The Who – I Can’t Explain

Written by: Pete Townshend
Released as a single in 1964
When I got hooked: 1990
The thing that got me hooked: Keith Moon

The live recording at the bottom of this post was actually my introduction to The Who. My Dad had noticed I was into 60’s music and got me a music video compilation on VHS with hits from the 60’s. I liked a lot of the music that was on it, but – goddammit – The Who blew my 10 year old head off. All the members impressed me, but it certainly was the young Keith Moon (only 17 at the time) on drums that grabbed most of my attention. I had never seen drumming like that. So funny and cool, yet so good. In later years I have switched my attention to the late great John Entwistle on bass.

On the original recording it’s worth noting that Jimmy Page, then an unknown studio musician, played the lead guitar.

Music was never the same again. This song was also the starting point of a life-long love of The Who that’s still going strong.

PS! Doesn’t Pete Townshend look a lot like Nicholas Cage on the top?

Donovan – Sunshine Superman

Written by: Donovan Leitch
Released: 1966
Album: Sunshine Superman
When I got hooked: 1989
The thing that got me hooked: The guitar solo with a volume pedal from 3:09 to 3:15.

Donovan was one of the first artists I ever dug. I just loved the «Greatest Hits» album (originally released in 1969) that I had on tape. Even though all his songs were and still are great, the one I loved the most was «Sunshine Superman».

It has a great groove to it and really was ahead of its time in many ways when you think about how important a groove is in music these days. But it was the chorus and the guitar solo that really hooked me. And it didn’t make it worse when I later learned that the working title for the song was «For John & Paul». It’s also noteworthy that half of soon-to-be Led Zeppelin played on this song: Jimmy Page on guitar and John Paul Jones on bass.

Even though I was only 9 years old in 1989, I still remember when Mum pointed out the fact that the cassette cover I kept the Donovan tape in was actually a Leonard Cohen cover. She handed me Donovan’s and I refused to accept it. You see, I was so used to seeing Cohen’s face and was convinced it was him singing. I thought Donovan was too ugly.

I didn’t tell him that story when I had the honour of meeting him a few years ago.