The Who Sell Out

Radio Caroline
1967 []
22 April. "Pictures of Lily" / "Doctor, Doctor" [charts 27 April, UK #4 on 20 May]
30 April-7 May. Scandanavian Tour.
10 May-12 June. British Isles Tour.
14 June. The Fifth Dimension Club. Ann Arbor, Michigan. First US appearance outside of New York. Beginning of US tour.
16-17 June. Filmore Auditorium. San Francisco, California.
18 June. Monterey Pop Festival.
23 June. John Entwhistle marries.
29 June. The Who quickly record "Under My Thumb" / "The Last Time" in support of Keith Richards and Mick Jagger who had been convicted of drug possession that afternoon. Townshend records the bass tracks in Entwhistle's absence.
13 July. The Who begin a ten-week North American tour as an opening act to Herman's Hermits. The Who are able to bring their own equipment, including Moon's custom Premier double-bass drum kit.
15 September. US tour ends with appearance on the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. The band closes with "My Generation."
Neill and Kent (2002: 122): At the auto-destructive climax, the resulting explosion literally shook the cameras, blowing out all the studio monitors. Pete, who was closest to the blast, took the full brunt, his hearing temporarily shattered. ... Keith rolled around the floor, concussed and bleeding, a three inch gash in his arm. Tommy Smothers emerged dumbstruck from the wings with an acoustic guitar strapped around his neck. Townshend, hair still smouldering, seized the instrument and reduced it to matchwood with four mighty whacks onto the studio floor.
10 October-11 November. UK appearances and recording sessions for The Who Sell Out.
14 October. "I Can See for Miles" / "Someone Coming" [UK #10]
28 October, Sheffield. The Who begin a British tour with Traffic, the Herd, Marmalade and the Dream.
17 November-1 December. US tour.
Friday 15 December. The Who Sell Out [UK release as Track 613 002, reaches UK #13] In the wake of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band many groups, their management teams, and record companies sought to create a better "concept" album. The Who decided that they would pay a tribute to the "pirate" radio stations that had promoted their records (while the BBC politely subverted them). Radio Caroline had been broadcasting since March 1964. However, the British government forced these stations to close with implementation of the Marine Offenses Act in September 1967. Apart from lost tax revenues, these stations were often no more than the rusting carcasses of neglected freighters towed and anchored a legal distance off Britain's shore.
The Who Sell Out is not only a celebration of these now outlawed stations but also the culture they represented. The psychedelia that had invaded and subverted mainstream culture also meant a temporary end to commercial life as Britons had come to know it. In the context of Townshend’s embrace of Pop Art aesthetics, this album elevates everyday experiences to contexts of artistic apprehension. They include actual radio jingles (from Radio London), songs conceived as commercials, and, of course, pop songs. The presentation is both celebratory of pop culture, and contemptuous of its commercial orientation.
Pop Art Schedule The Rolling Stones
  21-mar-12