Tommy (The Who) | Extended Play Lounge Episode 67
Added 2024-05-10 00:43:33 +0000 UTCIn this edition of The Extended Play Lounge, we're listening to Tommy by The Who. Perhaps not surprisingly, I had really only heard Pinball Wizard and a few snippets here and there of this double album rock opera. And, I had virtually no understanding of the real plot of the story. So, come along for the ride with me!
Comments
My guess is the pinball idea was used because it was popular at the time. Plus, it requires the multi-use of all senses to achieve success. What I take away from the last 4th of the album is the criticism of peddlers touting a strict adherence to certain formulas to achieve happiness/salvation. Those carbon-copy pinball machines ain't gonna do it en masse (too many diverse personalities).
Allen
2025-05-16 23:15:34 +0000 UTCHi Doug, I haven't listened to the whole of Tommy for a VERY long time, probably since the early 70s when my brother played it on almost constant rotation! Very interesting analysis. Oh and those chickens are turkeys...cos the turkey is our traditional Christmas roast bird.
Ralph Darvill
2024-06-20 11:11:09 +0000 UTCHa---I can't get out of my head Keith Moon's hyper "Uncle Ernie" character (from the 1979 film) as he "fiddles about" (would love to see Doug's reaction just to that scene).
Allen
2024-05-21 22:49:50 +0000 UTCAlthough I am not a big fan of the Ken Russel movie, there were a few good choices made. Tina Turner as the Acid Queen was a great casting idea. I also think that the song order was changed so that I’m Free came directly after smashing the mirror, which makes more sense to me. I could be misremembering the latter, because it has been a long time. I can’t believe that I have been listening to this album for 55 years, and still know it by heart.
Mark L
2024-05-20 02:18:01 +0000 UTCMy thoughts on the end: I think that there are two rejections (at least) happening. First, the campers are rejecting the notion that you have to put in work to achieve enlightenment. They were expecting a free ride. Second, there is a rejection of the idea that any specific path to enlightenment can be generalized to all. Just because Tommy became enlightened through his experiences does not mean that such a path will work for others. That may be an implicit rejection of many (all?) religions that claim to be able to lead you to enlightenment.
Mark L
2024-05-20 02:15:34 +0000 UTCIt's a cool vocal effect (alternating 16ths with different vocals). It first comes in after the reference to children on Christmas morning being "so excited." I've always taken it, initially, as the excited children.
Jeff Norman
2024-05-13 05:00:40 +0000 UTCThe other album, eg. The musical i think is better than this original. It features well known artists as Tina Turner, Ann-Margret and Elton John. Pinball Wizard’ became a hit single in 1975.
Karl Stubsjoen
2024-05-12 18:35:12 +0000 UTCAnd of course The Hawker (aka Eyesight To The Blind) is a cover - an old Sonny Boy Williamson II song which was probably in their repertoire already. Its inclusion is either serendipitous or the lyrics (partly) inspired the idea of making the protagonist deaf, dumb and blind. The original, for anyone interested: https://youtu.be/NktV1GJ5GtY?si=ykByyvBs0YfJx6wa
Joe O'Farrell
2024-05-12 11:26:13 +0000 UTCI think you can make a case as well that those noises represent what other people sound like to Tommy. We know from Go to the Mirror that Tommy's deafness has no physiological cause; he resembles, in so many ways, a deeply autistic person, except that his disorder is an acquired one. So I imagine his brain receiving all the signals but unable or unwilling to process them, and everything becomes noise (except his own reflection -- and even his tiny distorted reflection in a moving pinball might be the cause of his intense fascination with the game).
Richard Moore
2024-05-12 01:57:53 +0000 UTCDoug, you must watch the movie, too!
Richard Moore
2024-05-12 01:49:48 +0000 UTC"all at once a tall stranger I suddenly see" Tommy's mind, in his isolation, invents the tall stranger, who becomes Tommy's spiritual guide. He also associates the stranger with his reflection. Smashing the mirror destroys the illusion, the stranger is gone, and Tommy takes the part, starting a cult. The members are irritated by all his rules, but like most cult members, they only whisper quietly because they don't want to lose their sense of belonging. The last straw appears to be being forced to play pinball while wearing "eyeshades, earplugs, [and a] cork". Now his followers openly revolt. The consequence of this is that Tommy turns inward again. I believe Tommy is addressing the tall stranger, who has returned to his life, when he sings "Listening to you...", etc. And the long fadeout suggests that this may now be permanent.
Richard Moore
2024-05-12 01:49:21 +0000 UTCKeith also steals the show in the movie.
Richard Moore
2024-05-12 01:16:18 +0000 UTCIt's a complex story, really, especially at the end. Is it Tommy or his "handlers" that are trashing the followers? Does the final refrain mean that Tommy is lost again, within his own movement, wanting the adoration he once had? Does the mirror finally awaken his self-knowledge? And did smashing it release his consciousness to the outside world? Does "Underture" represent his learning to experience the world as vibrations, a result of his visit to the Acid Queen? Pete had a difficult childhood and being a genius writer, he can bring all sorts of questions to bear, on consciousness, on movements, on trust in general, and his severe mistrust of institutions and "charismatic leaders" (other than Meher Baba) comes through is so much of his writing. I think in this story, Tommy becomes one of those corrupted leaders.
Richard Rathbun
2024-05-11 23:42:38 +0000 UTCYep - I was one of the ones who mentioned it! Reading into it a bit more, it seems not to have been quite as cynical as was previously believed. Townshend gives his own account here: https://ultimateclassicrock.com/pete-townshend-tommy-pinball-wizard/
Joe O'Farrell
2024-05-11 21:11:13 +0000 UTCYes I concur, the Acid Queen is not the same character from the first encounter.
Duff
2024-05-11 08:18:46 +0000 UTCNo argument, it's a fact.
Duff
2024-05-11 08:14:35 +0000 UTCSee this is why I love this group and the adventures we embark upon. The radio of my era never played more than a slice of things after I turned 18 or so. In my ancient youth NY radio (WPLJ & WNEW) played the less commercial stuff and helped introduce me to my mind.(SweetLeaf consumption reference) I tend to be dismissive of Tommy and shouldn't be, if I could hear the meat of it more often. Pinball if I remember without regoogling it, was a marketing ploy to get airplay and so is as ancillary as you suspect Prof. So there you go it worked, but whenever I hear Sally Simpson, I think damn why is this not being played? Well if you live in the Hudson Valley plan on hearing me request it on WPDH on Monday Noonish. This might be (more like is) the rum talking but I shall endeavor to persevere! Doug, thank you again for another awesome experience of vicarious joy watching you hear 98% of this album for the first time!
Duff
2024-05-11 08:13:22 +0000 UTCI wholeheartedly agree ! No matter what version of any music is best I always want the original as a first time listen and this is the pinnacle of examples for me and the Mad Moon is a prime example of why .
Duff
2024-05-11 07:44:53 +0000 UTCAs if I already hadn't said enough... I want to add that I think it is right and proper that you listened to this original version first, and I will give you my reason for that in two words: Keith Moon. Listen carefully to the drumming and percussion in these songs. I contend that no other drummer could have created the parts that Keith played on this album. He even plays a hi-hat on a few songs! Listening to this last night (for the first time in many years) I was struck again by what a dynamic, inventive, and DRIVING drummer Keith was.
Bill Brinkmoeller
2024-05-11 06:06:08 +0000 UTCThanks!
Joan Bounacos
2024-05-11 03:10:45 +0000 UTCPaul Williams
Joan Bounacos
2024-05-11 03:08:38 +0000 UTCIts well worth seeing, Doug - helps explain the album, and Roger is a superb Tommy. But Tina Turner and Elton also steal the show. Very much an ensemble cast of actors and artists.
Adrian Goodrich
2024-05-10 20:23:07 +0000 UTC"Tommy" sent The Who straight to Rock's Major League. Pete's writing and playing (especially on acoustic guitar!), Roger's singing, John's bass and brass, and Keith's percussion just shines here!
Bill Coonley
2024-05-10 20:17:43 +0000 UTCIndeed! But I always assumed turkeys gobbling, being Christmas. And the gobbling was an analogy for the babbling of other guests at Christmas, whilst poor Tommy can only feel the vibrations of the babbling. Although, on balance, maybe Tommy had the best of it...?
Adrian Goodrich
2024-05-10 19:57:08 +0000 UTCSadly, right from when I first heard the album in the early 'seventies, I had little doubt what Uncle Ernie was up to. A good few years later, Pete ended up (fairly or unfairly seems never to have been established) on the UK Sex Offenders register, for accessing (as he said, for research purposes) material that it was probably best if he had not. It does seem clear he had at least major concern over child sexual abuse, and I do feel Uncle Ernie reflects this.
Adrian Goodrich
2024-05-10 19:24:50 +0000 UTCWithout a doubt!!
Adrian Goodrich
2024-05-10 18:35:33 +0000 UTCI would like to argue that 'The lamb lies down on Broadway" too is a rock opera.
Herr Lefe
2024-05-10 17:05:18 +0000 UTCGreat job!
BRIAN MILLER
2024-05-10 16:35:02 +0000 UTCAlso I'm sure people have commented about it but from what I remember someone either in the band or at the label told them to put a song about something popular on the album to release as a single, so they settled on pinball. From what I think I remember the band kind of treated it as a throw away track but it gained traction. People loved pinball I guess. It's the least interesting part of the album to me!
heytallman
2024-05-10 15:28:09 +0000 UTCThis was a fun one. Pete got John to write Cousin Kevin and Fiddle About because John had a sinister side and was much better at writing nasty songs. I believe the girl in The Hawker was a faith healer and separate to the Acid Queen prostitute.
Jojojojo
2024-05-10 14:55:16 +0000 UTCExcited to dig into this one! I would definitely recommend checking out the 1989 live version, there are a ton of fun guests. But you also do miss out on some of the music (I believe Underture is cut). I'd also recommend checking out portions of them performing at Woodstock, where they played through this album in the middle of the night, only for the sun to rise as they get to the final "See Me Fee Me" section. It's absolutely breathtaking and one of my favorite live performances caught on film.
heytallman
2024-05-10 13:43:27 +0000 UTCIt’s Ken Russell at his most experimental - if you’ve seen his “Mahler”, take the funeral dream-sequence as a starting point and head to all points surreal…
Joe O'Farrell
2024-05-10 11:55:55 +0000 UTCthe storyline from the movie [/screenplay] is a bit more sensible than you might be able to infer from just the album and the lyrics sheet. For example, the father comes across the mother and her lover, and they kill the father (not the father kill the lover); the lover had sort of been Tommy's father figure to that point, and marries the mother. Tommy psychosomatically becomes deaf/dumb/blind. They try to cure Tommy by any means possible, such as sex (the Hawker), Drugs (Acid Queen), and Rock'n'Roll is all that Tommy can take in. In the mean time, he gets hit by sadism (cousin Kevin), pedophilia (uncle Ernie), and all sorts of other family disfunction (the other kids at Christmas sounding like turkeys). Around during Underture, Tommy breaks free, lost, but somehow finds a pinball machine, where he's found, and (Lightbulb!) they milk it for what it's worth (pinball wizard). Smashing the mirror breaks him free of sightless/soundless existence, and because of his notoriety, becomes a "new messiah" that all the kids want to follow, with mother and husband and the rest of the family continuing to milk it for all they can. With their new wealth, they build a holiday camp for all of the followers, where they purchase earplugs, eyeshades, and a cork for the mouth, and then the play pinball. But ultimately the followers riot and destroy, and all that's left is Tommy finally climbing to the top of the wreckage for the last song. Worth seeing the movie, and maybe the stage show to see how they fleshed out the story.
Great Scott
2024-05-10 08:05:01 +0000 UTCI think that Mike Carr (up above) is right about "Pinball Wizard" being something Pete had written pre-Tommy. But it served as a convenient plot device. How I see it is that something had to be the impetus for Tommy's fame. His father refers to pinball as "poxy" because he's tired of that being pretty much all that Tommy does. But (and here I'm filling in blanks) I have always envisioned that somewhere along the way, he noticed that Tommy was acing his pinball machine all the time. He calls a neighbor or two over to show them, and pretty soon they're taking him to local pubs to show off his mastery of pinball, even though he has no use of three of his senses. Before long, other pinball players start to challenge him, and nobody can beat him. This gets a certain amount of notice in the news (remember that this whole story takes place before World War II), and that is the reason why there's an "Extra" edition of the paper to announce that the famed Pinball Wizard has been cured! It must be a miracle!! Also, I've always felt that it's kind of the opposite of what Illume Eltanin believes in her comment above. I feel that when the doctor stands Tommy in front of the mirror, that is the moment when his block is broken. (Remember that the doctor speaks of "the shock from isolation when he suddenly can hear and speak and see.") What Tommy sees at the moment he first re-engages with his lost senses is himself, and he falls deeply in love with who he sees. When the mirror is broken, he is forced to be in the world again, but in Tommy's world no one can possibly be as magnificent as he is. The fact that his "miracle cure" has brought people from far and wide only serves to reinforce that belief. I'd like to believe a more benign explanation for the story, but sinister elements creep in after Tommy's cure: his indifference to injuries inflicted by his security guards on his adoring flock, slimy Uncle Ernie glomming on as some sort of right-hand man, and finally making people who want to "be just like him" plug up their mouths and ears and cover their eyes and play pinball all the time, after promises of all-night partying. At the end, when his followers rebel against the cult, Tommy once again retreats into himself. Thanks, Doug! I think I say this about almost every EPL that it's the most fun I've had in an EPL, but this really was the most fun I've had yet in an EPL. Sorry about giving you an entire thesis...
Bill Brinkmoeller
2024-05-10 08:04:52 +0000 UTCJoan is saying it best..Tommy's pinball ability was the precursor to the "force be with you"...the christmas portion is the outsiders not understanding how Tommy growing from within can be awaken...Toa-istly without perscribed organized religion...when Tommy breaks into the outside world he is originally just wanting to share in his " I am free" having learned from this inner education...the remainder of the tale is precautionary and prescence to all the cults and super religions that have always existed....how even these pure intentioned disciples, like Doug says just wanting to share...gagging blind folding etc of the new followers was not a retribution thing but an absurd and fruitless attempt of Tommy's to try and create a similar isolation for others so they may gain his "freedom"..eventually is movement gets corrupted and used by profit seekers like Uncle Ernies of the world..Thank you Doug for reviewing this...brings back countless full listening as a 6th grader 1971!!! and loving these messages !
kjdarch1 .
2024-05-10 06:13:06 +0000 UTCFor me, and after you explained a little about Meher Baba it is only confirmation, the album is very much Eastern mysticism leaning. I feel when Tommy gazes in the mirror he is not looking at himself, but is seeing a spiritual guide/teacher within himself. When he overcomes the block when the mirror is broken, he feels he is the next spiritual guru/guide in the same vein for the outer world and tries to pass on what he learned in his isolation the only way he knew how. When the mundane world rejected his teachings, the “listening to you” fade out is Tommy reconnecting with his inner guide, whether via meditation or perhaps using a mirror for a time each day, to continue his own journey of discovering and connecting to his inner divinity. Hence Meher Baba’s teachings to do so regardless of the demands of the outside world is brought into the concept. My impression, at least.
Illume Eltanin
2024-05-10 05:34:10 +0000 UTCMy take on the "rejection" at the end is that it's of the debasement - the exploitation / commercialisation - of Tommy's message. He's no longer part of it - and is seen as an inconvenience and embarrassment by the "suits".
Joe O'Farrell
2024-05-10 04:52:54 +0000 UTCHave got to "I'm Free" as I write. I'm always struck by their wonderful sense of line / melody. Sadly lacking in much of today's music…
Joe O'Farrell
2024-05-10 04:44:04 +0000 UTCYou're absolutely right to feel that Pinball Wizard doesn't belong. By all accounts the pinball theme wasn't part of the original concept, but was inserted to appeal to an influential (and pinball-obsessed) critic. It seems to have worked… ;-)
Joe O'Farrell
2024-05-10 04:38:14 +0000 UTCI went to a touring rock ballet of Tommy at the Cleveland auditorium in the fall of 1971. It was Recorded music and ballet opera livee performances...any others have info about that tour?
kjdarch1 .
2024-05-10 04:14:04 +0000 UTCThis is great! Thanks Doug!
Robert Thornton
2024-05-10 03:53:45 +0000 UTCI think it's turkeys; "gobble, gobble, gobble". You always have turkey at Christmas, right?
Lashers
2024-05-10 03:14:15 +0000 UTCThis may be the thousandth time I've heard this album, and I've noticed this for the first time: The "main themes" from the Overture that keep repeating again and again throughout the album seem to stop when Tommy regains his senses (except for the end of the final song, like a finale). After he breaks the mirror, we have new songs, new themes, new riffs, new chord changes... Sensation, Sally Simpson, I'm Free, Welcome, even the shorter songs. Maybe this is a way to show that Tommy is now experiencing reality? Just an observation.
MikeCarr
2024-05-10 03:11:52 +0000 UTC"He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy"
Steve Hall
2024-05-10 03:01:18 +0000 UTCI'm sure someone will tell me if I'm wrong, but I think "Pinball Wizard" was a song that Pete wrote before the Tommy story was concocted. They knew it would be a hit single, so it was included on the album and Pete adjusted the lyrics to fit into the story. I've always noticed that it's the BEST produced song on the album. In fact, I wish the rest of the album sounded as great as Pinball Wizard sounds, production wise. Remember that their next album was "Who's Next," which was produced WAY better than this. Also, the album released before this was "Live at Leeds" which is a MUCH heavier sound than this album. (If you can't tell, I love the Who and I love this album, but I've always been under-impressed with the production of this album).
MikeCarr
2024-05-10 03:00:17 +0000 UTCA few ideas: (1) I never thought that Uncle Ernie was molesting Tommy. I just thought he was playing with himself, figuring that since Tommy couldn't see or hear him, he could just go right ahead what he already did in private. (2) in "We're Not Gonna Take It", Tommy is trying to make his followers be what he was before - a deaf, dumb and blind person. It seems like he's expressing his anger at being DD&B for so long. He wants to force other people to really feel what it's like to be that way. After all that, it's a fantastic album, but one I don't think I'll ever really understand.
Ford H. Cotton III
2024-05-10 02:37:21 +0000 UTCChristmas is Tommy's mom lamenting that Tommy can't be saved because he can't know Jesus. That is what angers her so, that she can't get through to Tommy, and her guilt. So much to think about here.
Joan Bounacos
2024-05-10 02:29:13 +0000 UTCAlso, I think the later movie version (with Ann Margaret, Jack Nicholson, Elton John, et al) fleshes out why his skill at pinball represents his compensatory gifts as a trauma victim (but it still seems like a non-sequitur).
Allen
2024-05-10 02:28:49 +0000 UTCPhantom of the Paradise?
Joan Bounacos
2024-05-10 02:25:57 +0000 UTCPinball is so dependent on the senses of touch, sight, and hearing. So how could a deaf, dumb and blind boy become the king? He had to look inward to find and touch those vibrations most of us ignore. Pinball is a metaphor for the abilities we each have inside, and Tommy hones his
Joan Bounacos
2024-05-10 02:23:08 +0000 UTCThere's a scene where Ann-Margret is on a big round bed with a whole s*** ton of pork and beans that might be but that is disgusting but it was normal at the time
Cheri
2024-05-10 01:56:55 +0000 UTCAnd I believe the acid Queen was Tina Turner mind you I'm doing all this from memory and I have killed more brain cells and I probably have left so LOL
Cheri
2024-05-10 01:51:06 +0000 UTCI believe it's an iron maiden with a lot of hypodermic needles in it if my memory is correct it's been so damn long I don't remember but and yes keith awesome percussion the best
Cheri
2024-05-10 01:36:57 +0000 UTCNever seen the movie
R. Douglas Helvering
2024-05-10 01:26:13 +0000 UTCYou are very observant for not seeing the movie I don't know if I could have figured that out
Cheri
2024-05-10 01:26:03 +0000 UTCThey really kind of made it around the movie so if you had the original movie in front of you it would kind of make more sense as far as why all the odd music so to speak if you understand what I mean
Cheri
2024-05-10 01:22:23 +0000 UTCHaha---I think we've found a candidate for the "best of Doug" for this year: Doug imitating a chicken. Just a thought: Those "chicken" coop sounds could be the vibrations Tommy is tapping into?
Allen
2024-05-10 01:19:50 +0000 UTCYou are correct
Cheri
2024-05-10 01:15:07 +0000 UTCThat was a crazy movie too but it seemed normal then
Cheri
2024-05-10 01:09:30 +0000 UTCThe phantom of the Opera phantom of The Paradise thank you Joan. I can't remember his name now but the short guy I want to say William something but I could be wrong
Cheri
2024-05-10 01:09:22 +0000 UTCOh my gosh have you seen the movie I remember when it first came out went and seen it seem normal then but now when I see it it's like wow but originally it was like man that's normal we do that all the time.
Cheri
2024-05-10 01:08:14 +0000 UTCAt some point listen to Pete's demo for this. It's on Spotify and will blow you away. Pure brilliance! And Keith's drums here are magic!
Joan Bounacos
2024-05-10 00:54:37 +0000 UTC
