Too much, the Magic Bus

I gather, via the magic of Twitterbookery, that today is the anniversary of the Who recording their 'Live At Leeds' LP in 1970.

This was the first vaguely rare album I ever bought, back in my last year at school: it was out of print ( in New Zealand anyway - this was summer 1980-81) but the record store in Pukekohe had an imported copy.

It was the summer Dad got lepto & I'd been working on the farm a lot: one Saturday arvo
I hopped on my mike and cycled 35 kms to get it.

The original vinyl only had about eight tracks: an expanded version was released on CD in 1995 and I think there's since been a 'Deluxe Version' [or a 'We'll throw on a few extra demos and stuff and get the punters to buy the same product again' Version].

I loved the Who at the time (still really like them but more alive to their limitations) and this showed them at their peak.

This clip is from that show - it only has bits and will mean nothing to non-fans. What is noticeable is how much the film is focussed on drummer Keith Moon.

Normally anyone filming a band focuses on the lead singer, cutting away a bit to the other musos - with the drummer usually getting only marginally more attention than the bass player.

But Moon was a lead drummer, probably *the* lead drummer. Utterly insane, according to legend:
and unfortunately the legend took him over and killed him at 32 - but this is filmed when he was still in his prime.

He's all over the drum kit - but its not just a random bash and crash. He knows what he's doing.