Endless Wire (The Who album)

Untitled

Endless Wire is the title of a new studio album by The Who, and their first since It's Hard in 1982. The album was originally to be released in Spring 2005 under the working title WHO2. The release date has been pushed back to October 2006, due to drummer Zak Starkey's commitments to work with Oasis on their album Don't Believe the Truth and on their 2005 tour. The expected release date for Endless Wire is currently October 31 2006 [1].

People involved

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 and Peter Huntington 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 Townshends brother) is 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".

History of the Album

Most of what is known about the development of the album has come from Pete Townshends website. On March 21, 2005, Pete Townshend officially announced the postponement of the new Who album [2]. 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." [3] 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 [4].

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. [5] 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 [6]. 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 [7].

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," [8]. 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).

Tracklist

On September 6th, 2006, the tracklist for the album was released on Pete Townshend's personal website.[9]

1. "Fragments"
2. "Man in a Purple Dress"
3. "Mike Post Theme"
4. "In the Ether"
5. "Black Widow Eyes"
6. "Two Thousand Years"
7. "God Speaks to Marty Robbins"
8. "It's Not Enough"
9. "You Stand By Me"
10. "Sound Round"*
11. "Pick Up the Peace"*
12. "Unholy Trinity"
13. "Trilby's Piano"
14. "Out on the Endless Wire"*
15. "Fragments of Fragments"
16. "We Got a Hit"*
17. "They Made My Dreams Come True"*
18. "Mirror Door"*
19. "Tea and Theatre"

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

External links

• Townshend demoing "How Can I Help You Sir?"
• New Who Album May Appear Next Spring
• Townshend Delays Who CD, Rolling Stone, Sep 08, 2005.
• Making Progress on New album
• Recording The Who's Mini-Opera
• The Glass Household
• Wire & Glass
• Release Date
• Endless Wire
• The Who Forum: Includes Who2 discussion, and has one Who2 member as a forum member.