Unearthed: “You Better You Bet” by The Who

Just watched the VH1 Rock Honor The Who extravaganza and I must say it was pretty damn solid (except for the oddly lifeless Incubus) and very emotional for this insane old Who fan. I got a bit misty when they showed the Moon and Entwistle clips.

That said, I thought I’d give a little shout to the band that made my early years so joyful and so rockin’. I wrote a paper in sixth grade about “My Hero” and chose Roger Daltrey. I got a small bio paragraph from the “Story of The Who” record and made up the rest of his life story, four pages worth. Yep, got an “A.”

Back to the shout, I could have gone all geeky and picked a super deep track from “Who by Numbers” or “Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy” or chose a classic symphonic treasure from “Quadrophenia,” but I opted instead for some later-era Who. Here’s a beaut from the 1981 Face Dances record, a sometimes overlooked but nonetheless outstanding album.

Gotta love Roger’s ascot-scarf thingie and the sweet do. Did you catch the part when Pete went up to the mic to sing some backups at the wrong time and just made a stupid puckerfish face (2:54)? Lovely.

Great line:

I got your body right now on my mind
but I drunk myself blind to the sound of old T-Rex,Mmmmm
To the sound of old T-Rex oh, and Who’s Next

“Jeff, you last post was about Rush, now The Who?! Enough reminiscing, you nostalgic ass!” I know, sorry.

Tags: Face Dances • The Who • VHI • You Better You Bet