Whovember: Nancy’s Top Ten

Almost totally forgot to do this. Wah-oh. I went through a pretty big Who phase back in the day and definitely consider myself a Who-er on the Who/Zeppelin debate. Not that I ever thought that debate was intelligent. This was fun considering I haven’t really visited my who collection in quite a while.

10. The Real Me
I didn’t really know about Quadrophenia until pretty late into my Who career. Just remember Listening to The Real Me with Colin after he bought it and I was all about the horns. It’s always a treat when you think you know everything about a band, and then BAM, here’s some more awesome stuff.

9. Subsitute
I have a real soft spot for older Who stuff. I feel like Pete Townsend saying, “Hey, let’s try to write hella poppy shit so we can get famous, then blow everyone’s mind.” Not only did he accomplish that, but wrote some really catchy songs along the way.

8. My Wife
Another thing I was ALL about back then was non-lead singers singing lead. Also I love that scene from the Kids are Alright when he’s shooting those records. That was bad ass. And those trombones! Also bad ass.

7. Amazing Journey
Amazing Journey is the song I most associate with Tommy for some reason. I think it’s because it embodies the whole “concept” or “opera” feel. It’s the first time on the album that I really feel like I’m listening to a story.

6. Can’t Explain
Just another one of those poppy classics. I always used to wonder if Keith Moon HATED these songs. He was basically required keep it relatively simple, but you can definitely here his angst and aggression when listening to those early songs. He some how was able to convey that attitude but still keeping it cool for the sound they were going for.

5. Pinball Wizard
Of course, I always have a soft spot for songs the Defenestrators played. No matter what tempo Max started us at…it was not fast enough. Actually listening to it now, it’s kind of embarrassing how fast we played it. Oh well.

4. Won’t Get Fooled Again
This was originally around 6ish on my list. And then I listened to it again and was like, “Aw hell nah.” Something I like to think the kids say when they watch A New Hope. Then they go back to watching the new episode of Clone Wars.

3. The Kids Are Alright
By far one of the coolest openings to a song in my humble opinion. I’m sucker for nice sounding pop harmony. So catchy. So damn catchy. But he’s gotta man up and tell all these asshole friends of his to stop dancing with his woman. He’s gonna go out of his mind! If you ask me that sounds dangerous.

2. Behind Blue Eyes (Limp Bizkit version)
Syke. They don’t even get to the part that rocks. I’d love to see a sweet rap metal version of that part. Wouldn’t that rock? Can you tell I’m running out of things to talk about? Anyways, I always really liked this song just from just the dynamic point of view. So soft, then just a massive Moon fill, and then my favorite part of Who’s Next.

1. Christmas
I feel like this might be controversial, but this really is my favorite Who song. I used to listen to all of Tommy just to hear this song. Sometimes I’d feel like listening to Tommy, so I’d start the album, listen to a few songs, then skip to Christmas and listen to it like eight times in a row. I love when songs don’t have intros. It’s just right into the song with one of my favorite melodies in rock.