With its mix of fake and real radio ads, this concept album (The Who Sell Out) was a mainstay on my turntable during the late seventies, when I was busy being a mod about town. Just listening to it drops me into an era I was really too young to be part of — the swinging sixties. The best albums take you places you’ve never actually been.
But it also gave me a kind of lifestyle template. It was all about pop art, guitars, and technicolour happenings. Some of the songs are slight and off-the-cuff, some are jokey and poke fun at advertising. And then there's the brilliance of “Our Love Was” (with its Christian intro) and “Mary Anne with the Shaky Hand.” Not forgetting the power of “I Can See for Miles.”
I guess it was from albums like this that I started to rebuild the sixties around myself. My flat became as close to that era as I could get at the time — though in the end, it probably looked more like a sixties teenager’s bedroom. Every wall was plastered with posters of The Stones, The Beatles, The Jam, and more.
In the background, The Who Sell Out.
A fantastic album.
No comments:
Post a Comment