Half century later, The Who is still going strong

By MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR In 1965, the list of artists who hit Billboard number one is like a graveyard of bands that once were. The Byrds, Gary Lewis and the Playboys, The Supremes, Freddie and the Dreamers, Herman’s Hermits, Sonny and Cher, the McCoys, the Dave Clark 5… and the Beatles. They’re all gone. Most of them haven’t been around in decades. Some bands who hit number 1 still kind of exist, like The Temptations. But they pretty much are a brand name rather than a creative entity. And the Beach Boys exist, but again, they’re more of a memory, with the surviving members all laying claim to their own version of the group that once was. Only the Rolling Stones, who hit the charts in 1965, continue to make music and tour. In 1965, a British band—formerly named The High Numbers—released their first single and their album under their new name. With its stuttering lyrics, “People try to put us d-down (Talkin’ ‘bout my generation),” The Who’s sounded like nothing else on the radio. And despite some surf music-influences, the subsequent album, “My Generation” was unlike anything on the radio at the time. And that pretty much was […]