Critical analysis of rock and roll can be a sticky wicket to be sure. When
critics pro and con, musicologists and teachers attempt to dissect music that
makes you tap your foot or sends chills up your spine, they often leave one
cold with conjecture and theories. I’m not damning critics; the sheer act of
addressing heavier themes in the music I love justifies what I have said for
so long about how important the music is. Still, a DVD like The Who,
The Mods And The Quadrophenia Connection scares me in its possible
potential of too much talk about a great double disc album that…makes
me tap my foot and sends chills down my spine. I needn’t have worried.
With commentary from the likes of Richard Barnes, The Who’s ‘Mr. Fixit’ and
Pete Townsend bud, mod ‘experts Paolo Hewitt and Terry Rawlins, members of the
Mod revival bands the Chords and the Purple Hearts, and Who biographer Alan
Clayson, The Who, The Mods And The Quadrophenia Connection
is a delightful history lesson from guys who obviously love the music of the
Who first and foremost.
Snippets from the 1979 Quadrophenia film are mixed in with
rarely seen performances of the Kinks, the Who and Gerry and the Pacemakers,
plus news footage of the day, and scenes from the mod/rocker movement shown
on 60s British TV. It’s a mish-mash of stuff, with a good section of Who history
thrown in at the beginning to get us up to speed with why and how Quadrophenia
was written and what it’s all about. What becomes abundantly clear
— as has been clear to anyone who is a fan of Pete Townsend and the Who
— is how important the quartet has been to rock music and what a powerful
writer Townshend is.
Those of us who love this music know that rock can and often does reflect the
times and life of its creators and audience. We have lived, loved and tapped
our feet to the same tunes to this day. And this is beyond the fact that there
might be a good melody or a great growling vocal. As Terry Rawlins and Richard
Barnes attest, rock music is a critical, crucial part of our lives that can
create powerful art like Quadrophenia. This is art that informs,
entertains and comments on a time when some of us were around but may have never
known.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
