Endless Wire (The Who album)

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Endless Wire
Endless Wire cover
Studio album by The Who
Released October 30, 2006 (UK)
October 31, 2006 (U.S.)
Recorded Pete Townshend's home studio and Eel Pie Oceanic Studios, autumn 2002 – summer 2006
Genre Rock
Length 58:45
Label Universal Republic US
Polydor Records world
Producer(s) Pete Townshend
Bob Pridden and Billy Nicholls (Roger Daltrey's vocals only)
Professional reviews
The Who chronology
Thirty Years of Maximum R&B
(1994)		 Endless Wire
(2006)


Endless Wire is a studio album by The Who, and their first new studio album of original material in twenty-four years following the release of It's Hard in 1982. The album was originally to be released in Spring 2005 under the working title WHO2. The release date was pushed back to October 30, 2006, due to drummer Zak Starkey's commitments to work with Oasis on their album Don't Believe the Truth and subsequent tour.

Endless Wire debuted at #7 on the Billboard album chart and #9 in the UK. Portions of it have been featured on The Who Tour 2006-2007.

Mike Post Theme, It's Not Enough, Mirror Door, A Man In A Purple Dress and We've Got A Hit have gotten selective radio play.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Pete Townshend, except where noted.

  1. "Fragments" (Townshend, Lawrence Ball) - 3:58
  2. "A Man in a Purple Dress" - 4:14
  3. "Mike Post Theme" - 4:28
  4. "In The Ether" - 3:35
  5. "Black Widow's Eyes" - 3:07
  6. "Two Thousand Years" - 2:50
  7. "God Speaks of Marty Robbins" - 3:26
  8. "It's Not Enough" (Townshend, Rachel Fuller) - 4:02
  9. "You Stand By Me" - 1:36
  10. "Sound Round" - 1:21
  11. "Pick Up the Peace" - 1:28
  12. "Unholy Trinity" - 2:07
  13. "Trilby's Piano" - 2:04
  14. "Endless Wire" - 1:51
  15. "Fragments of Fragments" (Townshend, Ball) - 2:23
  16. "We Got a Hit" - 1:18
  17. "They Made My Dream Come True" - 1:13
  18. "Mirror Door" - 4:14
  19. "Tea & Theatre" - 3:24
    • Extra tracks not on the standard edition of the album
  20. "We Got a Hit" (extended version) - 3:03
  21. "Endless Wire" (extended version) - 3:03

[edit] Bonus DVD: Live at Lyon

Recorded at the Vienne Amphitheatre, Vienne, France on 17th July, 2006.

  1. "I Can't Explain" - 3:04
  2. "Behind Blue Eyes" - 4:39
  3. "Mike Post Theme" - 3:41
  4. "Baba O'Riley" - 5:59
  5. "Won't Get Fooled Again" - 10:03

[edit] Bonus CD: Live at Lyon

Recorded at the Vienne Amphitheatre, Vienne, France on 17th July, 2006. Included as an extra in Europe, Asia, and at Best Buy stores in the United States.

  1. "The Seeker" - 2:36
  2. "Who Are You" - 6:58
  3. "Mike Post Theme" - 3:55
  4. "Relay" - 7:40
  5. "Greyhound Girl" - 3:04
  6. "Naked Eye" - 8:26
  7. "Won't Get Fooled Again/Old Red Wine" - 10:40

[edit] Personnel

  • Peter Huntington - Drums

The only remaining original members of the band are Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey. Keith Moon died in 1978, and John Entwistle died in 2002. Kenney Jones, the Who's second drummer, hasn't played with the group since 1988. Entwistle's place is currently being filled by Pino Palladino. Zak Starkey, Peter Huntington, and Pete Townshend play drums on the album. Starkey, the longest-term fill-in for Keith Moon, has played with The Who since 1996. Additionally Simon Townshend (Pete Townshend's brother) and Billy Nicholls are providing some backing vocals for the album, with John "Rabbit" Bundrick playing some of the keyboards.

Palladino has worked on some of Pete Townshend's solo projects. When Entwistle died unexpectedly on the eve of the Who's 2002 tour of the United States, Palladino was called in, and the new group were performing within days. Palladino has remained with the Who, and played on the 2004 track "Old Red Wine".

[edit] History of the album

Most of what is known about the development of the album has come from Pete Townshend's website. On March 21, 2005, Pete Townshend officially announced the postponement of the new Who album [1]. On December 24, 2005, Townshend announced that manager Bill Curbishley had introduced a "great scheme" to allow the band to tour in Summer 2006 in support of new material, even if Townshend did not have "a full thirty tracks ready to go." [2] On March 20th, 2006, Daltrey announced that he and Townshend were making progress with the album and that Townshend had written a song about Stockholm Syndrome, entitled "Black Widow's Eyes". Daltrey also said that Townshend is playing some bass on the album [3].

On March 28th, 2006, Townshend announced through the diary portion of his website that a mini-opera, entitled "The Glass Household" now forms the core the album. It is based on his novella "The Boy Who Heard Music". He also announced plans to have a shortened version of the opera released this summer, prior to the release of the full album. [4] This diary entry also confirmed the current lineup of the band: Pino Palladino on bass, Pete Townshend on guitars, his brother Simon Townshend is helping on backing vocals, and John "Rabbit" Bundrick is tackling keyboards. Peter Huntington, from Rachel Fuller's band, is on drums because Zak Starkey was still on tour with Oasis.

On April 9th, 2006, Townshend announced that the shortened version of "The Glass Household" has been played to executives at Polydor, and a release date has been set for June, with a tour of Europe following, and the album in September [5]. On May 3rd, 2006, Pete Townshend posted on his diary page that the mastering for the new EP, titled Wire & Glass, is complete and that the tracks will soon be sent to Polydor. Townshend anticipated a mid-June release for the EP, and a mid-September release for the full album. He has also announced that in 2 weeks The Who would begin rehearsing for their tour, during which time Townshend would finish recording the rest of the album with Roger Daltrey [6].

On May 13, 2006, Pete Townshend reported that his daughter is helping find a video director, but there may be some problems with releasing the mini-opera in North America at the same time as the rest of the world. However, he said he was certain "the Who have a new record in the can - almost finished, and it will be a good one," [7]. On June 10, 2006, Pete Townshend revealed that songs rehearsed for the upcoming tour would include "Cry If You Want" (last heard in 1982 and apparently requested by Roger Daltrey), "I Don't Even Know Myself", "Relay", "Getting In Tune", "The Seeker", "Another Tricky Day", "Naked Eye", "Bargain", "Pure And Easy", "I'm A Boy", "Tattoo", and "Let's See Action", while the North American shows will also get Roger Daltrey's second self-penned song, "Here For More", and the Who By Numbers track "Blue, Red And Grey", to be performed by Townshend on ukulele. He also mentioned the truncated rock opera, Wire & Glass, will be rehearsed and includes the following titles: "Sound Round", "Pick Up The Peace", "Endless Wire", "We Got A Hit", "They Made My Dreams Come True", and "Mirror Door" (the latter which has been getting radio play in the UK).

A version of "It's Not Enough" was released online at artistdirect.com. "It's Not Enough" has tenatively been announced as the first single off the album, to be released simultaneously.

On October 3, "It's Not Enough" was made available on iTunes. "Tea & Theatre" was also made available. Then on October 14, Polydor built a website for the album. It was announced from Pete Townshend's website.

On the website endlesswire.co.uk the songs "We Got A Hit" "Endless Wire" "It's Not Enough" "Black Widow's Eyes" "Mike Post Theme" and "Man In A Purple Dress" are available to listen to, but not to download.

As of October 23, the entire album is available to stream on music.aol.com.

[edit] Song Breakdown

On September 6th, 2006, the tracklist for the album was released on Pete Townshend's personal website [8]. On September 27th, 2006, a press release was issued which featured track-by-track commentary by Pete [9]. All songs written by Pete Townshend except as noted.

  • "Fragments"(Townshend/Ball)

This song is based on one of the very first experiments by Lawrence Ball, a composer I commissioned to create a system, and software, that would recreate the ‘Method’ music (music accurately reflecting an individual via a website) described in my three interlocked rock-opera projects: Lifehouse (The Who 1972); Psychoderelict (Pete Townshend solo 1993); The Boy Who Heard Music (Weblog Novella 2005-2006). In The Boy Who Heard Music a group of three young people form a band – The Glass Household – and their first big hit is this song.

This song was performed live throughout the 2006 US tour.

  • "A Man In A Purple Dress"

After watching Mel Gibson’s harrowing 2004 film The Passion of the Christ I immediately wrote three songs. This was one of them. It is not so much a rail against the principles of justice through the ages, but a challenge to the vanity of the men who need to put on some kind of ridiculous outfit in order to pass sentence on one of their peers. It is the idea that men need dress up in order to represent God that appalls me. If I wanted to be as insane as to attempt to represent God I’d just go ahead and do it, I wouldn’t dress up like a drag-queen.

Another song performed throughout the 2006 US tour, Pete and Roger also appeared on the David Letterman Show on September 14th, 2006, to perform the song, though it was reduced by two verses.

  • "Mike Post Theme"

Who songs have been used recently for TV shows. I thought a lot about why there are people who feel that isn’t a cool thing to do. Mike Post is a man who has written a number of TV themes that I feel have created a kind of regular sparkle in my life – they have reminded me that life comes one day at a time, and that it is truly the little things in life (like Soap Operas on TV) that help ease the big troubles. The larger theme in the background of this song is the statement that we are no longer strong enough or young enough to love. In a very real way, movies, novels and TV series do help us to express selfless emotions as we once did when we were in love. Men cry quietly watching TV and movies, women maybe a little more openly, but when we do that we are reconnecting with our innocent and free-flowing feelings. If only we could still do that with the principle lover in our lives.

In addition to the mini-opera, 'Mike Post Theme' was debuted live at their Leeds University gig on June 17th, 2006. When announcing the song, Roger said that it hadn't been recorded yet, leading fans to believe that it wouldn't appear on the album despite strong favorability among those who had heard it. It appears that a version was recorded during a brief break in the tour.

  • "In The Ether"

In my Novella The Boy Who Heard Music the narrator is Ray High , a rock star whose drug-abuse has led him to a sanatorium. While there he learns to meditate and begins to sense that someone is interfering with his quietude up in the place where he allows his mind to go. It seems almost as though they are using a Ham Radio, and old fashioned long-wave radio that was the specialist precursor to the modern internet Chat-Room. He may sense another presence, but this song reinforces how lonely it is to be ‘spiritual’. If the intention of the spiritual aspirant is to ‘become one with the infinite’, and yet life is almost the universally finite antidote to the infinite, isn’t he likely to get very lonely?

Debuted live by Pete at a solo gig for the Poetry Olympics at the Royal Albert Hall on September 25th, 2005. The song was later released as a download on Pete's website, but fans were put off by Pete's strange vocals, reminiscent of Tom Waits, and Roger reportedly passed over singing the song for the album.

  • "Black Widow's Eyes"

A love song. We sometimes fall in love when we do not want to, and when we do not expect to. Suddenly. Foolishly. This song is about the man holding a child in the Beslan massacre who described the female terrorist who blew herself up, killing the child he held, as ‘having the most penetrating and beautiful eyes’.

Roger talked about this song in an interview in the spring of 2006, saying it was written about Stockholm syndrome and quoting it as one of his favorite tracks on the album. The song was performed infrequently on the 2006 US tour.

  • "Two Thousand Years"

This is one of the three songs I wrote after watching The Passion of the Christ. This one is about the fact that Judas may not have been acting to betray Christ at all, but precisely following his instructions. He waits two thousand years for us to consider this a possibility. We wait two thousand years for the New Christ. We need a lot of patience.

Pete debuted this song on the "In The Attic" program in 2005.

  • "God Speaks of Marty Robbins"

Very simple song. God is asleep, before Creation – before the Big Bang – and gets the whim to wake, and decides it could be worth going through it all in order to be able to hear some music, and most of all, one of his best creations, Marty Robbins.

Pete had recorded an instrumental demo simply titled 'Marty Robbins' in June 1984, which was released on his 2001 Scoop 3 album. He later debuted the song at an Internet-only streaming concert titled the Basement Jam on December 4th, 2005.

  • "It's Not Enough" (Townshend/Fuller)

Watching Mepris, the ‘60s film by Jean Luc Godard starring Brigitte Bardot, I found myself wondering why it is that we choose people to partner who we feel aren’t quite right. Bardot asks her lover, ‘Do you adore my legs?’ He nods. ‘My breasts?’ He nods. ‘My arms?’ He nods. She goes over her entire body. He nods every time. When she’s finished she gets up and tells him, ‘It’s not enough’.

'It's Not Enough' started off as a Rachel Fuller track, but Pete liked the music and asked her if he could use it for the new album. The song was released as an Internet download single in October 2006, where it reached #37 in the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks.

  • "You Stand By Me"

I wrote this a few minutes before appearing on my partner Rachel Fuller’s In The Attic Live webcast show from my studio in London. I had nothing new to play, and decide to write a song. This just came out. It is for her, and for Roger, for believing in me, and standing by me when I have been completely out of order. It could be for many of my family, friends and fans who have done the same. I have often been a very tricky man to live with.

  • "Sound Round*"

The first song from Wire & Glass, a ‘Mini-Opera’, ten songs that comprise the principle music composed so far for the novella The Boy Who Heard Music. A young man (the young Ray High) is driving a large camper bus with extreme air-con around an Estuary close to a large Power Station. He can see that the sea is swarming with a plague of jellyfish encouraged by the over-heated sea water (this is based on something that happened around 1971 in the Blackwater Estuary in Essex). He stops and looks at the water, throws a stick for his dog, who he has to rescue. In the sky he sees the future – nothing ecological or apocalyptic, more a vision of a society strangled by wire and communications.

Reportedly, this track, the following track ('Pick Up The Peace'), and an unreleased track titled 'Ambition' (see below) were written in 1971. The character of Ray High also appeared as the protagonist of Townshend's solo album Psychoderelict.

  • "Pick Up The Peace*"

Ray High, now an old ‘60s rocker, is meditating in what looks like a cell in a secure hospital. He sees three teenagers from his neighbourhood getting together as kids do, playing, flirting, talking, and forming a band. Then he has an intuition that they are going to become stars. They are Gabriel, Josh and Leila. (They call their band The Glass Household). In striking contrast he sees scenes from his own childhood in the same neighbourhood, bombed buildings and old soldiers.

  • "Unholy Trinity"

The three kids are from very different families. Gabriel is from a show biz family of lapsed Christians. Josh is from a fairly devout Jewish family (they observe Sabbath) who have suffered a tragedy, the loss of their father in an incident in Israel. Leila, from a Muslim family who have also suffered a loss: that of her beautiful and charismatic mother who died when she was very young. They each share fantasies, and afflictions, gifts and ideas, and become deeply committed friends. Like urchin-angels they share their secrets: Gabriel hears music; Josh voices; Leila can fly.

To date, this was only performed on three occasions throughout the US 2006 tour (Philadelphia, Wantagh, and Calgary).

  • "Trilby's Piano"

Josh’s widowed mother vests all her hopes in her brother Hymie becoming a great man. He falls in love with Trilby, Gabriel’s goofy blonde Aunt. Trilby is the one who has nurtured Gabriel’s great musical talent, unnoticed by his precoccupied mother. The kids decide to put on a musical play at Leila’s father’s studio featuring this song, and it finally breaks Josh’s mother’s resistance to the love match. The song is sung by Gabriel. The play is a naiive children’s effort, but with a grand proscenium stage (like a large Victorian puppet theatre) a stairway and a cherub and angel filled backdrop.

  • "Endless Wire*"

At some point in their rehearsals for the play, the three teenagers unearth documents that turn out to have belonged to Ray High, Leila’s father’s old studio partner. The documents refer to a crazy scheme to use the global wire network Ray saw as a young man to spread unifying music to everyone. (This matches my own vision for the Lifehouse Method, a computer-driven website through which people can commission their unique musical portrait.) They pore over the plans and realize that his scheme might be something they can make happen.

Pete performed this song solo at Joe's Pub on September 14th, 2006. The Who had also performed it live in full in Berlin on July 12th, 2006, separate from the mini-opera, which wasn't performed that night. On both occasions, when not performed with the mini-opera, the full version with a reprise of the first verse and an additional chorus was played; Pete has said this variation is one of two bonus tracks that will feature on special editions of the album.

  • "Fragments Of Fragments" (Townshend/Ball)

A stripped version of FRAGMENTS to show off the Method music.

  • "We Got A Hit*"

In a series of intense discussions the three metamorphose from kids to adults and expert media and internet manipulators and we see them performing a hit on TV, radio and stage. The hit referred to in the lyric is FRAGMENTS.

Another song that was "extended" for a special edition of the album, with an additional verse not heard on the mini-opera version.

  • "They Made My Dream Come True*"

Still in his cell, Ray High can observe the kids’ rise to fame while meditating. He foresees a tragedy, someone at the band’s biggest ever, and last, concert will die. He rues the fact that the rock industry seems unable to change. What is never clear is whether the concert he foresees ever takes place in reality, or actually remains a dream forever.

  • "Mirror Door*"

The three pursue their own dream: to perform an extraordinary elaboration of their children’s play in Central Park in New York that is webcast to the entire world for charity, and during which they demonstrate Ray’s idea to ‘turn everyone into music’. Where there was once a small puppet theatre stage, there is now a massive one; where there was once a small stairway to the back of the stage, there is now a stairway hoisted by blimps that seems to reach into the heavens. The band play, it becomes clear that there are terrorists on the streets trying to distract from the celebration, but the show goes on. At the top of the stairway appear gathered a series of legendary singers from popular music, all dead. A shot rings out and the tragedy is established. Josh, a paranoid schizophrenic, has stopped taking his medication and grabbed a pistol from someone and shot Gabriel. We cannot help our own. He ascends the stairway to join the dead. Even now, it is not clear whether this particular series of events actually takes place. It will be noted that one of the listed names of deceased singing geniuses (Doris Day) is still alive. In show-biz heaven, behind the ‘Mirror Door’ no one ever really dies (it is rather like an after-show pub gathering). FRAGMENTS, the kid’s biggest hit, becomes a moment to look back and celebrate life, death, breath, creation, science, physics, maths, literature and growth.

This song was released to the radio stations ahead of the mini-opera in June 2006, but was remixed for the Wire & Glass release later in July.

  • "Tea & Theatre"

Years later Josh and Leila – now old - take tea together. Coincidentally Josh’s protective sanatorium cell is next to Ray’s and they have just – together – revived once again the children’s play, this time with the inmates of the sanatorium. They reflect on their career and lives together. The inference here is that perhaps, just maybe, Ray (the narrator) has confused the play he just saw in the Sanatorium with the one they all hoped to see happen one day in New York, in the sky, and up into the universe.

Fans have interpreted this song as being about the death of John Entwistle and Pete's and Roger's decision to carry on as The Who, though Pete refuted this in interviews, saying that it was the concluding track of The Glass Household, but that he was pleased that people interpreted it differently. 'Tea & Theatre' was the final performance of The Who's concerts throughout the US 2006 tour, with just Pete (on acoustic guitar) and Roger at the front of the stage; the studio version utilizes a drum machine and bass guitar.

An asterisk (*) denotes songs included on the Wire & Glass EP.

There are two special edition versions: One contains a Bonus DVD with 5 live songs: Mike Post Theme, Baba O'Riley, Who Are You, Behind Blue Eyes, and Won't Get Fooled Again. The second version contains a Live CD from Lyon 2006: The Seeker, Who Are You, Mike Post Theme, Relay, Greyhound Girl, Naked Eye, and Won't Get Fooled Again

[edit] Additional songs

In addition to the nineteen tracks listed above, three songs were either considered for inclusion on the album or reportedly recorded for the album but were left off:

  • "Ambition"

Reportedly written in 1971 for the Lifehouse concept, Pete debuted this song on In The Attic in 2006.

  • "Uncertain Girl"

Another song that was debuted by Pete on In The Attic in 2006.

  • "How Can I Help You, Sir?"

On December 18th, 2005, Pete Townshend posted a diary entry that chronicled the recording of this track:

Here is a film I made of a working day developing a demo of a song for the next Who album called 'How Can I help You, Sir?' I have played this in raw form on Rachel Fuller's IN THE ATTIC and last night on her Pay For View Christmas Special. That is the way it sounds played acoustic. What you can hear here is the way it is beginning to evolve as a rock track. Adding Roger's voice will increase the edge. In a very real sense every song I write when I sit at home with an acoustic guitar has two distinct lives. The acoustic version may seem to be softer and more intimate. But in this case - in a song about a sick person's refusal to allow anyone to help them, a lonely person refusing to allow anyone to get close - the acoustic version has more bite. The rock version seems altogether more jolly, almost a throwaway. It will be interesting to see how it sounds when Roger and I get it into the studio together.

Sadly, the song was not included on the album, but fans were approving of the track anyway. The video can be found here [10]

  • "Certified Rose"

A Roger Daltrey-penned song, rehearsed with John Entwistle on bass, was rumoured to be recorded for the album. It was also supposed to include a bass line from Entwistle that had been recorded at a soundcheck or a rehearsal, though this has not yet surfaced.

Poems were posted on Pete's site throughout the spring of 2006 leading up to his 61st birthday, which fans thought could turn into song lyrics; indeed, Pete had posted an entry which gave lyrics to a song titled 'You're Useless, But You're Mine' (about Townshend's dog) which were later removed. Fans thought Pete removed the lyrics because it was going to be recorded as a Who song but it's likely the song wasn't recorded; no explanation for the removal was ever given.

[edit] Miscellanea

  • On the song "Mirror Door," Townshend's lyric consists of mentions of a number of music icons, all of whom, with the exception of Doris Day, are dead. It was only after recording the song and mass producing it on the maxi-single that Townshend discovered that the American vocalist was in fact still alive.
  • The Bonus DVD's on-screen ending slate incorrectly states that the concert was filmed in Lyon, Switzerland. In fact, it was filmed at the "Les Côtes du rock" Festival in Vienne, Isère (approx 30 km south of Lyon, France).

[edit] External links

The Who
Roger Daltrey | Pete Townshend | John Entwistle | Keith Moon
Kenney Jones - John "Rabbit" Bundrick - Pino Palladino - Zak Starkey
Simon Townshend - Jon Carin - Simon Phillips - Doug Sandom - Colin Dawson
Discography
My Generation - A Quick One - The Who Sell Out - Tommy - Who's Next - Quadrophenia
The Who by Numbers - Who Are You - Face Dances - It's Hard - Endless Wire
Live Albums and Compilations
Magic Bus: The Who on Tour - Live at Leeds - Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy - Odds and Sods
The Kids Are Alright - Hooligans - Join Together - Who's Greatest Hits - Thirty Years of Maximum R&B
My Generation: The Very Best of the Who - Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 - The BBC Sessions
The Ultimate Collection - Live at the Royal Albert Hall - The Who: Then and Now
Singles
Zoot Suit - I Can't Explain - Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere - My Generation - Substitute - A Legal Matter
The Kids Are Alright - La La La Lies - I'm a Boy - Happy Jack - Pictures of Lily - The Last Time
I Can See for Miles - Dogs - Magic Bus - Pinball Wizard - Go to the Mirror - The Seeker
Summertime Blues (Live)- See Me, Feel Me - Won't Get Fooled Again - Let's See Action - Join Together - Relay
5:15 - Squeeze Box - Who Are You - You Better You Bet - Don't Let Go the Coat - Athena - Twist and Shout (Live)
Real Good Looking Boy - Wire & Glass - It's Not Enough -Tea & Theatre
Listings
Personnel - Filmography - The Who in popular culture
Other related people
Peter Meaden - Kit Lambert - Chris Stamp
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