Who's Left?

Warning: Pointless rant ahead about something that couldn't be of less importance in the grand scheme of things. Not that that ever stopped me before.

It was a surprise to learn that, with half the band dead, The Who are set to tour, as well as release a new album.

The Who camp is flush with activity as the band prepares to kick off its summer European tour Saturday (June 17) at Leeds University, the site of its iconic 1970 concert album 'Live at Leeds.'
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The artist is also promising more rarities (including his ukulele song 'Blue, Red and Gray') to be rolled out one by one by the time the Who hits North America later this year. Venues are still being nailed down, but that portion of the outing will run from Sept. 7-Oct. 10 and Nov. 5-Dec. 5.

Townshend said he is particularly excited to feature the band`s new mini-opera, 'Wire & Glass,' in the shows. The six-song suite ('Sound Round,' 'Pick up the Peace,' 'Endless Wire,' 'We Got a Hit,' 'They Made My Dreams Come True' and 'Mirror Door') will be released July 10 internationally as a teaser to the Who`s as-yet-untitled new studio album, which he says will be delivered in completed form June 28 to Polydor, the band`s international record label.

Rant begins in earnest "below the fold."

While it arguable whether or not The Who should have continued following the death of Keith Moon (though the two non-Moon records were pretty bad), surely the death of John Entwistle a few years ago should have put the kibosh on any future Who projects. (And even on their last two or three "farewell tours" they seemed like kind of a grotesque parody of themselves.)

Whether or not bands should continue following the loss of key members is debatable, and if a member leaves of his/her own volition, there is no compelling reason why that band should not continue (let's leave Pink Floyd out of this). But the deaths of key band members is another thing entirely, and I think Led Zeppelin had the right idea by calling it quits after John Bonham died. It's one thing, I suppose, if a band starts off as a rotating collective with an unstable line-up from year-to-year (like Yes), but when a band's members are so identifiable as personalities within the context of the band, when one or more of those guys goes, surely that should be the end of the band, if only out of respect. (The Beatles "reunion" in 1995/1996 is a weird gray area, but at least it didn't get much further than two singles--which at least were based on John Lennon's original demos.)

I have no objection to Townshend touring on his own (I saw him on a solo tour in 1993 and he was very good), or even touring with Roger Daltrey. But please don't call it The Who. But then, Townshend was the guy who sold his songs to be used in Hummer commercials, so I guess we know what his priorities are.