When talking about music with others, on occasion the question will come up, ‘Which do you like better the Beatles or the Rolling Stones?” My answer is always The Who. Yep, The Who, without question.
As a fan since 1970, I first saw the band in concert back in 1979 (minus the late Keith Moon) then again in 1980. So, when Pete Townsend and company announced their 1982 “Farewell Tour”, I was all in to see them live. I saw all three shows they played at the Rosemont Horizon with the best of those concerts being the final Chicago area gig on December 8th.
But the band wasn’t done with their farewell road run. The final gig was set for Friday December 17th at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens. It was a pay per view event that would be simulcast on radio stations across the U.S.
Needless to say, me and some close pals, also fellow Who fans, Bobbo, Marko, Willie, Pross and some others wanted to watch this concert from good ole Elmhurst Illinois. Bobbo got his father, who was always tinkering with electronics, to come up with an unscrambling device so we could watch the pay per view event without paying. Don’t ask me how that gadget was put together because I barely know how a can opener works.
Since the concert was to be simulcast on one of Chicago’s local rock radio stations Bobbo asked me to bring my kick ass stereo (with great Klipsch Heresy speakers) to his house so we could blast up the sound while watching the show. That afternoon I hauled over all the audio gear and we set it up in his house’s rec room. I brought along my stereo cassette recorder with two new ninety minute Maxell high quality tapes so we’d have an audio keepsake from the concert.
That night the guys came over to Bobbo’s. There were cold beers to drink and as showtime approached we tuned in to a TV test pattern, nervously waiting to see if Bobbo’s dad’s video thievery gadget would work. It did and the show was on! We slipped through the technological cracks. We hijacked The Who! Way to go Mr. C!
Opening with “My Generation” and rocking for twenty-four more songs, The Who was in fine form, probably relieved that their cross-country long goodbye was wrapping up that night. Townsend, Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle and drummer Kenny Jones even played one of my favorite lesser known Who songs, “Naked Eye” along with the fun and rousing “Squeeze Box.” The encore closed out with Entwistle howling out the rock n roll oldie “Twist and Shout” and I remember all of us singing along at the top of our lungs to it too.
It was such a fun night. We were all care free as the start of our college winter vacation kicked off in proper rocking fashion. After the concert ended, we went to Elmhurst’s popular watering hole Oscar’s for more drinks. I brought along the freshly recorded cassettes of the show and got the bar staff to play a bunch of cuts on their house sound system. I still have those audio cassette tapes and they still sound great.
That pay per view (without paying) night with the hi-jacked Who happened forty years ago. Forty years ago, we were all so young, full of hopes and dreams of what would happen to us through the rest of college and beyond. The good news is Bobbo, Marko, Willie, me and the others on hand that night are still around; healthy, happy, some of whom are retired. You can’t ask for much more than that.
Pete Townsend and Roger Daltrey are what remains of the original four band members. While The Who so famously sang, “Hope I die before I get old”, they got old but they’re still touring. Thanks for all the music guys and some great memories too!
NEXT BLOG- A personal review of 2022 and a look ahead to 2023.