Performer: The Who
Songwriter: Pete Townshend
Original Release: Quadrophenia
Year: 1973
Definitive Version: None
Through the power of Qube, I
had discovered The Who in the fall of 1979 by its showing of The Kids Are
Alright, which is a movie that if you’re not a Who fan after watching it, you
never will be. But as anyone who’s seen the movie knows, there is a major
omission in the movie and resulting soundtrack: Quadrophenia. It’s never
mentioned, nor is any of the music or live performances of it included.
So I wasn’t even aware of
the existence of what would become my favorite album until Qube began to show
previews for the movie Quadrophenia the next year.
Maybe you’ve seen it, but it
starts off with the unnamed protagonist riding his scooter along the cliffs of
Dover to the angelic synth of Love Reign O’er Me. (Actually, it’s I’ve Had
Enough, but it’s essentially the same tune.) I was hooked just from that.
The movie itself was
interesting. Again, of course, it told the story of Mods and Rockers in England
in 1964, but to this American teenager, it told the story of a teenager trying
to find meaning and acceptance in his life. I could definitely relate to that,
and so could Jin, as I’ve mentioned.
We went out and bought
corresponding albums—Jin bought the movie soundtrack, I bought the original
album—soon after we saw it the first half-dozen times. (Back then Qube would
show a single movie on one of the channels all day. You paid once for 24-hour
access.)
What I found odd about the
difference between the two records is that this song, which is definitely
featured in the movie, isn’t on the soundtrack album. Instead, the soundtrack
album has a bunch of songs that were cut from the original album. I suppose
there’s a reason to have both, although I never bought the movie soundtrack.
But the most interesting
thing about the movie from an immediately visceral perspective were the scenes
shot in and on the beach at Brighton, particularly one towards the end where
Jimmy is contemplating his next move nearby a massive pier.
The pier has a bunch of huge
circus-style tents and boardwalk-type buildings atop it. Inside those tents are
games of chance not unlike what you might see at a Catholic church festival,
where a stack of coins is perched perilously—and oh so enticingly—next to a
large chute that delivers the spillover to you. They have a large swing or
brush that push the coins to the very precipice. All you needed was just one …
more … coin … to make the brush sweep a huge pile of coins over the edge into
your hot little hands.
I know that because I was
inside those tents and buildings on that pier less than a year before I first
saw Quadrophenia. My uncle was a salesman for U.S. Steel and had moved with his
family to London sometime towards the end of the Seventies. In August 1980,
just before I was about to start my junior year in high school, Jin and I went
to visit for a couple of weeks. (Scott, who was eight, was deemed to be too
young to make the transatlantic trip.)
I didn’t know Quadrophenia
when Jin and I went; otherwise it would have been a much more interesting trip—particularly
when we went to Brighton on August Bank Holiday. But Quadrophenia became
something of a soundtrack after the fact of what was my first trip to a
different country (and only one until 1990) as well as the soundtrack of my
isolated, angsty high-school days.
Needless to say, but I’ll
say it anyway, I’ll have a lot more to say about our trip to Merry Ol’ England
down the road.
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