The Who, My Generation 1965

The Who, My Generation 1965

Why Don’t You All F-Fade Away

On Oct 13th 1965, The Who recorded ‘My Generation’,

at Pye studios, London. When released as a single

it reached No.2 on the UK chart, held off the No.1

position by The Seekers ‘The Carnival Is Over’, (it

should’ve been a No.1). Roger Daltrey would later say

that he stuttered the lyrics to try to fit them to the

music. The BBC in the UK initially refused to play the

song because it did not want to offend people who

stutter.

‘My Generation’ was named the 11th greatest song by

Rolling Stone on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs

of All Time and 13th on VH1’s list of the 100 Greatest

Songs of Rock & Roll. It’s also part of The Rock and

Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and

Roll and is inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for

“historical, artistic and significant” value. High praise

indeed. And it deserves it; the song is 3.19 of pure

energy and attitude. When you hear ‘My Generation’

you hear the Who on their way to becoming one of the

great British rock groups.

The stutter came about as he tried to fit the lyrics

to the music, and Talmy decided it worked well

enough to keep. The BBC initially refused to play “My

Generation” because it did not want to offend people

who stutter, but it reversed its decision after the song

became more popular.

Why does the singer stutter in my generation? Various

stories exist as to the reason for Roger Daltrey’s

distinctive vocal delivery. One is that the song began

as a slow “talking” blues number without the stutter.

Another reason is that it was suggested to Daltrey that

he stutter to sound like a British mod on ‘speed’.

The song went through various stages as they tried to

perfect it. Written by a 20-year-old Pete Townshend,

it began as a slow song with a blues feel, and at one

point had hand claps and multiple key changes. The

final product was at a much faster tempo than the

song was conceived; it was the Who’s manager Kit

Lambert’s idea to speed it up. Like all great songs

from a group defining their sound and feel, all four

members made valuable contributions.

Townshend who reportedly wrote the song on a train

is said to have been inspired by the Queen Mother

who is alleged to have had Townshend’s 1935 Packard

hearse towed off a street in Belgravia, London because

she was offended by the sight of it during her daily

drive through the neighbourhood.