100 GREAT SONGS FROM THE BRITISH INVASION: ‘THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT’- THE WHO

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The Who - The Kids Are Alright - Vinyl

100 Great Songs From The British Invasion: ‘The Kids Are Alright’- The Who.

The Who’s lack of success on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US has always puzzled me. I know they had a number of hits- but they should have had more. Get a copy of The Who’s compilation of their work in the 1960’s- which takes you up to Who’s Next- Meaty, Beaty, Big And Bouncy- there are fourteen songs on that compilation and all of them should have been big hits if you ask me [well a case could be made that ‘Boris The Spider’ may not have been ‘hit’ material-although I do love that song.] ‘The Kids Are Alright’ was released on The Who’s first album My Generation- and while it wasn’t a hit in either the US or UK- it became one of the bands anthems- and in the late 70’s- the great documentary on The Who- was named The Kids Are Alright.

The Who’s guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend would say of ‘The Kids Are Alright’-

“When I wrote this song I was nothing but a kid, trying to work out right and wrong through all the things I did. I was kind of practising with my life. I was kind of taking chances in a marriage with my wife. I took some stuff and I drank some booze. There was almost nothing that I didn’t try to use. And somehow I’m alright.”

Single: ‘The Kids Are Alright’- The Who/ Written by Pete Townshend/ Recorded October 13, 1965/ Time: 2:45/ Produced by Shel Talmy/ Record Company- Decca/ Released July 1966 US and August 12, 1966 UK/ Peaked at #106 in US Billboard Hot 100 #41 in UK Singles Chart.

8 responses to “100 GREAT SONGS FROM THE BRITISH INVASION: ‘THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT’- THE WHO”

  3. I’m stunned that this one didn’t do better in the charts, since it is one of their most enduring anthems. I’ve heard it my whole life. So, I went digging for info (aka searched on wikipedia). From what I found there, it came down to those particular singles from the ‘My Generation’ album not getting promoted. Maybe a disconnect between the band and their label? I do recall from their bios that they were one of the bands of that era who wanted to stop putting out singles and be strictly an album band. Maybe their label had other plans and tried to carry them out without the band’s blessing.

  6. This one is a great one Hans…so underrated..you don’t hear about these singles when the Who comes up except for My Generation… It’s always from Tommy onward which is unfair.

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