The band again changed their name and this time went for a different take
on The Kinks You Really Got Me.....This was I
Can't Explain.
Although this turned out to be a minor hit,
it never quite hit the mark. Townshend saw that a change was needed and
turned to the sound that saw him through his art college days. The same
R'n'B that fuelled some of the classic Northern Soul. Hits like Martha
and the Vandellas' Heatwave
James Browns' Please Please Please and
Daddy Rolling Stone.
Through honing this sound coupled with Townshends'
unique powerchord technique / general irreverence for his guitar; Moons'
avalanche drumming; Daltreys' imperfect but effective vocals and Entwhistles'
thunderous bass, the group managed to come up with a sound that no one
had heard before. The 'pop art' look was a double take on the mod style
which kept the mods quiet while appealing to a wider audience. Then there
was the equipment wrecking. A total cliché' these days but at the
time must have been thought of as anarchy.
Things really took off with the release of
My Generationand Anyway Anyhow
Anywhere. The later being so popular that
the ' hip ' pop show of the day, Ready
Steady Go! used it as their signature tune.
Later that year came the release of Their 1st album.
This was a problematic recording often ending
with fist fights due in no small way to the extreme personalities within
the band. Such was the tension that they almost split completely before
the end of the albums' completion!
