Friday, March 16, 2018

The Who - Qudrophenia (single disc) - 1973

In the latest installment of my half off double album series we are going to take apart a Who classic. While everyone else is concerning themselves with reconstructing Rock Is Dead - Long Live Rock, a concept album envisioned by Pete Townshend as a musical history of The Who told through song, I want to address the album that it became. Namely the double album rock opera Quadrophenia. A concept album that concerns itself with the conflicts in mid 60s London between two rival cliques, Mods and Rockers.

While I admire Mr. Townshend's ability to not only dream up these things but also, bring them to life, sometimes I think the man thinks too much. I want songs, not operas. So, in the spirit of the Lifehouse to Who's Next transition I was wondering if the same idea could be applied to Quadrophenia. Could there be a great single disc album hidden within?

Side One
01 The Real Me
02 Cut My Hair
03 5:15
04 Sea And Sand
05 Drowned

Side Two
01 The Punk And The Godfather
02 I'm One
03 The Dirty Jobs
04 Is It In My Head?
05 Love Reign O'Er Me

Reality Notes

To be completely honest here, before I started this project I had never listened To the album straight through. I knew the classic songs more from best of collections and I expected a lot more filler material than there was. I have yet to see the movie and I have never listened to the soundtrack version.

This probably better qualifies me to take this project on. I am not attached to any underlying narrative that may be hidden within each song. I needed to be plot agnostic and choose songs that could stand on their own and dispose of songs that were obviously there to further the storyline.

I started with the four songs I was familair with (The Real Me, 5:15, Drowned and Love Reign O'Er Me) then fleshed out the tracklist from there. I dropped any instrumental over/underture interludes. I was drawn to Sea And Sand, I'm One and Is It In My Head? and included those bringing my track count up to seven. From what was left I eliminated Doctor Jimmy for being too long and a few more for being too entrenched in the plot line. This left me with Cut My Hair, The Punk And The Godfather and The Dirty Jobs to fill out the album.

I shuffled those around for flow and timing Keeping The Real Me and Love Reign O'er Me in their respective opening and closing spots. I trimmed or removed as much of the audio clip transitions between songs as I could. The musical structure of Cut My Hair and the intro to 5:15 are the same so I used the TV announcer/teapot at the end of Cut My Hair to transition into 5:15. Worked out beautifully.

I resisted the urge to include Join Together and Relay or any other unused song from the abandoned Rock is Dead project. Like my single disc The Wall project I wanted to make a concise Quadrophenia, not an alternate Rock is Dead. Are the results worth it? I've played the album through many times now without feeling the urge to skip any song. While still not as great as Who's Next or even Who By Numbers it can now rest comfortably along side those albums and it no longer feels like a chore to get through.

I kept the original cover. Its a great cover. I didn't change the name of the album, Why change the cover?

9 comments:

  1. This works for me even though i'm very familiar with the album/film and indeed the mod lifestyle.

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  2. Thanks. Did anything feel missed?

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  3. No not really,the storyline gets a bit mangled but you could think of that as Jimmy having flashbacks :-)

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  4. I don't even know what the plot is. For me the songs closer to the story just feel like character sketches which allows them to be able to stand more on their own where in Tommy each song contributes to the narration, a true opera.

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  5. Ok so here is my take on the LP track by track,i'd agree that the songs don't drive the narrative in the same way as on 'Tommy' but it is there.

    1.'I Am The Sea' - Jimmy a Mod from West London is stranded on a rock just off the coast of Brighton.He begins to contemplate the events that brought him there.

    2.'The Real Me' - Describes Jimmy's mental state at the start of the story.

    3.'Cut My Hair' - Jimmy's feelings about being a Mod and peer group pressure.

    4.'The Punk And The Godfather' - Townshend's commentary about the early Who's relationship with their Mod audience,in the stoy Jimmy is a Who fan.

    5.'I'm One' - Jimmy's feelings about trying to fit in with his peers which is complicated by his mental illness.

    6.'The Dirty Job's' - Jimmy has a series of crap jobs (i think)

    7.'Helpless Dancer' - Outside the plot Townshend comments on the existential powerlessness of working class life in Britain.

    8.'Is It In My Head' - Jimmy's growing paranoia / madness.

    9.'I've Had Enough' - thrown out by his parents and spurned by the girl he loves Jimmy decides he has had enough.

    10.'5.15' - Jimmy takes the train from London to Brighton.

    11.'Sea And Sand' - Jimmy remembers happier times and a 'romantic encounter on Brighton beach.

    12.'Drowned' - Jimmy's desire to die/become a drop in the 'Cosmic Ocean'

    13.'Bellboy' - Jimmy sees the former 'Ace Face
    ' from the Mod / Rocker clashes of 64 reduced to subservience as a bellboy at the Grand Hotel.

    14. 'Dr Jimmy' - falling into madness Jimmy's personality starts to divide.

    15.'The Rock' - Jimmy steals a boat and becomes stranded on a rock bringing the story back to its beginning.

    16.'Love Reign O'er Me' - Jimmy's cry for redemption and or salvation.

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  6. Thanks, that helps my understanding better. I think because of the songs being more character driven than narration driven helps the songs stand on their own. Especially for those like me who are unaware of the plot but dammit, now I have to go and watch the movie. It sounds pretty good.

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  7. Funny how we can work from the same concept and come up with different results.

    SIDE A
    1. The Real Me
    2. The Punk and the Godfather
    3. I’m One
    4. Helpless Dancer
    5. I’ve Had Enough
    SIDE B
    1. 5:15
    2. Bell Boy
    3. Doctor Jimmy
    4. Love Reign O’er Me

    I took my cue from the movie soundtrack version. And I used the shorter single versions of "5:15" and "Love Reign O'er Me" so everything would fit a single vinyl disc.

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    Replies
    1. My feeling was that you needed to include "Helpless Dancer," "Bell Boy" and "Doctor Jimmy" as they are Roger's, Keith's and John's "themes"

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    2. Looks good. It all comes down to personal taste. I was going for a Lifehouse to Who's Next type of thing. What are the best songs that can stand on their own? There are no wrong answers.

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