“Roger Daltrey has been a world-famous star since the early 1960s when he began his career as the lead singer of The Who, and has since become one of the most popular vocalists in rock music history.” So claims a press release from CBS Entertainment, which draws attention to the fact that Daltrey is going to have a role on a forthcoming episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. “World-famous star.” “Most popular vocalists in rock music history.” Well, it would be hard to disprove that, although the pneumatic praise is a little humid and musty.
“Daltrey is currently on a major worldwide tour with The Who, promoting their current album, Endless Wire,” the release notes. Here is something that can be completely disproved. When Daltrey became a “world-famous star” it was with a band consisting of four people. Two of the four are dead. Now Daltrey and one of them, the guy who wrote the song that’s used as the theme song for CSI, are out touring. That’s 50%. Which effectively makes it a duo. “The Who” does not exist, marketing notwithstanding. “The Who” is effectively a part of “rock music history.”
[To put Daltrey’s appearance on CSI in perspective, consider this: Mr. Britney Spears, Kevin Federline will be guest starring in tonight’s episode – ed.]
Pardon my nitpick… While I will admit that Roger has become just another rock whore (cf. Mick Jagger), he does deserve the proper spelling of his last name to read DaltrEy. This common spelling error has plagued him since the ’60s, when his own record label (Decca) spelled it wrong for their first two albums, so high was their regard for one of the few rock acts on their label.
Grazie, as you were…
To save us from the abuse of that could occur from misquoting the “This Just In. . .from CBS Entertainment,” we slipped in and added the missing E’s from the surname in question. (Good catch, by the way, DJ.) Your reference to Jagger does bring to mind the question of how many Stones need there be for there to be, well, the Stones?
Mac,
My vote is for three Stones: Brian Jones, Keef, and Mick Taylor.
Phil:
What about Billy Preston?
Everyone knows he’s a Beatle.
One thing that watching that U2 concert video reminded me was how few rock bands last more than a few years with all of the original members. Other than U2, can you think of any other bands that have been working for more than 20 years with the same lineup they started with?