In March of 2000, I found myself going to Budapest, Hungary (of all places) with my sister and a few of her co-workers from the airline she works for. It was a five day jaunt, so we had to squeeze as much sightseeing in as we could. We consequently took the "red-eye" back from Budapest to JFK on day five. I got into my apartment about 7:00 am, took a shower, suited up, and scampered off to work, with only the minimal sleep I got on the plane the night before to sustain me. It mattered not. After work, for some strange reason, I decided to walk down 7th Avenue. (It was not my normal route home.) There, on the MSG marquee: The Who, tonight, Madison Square Garden. Times were financially lush for me back then, so I went in to the box office in the Garden. "I'll take the best seat in the house!" I declared, full of bravado. "That'll be $185, sir." Hmmm....I settled for the second best seat in the house, for a mere $85. It was a great seat nonetheless. The concert, needless to say, was great. The Who rocked, and it still stands out as one of the best concerts I've ever seen. (I saw them on the '89 "Tommy" tour, but it was more like a big-band revue than The Who themselves.) The memory of that 2000 show has improved over time for me, as it was the swan song of John Entwistle, who was perhaps the greatest rock bassist to ever live. (Never mind "perhaps"....)
But that isn't really the purpose of the post. What was exceptionally poignant about that concert was something that Pete Townshend said prior to doing an acoustic version of "Drowned". He said something to the effect that subsequent to the release of Quadrophenia, many people had come up to him over the years to thank him for, in essence, saving their lives. He mentioned something to the effect that a whole generation of kids in the 60's and early 70's had just "evaporated" (his word). Those were crazy days, no doubt, with pervasive substance abuse. It was inevitable that the "turn on, tune in, and drop out" generation would have a great deal of casualties. But Pete inferred something to the effect that many of them expressed the sentiment that Quadrophenia saved them from the abyss. He seemed very surprised about this, mind. But given the subject matter of Quadrophenia, it makes perfect sense that it would.
For some reason, I have a stronger attachment to the music of my early to mid teens than any music I've subsequently come to like thereafter. I can only attribute this to the fact that one's teen years are the most dramatic, confusing, and emotional times in one's life. Drug experimentation, sexual experimentation (usually with one's self, unfortunately), and identity experimentation come part and parcel with that stage. And it was pretty jarring. Pimples, rejection from females, and competition to get into the "in" crowd all made for a less than fun experience. In essence, the normal suburban teenage story.
When a band that you know and love puts out an album like Quadrophenia, it helps salve the transition from childhood to adulthood. Sure you felt shitty and rejected, but so did Pete! And it was all right there in black and white, the lyrics superimposed over a picture of Jimmy the Mod and his scooter. I've spoken to several Who fans, from my brother to friends of mine that are my junior. They all swear Quadrophenia is the seminal Who album. I never really thought that it was, as great as it was, but I think I understand why so many Who fans have such strong feelings about it. Because to every insecure, suburban kid, Jimmy the Mod was them. Pete Townshend has said in interviews that Jimmy the Mod was modeled after a character called Irish Jack, who was a follower of The Who in the early days. I don't believe him. Pete was Jimmy...and Jimmy was every insecure, teenage kid who ever yearned to be the leader of the "in" crowd (the face), hated being an insignificant follower (ticket), and got thrown away by the girl he was in love with ("the girl I used to love, lives in this yellow house, yesterday she passed me by, she don't wanna know me now!") But Pete made it through, and as a result, let it be known that he suffered as much as every pimply, adolescent dork at the age of fifteen or sixteen. As a result of Quadrophenia, it didn't seem to be so bad after all to be a "ticket". The pimply, adolescent, dork with the big nose went on to conquer the world. And that made it all seem alright.
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