Page updated April 1, 2024. This is a highly abridged version of all the things that happened to and around The Who in April. Click for access to the full history.
April 1915
New music: "A Little Bit of Heaven (Shure, They Call It Ireland)" - George MacFarlane; "I Didn't Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier" - Peerless Quartet; "The Little House Upon the Hill" - James F. Harrison & James Reed; "Do You Take This Woman For Your Lawful Wife? (I Do, I Do)" - American Quartet
On the 25th, John Entwistle's father, Herbert Entwistle, is born.
April 1946
New music releases: "R. M. Blues" - Roy Milton & His Solid Senders; "The Gypsy" - The Ink Spots; "The Gypsy" - Dinah Shore; "I Know" - Andy Kirk and His Clouds of Joy
The parents of year-and-a-half old John Entwistle, Herbert and Queenie, separate, ending their four-year marriage. Queenie and John move to Chiswick, London.
April 1963
New records: "Ring of Fire" - Johnny Cash; Days of Wine & Roses - Andy Williams; "From Me To You" - The Beatles; "Sukiyaki" - Kyu Sakamoto
On the 25th, the Beachcombers place an ad for a "good, reliable rock drummer" in the Harrow Observer. Despite the apparent disqualification for the "reliable" part, Keith Moon applies and succeeds in landing the job.
April 1964
New music releases: The Beatles' Second Album - The Beatles; "Viva Las Vegas!" - Elvis Presley; The Rolling Stones - The Rolling Stones; Funny Girl - Barbra Streisand, Sydney Chaplin and Various Artists
Around this time The Who get their first manager, later described by the band as "a Jewish doorknob seller" named Helmut Gorden with dreams of being the next Brian Epstein. He buys The Who a van, new clothes and (imitation) leather jackets.
Helmut Gorden sets up a pair of auditions that take place on the 9th. That morning The Who audition for Chris Parmeinter of Fontana Records in a basement café on the Edgware Road. Parmeinter is impressed by Pete, Roger and John, but does not care for drummer Doug Sandom. Pete explodes angrily at Doug so Doug quits the band although he agrees to stay on through the weekend.
Pete later recalls that during this month his late-night gigs caused a lecturer at his art college to ask about his health since he was obviously tired and distracted. Pete confessed to playing in a band but when the lecturer learned what he was earning, he urged Pete to quit school and pursue music full-time.
On the 16th, The Who return to the Oldfield Hotel with drummer Dave Gold from Marshall's Music Shop. Over the next couple of weeks, The Who will go through a succession of quickly hired replacement drummers including a young Mitch Mitchell, later of The Jimi Hendrix Experience.
Around this time, the last piece of The Who puzzle is added. Pete, Roger, John and promoter Bob Druce remember that, while The Who were playing a show with some old drummer, "an impudent geezer" with "his hair dyed ginger wearing a ginger suit and holding a glass of brown ale" loudly announces that he can play better than their drummer. The Who invite the upstart onstage where he plays wildly to "Roadrunner" and succeeds in breaking the old-timer's drum pedal.
That impudent geezer, of course, is Keith Moon. Unfortunately, when Moon biographer Tony Fletcher researched the story, he found that the Beachcombers, the group Keith was in at the time, have no memory of his ever having dyed his hair and none of the club's regulars ever remember seeing Keith's live audition. In addition, the manager of the Oldfield Hotel at the time clearly remembers Keith stopping by on a Tuesday to see if any groups were looking for a new drummer. Told The Who were indeed so bereft and were rehearsing that night at a drill hall in Acton, Keith hurried off to meet his destiny.
As with so much of The Who's history, one can get only so close to the truth and no closer. If you believe The Who's story, the date of the event was probably their performance at the Oldfield Hotel on the 30th. If you believe the Oldfield Hotel manager's story, it would be the 28th.
April 1965
New music releases: "I Can't Help Myself" - Four Tops; "Crying In the Chapel" - Elvis Presley; "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" - Herman's Hermits; "I've Been Loving You Too Long" - Otis Redding
On the 3rd, in the U.S., "I Can't Explain" reaches its top position in the Billboard charts at #93. On the same day is a Record Mirror article: "The group that slaughters their amplifiers..."
On the 9th, "I Can't Explain" reaches its New Musical Express chart peak at #10. It had been released almost three months before.
The Who manage to record a new single and practically an album's worth of material on the 12th through the 14th at IBC Studios. According to Roger, he and Pete are locked into a room at 3am the night before the first session and not allowed out until a single is written. The result is their one credited co-composition, "Anyway Anyhow Anywhere". Pete later says it is based on his feelings about the performance style of jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker.
Also recorded over the next two days are the b-side, a cover of Otis Blackwell's "Daddy Rolling Stone," three James Brown covers, "Please Please Please," "I Don't Mind," and "Shout and Shimmy," two Martha and the Vandellas covers, "Heatwave" and "Motorin'"(as "Motorvatin'")," plus covers of Garnet Mimms' "Anytime You Need Me" (as "Anytime You Want Me") and Paul Revere and The Raiders' "Louie Go Home" (as "Lubie Come Back Home") plus one Townshend original "You're Gonna Know Me" later retitled "Out In The Street."
Accompanying The Who during this recording is Nicky Hopkins on piano, taking his first job as a session man after a long hospital stay led to his early retirement from the stage. Hopkins will go on to become the U.K.'s most famous session performer appearing on recordings by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks and many, many others.
With Pete beginning to gather a portfolio of songs, his songwriting royalties are established. During this month, Fabulous Music, Ltd. is formed. The agreement gives Pete one-third of the shares, Essex Music, who had a previous publishing agreement with Pete gets another third and Who managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp split the final third.
Over the course of this busy month, The Who play twenty-six shows in thirty days. A typical set at this time (jotted down at their Marquee show on the 13th) is "Heatwave, "Motoring", "Shout and Shimmy", "Please Please Please", "I Don't Mind", "Smokestack Lightning" and "I'm a Man".
April 1966
New music releases: Aftermath - The Rolling Stones; Live! - Lou Rawls; The Shadow of Your Smile - Andy Williams; Soul & Inspiration - The Righteous Brothers
On the 2nd, an ad appears in the U.S. publication Billboard announcing the release of "Substitute" backed with "Waltz For A Pig" on the Atco label. This is the short version of "Substitute" with a re-recorded vocal in which the phrase "I look all white but my dad was black" is replaced with "I try walking forward but my feet walk back." Billboard says "Debut disk on Atco for the swinging group has the Liverpool-blues sound and big beat support for an exciting chart entry aimed at the teen market." Nevertheless, it fails to make the U.S. charts.
Meanwhile, also on the 4th, a judge grants another interim injunction brought by The Who's former producer Shel Talmy preventing The Who from releasing any further recordings anywhere unless they are produced by Talmy and released by U.S. Decca/Brunswick. The Who's management New Action Ltd. agrees to try to reach a settlement upon the first adjournment.
Shortly after the above event, Pete writes a new song on the back of a copy of his affidavit in the Talmy case. Its name: "I Can See For Miles".
On the 14th, The Who begin their first proper British theatre tour with two shows at the Gaumont Cinema in Southampton. They are the last act after Paul Dean & The Soul Savages, The Sound System, Hamilton, Jimmy Cliff, The Fruit Eating Bears, The Merseys and The Spencer Davis Group (who have the nation's #1 single at the time). Compèring the shows is future Myra Breckinridge director Mike Sarne. The Who's set at this time is "Barbara Ann," "My Generation," "I Can't Explain," "Substitute" and "Dancing In The Street."
On the 26th, The Who's first album is released in the U.S. on Decca. Retitled The Who Sings My Generation it features a different cover, drops "I'm a Man" for the Shel Talmy-produced "Instant Party," edits the instrumental break out of "The Kids Are Alright" and reverses the order of "A Legal Matter" and "The Ox." It is released in both mono and stereo although both are simply mono electronically processed as stereo. Billboard says: "the four boys from London have an ear-splitting, gut-busting and best-selling package in this program of blues-oriented rock numbers." It fails to reach the U.S. charts, but does get airplay on Detroit radio stations.
April 1967
New music releases: "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell; "Respect" - Aretha Franklin; "Light My Fire" - The Doors; "Little Bit O' Soul" - The Music Explosion
On the 1st, 2nd and 3rd The Who perform their last three days of shows as part of Murray The K's Easter show. The 1st and 2nd shows are at the R.K.O. 58th Street Theater in New York and the 3rd is at the Fox Theater in Brooklyn. After the last show Eric Clapton of the group Cream plans to have a food fight with dozens of eggs and sacks of flour. However, when Murray the K hears about it, he forbids it, so Clapton uses the ingredients to make a thick paste and puts it down every drain he can find in the hotel where he and the Who are staying. Pete's shower backs up and floods his room.
On the 4th, The Who fly back to London and on the 5th go into IBC Studios in London for another recording of "Pictures Of Lily" plus John's song "Doctor Doctor." Additional sessions over the next two days of recording take place at Pye Studio No. 2 where The Who are filmed by ORTF French television.
The Who begin their German tour on the 8th at the Meistersingerhalle in Nurnberg. The tour continues to the Thalia Theater in Wuppertal (9th), the Jaguar Club in Herford (10th) and the Rheinhalle in Dusseldorf (11th).
Violence breaks out before the show on the 11th as Roger has to rescue Keith from some local toughs who want to slam his head through a car window. The toughs show up at the show that evening and Keith and Pete show them what for by chucking their instruments at them.
Violence continues on the show for the 12th at Friedrich-Ebert Halle in Ludwigshaven-am-Rhein but not during the Who's set. This time it's during John's Children's performance as they provoke a riot and almost close the entire show down. John's Children's equipment is confiscated by German authorities and they are quickly deported. The Who, irritated by their antics and their act that left feathers all over the stage, are secretly grateful.
On the 19th, The Who appear on Beat Club to lip-sync to "Pictures Of Lily." While The Who are on stage, 6,000 DM are stolen from their dressing room.
On the 21st, "Pictures Of Lily" backed with "Doctor, Doctor" comes out in the U.K. as The Who's first release on their managers' Track Records label. Melody Maker's review calls it, "...a rollicking, rhythmic Pete Townshend composition with a beautiful lyric and his usual cynical edge...Marvelous, muscular music." Despite controversy over the song lyrics' implication of masturbation, the single reaches #4 in the U.K. charts.
On the same day, Cash Box reviews the new U.S. Decca release of The Who's second album, re-titled Happy Jack. "Heatwave" is dropped for the title track and, unlike the mono-only British release, several of the tracks are in true stereo. Cash Box calls it "Strong listening all the way through."
On the 29th, Pete is a special guest at the "14-Hour Technicolour Dream," a benefit for the underground newspaper International Times, at the Ally Pally (Alexandra Palace) in London. Pete films and records this acid-drenched musical spectacular scouting for new acts for Track Records and discovers a wild new singer named Arthur Brown (Brown says this happened at the UFO Club). He signs up the singer, telling him his discovery makes up for losing the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band to Liberty Records. Pete also plans to have Arthur Brown play Rael in his new rock opera.
The next day The Who travel to Helsinki for their only concert in Finland until 2007. The show takes place at the Ice Hall.
April 1968
New music releases: Bookends - Simon & Garfunkel; "Mrs. Robinson" - Simon & Garfunkel; The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees - The Monkees; "This Guy's in Love with You" - Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass
On the 4th, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. is assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. Riots erupt in several American cities. On the same day, while visiting booker Frank Barselona's house in New York, Keith goes crazy after Australia is mentioned. He goes back to the Gorham hotel, gets drunk, blows up his toilet with a cherry bomb and then climbs out on a ledge and begins throwing cherry bombs into the street at the gathering police. Incredibly, Barselona manages to keep Keith from going to jail, but The Who do get thrown out of the hotel and have to move to the Waldorf.
The next morning The Who are photographed for Life magazine by Art Kane at the Carl Schurz Memorial in Morningside Park asleep under two sewn-together Union Jack flags prepared by Kane. They are so tired from Keith's late-night antics that they actually go to sleep.
Nap over, The Who report to the Fillmore East in the Village for a dress rehearsal and microphone set up for that night's show that is to be recorded on four-track. The rehearsal, as well as that night's concert, are photographed by manager Chris Stamp's then-girlfriend Linda Eastman. The Who had planned four shows over the two days (5th and 6th) but fears of violence sparked by the King assassination lead to the cancellation of the early hour shows.
Supporting acts for the concert are Free Spirits and Buddy Guy with B.B. King. The Who and their management cancel plans to release the album after hearing an acetate. However, this acetate escapes as a bootleg in the early 1970's becoming one of The Who's most popular. Finally, after finding the multi-track master, the album is officially released April 2018.
On the 6th, The Who's luggage is locked up at the Waldorf Astoria after they refuse to pay their bill up front. Keith retrieves his luggage by blowing the door off its hinges. They are promptly banned for life at the Waldorf. Pete and his fiancée Karen go to stay at Tom Wright's apartment while everybody else sleeps on the tour bus.
When he isn't busy blowing up hotels, Keith, accompanied by John, goes drinking at the Salvation Club in New York. There they run into The Who's ex-roadie Richard Cole and discuss leaving The Who to form a band to be called Led Zeppelin, based on the after-gig post mortem that a show went over "like a lead zeppelin." Steve Marriott, Steve Winwood and Jimmy Page are mentioned as additional members. Cole at the time is working for Jimmy Page managing the New Yardbirds. He promptly nicks the name for Page's band along with John's idea of a crashing zeppelin for the cover of their first album which is released the next year.
April 1969
New music releases: "Bad Moon Rising" - Creedence Clearwater Revival; "Get Back" - The Beatles with Billy Preston; "In the Ghetto" - Elvis Presley; The Chicago Transit Authority - Chicago
On the 1st, The Who continue rehearsing their new Tommy-centered act at the Community Centre, Westcott Crescent in Hanwell. Other rehearsal dates are the 3rd, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 21st and 23rd. Pete recalls in his autobiography that, after the last rehearsal, Keith took him for a drink, looked him in the eye and said, "Pete, you've done it. This is gonna work."
On the 16th, The Who record their appearance on ITV's This Is...Tom Jones at Elstree Studio Centre, Borehamwood. They mime to a newly recorded instrumental track of "Pinball Wizard" with live vocals by Roger. It is first broadcast in the U.S. on the 18th and in Britain on the 20th.
On the 26th, "Pinball Wizard" reaches its U.K. chart peak of #4 staying there for the next three weeks.
April 1970
New music releases: McCartney - Paul McCartney; Ladies of the Canyon - Joni Mitchell; "The Wonder of You" - Elvis Presley; "One Less Bell to Answer" - The 5th Dimension
On the 11th, "The Seeker" backed with "Here for More" appears on the U.S. charts. It ultimately reaches #44 in Billboard and #30 in Cash Box. The new Who single receives a lukewarm review from John Mendelsohn in Rolling Stone.
Rolling Stone prints a lengthy interview with Pete conducted by Jonathan Cott. Pete discusses everything from the death of Brian Jones and his writing of the never-released song "A Normal Day for Brian" to his hatred of Woodstock. One of the things he mentions is his desire to make a movie with The Who, "a film which is the equivalent of a rock song, only lasting an hour or longer."
April 1971
New music releases: Sticky Fingers - The Rolling Stones; 4 Way Street - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; L.A. Woman - The Doors; "Take Me Home, Country Roads" - John Denver
On the 1st, John releases his and The Who's first commercial solo record "I Believe In Everything" backed with "My Size." To promote it he hires a stagecoach with livery to deliver the single to Harlequin Records in London. The stagecoach ends up getting a parking ticket. Record Mirror opines: "...maybe a trifle minor key at first, but it goes along well, with a distinctive sound and some compelling chugging from behind. It's certainly commercial in a quiet, persuasive way." Released only in Europe at this time, it fails to chart.
On the 6th, The Who reunite with Glyn Johns now in the producer's chair instead of Kit Lambert. Their first session takes place at Stargroves, Mick Jagger's Victorian mansion in Newbury, Berkshire, using The Rolling Stones Mobile Studio. Setting the band up in a hallway, Johns records a blistering version of "Won't Get Fooled Again" that becomes the finished release version. Recording continues through the 7th.
Having had such a success with his first try, Johns easily talks The Who into continuing recording at his home studio, Olympic Sound Studios in Barnes, South West London. The first sessions run from the 9th through the 12th and include a new recording of "I Don't Even Know Myself" that will end up on the B-side of the "Won't Get Fooled Again" single, plus the release versions of "Bargain", "Time Is Passing", and "Too Much of Anything". Tracks that are known to have been recorded at Olympic sometime between these sessions and the end of May include the release versions of "Love Ain't for Keeping", "Going Mobile", "Behind Blue Eyes" and the Odds and Sods version of "Pure and Easy".
On the 26th, the Who perform some of their new material, mixed with oldies and covers, at the Young Vic, professionally recorded by Glyn Johns' younger brother Andy and engineered by Ian Stewart outside in The Rolling Stones' mobile recording van. It does not come out at the time but does leak out as a popular bootleg, before being released in small batches beginning in the late 1980's with the entire performance released in 2023 on the Who's Next / Life House boxset.
April 1972
New music releases: "Rocket Man" - Elton John; "Lean on Me" - Bill Withers; "Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress" - The Hollies; "Starman" - David Bowie
John spends this month and the next recording his second solo album Whistle Rymes at Island Studios, West London while Roger produces the Ellis Group LP Riding On The Crest Of A Slump at Olympic Studios.
April 1973
New records: 1967-1970 - The Beatles; 1962-1966 - The Beatles; Behind Closed Doors - Charlie Rich; Desperado - The Eagles
On the 12th, Keith and his wife Kim attend the premiere of the movie That'll Be The Day at the ABC-2 cinema in Shaftesbury Avenue in London. Keith has a small role in the film as a drummer named J.D. Clover and Billy Fury, as singer Stormy Tempest, sings a fifties-style version of "Long Live Rock." Pete also attends the premiere and afterwards berates Keith for not telling him that the plot resembles his recently scripted Quadrophenia.
On the 20th, Roger Daltrey releases his first solo album, Daltrey, in the U.K. Chris Charlesworth gives the album, a collection of soft-rock tunes penned by Leo Sayer and Dave Courtney, a rave review in Melody Maker. The album reaches #6 in the U.K. charts.
Meanwhile in New Musical Express, Tony Stewart raves for John's third solo album Rigor Mortis Sets In: "The only things stiff about this set were the drinks consumed during the recording."
April 1974
New music releases: Second Helping - Lynyrd Skynyrd; "Band On The Run" - Paul McCartney & Wings; On Stage - Loggins & Messina; "Sideshow" - Blue Magic
On the 1st, Keith Moon and his chauffeur and minder Dougal Butler leave life in England behind and move to the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles. It is Keith's intent to become a tax exile, as so many of the successful British rockers have done, but he never manages to stay out of England long enough to escape the long arm of Inland Revenue.
On the 8th, Ken Russell completes the shooting script for Tommy.
On the 9th, Keith joins Ringo Starr and Jim Keltner, all playing drums during the recording of "Rock Around The Clock" and "Loop De Loop" for the John Lennon-produced Harry Nilsson album Pussycats. Keith also plays congas on "Mucho Mungo"/"Mt. Elga" and Chinese wood blocks on "All My Life." Paul McCartney drops by for the session and he and Lennon are photographed together for the last time by Dougal.
On the 10th Keith and Dougal move out of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel into a $5000 a month rented beachfront house on the Pacific Coast highway in Santa Monica, sharing it for a time with John Lennon and May Pang.
On the 14th, Pete performs live for the first time as a solo act at The Roundhouse in London as part of a charity concert to raise funds to buy a coach for the Camden Square Community. At one point he gets into a shouting match with a heckler.
On the 19th, Keith leaves his residence at the Santa Monica beachhouse to return to London for the filming of Tommy.
The filming of Tommy begins on the 22nd. The first scenes are interiors at Harefield Grove, a country estate in Middlesex, and involve Ann-Margret, Oliver Reed, Robert Powell and Barry Winch. Pete watches on set for changes which would require re-writing of the score.
On the 24th, filming begins on the "Cousin Kevin" sequence, also at Harefield Grove.
April 1975
New music releases: Toys In The Attic - Aerosmith; Straight Shooter - Bad Company; Al Green's Greatest Hits - Al Green; Beautiful Loser - Bob Seger
On the 11th, Keith's marriage to Kim Moon officially comes to an end at the London Divorce Court in The Strand. She is granted a decree nisi based on Keith's unreasonable behavior. Keith offers no defense. Kim by this time is living with Faces pianist Ian McLagen. Keith's payoff for the divorce: £40,000.
Recording for The Who's next studio album was to have begun on the 18th at Shepperton Sound Studios in London but they are held up as Keith has yet to arrive from Los Angeles and Roger is still working on the movie Lisztomania. To get things started, John borrows his solo band's drummer Graham Deakin and he and Pete begin rehearsing on the 21st.
On the 29th, Keith and his steady girlfriend Anette fly in from Los Angeles. The next day he joins Pete and John only to discover that, with almost two years off since he was last behind the drums in a studio, he has forgotten how to play! Nevertheless, Pete, John, Keith and guest pianist Nicky Hopkins manage to lay down the track "She Loves Everyone" that will later be retitled "They Are All in Love." Roger will supply his vocals later as he is still on the set of Lisztomania.
April 1976
New music releases: Live Bullet - Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band; "Play That Funky Music" - Wild Cherry; Greatest Stories Live - Harry Chapin; Black and Blue - The Rolling Stones
On the 1st, The Who return to Boston Garden to make up for the show of March 9th they didn't finish because of Keith's collapse. Keith runs around the stage to show he's in fine shape and Roger adds "thanks for waiting for the encore!" This show ends the second leg of The Who's 1975-76 North American tours.
Pete Rudge amicably steps aside as The Who's manager and Bill Curbishley officially takes over. The former Track Records employee remains The Who's manager to the present day.
April 1977
New music releases: Go For Your Guns - The Isley Brothers; Rattus Norvegicus - The Stranglers; Celebrate Me Home - Kenny Loggins; Ol' Waylon - Waylon Jennings
Around the 19th, the day after Keith leaves Cedars-Sinai Hospital where he had been undergoing treatment for his alcoholism and drug abuse, he is kicked out of Ye Olde King's Head pub in Santa Monica after "simulating the act of intercourse" with a girl on the barroom floor. Prior to this he had ripped the sink out of the wall in the men's bathroom. On the 22nd, Keith checks back into Cedars-Sinai.
April 1978
New records: Grease - Original Soundtrack; Stardust - Willie Nelson; "Shadow Dancing" - Andy Gibb; "Rivers of Babylon" - Boney M
On the 1st, Melody Maker reports that Track Records, the spin-off from Polydor launched and run by The Who's ex-managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, has been liquidated with total debts of £70,000. Track had not had a record appear in the British charts since its last Who release, the LP Odds and Sods, in October 1974. On the 7th, Track puts out its last record, Shakin' Stevens' self-titled LP. It also fails to chart.
During the month and into the next, The Who continue recording overdubs and preparing mixes for the Who Are You LP. "Love Is Coming Down" and drumming overdubs for "Who Are You" are put to tape. Most of the rest of the work by The Who does not see the final LP. Alternate versions of "Guitar And Pen," "Choirboy," later to be re-titled "Empty Glass" when it appears on Pete's solo LP of the same name, and a band version of "Music Must Change" are recorded. The final track has to be abandoned when Keith Moon fails to maintain the 6/8-time necessary. According to Pete, Keith defends his inability by announcing that he is "the best Keith Moon-style drummer in the world." Everything but Roger's vocal is left behind and the rest of the track is created by Pete and producer Jon Astley. Additionally, Pete records another demo for the album, "No Road Romance."
April 1979
New music releases: Greatest Hits - Waylon Jennings; Million Mile Reflections - The Charlie Daniels Band; Bad Girls - Donna Summer; "We Are Family" - Sister Sledge
On the 7th, John holds the first recording session for a new solo album that will emerge over two years later as Too Late The Hero.
On the 9th, The Who, now with John "Rabbit" Bundrick on keyboards and Kenney Jones on drums, begin rehearsing their stage act. Over the next two-and-a-half weeks they rehearse for a total of six days. The rehearsals are filmed by the BBC as part of a feature on the programme Nationwide and footage of The Who rehearsing "Who Are You" and "Sister Disco" are later released on the 30 Years Of Maximum R&B video.
April 1980
New music releases: Heaven and Hell - Black Sabbath; "Against the Wind" - Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band; "She's Out of My Life" - Michael Jackson; Sky 2 - Sky
On the 14th, Pete's first totally solo album, Empty Glass, is released in the U.K. The U.S. release follows on the 21st. Reviews are raves with Sounds magazine giving the album its highest rating and Paul Morley in New Musical Express saying the album shows Pete is still an important musician. The album peaks at #11 in the U.K., the highest chart position for a Pete solo record in that country. In the U.S. it shoots all the way to #5.
On the same day, The Who begin their 1980 North American Tour at the PNE Coliseum in Vancouver. Internally there is some dissension in The Who not only over touring with Pete in shaky condition but also that the tour appears to promote Pete's solo album instead of The Who's own work.
On the 17th, Pete is in San Francisco at the offices of Rolling Stone magazine being interviewed by Greil Marcus and photographed for the cover by Annie Liebovitz. While executing a windmill for the camera, Pete slices his hand open. Annie takes a photo of Pete with his head on his bloodied hand.
April 1981
New music releases: Don't Say No - Billy Squier; "You Make My Dreams Come True" - Daryl Hall & John Oates; Chariots Of Fire - Vangelis; Fair Warning - Van Halen
Kit Lambert, The Who's former manager and producer, is by this time living on charity that he spends mostly on heroin and alcohol. On the evening of the 5th, he shows up at his mother's house bloody and broke saying he had been beaten by four men in the lavatory of a gay bar. His mother gets him to go to bed but later that night he falls downstairs suffering a brain hemorrhage. He dies on the morning of the 7th at the age of 45, nine days short of reaching exactly the same age his father, composer Constant Lambert, reached before he died. Kit is cremated on the 29th and his ashes taken to Golders Green where Keith Moon's ashes had been interred two and a half years before. Pete flies back from New York shortly after hearing the news and begins to prepare a memorial service for Kit to be held on May 11th. He will write of his reaction to Kit's death in the short story "Pancho and The Baron".
April 1984
New music releases: "I Want to Break Free" - Queen; Street Talk - Steve Perry; "West End Girls" - Pet Shop Boys; "One Love"/"People Get Ready" - Bob Marley & The Wailers
On the 7th, The Who fanzine The Relay publishes an interview with Roger about the end of The Who. Roger says Pete "made a very big mistake" breaking up The Who and adds "you can only take so much of being treated like a turd." He says he hates Dave Marsh's Who book Before I Get Old, describing it as "a great, fat book as big as a Bible mostly comprised of lies." He also says Richard Barnes' book The Who: Maximum R&B is "dreadful."
Roger is interviewed in Rolling Stone where he strikes a bittersweet tone. "I don't have any illusions anymore. The illusion that rock & roll could change anything - I don't believe that. That the Who was this strange machine that could do anything - I don't believe that. I've changed. Who would have ever thought that I'd end up saying I want to be an all-round entertainer? But that's what I want to be. Not that I ever want to go to Vegas... Although one day I might do it - just for a laugh."
April 1985
New music releases: Be Yourself Tonight - Eurythmics; We Are The World - USA for Africa; Around the World in a Day - Prince & The Revolution; The Hits Album 2 - Various Artists
On the 29th, The Mirror reports that The Who are considering reuniting for a one-off show for Ethiopian relief due to the urgings of Bob Geldof. Pete: "Yes, I have talked to the others about it...At the moment we are all vacillating wildly."
April 1988
New music releases: Tracy Chapman - Tracy Chapman; Stronger Than Pride - Sade; "Fast Car" - Tracy Chapman; Crossroads - Eric Clapton
On the 7th, John auctions off a number of items at Sotheby's to raise much needed money to pay his tax bills. Included in the auction are concert contracts, John's lyric manuscripts and many instruments, drawings and items of clothing.
On the 24th, Pete writes a long piece on his, John's and Roger's boyhoods and hints that a Who reunion is not entirely out of the question. It is printed in The Observer and is called "The Who, Why and Wherefore."
April 1989
New music releases: Garth Brooks - Garth Brooks; Full Moon Fever - Tom Petty; Skynyrd's Innyrds: Their Greatest Hits - Lynyrd Skynyrd; Repeat Offender - Richard Marx
On the 24th, Pete, Roger and John Entwistle appear together at a press conference at Radio City Music Hall in New York City to announce they will again tour as The Who that summer. Pete tells the press that he still experiences hearing problems and gets a laugh when he says, "we will play very, very quietly."
April 1990
New music releases: Johnny Gill - Johnny Gill; Behind the Mask - Fleetwood Mac; Fear of a Black Planet - Public Enemy; "Love Without End, Amen" - George Strait
On the 1st, Pete writes a letter to Who manager Bill Curbishley stating: "I want to take this opportunity to say that I will remember 1989 as one of the happiest of my life and career. There are lots of factors, but the most important element was the friendship I felt enhanced every aspect of the tour: front of the stage, in the band, in the management team, in the crew, and in the audiences...Good luck in 1990."
April 1993
New music releases: Get a Grip - Aerosmith; "Weak" - SWV; Undertow - Tool; "That's the Way Love Goes" - Janet Jackson
On the 22nd, The Who's Tommy opens on Broadway at the St. James Theater. Pete, Roger and John attend along with a large number of celebrities. Frank Rich raves about it in the next day's New York Times calling it "the authentic rock musical that has eluded Broadway for two generations."
April 1996
New music releases: Crash - Dave Matthews Band; "Don't Speak" - No Doubt; "You've Got a Friend in Me" - Randy Newman; Fairweather Johnson - Hootie & The Blowfish
On the 23rd, Roger and Pete hold a press conference in London to announce that, after a hiatus of over six years, Pete, Roger and John will perform together in a band at Hyde Park for a performance of Quadrophenia at the Prince's Trust Concert. They will not be listed as The Who but rather under their individual names.
April 1999
New music releases: "I Want It That Way" - Backstreet Boys; Sogno - Andrea Bocelli; I Am... - Nas; "Mambo No. 5 (A Little Bit of...)" - Lou Bega
On the 1st, this website is launched.
April 2000
New music releases: "The Real Slim Shady" - Eminem; "Oops!... I Did It Again" - Britney Spears; Infest - Papa Roach; "Big Pimpin'" - Jay-Z featuring UGK
On the 10th, Pete, Roger and John hold a press conference at The Supper Club in New York City to announce their summer North American tour and the internet release of a live album from their 1999 shows.
April 2005
New music releases: "Sugar, We're Goin' Down" - Fall Out Boy; The Emancipation of Mimi - Mariah Carey; "Mockingbird" - Eminem; "Don't Cha" - The Pussycat Dolls featuring Busta Rhymes
On the 2nd, John Entwistle's family announces that they will be auctioning off the entire contents of his £3 million mansion. The auction on the 21st nets £123,000 with a model of Henry VIII's armour raising £900, a leather art sculpture of a male torso £2,200, a snakeskin tambourine £160 and a microphone presented to The Who at an awards poll in 1975 £480.
April 2007
New music releases: "What I've Done" - Linkin Park; "Home" - Daughtry; "Back to Black" - Amy Winehouse; Favourite Worst Nightmare - Arctic Monkeys
On the 25th, Pete Townshend holds a media event at his Oceanic Studios in London to unveil a computer software program that will enable fans to compose personalized music tracks at the click of a button. "You can put data in and get a piece of music out. It's as simple as that." Based on an idea Pete had in 1970 that was the partial basis of his Life House concept, the "Method" software was developed by mathematician/composer Lawrence Ball and software developer Dave Snowdon.
April 2012
New music releases: "Payphone" - Maroon 5 featuring Wiz Khalifa; "Whistle" - Flo Rida; "Mercy" - Kanye West, Big Sean, Pusha T and 2 Chainz; "Where Have You Been" - Rihanna
On the 8th, Who manager Bill Curbishley tells the Sunday Times that he had been approached by organizers of the 2012 London Olympics to see if The Who would play at the end of the Games. They also specifically asked if Keith Moon could appear with them. Curbishley's response: "'If they have a round table, some glasses and candles, we might contact him."
April 2014
New music releases: "Stay with Me" - Sam Smith; "Trap Queen" - Fetty Wap; "Problem" - Ariana Grande featuring Iggy Azalea; "Sing" - Ed Sheeran
On the 16th, Pete announces The Who's 50th Anniversary tour in Billboard. Additionally, he says The Who are planning a new album. "I'll be pulling some songs out of 'Floss' to give to Roger to see if we've got enough to make an album. It might be a big waste of time, but I'm hoping there will be an album."
On the 24th, Roger is honored for his charity work at the Music Week Awards. Pauls Weller and McCartney both praise him with Sir Paul saying, "I've been watching the progress for years now and you're doing a fantastic job. "I know the kids appreciate it so much. So, Mr Daltrey - Roger - Sir, well done."
April 2015
New music releases: "Stressed Out" - Twenty One Pilots; "Here" - Alessia Cara; "Wet Dreamz" - J. Cole; "This Could Be Us" - Rae Sremmurd
Also on the 27th, Pete is on the cover of Uncut magazine. Inside he is quoted as saying, "There's a desire I have to do a show which is crap. Go out in front of a bunch of devoted Who fans and say, 'Listen, you bunch of fucking cunts. Fuck off. Don't come back...'" On the 28th, Pete apologizes on thewho.com fan site. "I'm out here on our 50th because I am sincerely pleased to see old faces, old friends, and do my best to be as much of an asshole as ever."
April 2019
New music releases: "Old Town Road" - Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus; "Immortal" - Aventura; "Suge" - DaBaby; "Cover Me Up" - Morgan Wallen
On the 10th, the press reports that Roger has won a battle to build a four-bedroom home on his trout farm. Neighbors had raised objections about a lack of privacy as the home would overlook their own.
On the 30th, Pete and Roger are interviewed by Mark Goodman for a SiriusXM Town Hall. It is held at the G Star School of the Arts in Palm Springs, Florida where the two have been rehearsing for their upcoming Who orchestral tour.
