1995 remastered CD)
- "Rael 2" – 0:47
- "Top Gear"
- "Glittering Girl" (previously unreleased) – 2:56
- "Coke 2"
- "Melancholia" – 3:17
- "Bag O'Nails"
- "Someone's Coming" (Entwistle) – 2:29
- "John Mason's Cars" (Rehearsal)
- "Jaguar" – 2:51
- "John Mason's Cars" (Reprise)
- "Early Morning Cold Taxi" (Roger Daltrey, Dave Langston) – 2:55
- "Coke 1"
- "Hall of the Mountain King" (Edvard Grieg) (previously unreleased) – 4:14
- "Radio 1" (Boris Mix)
- "Girl's Eyes" (Keith Moon) – 3:28
- "Odorono" (Final Chorus)
- "Mary-Anne with the Shaky Hand" (alternate version, previously unreleased) – 3:19
- "Glow Girl" – 2:24
- "Track Records" (on the remaster, this only appears after "Glow Girl", with "Rael 1" segueing directly into "Rael 2")
[edit] Editions
- [1967] Track 612 002 (mono) / 613 002 (stereo)
- Original UK LP release. Cover and tracks as described above. The first 1000 copies of the UK release included a psychedelic poster by Adrian George; a detail is shown on the inside of the remastered CD's case. Producer: Kit Lambert
- [1968] Decca DL 4950 (mono) / DL 74950 (stereo)
- Original USA LP release. Cover and tracks as described above. Producer: Kit Lambert
- [1974] Track/MCA MCAD2-4067 (stereo)
- Re-issued as one of a two-LP set along with A Quick One. Track list and order as described above.
- [1988] MCAD-31332 (UPC 07673-11332-25)
- Original CD release (AAD). Original cover on the front; simple track listing on the back. Standard MCA silver label with title and track listing. The front insert folds out to show the original back cover, another copy of the CDs track listing, and some advertisements for other MCA CDs. Producer: Kit Lambert. Executive Producer: Chris Stamp.
- [1995] MCAD-11268 (UPC 08811-12682)
- Remastered CD release (ADD). Original covers on the front and back, except that the back is slightly modified to show the UPC and the modified track listing. Custom disk label showing a section of classified ads from a newspaper of music magazine, plus minimal title and copyright info. Original tracks and concept material plus 10 bonus tracks and a proportional amount of bonus concept material. The cover insert is a 12 leaf booklet including extended credits, facsimiles of period posters and flyers, an article and track background information by Dave Marsh, and period photos of the band. Producer: Jon Astley. Executive Producers: Bill Curbishley, Robert Rosenberg, and Chris Charlesworth.
[edit] Charts
[edit] Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Billboard Pop Albums | 48 |
| 1967 | UK Chart Albums | 13 |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | "I Can See for Miles" | Billboard Pop Singles | 9 |
| 1967 | "I Can See for Miles" | UK Singles Charts | 10 |
[edit] Personnel
- Roger Daltrey – lead vocals, backing vocals, percussion
- Pete Townshend – guitar, lead vocals, keyboards, pennywhistle, banjo, backing vocals
- John Entwistle – bass, lead vocals, horns, backing vocals
- Keith Moon – drums, lead vocals, backing vocals, percussion
- Al Kooper – keyboards, organ
[edit] Cover versions
The album was covered in its entirety by Petra Haden as Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out. The album is entirely a cappella with all of the vocals provided by Haden.
[edit] References
- Many of the factual details in this article are derived from the insert to the remastered CD of 1995, UPC 08811-12682.
[edit] External links
es:The Who Sell Out fr:The Who Sell Out he:The Who Sell Out it:The Who Sell Out nl:The Who Sell Out ja:セル・アウト pt:The Who Sell Out sv:The Who Sell Out
