THE WHO IN AMERICA

THE WHO IN AMERICA TALKING 'BOUT THEIR GENERATION

TOBY GOLDSTEIN

The Who were never about being "nice boys." That wasn't their purpose, and they succeeded admirably. The Who are not the only original British Invasion group to have survived up to almost the present day; if their latest breakup is indeed the Final Fini, they are outlived by the Rolling Stones, Kinks, even reunited Animals and Hollies. However, the Who were unique in being unrelentingly angry, mad, pissed off and f-f-f-frustrated from humble beginnings to stratospheric conclusion. When the Sex Pistols burst forth from a dingy cellar in 1976 screaming "No Future!" they were grafting a modern translation of futility onto a message four other working class men had blurted out 1 2 years earlier: "Why don't you all f-f-fade away...." Indeed.