The Who Sell Out (2CD)

 
The Who Sell Out (2CD) cover
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The Who
The Who Sell Out (2CD)

[ Polydor Records CD / 2 CD ]

Release Date: Friday 23 April 2021

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Initially released in December 1967 and described latterly by Rolling Stone as "The Who's finest album," The Who Sell Out reflected a remarkable year in popular culture. As well as being forever immortalized as the moment when the counterculture and the "Love Generation" became a global phenomenon and "pop" began metamorphosing into "rock."

The Who Sell Out was originally planned by Pete Townshend and the band's managers Kit Lambert & Chris Stamp, as a loose concept album including jingles and commercials linking the songs stylised as a pirate radio broadcast. This concept was born out of necessity as their label and management wanted a new album and Townshend felt that he didn't have enough songs.

The ground-breaking original plan for Sell Out was to sell advertising space on the album but instead the band opted for writing their own jingles paying tribute to pirate radio stations and to parody an increasingly consumerist society.

The homage to pop-art is evident in both the advertising jingles and the iconic sleeve design created by David King who was the art director at the Sunday Times, and Roger Law who invented the Spitting Image TV show. The sleeve features four advertising images, taken by the renowned photographer David Montgomery, of each band member Odorono deodorant (Pete Townshend), Medac spot cream (Keith Moon), Charles Atlas (John Entwistle) and Roger Daltrey & Heinz baked beans. The story goes that Roger Daltrey caught pneumonia from sitting in the cold beans for too long.

The Who Sell Out is a bold depiction of the period in which it was made, the tail-end of the "swinging-60s" meets pop-art mixed with psychedelia and straight-ahead pop. It's a glorious blend of classic powerful Who instrumentation, melodic harmonies, satirical lyrical imagery crystallized for what was only the group's third album. The album's ambition and scope is unrivalled by the Who, or any other act from that period.

Within the bold concept, were a batch of fabulous and diverse songs. "I Can See for Miles," a top ten hit at the time, is a Who classic. "Rael," a Townshend "mini-opera" with musical motifs that reappeared in Tommy and the psychedelic blast of "Armenia City In The Sky" and "Relax" are among the very best material anyone wrote during the 1960s.

One of the most extraordinary albums of any era, The Who Sell Out is The Who's last "pop" album. Two years later came Tommy - a double concept album about a deaf, dumb and blind kid.

Tracks:

Disc 1:
Armenia City in The Sky
Heinz Baked Beans
Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand
Odorono
Tattoo
Our Love Was
I Can See for Miles
I Can't Reach You
Medac
Relax
Silas Stingy
Sunrise
Rael (Pt.1 & Pt.2 / Track Records Run Out Groove)
Pictures of Lily (original UK Track single mix)
Doctor, Doctor (original UK Track single mix)
The Last Time (original UK Track single mix)
Under My Thumb (original UK Track single mix)
I Can See for Miles (original UK Track single mix)
Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand (original US Decca single mix)
Someone's Coming (original US Decca single mix)
Unused Radio London ad / Early Morning Cold Taxi (1967 mono mix)
Unused Radio London bulletin link /Jaguar (1967 mono mix)
Unused Radio London ad /Tattoo (early alternate mono mix)
Rael (Talentmasters Studio, New York early rough mix)
Sunn Equipment Promo Spots
Great Shakes ad

Disc 2:
Armenia City in The Sky (Incl. Two Radio London Jingles)
Heinz Baked Beans (Incl. "More Music" Jingle)
Mary Anne With the Shaky Hand (Acoustic / Incl. "Premier Drums Commercial" / Radio London Jingle)
Odorono (Incl. Radio London "Smooth Sailing" Jingle)
Tattoo (Incl. "Church Of Your Choice" Jingle)
Our Love Was (Incl. "Pussycat, Speakeasy & Rotosound" Jingles)
I Can See for Miles
I Can't Reach You (Incl. "Charles Atlas" Commercial)
Medac
Relax
Silas Stingy
Sunrise
Rael (Pt.1 & Pt.2)
Rael Naïve (Full Coda)
Mary Anne With The Shaky Hand (Mirasound Version)
Someone's Coming
Summertime Blues
Glittering Girl
Early Morning Cold Taxi
Girl's Eyes
Coke After Coke
Sodding About
Things Go Better With Coke
In The Hall Of The Mountain King
Jaguar
Rael (Pt.1 & Pt. 2 / IBC Remake)