The Who...halftime show

[Roger Rettig]

By the way - and I can't swear that this is any more than a rumour - it is said that the UK importers, tired of being unable to get hold of enough red Strats to satisfy demand in the '60s, would repaint white ones in a sort-of red colour. Red was, of course, a 'custom colour', but white was readily available.

This practice, it is said, led to the proliferation of Strats that came to be described as 'Salmon Pink' - Fender didn't have a 'Salmon Pink' in their colour charts, yet that expression became widely used in Britain. Maybe the repainting process *acheived* (ooops!) a slightly different hue to Fiesta Red.

Maybe Rick knows if there's any truth in that suggestion.....?

(Edited for spelling: "I before E except after C, except in 'achieved'" - Rettig, go to the bottom of the class!!!)

[chris ivey]

i thought i saw a mouth movement that was out of sync with the vocal at one point. my crowd was all excited that ..'yeah, and they're doing it all live'...but i wonder. and anything that isn't all live, i have no use for. means nothing.

i wonder if they would take a chance on a high dollar programmed light show on a flying saucer synchronizing with old humans.

i do like the concept of bands from my generation still being able to soak the market for millions at my age.

[Roger Rettig]

Sorry - the mix was just too good to be live. I recall that at the Live Aid concert in '85 (I think) at Wembley Stadium 'Queen' were almost entirely tracked, and only Brian May was actually playing.

It's been going on a long time now. I feel as you do, Chris, but the truth is that these are such high-profile apperances that no-one wants to take the chance any more.

[Rick Batey]

Roger, re. Strats – yes, it’s said that Selmer in the UK refinished sunburst or even custom-colour Strats to fill demand for red guitars like Hank's. Possibly the different paint helped give rise to the 'salmon pink' story (which never existed - only differing fades of Fiesta Red). But Fender used to spray custom colours over sunburst themselves. There's a ton of great info here.

Watching Pete Townshend windmilling on a Strat with a dangling vibrato arm still makes me wince. Ouch!

[Scott Shipley]

Lip synced? Were y'all watchin the same half time show I was? If it were lip synced the vocals would have been in TUNE. I LOVE The Who, but the vocals were atrocious. SOP is live vox and live guitar. I'd go with that on this one myself.

[Arty Passes]

They were singing, not sure if Pete was actually playing, but they were playing to tracks, that's why the mix sounded so good. The sync was off on the whole thing - not sure if that was from the stage, from the transmission or my cable company.
Seemed like Roger didn't warm up properly - he could barely sing at first, but did better toward the end.

[Tommy Shown]

I was listening to it on the radio, when they first started the guy in the booth said the first song was"Pinball Wizard". Boy was WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tommy Shown

[Archie Nicol R.I.P.]

It was always hard to work out Pete's style when he wind-milled(?). I've watched the Woodstock video and the Isle Of Wight from the following year and his swinging seems slightly out of time at times. He was (ab)using Gibson SGs back then.

click here

Arch.

[Skeeter Stultz]

Carrie Underwood sang the National Anthem and did what I would call a darn good job and on pitch until the last note. It was a little pitchy but she stayed true to the melody all the way through.

[Bill Dobkins]

Carrie Underwood sang the National Anthem and did what I would call a darn good job and on pitch until the last note. It was a little pitchy but she stayed true to the melody all the way through.

And you could actually understand the words, same with Queen Lafiat.

[Scott Shipley]

They were singing, not sure if Pete was actually playing......
Seemed like Roger didn't warm up properly - he could barely sing at first, but did better toward the end.

Pete was playing, obviously and gloriously loud.


Roger will be 67 on March 1.

[Doug Earnest]

Playing through one cranked up VibroKing is exhilirating....I can't imagine playing through four of them with extension cabinets!! It did look to me like Pete was playing, several times he manipulated the volume knob on his guitar and the sound went along with it.

[Marc Jenkins]

Carrie Underwood sang the National Anthem and did what I would call a darn good job and on pitch until the last note. It was a little pitchy but she stayed true to the melody all the way through.

I noted one two occasions that she in fact drifted from the melody, and out of tune to boot.

[Brint Hannay]

Carrie Underwood's last note made my skin crawl! THAT for sure wasn't lip-synced! But her superfluous, tasteless departures from the melody were mercifully as few as can be expected these days (which shows how abysmal what can be expected these days is).

The one time PT attempted to play "lead" (never his forte) it sounded like he'd entirely forgotten how to play guitar. I agree Daltrey managed reasonably well after a shaky start, but I couldn't help the feeling that it was sad watching geezers trying, and failing, to do what they did when they were younger. And that's not characteristic of me--performances by other old-timers like the Stones I've seen (only on TV) in recent years haven't left me feeling that way.

("Geezers"!!! "Old-timers"??? I'm only a few years younger than they are! )

[Roger Rettig]

YEAH! Watch it, Brint - I'll be 67 in March, too!

Rick B.: Thanks for that great link to the Fender colour info! By the way, I'll take a pinky-red (or 'Salmon Pink') Strat any day! Keith Sellers has a '59 Jazzmaster with gold hardware and in 'Fiesta Pink'! It's jolly nice!

[Ron Whitfield]

I couldn't help the feeling that it was sad watching geezers trying, and failing, to do what they did when they were younger.

Stick to Black Sabbath then...

[Bruce Meyer]

This year's halftime -- The Who. I'll bet next year it's a Sha Na Na reunion.

[Richard Sinkler]

When I knew it was tracked was late in the medley, I was watching the keyboard player. He was seated at his B3(?) and I was hearing a piano being pounded playing a single chord in 8th notes (very common piano lick) with his right hand on the organ. I heard no organ sound at this point, and his left hand was hanging down by his left side (I could see it below the stand that he had the Kurzweil on that he used for piano sounds earlier) and not playing the piano. I recorded the game (in case I fell asleep) and re-watched the Who several times. No way was the keyboard player playing live. Now, I also watched the drummer closely, and he was right on with everything he played, although I doubt it was live. And loved those red, white and blue cymbals. They were the best part (except the lightshow) of the performance.

[Steinar Gregertsen]

When I knew it was tracked was late in the medley, I was watching the keyboard player. He was seated at his B3(?) and I was hearing a piano being pounded playing a single chord in 8th notes (very common piano lick) with his right hand on the organ. I heard no organ sound at this point, and his left hand was hanging down by his left side (I could see it below the stand that he had the Kurzweil on that he used for piano sounds earlier) and not playing the piano.

The Who have used programmed sequencer keyboard parts on several of their songs for decades, so that may have been what you heard. Many of those "swirly"(?) intros and breaks are sequenced.

[Ron Whitfield]

The '73 Quadrophenia tour is where they really went for recorded backings and the problems it caused nearly drove Pete insane.

Fortunately, the show I saw from that year went exceptionally smooth in that regard and was one of their very best ever.

[Orville Johnson]

My opinion only, but I thought they were pathetic. Aging rockers who have not done anything creative together in decades picking up a big check and going thru the motions. And Pete's belly flashing- the very definition of "wardrobe malfunction." The only thing I will give them credit for is NOT smashing their gear at the end. That would have raised the level of patheticism to astronomical proportion.

If I had seen this show at a casino or a 400 seat club in Boise it might've been ok. Last question- if Paul and Ringo hire a couple of guitar players and play next year's halftime as the Beatles, would that be must-see TV?

[Mike Perlowin RIP]

My opinion only, but I thought they were pathetic.

I agree. Back when they were in their prime, when they had John Entwhistle and Keith Moon, they were one of the greatest bands in the world. But they are long past that point.

Like Kenny Rogers says in The Gambler, "You have to know when to walk say."

Laurie (My then girlriend, now wife,) and I saw them in 1967 opening for Herman's Hermits. We didn't stay to see H's Hes.

[Richard Sinkler]

Steiner said:

The Who have used programmed sequencer keyboard parts on several of their songs for decades, so that may have been what you heard. Many of those "swirly"(?) intros and breaks are sequenced.

That may explain it. I thought the "swirly" sounds were great.

[Ron Whitfield]

Last question- if Paul and Ringo hire a couple of guitar players and play next year's halftime as the Beatles, would that be must-see TV?

Uh....................................................................................................................................................................................................., yes!

[Archie Nicol R.I.P.]

I'm glad I caught them at their peak. Moon as mental as ever with John in his skeleton suit, Roger whirling the mike around and Pete threatening to smash his guitar.

Happy days.
Arch.

p.s.

Pete didn't smash his axe!
Thirteen shillings and sixpence down the drain.
SHEESH!