The Definitive Edition Ultimate Music Guide to The Who

Who’s better? Who’s best!

Song is over? It sounds impossible, doesn’t it?

This fine magazine is out in UK shops tomorrow. But as this 172-page Definitive Edition Ultimate Music Guide to The Who reaches the USA, it will be doing so as The Who embark on their farewell North American tour, which begins in Florida on August 16th, winding up in Las Vegas on September 26th. 

“Well, all good things must come to an end,” Pete Townshend said at the announcement in early May. “It is a poignant time. For me, playing to American audiences and those in Canada has always been incredible…”

Well might he think that. Never mind the musical triumphs at generational events like Monterey (1967) or Woodstock (1969), or playing Tommy live for the first time at classical music venues. The USA was also a scene of great legend-making notoriety. That might mean detonating a chunk of a TV studio on the Smothers Brothers show or being banned from the Holiday Inn chain of hotels following Keith Moon’s birthday party. It was their playground, and – to be momentarily vulgar – also a place where they made a lot of money.

The Who’s incredible story – via in-depth reviews of their stunning catalogue, to alarming recollections of Keith Moon’s high spirits, not to mention insightful interviews with Pete Townshend – are to be found in this new magazine. If you ever feel at sea in all those pages, our eight-page Miscellany timeline will quickly put you back on course.

But what of The Who, 2025? A new box set is said to be in the works, with UK dates possibly to follow – although Roger Daltrey was certainly hedging his bets when he faced questions about such a tour in May. “Let’s see if we survive this one…” he said.

In the meantime, enjoy the magazine.