The Who’s “My Generation” was released on this day in 1965
The song it’s considered one of the 500 that Shaped Rock and Roll
The Who’s “My Generation” was released on this day in 1965
“My Generation” by The Who is one of the greatest rock songs ever made, it’s part of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame for “historical, artistic and significant” value. The song was released on October 29th, 1965 and it reached No.2 in the U.K, The Who’s highest charting single in their home country, however in the U.S only reached No.74 upon it’s original release. “My Generation” was written by Pete Townshend who reportedly wrote the song on a train and is said to have been inspired by the Queen Mother who is alleged to have had Townshend’s 1935 Packard hearse towed off a street in Belgravia because she was offended by the sight of it during her daily drive through the neighborhood, the song worked as one of the catalysts for Punk Rock in the 1970’s, with the distinctive angry and frustrated stutter vocals of Roger Daltrey, reportedly inspired by John Lee Hooker’s “Stuttering Blues” and because he wanted to sound like a British mod on speed, “My Generation” delivered one of the most famous lines in Rock music history: “I hope I die before I get old”, Townshend stated that when he wrote the lyrics, “old” meant “very rich.” The song is often regarded as The Who’s signature song, despite the many hits they produced during their career. During the 1960’s, when playing “My Generation” live, The Who often smashed their instruments, there are available footage of those performances such as the one at Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and The Smother Brothers Show also in 1967 where Roger Daltrey got partially deaf from one ear after Keith Moon exploded the drums at the end of the song.
Watch The Who performing “My Generation” live at the Monterey Pop Festival, 1967
Watch more 1960’s related videos
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