This month focuses on The Who's Studio Recordings
Page updated June 1, 2026. This is a highly abridged version of what happened to and around The Who in June. Click for access to the full history.
June 1964
New music releases: A Hard Day's Night - The Beatles; "The House of the Rising Sun" - The Animals; "Everybody Loves Somebody" - Dean Martin; "Under the Boardwalk" - The Drifters
On the 4th, The Who are back at I.B.C. Studios, London to record Pete Townshend's art school composition "It Was You", previously recorded when the band was called The Detours. This performance also exists as an acetate but has not yet been released.
During the month, The Who go to Philips Studios in London for their first studio session released to date. "I'm The Face", "Zoot Suit" and a cover of Bo Diddley's "Here 'Tis" are put to tape. Jack Bavistock produces. Manager Helmut Gorden and Pete's childhood friend Jack Marks provide handclaps, Pete's roommate Richard Barnes plays maracas on "Here 'Tis" and all and sundry sing the backing vocals.
June 1965
New music releases: "Feeling Good" - Nina Simone; "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" - The Rolling Stones; Beatles VI - The Beatles; "I'm Henry The Eighth, I Am" - Herman's Hermits
On the 5th the U.S. release of the single "Anyway Anyhow Anywhere" gets a full-page ad in Billboard magazine. The b-side is a cover of Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters' soul ballad "Any Time You Need Me", here called "Anytime You Want Me." The single will fail to chart in Billboard and peak at #112 in Cash Box.
In Record Mirror on the 12th, Who manager Kit Lambert defends "Anyway Anyhow Anywhere" from attacks from readers. To one who decried orthodox vocal refains at the beginning and end of the single, Kit replies: "I think the beginning of the disc is like fly paper – designed to trap the unwary and hold them there while the ‘damage’ is done. We’re in a guerilla role, so why complain about booby traps and fifth column tactics?"
In Beat Instrumental, John Emery reviews an acetate of nine new Who tracks played for him by producer Shel Talmy. The songs are intended for The Who's first album slated for release in the U.S. and France that autumn. Emery gives the titles to eight of the tracks, "I'm A Man," "Heatwave," I Don't Mind," "Lubie," "You're Gonna Know Me," "Please Please Please," "Leaving Here," and "Motoring." Only one, "You're Gonna Know Me," is a band original which leads Emery to remark, "one thing hit me slap in the face just looking at the titles -- the lack of originality in choice of material." Reacting quickly, Who manager Kit Lambert announces in Melody Maker on the 17th that "The Who are having serious doubts about the state of R&B. Now the LP will consist of hard pop. They've finished with 'Smokestack Lightnin'." He says The Who will record a new album of all Pete and Roger Daltrey originals for release in early September.
June 1966
New music releases: Yesterday and Today - The Beatles; "Sunny Afternoon" - The Kinks; "Sunny" - Bobby Hebb; "Lil' Red Riding Hood" - Sam the Sham & The Pharoahs
On the 14th, The Who record preliminary versions of two new Pete compositions "Disguises" and a song from Pete's first rock opera Quads, "I'm A Boy." "Disguises" is rush mixed to be used the next day on the last episode of BBC-TV's A Whole Scene Going. Pete wears a handlebar mustache and John Entwistle plays a tuba named "Gladys."
June 1967
New music releases: "Brown Eyed Girl" - Van Morrison; Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 - Johnny Cash; "White Rabbit" - Jefferson Airplane; "Come Back When You Grow Up" - Bobby Vee and The Strangers
On the 7th, two tracks destined for long shelf lives are mixed in 4-track by Kit Lambert at CBS Studios, London. Cy Langston's "Early Morning Cold Taxi" and Keith Moon's "Girl's Eyes" will not be officially released for twenty-seven more years although, along with "Soddin' About", they will supplement many a Who bootleg.
On the 24th, "Pictures Of Lily" backed with "Doctor Doctor" is released in the U.S. The lyrics cause most radio stations to balk at playing it, so it peaks at #51 in Billboard and #60 in Cash Box. In the more liberal Netherlands, "Pictures of Lily" reaches #2 on this date.
Meanwhile The Rolling Stones are in crisis as on the 28th, Mick Jagger is found guilty of possession of four Benzedrine tablets he brought from Italy. They had been discovered in a police raid the previous February. He is remanded to jail for sentencing. Late that evening, Pete, Roger and Keith assemble at De Lane Lea Studios in London to record covers of "The Last Time" and "Under My Thumb." Pete plays both fuzz-laden lead guitar and bass for the absent John. Manager Chris Stamp films them recording the songs for use as a video. The film has yet to surface.
On the 30th, Track Records rushes the double A-sided single "The Last Time" and "Under My Thumb" by The Who into record shops. Accompanying the single is this press release: "SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: The Who consider Mick Jagger & Keith Richard have been treated as scapegoats for the drug problem and as a protest against savage sentences imposed upon them at Chichester yesterday, The Who are issuing today the first of a series of Jagger/Richard songs to keep their work before the public until they are again free to record themselves."
June 1968
New music releases: In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida - Iron Butterfly; "Dream a Little Dream of Me" - The Mama's & The Papa's; "I Get the Sweetest Feeling" - Jackie Wilson; "Stoned Soul Picnic" - The 5th Dimension
Early in the month several more attempts are made at recording "Magic Bus" at IBC Studios.
On the 14th, "Dogs" and "Call Me Lightning" are released as a "Double A" side single in Britain. Melody Maker calls it "another Pete Townshend original with tremendous instant appeal" while Record Mirror says it "displays Pete's versatility as a writer." Any hopes it would prove more to the British public's liking than "I Can See For Miles" are dashed when it stalls at #25.
June 1969
New music releases: Johnny Cash At San Quentin - Johnny Cash; First Take - Roberta Flack; "Put a Little Love In Your Heart" - Jackie DeShannon; "Clean Up Your Own Backyard" - Elvis Presley
On the 11th, Thunderclap Newman's "Something In The Air," produced by Pete and with him on bass guitar, hits the British charts. The single will ultimately make #1 there.
Tommy hits its peak at #3 in the Melody Maker but they report the album is even hotter in the U.S. where many radio DJ's are playing the album in its entirety. Sales in the U.S. are said to have already topped 100,000.
June 1971
New music releases: Blue - Joni Mitchell; "Riders on the Storm" - The Doors; "Move On Up" - Curtis Mayfield; "Wild Horses" - The Rolling Stones
On the 5th, Glyn Johns prepares the first mix of "Bargain".
On the 17th, the first tracks from the recent sessions are released. "Won't Get Fooled Again" in a version edited down to 3:55 backed with "I Don't Even Know Myself" is released in the U.S. The A-side states under the song title "From the Motion Picture 'Lifehouse'." It peaks at #15 on the Billboard charts and #9 on the Cash Box charts. Two places where the single does well is the Singapore and Malaysian charts where the single goes to #1. The European release follows on the 25th where it reaches #9 in the British charts. The B-side is retitled "Don't Know Myself." Nick Logan in Melody Maker calls the A-side "The Who at their most aggressive, riffy and it's reminiscent in parts of the Stones - particularly in the way the guitars mesh and snarl their answer to the title line. An excellent performance."
On the 18th, Glyn Johns prepares the final mixes for "Bargain" and "Getting in Tune".
On the 30th, additional mixing is done on "Let's See Action".
June 1972
New music releases: Simon & Garfunkel's Greatest Hits - Simon & Garfunkel; Elvis as Recorded at Madison Square Garden - Elvis Presley; A Song For You - The Carpenters; The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars - David Bowie
On the 5th, The Who record "Long Live Rock" at Olympic Studios, London. The song is meant as the title track for a never-shot Who television special. On the 6th, they record "Put The Money Down" as an instrumental track with guide vocal, leaving it unfinished. By the end of the month The Who have decided to abandon their last two months' attempt to record a follow-up to the Who's Next album. "Long Live Rock" and "Put The Money Down" will remain unreleased for over two years.
On the 16th, "Join Together" backed with a live recording of "Baby Don't You Do It" is released in Britain. Chris Welch in Melody Maker calls it rather bland but Roy Carr in New Musical Express calls both sides of the single "10 minutes and 39 seconds of the best music available." The fans agree with Roy, sending it to #9 in the charts.
June 1973
New music releases: Janis Joplin's Greatest Hits - Janis Joplin; "Dream On" - Aerosmith; "Let's Get It On" - Marvin Gaye; "Life On Mars" - David Bowie
On the 1st, primary recording for the Quadrophenia album begins at The Kitchen (later Ramport Studios) in Battersea using Ronnie Lane's Mobile Studio. The first song laid to tape is "Bell Boy."
On the 8th, the recording of "Love, Reign O'er Me" is finished after having been left incomplete during the May 1972 sessions. Also recorded this month is "Drowned" for which director Ken Russell is present. Both he and Pete later recall that during the recording of this song, a massive rainstorm led to the flooding of the studio. Guest pianist Chris Stainton was in a glass booth performing while the booth gradually filled with water. At the end of the session, the booth was opened and the water came flooding out. Russell was present to confer with Pete on the script he was then writing for the Tommy movie.
Pete's comic song "We Close Tonight" is recorded on the 20th. It is dropped from Quadrophenia and does not surface until the 1998 re-issue of Odds And Sods. On the 27th, "5.15" is recorded.
A rough stereo mix of at least part of Quadrophenia is assembled on the 28th. The album tracks are "Can You See The Real Me?", "Punk In The Gutter", "Drowned", "Dirty Jobs", "We Close Tonight", "Quadrophenia" (a/k/a "Four Faces"), "5.15", "Dr. Jimmy & Mr. Jim", "Russian Dance", "Is It In My Head".
On the 29th, overdubs for "We Close Tonight" and new Roger vocals for "Drowned" and "Love Reign O'er Me" are recorded.
June 1977
New music releases: CSN - Crosby, Stills & Nash; JT - James Taylor; Exodus - Bob Marley and the Wailers; "Best of My Love" - The Emotions
Pete records his demo of the song "Who Are You" at his Goring Studio.
June 1980
New music releases: The Game - Queen; Urban Cowboy - Various Artists; The Blues Brothers: Original Soundtrack Recording - The Blues Brothers; Emotional Rescue - The Rolling Stones
On the 14th, Pete's solo single "Let My Love Open The Door" backed with "And I Moved" hits the U.S. charts and goes on to become Pete's biggest U.S. success as a solo artist reaching #9 in the Billboard charts and #11 in the Cash Box charts. This ties it with the highest position achieved by a Who single in the U.S., "I Can See For Miles" in 1967.
On the 21st the single hits the British charts. British fans get a different b-side with the previously unreleased tracks "Greyhound Girl" and "Classified." Apparently they don't appreciate the bonus as the single peaks at #46.
June 1981
New music releases: "Endless Love" - Diana Ross & Lionel Richie; Duran Duran - Duran Duran; "Ghost Town" - The Specials; "Happy Birthday" - Stevie Wonder
Pete begins two months of work on his second solo album for Atlantic Records. During this month he goes into Oceanic Studios and records a rehearsal version of "It's In Ya" with John "Rabbit" Bundrick, Peter Hope-Evans, Tony Butler, Mark Brzezcki and Jody Linscott that is later released on Scoop 3. Around this time there is an incident with Rabbit getting violent while drunk. He is fired from The Who, missing the 1982 album and tour.
On the 27th, The Who's "Don't Let Go The Coat" backed with "You" hits the U.S. charts. It peaks at #84 in Billboard, #77 in Cash Box.
June 1982
New music releases: "Africa" - Toto; "Come on Eileen" - Dexys Midnight Runners and the Emerald Express; "Gloria" - Laura Branigan; Lexicon of Love - ABC
The Who are at the Turn-Up-Down Studios located in Glyn Johns' home in Surrey recording It's Hard that will end up being their last studio album for twenty-four years. The sessions are contentious with Roger denouncing the songs as crap and begging Pete to scrap the album. According to Roger, Pete refuses saying, "Too late. It's good enough. That's how we are now."
On the 18th, Pete's LP All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes is released in the UK. The reviews range from lukewarm to strongly negative. Adam Sweeting in Melody Maker calls it belabored, Dave Marsh in Record says it is at least more interesting than The Who's latest work, Robert Palmer in The New York Times calls it an embarrassment, Jon Pareles in Rolling Stone says it is a "listenable mess" and Steve Simels in Stereo Review groups it with Robert Plant's recent solo album as "duds of major proportions." Pete chooses to disagree and to this day calls it his best solo work. The album peaks at #32 in Britain, #26 in the U.S.
June 1984
New music releases: Born In The U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen; Purple Rain - Prince & The Revolution; "Ghostbusters" - Ray Parker, Jr.; Breaking Hearts - Elton John
Pete records "Marty Robbins" on a "weary" cassette machine. It later appears on Scoop 3 and is later re-worked into the song "God Speaks of Marty Robbins" for The Who album Endless Wire.
June 1987
New music releases: Whitney - Whitney Houston; Let It Loose/Anything for You - Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine; Tiffany - Tiffany; La Bamba: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Los Lobos and Various Artists
On the 26th, "Hearts Of Fire" backed with "Lover's Storm," a single from Roger's solo album Can't Wait to See the Movie, is released in the U.K. The 12" version adds "Quicksilver Lightning." It peaks at #88, Roger's last solo single to chart. The single is also released in Germany.
On the 27th, Billboard has Roger's solo track "Take Me Home" entering its Album Rock Tracks chart at #46, its peak.
On the 28th, the soundtrack for the movie The Lost Boys is released in the U.S. where it will peak at #15. It features Roger's recording of "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me."
June 1989
New music releases: Soul Provider - Michael Bolton; The End of The Innocence - Don Henley; Cosmic Thing - The B-52's; "Love Shack" - The B-52's
On the 19th, Pete's The Iron Man, a musical version of Ted Hughes' children's book and featuring two new recordings by The Who, is released in the U.S. The album opens to generally favorable but not enthusiastic reviews. It peaks at #58 in Billboard's album chart and #13 on its Top Compact Disks chart. A single "A Friend Is A Friend" backed with "Man Machines" is also released. It does not make the main Billboard chart but does peak at #3 on the Album Rock Tracks chart along with The Who songs "Dig" at #9 and "Fire" at #44.
June 1991
New music releases: Unforgettable... With Love - Natalie Cole; Luck of the Draw - Bonnie Raitt; "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You" - Bryan Adams; Love Hurts - Cher
Roger sings the Led Zeppelin song "Rock and Roll" on a charity single released as McEnroe & Cash with The Full Metal Rackets. It is done for Rock Aid Armenia.
June 1993
New music releases: "Insane in the Brain" - Cypress Hill; Sleepless in Seattle - Various Artists; Back to Broadway - Barbra Streisand; What's Love Got To Do With It - Tina Turner
On the 15th, Pete's last solo album of new material, PsychoDerelict, is released in the U.S. The U.K. release follows on July 11. Q Magazine says the new songs "aren't terrible" but the radio play around the songs is let down by "terrible dialogue." New Musical Express calls it "dazzling ambitious." Rolling Stone says the album allows Pete to "explore themes that have long obsessed him" despite the story's "cliché and bombast." Entertainment Weekly says it has meaty songs if you can get past the "high concept." Robert Christgau in the Village Voice claims Pete "wrecked his record with voiceovers and bad dialogue." Atlantic Records told Pete they thought the album would be a big seller but it fails to chart in the U.K. while in the U.S. the album peaks at #118.
June 1996
New music releases: Secrets - Toni Braxton; Load - Metallica; "Wannabe" - Spice Girls; Recurring Dream - The Very Best of Crowded House - Crowded House
On the 25th, John's 1986 solo album The Rock gets its first release on an actual record company label, Griffin, in the U.S.
June 2009
New music releases: "I Gotta Feeling" - The Black Eyed Peas; The E.N.D. - The Black Eyed Peas; "Sweet Dreams" - Beyoncé; "Obsessed" - Mariah Carey
On the 9th, The Who's "My Generation" is selected by the National Recording Registry of the U.S. Library of Congress as one of twenty-five culturally significant recordings selected for preservation in a special sound archive.
June 2015
New music releases: "Can't Feel My Face" - The Weeknd; "Lush Life" - Zara Larsson; "679" - Fetty Wap featuring Remy Boyz; "Roses" - The Chainsmokers featuring Rozes
On the 1st, a new song, "Chameleon", with music by and peformed by Pete Townshend appears on YouTube. It comes from the album The Bastard's Tin by Des Horsfall's Kuschty Rye. The lyrics are by Ronnie Lane's ex-wife Kate Lane and is based on a letter she wrote Ronnie.
June 2017
New Music Releases: "Lucid Dreams" - Juice WRLD; "Bodak Yellow" - Cardi B; "When It Rains It Pours" - Luke Combs; "Wild Thoughts" - DJ Khaled featuring Rihanna and Bryson Tiller
On the 21st, a single by Artists for Grenville of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" is released. Both Pete and Roger take part in the charity recording. It goes to #1 and as they are listed as "The Who", it becomes The Who's first official #1 single in the U.K. Pete will go on to write the powerful "Street Song" about the disaster for 2019's album WHO.
June 2018
New Music Releases: Scorpion - Drake; "Be Alright" - Dean Lewis; "Praise the Lord (Da Shine)" - A$ap Rocky; "In My Mind" - Dynoro & Gigi D'Agostino
On the 1st, Roger's first solo studio album in 26 years, As Long As I Have You, is released in the U.K. by Polydor. Solo has to be somewhat qualified as Pete plays guitar on seven of the tracks. The Times gives it four stars and Rolling Stone gives it three and a half saying, "Seventy-four-year-old Daltrey's voice is a little gruffer than it was when he was a young buck, but it's as strong and passionate as ever." In the U.K. it peaks at #8 while in the U.S. it only reaches #194.
June 2021
New music releases: "Bad Habits" - Ed Sheeran; "Remember" - Becky Hill and David Guetta; "Pepas" - Farruko; "You Right" - Doja Cat and The Weeknd
On the 5th, Pete is interviewed by Will Hodgkinson in The Times about Gustav Metzger on the occasion of the opening of a Metzger show in London.
On the 12th, a 2-Lp expanded version of Face Dances is released for Record Store Day.
On the 14th, Pete allows his song "Give Blood" to be used to promote World Blood Donor Day.
Revell releases a 1:24 scale VW T1 Tour Bus decked out with Who logos.
Also on the 15th, Roger is a guest talking about Covid-19 on GB News.
On the 17th, Roger meets The Act, the winner of a competition of new bands. They won a top-of-the-range Martin acoustic guitar but have decided to donate it to the Teenage Cancer Trust. In thanks, Roger presents them with one of his stage mikes.
On the 23rd, Roger cancels a planned tour. "When I booked these shows several months ago, I was confident that things would be back to normal by August, but due to the uncertainty of the current travel situation and the challenges for a UK act to be able to perform in the USA I have reluctantly decided to cancel the shows."
Also on the 23rd, Car Seat Headrest releases their Ep MADLO: Influences featuring a cover of "Substitute"
