5 Excellent Songs by The Who, Sung by Pete Townshend

Pete Townshend gets plenty of recognition as one of the strongest songwriters of the rock era. On top of that, his guitar playing also stands out, as his windmilling, power-chord heavy style has influenced legions.

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But how about Pete as a singer? We know that he’s put together a solid solo career. And he’s also taken lead vocals on many excellent songs by The Who. We’ve singled out these five as highlights.

“Odorono” from ‘The Who Sell Out’ (1967)

The Who Sell Out was one of Pete Townshend’s first efforts at a concept album with the band. They mostly abandoned the whole idea of a radio show with ads on the second side of the LP. Nonetheless, the album comes adorned with some of the band’s sharpest pop songs. We could have chosen “Sunrise”, a pensive ballad sung by Townshend that’s also from this album, for this list. Instead, we went with “Odorono”, a quirky but fun combination of story song and character sketch about a wannabe starlet whose hopes are felled by a lack of deodorant.

“Going Mobile” from ‘Who’s Next’ (1971)

The Who stumbled into their masterpiece with Who’s Next. The 1971 album came from the Lifehouse project that Pete Townshend couldn’t quite bring to fruition. Instead of abandoning the individual songs, he turned them into a standard Who album. “Going Mobile” acts as a bit of a change of pace in the middle of the more momentous songs on the record, like “Baba O’Riley” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again”. Townshend espouses the need for escape, doing so in a mobile home. He plays the role of “air-conditioned gypsy” quite well.

“I’m One” from ‘Quadrophenia’ (1973)

Tommy got there first, so that tends to be the “rock opera” that most people think about when talking about The Who. But Quadrophenia feels like the more impressive achievement when you weigh the two against each other. For one thing, Quadrophenia rocks a little bit harder. And then there’s the juggling act Pete Townshend does with the narrative, which somehow tells the story of both the fictional protagonist and of the four band members. “I’m One” feels like a personal one for Pete, as he sings of a kid who feels like an outsider but still holds belief in his identity.

“Blue, Red And Grey” from ‘The Who By Numbers’ (1975)

The concept albums finally petered out with The Who By Numbers in 1975. Free of having to stick with some kind of through line, the change in approach allowed Pete Townshend the opportunity to try some different types of songs. In the case of “Blue, Red And Grey”, he considered it more of a throwaway than anything else. That’s Pete playing ukulele, while John Entwistle chips in with some horns. Townshend didn’t think it was worthy of appearing on the album. Luckily, producer Glyn Johns convinced him of the worth of this sweet, melodically rich ballad.

“Eminence Front” from ‘It’s Hard’ (1982)

By 1982, The Who were running on fumes. Pete Townshend would break up the band for a while shortly after that. And although it wasn’t too long before they were performing live again, they wouldn’t come out with another studio album for 24 years after It’s Hard. If the album gives us one glimpse of the power of the old days, “Eminence Front” is definitely it. Townshend offers up a riff into which we can sink our teeth. The lyrics are tough and unsparing, as he chastises those who would hide from reality behind their various vices.

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