I am debating about writing an essay about The Who, figuring who is gonna read it and who really cares.....but that is not the point of this whole project. This was an undertaking to get a grip on web design, and The Life and Times of Gooch was something to focus on with a ton of humor hopefully spread throughout. Hope I didn't stray too far from that premise. ENOUGH!!! I remember as a youngster stuff like OO EE OO AH AH TING TANG WALLA WALLA BING BANG playing on the radio and itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini and the monster mash and flying purple people eater. Stuff that was so dumb ya hadda listen. Specially if one was 10 years old. That was the music of the late fifties, early sixties. Along with Frankie Avalon and Bobbie Rydell and Rickie Nelson. I don't have any recollection of Elvis though. Chubby Checker and the Twist and the Mashed Potatoes-just kinda fluff stuff. But in '63 it happened. On a Sunday night, The Ed Sullivan Show brought to my world The Beatles! Now this was something an 11 year old noticed. The Beetles! Whatta name? And into the mid-sixties with the Rolling Stones and Dave Clark Five and The Kinks, these British bands were leaving their mark on Top 40 radio. In 1967 I was 15 and The Summer of Love was in full swing(whatever that meant) and San Francisco was the scene of these emerging bands with a totally different style. The Airplane, the Dead, Janis and from LA The Doors, Buffalo Springfield and in England psychedelia was running rampant! Cream and Jimi and The Who! The Byrds and Iron Butterfly sounded great to me and at 16 I was buying records from The Boston Store, Neisners, State Street Mill, Clarks Music, Woolworths. I remember my first 45 bought at Woolworths, hadda be '63, Ricky Nelson-For You, on a Saturday morning. Almost 40 years ago but I will never forget. And from the deep reaches of State Street Mill I came out with The Beatles-A Hard Days Night, my first album in '64. And we listened to that stuff constantly on those tiny little record players. HAHAHA By the late '60s I realized how deep this music was getting and there was some substance to those screeching guitars. I remember I CAN SEE FOR MILES and MAGIC BUS and HAPPY JACK and PINBALL WIZARD great songs all and it took us to Woodstock which changed the meaning of this music scene cause we then realized how big it really was. And in 1970 I was 18 and it was a new decade and I wasn't a kid any more. Viet Nam was the topic of conversation in America back then. I was out of school and never went to college. An incredible time in my life cause I did not have a clue as to what I was gonna do. My friends all around me were big into drugs and alcohol by then, something senseless and unappealing to me. And I was kinda drifting along with a very unhappy family life and absolutely no focus. SHEESH! Ain't it kinda strange, but truth to the matter, it was the summer of '71 and my sister brought me along with her friends to Saratoga New York TO SEE THE WHO!!!And it may be hard to believe, but whatever Pete Townshend, Roger Daltry, John Entwistle and Keith Moon did that night, Aug. 2, 1971, it changed my life cause it got me interested in this rock'n'roll band which would influence all my actions and thoughts for years to come. And it was some kinda spritual thing cause it reached deep inside of me. Why I don't know. Geuss it was there when I needed it. The Who's Next album was with me forever then. If I didn't listen to it thousands of times, I would throw it on the old turntable and listen to it again. Baba O'Riley! That hypnotic synthesizer sequence was something unlike I had ever heard and it became kinda my theme song. I was 20 years old with thoughts as bold...The Who and Pete Townshend merited my full attention. All my friends of the time knew of my Who passion and I was there to say HEY!!! listen to this!!! I wasn't quite aware that one could just zip off and see a band somewhere, so I didn't see this live act for awhile, of course I didn't have a car or a license to get me there anyway. So I just listened to that music. Still plenty of older discs to absorb notably The Who Sell Out and of course Tommy AND PETE RELEASED A SERIES OF INCREDIBLE MEHAR BABA ALBUMS ALONG WITH WHO CAME FIRST. A stunning masterpiece followed up by THE WHO's glory years compilation MEATY BEATY BIG AND BOUNCY which fully informed me about The Who's legacy. And in the fall of '73, Quadrophenia was released and....Pete took his guitar playing to another plane. INCREDIBLE 4 sides of pure genius. The Who driven by Pete Townshend. In June of'74 I had a chance to witness the power and glory of a Keith Moon drumming Who as Dave Owens led the way to NYC and MSG for one of the 4 nights. Pretty impressive tho poorly spoken of as years passed by Pete himself. And the next year I saw them in Buffalo with assorted members of the Nielson Street boys and the last Keith Moon show in Toronto Oct '76 with Marty and Steve Keating. I had witnessed four Keith Moon Who shows and without a doubt, they were the greatest rock'n'roll band to sling a guitar. And records like Who By Numbers revealed Pete to be a tortured soul numbed by alcohol, searching. Maybe if he didn't drink so much he wouldn't have been such a miserable old thing, but that is the price one pays to be able to write great songs. Happiness just don't result in a powerful record. Unfortunately, the weight of The Who was dragging Townshend down and after 15 years, it was getting difficult to maintain that excellence and passion. The tragedy of 1978 with the death of Keith Moon in a way released him from such constraints, but it forever changed the band and the songs he wrote. One more great tour in '79-'80 left Who fans raving for more as Pete's wondrous guitar and John's digital dexterity more than compensated for Kenny Jones weak drumming, hard to follow Moonie. But some substandard Who albums, FACE DANCES and IT'S HARD, left the band with an uncertain future as Pete poured his passion and soul into some of his greatest work in solo albums, EMPTY GLASS and CHINESE EYES. And in the end, 1982 was the Farewell Tour. Pete could not stand up to the legacy of The Who and Keith's death and had to call it a loan. One last tour to put it all in perspective and send the band out on a high number. And this is where The Who Story according to Gooch ties everything into a neat package. From Sept. thru Dec., The Who toured North America. Realizing this was it, I planned on seeing as many shows as possible. Starting in DC for 2 nights and rolling thru Philly Buffalo and Pittsburgh, I was with a contingent of Who fans from Utica. An unbelievable spectacle in Buffalo, capped by rain of all things. I continued up to Toronto and New Jersey and two nights at Shea Stadium. And after a break, I continued til the end. St. louis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Syracuse Cleveland and the finale, two nights in Toronto. Now I think the shows were getting stale as the last few albums made up the bulk of the concerts and they could not sustain excitement night after night. And then, it was over. WOW But the months on the road led one to recognize familiar faces and before ya knew it, Jared, Marc, Alison, The Lewk, Sol, Gary, Scott, Melissa and Jim Fromalbini were friends. This stuff is well chronicled in WHO'S NEWS if ya ever come across those fanzine nasterpieces. And in '85 at Live Aid, Marc led me on a Who history trek through England and I met Marty. Unfortunately, I was not moved by the first reunion in '89. I thought it was sacrilege to associate other guitar players and female backup singers with the Who and I was very disappointed. As the '90s were well underway, Townshends first solo tour was the rage. I followed it from beginning to end-Chicago, and there they were; Who fans supreme. I met Alan and Alan, Susan, Margaret, my favorite Jersey girl Jackie, Lew, Lloyd and undoubtedly others whose names are lost to advancing age and in '96 a PT mini tour where I met Lisa G and Lisa S and Pete and Seth and at all times these folks were the core following of Pete and the Who and what a camaradarie and friendship which developed. And through the Quadrophenia tour that year and into Maryville Academy and A Day in the Garden to Harbor Lights and The Bridge School, Las Vegas, and House of Blues. And then all of a sudden......that was it. I had sorta gotten kinda disillusioned! Sheesh! And when the Who played in 2000, it was the first time in 30 years that I did not care! Oh well....but I gotta say all that traveling and Whoing was an adventure....no, more than that, it was a way of life that was my life and the people I met and the memories I cherish, will be with me until eternity beckons...SOOOO I wanna dedicate this page to Susan and Alan Who helped me so much in the pursuit of those elusive tickets and kept me in tune with their inside info and took concern of my life in general and were fun to hang out with and do some major coagulating and were just down and out plain and simple great friends! THE BIGGEST WHO FANS IN THE KNOWN OMNIVERSE!!! THANK_YOU! And a big thank-you to Jared and Marc for their incredible Whoness and WHO'S NEWS-the fanzine that started it all! And Alan from Texas!!! I remember first meeting Alan in NYC during Townshend '93 and immediately liking this tall Texan. I had so much fun hanging out and getting his Christmas cards! And Margaret! What a vision when I first met her in NYC Townshending '93. Always willing to help and donate her time and efforts for the betterment of Who fans everywhere! And I can never forget her buying me some Playboy magazine cause it had a great Pete interview!!!!hahaha Margaret, I don't have a picture! And I do not have anymore words(cause words don't exist ) for my favorite Jersey girl, Jackie! She will be forever a friend.

I'm Going HOME....