The Who Sell Out (1967)

The Who Sell Out is the third studio album by the English rock band the Who. It was released on 15 December 1967 by Track Records in the UK and Decca Records in the US. A concept album, The Who Sell Out is structured as a collection of unrelated songs interspersed with fake commercials and public service announcements, including the second track "Heinz Baked Beans". The album purports to be a broadcast by pirate radio station Radio London. The reference to "selling out" was an intended irony, as the Who had been making real commercials during that period of their career, some of which are included as bonus tracks on the remastered CD.

The album was primarily written by guitarist Pete Townshend, though three tracks were penned by bassist John Entwistle and one by Speedy Keen. Al Kooper makes a guest appearance on two tracks. The album was produced by the band's manager Kit Lambert.

The album's release was reportedly followed by lawsuits due to the mention of real-world commercial interests in the faux commercials and on the album covers, and by the makers of the real jingles (Radio London jingles), who claimed the Who used them without permission (the jingles were produced by PAMS Productions of Dallas, Texas, which created thousands of station identification jingles in the 1960s and 1970s). The deodorant company Odorono took offence that Chris Stamp made a request for endorsement dollars. "I Can See for Miles" was the only song from the album released as a single and peaked at number 10 in the UK and number 9 in the US, becoming the band's highest-charting single and only Top 10 hit in the latter region.

The Who Sell Out has received widespread acclaim from critics, some of whom viewed it as the Who's best record. It has also frequently been featured on all-time lists of the best albums, including Rolling Stone magazine's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". However, it was the band's lowest-charting album on the UK Albums Chart, where it peaked at number 13.

Background

Initially, the band's follow-up to A Quick One was to be titled Who's Lily after their recent single "Pictures of Lily". Early cuts, such as a cover of "Summertime Blues", the Coke jingles, and the instrumental "Sodding About", showed the influence of Track Records label-mate Jimi Hendrix on Townshend's guitar playing.

Even before the group had formed, the members of the Who had been profoundly influenced by rock 'n' roll appearing on the radio. The BBC did not broadcast much contemporary music at the time, which was left to stations like Radio Luxembourg and then-pirate radio stations such as Radio Caroline, Radio Scotland and Wonderful Radio London. By the end of 1966, the Who had achieved commercial success owing to the mod movement that made up a significant section of the group's early audience. However, the movement was fading, and the TV show Ready, Steady, Go that had boosted the group to fame had been cancelled. The group started touring the US the following year, and started to achieve success with their live act.

In summer 1967, the group's managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp suggested the band could create a concept album based on pirate radio and structure it in the same manner as that, or a typical US AM radio station. As pirate radio had been influential to mods, it was felt particularly appropriate to pay tribute to it. As well as the music, the inter-song announcements and jingles were a key component of radio, so it was decided to include a selection of humorous asides on the album. In his book Maximum R & B, Who confidant Richard Barnes claims he came up with the idea of the band recording commercial jingles after their cover version of the Batman theme appeared on the Ready Steady Who EP. Barnes posited the idea to Roger Daltrey, whose similar suggestions to Pete Townshend were allegedly met initially with derision. However, Townshend later claimed in his memoir that he came up with the concept for the album.

The Marine, &c., Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 came into effect at midnight on 14 August 1967, outlawing all pirate stations (except for Radio Caroline North and South) and strengthening the album's effect as a tribute. The aspect separated the Who from their contemporaries in the developing underground rock scene, both musically and stylistically.

Writing and recording

According to music critic Richie Unterberger, The Who Sell Out featured "jubilant" psychedelic pop music that veers between "melodic mod pop and powerful instrumentation", while Edna Gundersen from USA Today said the album's style was power pop.