Pete Townsend impaled a low roof in a small club and received racous applause. It may have been a mistake on his part but the crowd loved it and he was probably a bit pissed about damaging an expensive guitar but an art form of sorts was invented: guitar smashing. Pete will go on to name this an act of auto destruction, a concept taught to him by an instructor at Art College. Frustration, angst, Art, crowd pleaser, the video below shows you some other fellows who got in on the act of guitar abuse including Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore, Kiss’ Paul Stanley and Jimi Hendrix who sprayed his axe with lighter fluid and barbequed the six-stringer. To each his own method of destruction!
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THE WHO – “WON’T GET FOOLED AGAIN” – LIVE – 1978
A perfect document of an intense rock band performing live. Here are The Who performing “Won’t Get Fooled Again”, live, as part of a filmed segment to be included in a documentary about the band’s history, “The Kids Are Alright”. Jeff Stein directed the documentary and caught and edited this spirited performance of the song which originally appeared on their studio release, “Who’s Next”. The Who have always excelled as a live act and this is surely one of their most classic live documents. Keith Moon tirelessly rattles out his drum parts. Roger Daltrey shrieks and howls his way through the lyrics. Pete Townsend prances, windmills and otherwise abuses his guitar and body throughout the song. And, the great bass virtuoso, John Entwistle, effortlessly produces amazingly fleet note runs on his instrument. Iconic.