Today in Music (1965): The Who released their debut album, My Generation

My Generation The Who

Released: December 20, 1965 Peak: -- US, 5 UK, -- CN, 153 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.1 UK, -- world (includes US and UK) Genre: classic rock

Tracks: Click on a song titled for more details. Out in the Street [2:30] I Don’t Mind [2:32] The Good’s Gone [3:59] La-La-La Lies [2:12] Much Too Much [2:45] My Generation [3:15] The Kids Are Alright [2:42] Please, Please, Please [2:45] It’s Not True [2:30] I’m a Man [3:23] A Legal Matter [2:47] The Ox [3:49] Total Running Time: 33:59 Also from This Era: I Can’t Explain Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere The Players: Roger Daltrey (vocals) Pete Townshend (guitar, vocals) John Entwistle (bass) Keith Moon (drums)

Rating: 3.976 out of 5.00 (average of 26 ratings) Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album “An explosive debut, and the hardest mod pop recorded by anyone. At the time of its release, it also had the most ferociously powerful guitars and drums yet captured on a rock record. Pete Townshend's exhilarating chord crunches and guitar distortions threaten to leap off the grooves on My Generation and Out in the Street.” AM “Keith Moon attacks the drums with a lightning, ruthless finesse throughout. Some ‘Maximum R&B’ influence lingered in the two James Brown covers, but much of Townshend's original material fused Beatlesque hooks and power chords with anthemic mod lyrics, with The Good's Gone, Much Too Much, La La La Lies, and especially The Kids Are Alright being highlights.” AM “A Legal Matter hinted at more ambitious lyrical concerns, and The Ox was instrumental mayhem that pushed the envelope of 1965 amplification with its guitar feedback and nonstop crashing drum rolls. While the execution was sometimes crude, and the songwriting not as sophisticated as it would shortly become, the Who never surpassed the pure energy level of this record.” AM U.S. Version The U.S. version of the album, which was called The Who Sings My Generation, omitted “I’m a Man,” put “The Ox” before “A Legal Matter,” and added “Circles” at the end. Reissue The 2002 2-CD Deluxe Version maintains the original UK track listing, adds “Circles” on the end, and then includes a whopping 17 bonus tracks. Among the extras are alternate versions of “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere,” “Instant Party,” “I Don’t Mind,” “The Good’s Gone,” “A Legal Matter,” and two versions of “My Generation.” Also included are “I Can’t Explain,” “Bald Headed Woman,” “Daddy Rollin’ Stone,” “Leaving Here,” “Lubie (Come Back Home),” “Shout and Shimmy,” “Heat Wave,” “Motoring,” and “Anytime You Want Me” (2 versions). The Songs Here’s a breakdown of each of the individual songs.

I Can’t Explain The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: single (12/19/1964), Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy (compilation, 1971), Hooligans (compilation, 1981), Who’s Better Who’s Best (compilation, 1988), My Generation: The Very Best of (compilation, 1996), The Ultimate Collection (compilation, 2002), Then & Now (compilation, 2004), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2009), Hits 50! (compilation, 2014) B-side: “Bald Headed Woman” Peak: 93 BB, 57 CB, 72 HR, 2 CL, 8 UK, 87 AU, 7 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 14.0 video, 33.54 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: Critic Dave Marsh said, “’I Can’t Explain’ changed my life the first time I heard it, when I was fifteen, by giving me a sound whose power I’ve spent a whole lot of the rest of my life searching to renew. It was the first record I’d heard that revealed British rock with the same purifying intensity as soul and fifties rock and roll…If some aspects of what makes ‘I Can’t Explain’ great have grown fuzzier with the passage of time, the central kernel of its greatness has become more obvious: Keith Moon plays lead drums the way other bands had people playing lead guitar…The sheer audacity of that act remains amazing and inspiring.” DM

Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey Released: single (UK, 5/21/1965), single (US, 6/5/1965), Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy (compilation, 1971), Who’s Better Who’s Best (compilation, 1988), My Generation: The Very Best of (compilation, 1996), The Ultimate Collection (compilation, 2002), Hits 50! (compilation, 2014) B-side: “Daddy Rolling Stone” (UK), “Anytime You Want Me” (US) Peak: 26 CL, 10 UK, 8 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 0.29 video, 2.09 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere” was the only time Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend wrote a song together. WK The song is notable as one of the first to feature recorded guitar feedback. WK It also features piano from Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Nicky Hopkins, who also played with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Kinks.

Out in the Street The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: B-side of “My Generation” (11/20/1965), My Generation (12/20/1965) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.82 streaming

I Don’t Mind The Who

Writer(s): James Brown Released: My Generation (12/20/1965) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.78 streaming

The Good’s Gone The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: My Generation (12/20/1965) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.69 streaming

La-La-La Lies The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: My Generation (12/20/1965) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.67 streaming

Much Too Much The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: My Generation (12/20/1965) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.43 streaming

My Generation The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend (see lyrics here) Released: single (UK, 10/29/1965), single (US, 11/20/1965), My Generation (12/20/1965), Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy (compilation, 1971), Greatest Hits (compilation, 1983), Who’s Better Who’s Best (compilation, 1988), My Generation: The Very Best of (compilation, 1996), The Ultimate Collection (compilation, 2002), Then & Now (compilation, 2004), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2009), Hits 50! (compilation, 2014) B-side: “Shout and Shimmy” (UK), “Out in the Street” (US) Peak: 74 BB, 99 CB, 79 HR, 1 CL, 2 UK, 3 CN, 2 AU, 1 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- US, 0.25 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 23.11 video, 260.30 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “This was punk before its time – but not even the Sex Pistols were as negative as this.” HL This song captured in the studio the “atmosphere of chaos and disorder” TC which the Who brought to the stage with their “gear-trashing finales.” RS500 This was “a good nominee for rock’s most explosive expression of adolescent rebellion.” AMG It was “the ultimate teen anthem in 1965, and it still holds that spot today.” DT Guitarist and songwriter Pete Townshend told Rolling Stone that it “was very much about trying to find a place in society…I was very, very lost.” RS500 His efforts were to capture the fear about “ the impending strictures of adult life, famously captured in the line ‘Hope I die ’fore I get old.’” RS500 Rumor has it that Townsend was on a train from London to Southampton, on his way to a television appearance on his twentieth birthday when he penned the song. RS500 Manager Kit Lambert had urged Townshend “to make a statement” SJ and, as Townsend said in 1967, “’It’s the only really successful social comment I’ve ever made.” SJ Bob Dylan said, “Pete seems to have a chip on his shoulder in this song. But he’s not totally confident; he’s somewhat back on his heels. There’s a certain defensiveness. He knows people put him down just because he gets around. Perhaps he feels like he will never measure up or he knows they resent his generation’s newly abundant leisure time. He wishes they would just disappear, fade away…We all rail at the previous generation but somehow know it’s only a matter of time until we will become them ourselves.” BD Musically, the song’s energy matched “the Who’s live gear-trashing finales.” SS The song not only sports “Townshend spewing feedback all over Keith Moon’s avalanche drumming,” RS500 but, thanks to John Entwistle, “the first ever bass solo on a pop record.” TB Of course, what made the song truly iconic was the stuttered vocal of Roger Daltrey. Lambert had suggested the style to “sound like a British kid on speed.” SF The fumbled words starting off with“F” sound like they’ll be obsence TC and end up symbolizing “the barely articulated frustration of youth.” AMG The BBC briefly banned the record because they thought the stammering was covering for bad language. SS The song began life as a slow-talking blues based on a Jimmy Reed melody. SS It went through months of being reworked RS500 with the band attempting to record it on three different occasions AMG before getting it in two takes on October 13, 1965. RS500

The Kids Are Alright The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: single (US, July 1966), single (UK, 8/12/1966), My Generation (12/20/1965), Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy (compilation, 1971), Who’s Better Who’s Best (compilation, 1988), The Ultimate Collection (compilation, 2002), Then & Now (compilation, 2004), Greatest Hits (compilation, 2009), Hits 50! (compilation, 2014) B-side: “A Legal Matter” (US), “The Ox” (UK) Peak: 85 CB, 98 HR, 11 CL, 41 UK, 7 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 8.4 video, 9.59 streaming

Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Song: “The Kids Are Alright” wasn’t a major single, peaking at a mere #41 in the UK and missing the Billboard Hot 100 in America entirely. However, that song and “My Generation” “became anthems for the band and the Mod subculture of Britain in the 1960s.” WK It would also become the name for a 1979 documentary about the band.

Please, Please, Please The Who

Writer(s): James Brown, John Tery Released: My Generation (12/20/1965) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.52 streaming

It’s Not True The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: My Generation (12/20/1965) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.45 streaming

I’m a Man The Who

Writer(s): Bo Diddley Released: My Generation (12/20/1965) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 0.37 streaming

A Legal Matter The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend Released: single (3/7/1966), B-side of “The Kids Are Alright” (US, July 1966), My Generation (12/20/1965), Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy (compilation, 1971), The Ultimate Collection (compilation, 2002) B-side: “Instant Party” Peak: 42 CL, 32 UK, 83 AU, 29 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.47 streaming

The Ox The Who

Writer(s): Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, Keith Moon, Nicky Hopkins Released: B-side of “The Kids Are Alright” (UK, 8/12/1966), My Generation (12/20/1965) Peak: -- Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, -- video, 1.15 streaming

Resources/References: AM AllMusic.com album review by Richie Unterberger of My Generation AMG AllMusic.com page for “My Generation” TC Toby Creswell (2005). 1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time. Thunder’s Mouth Press: New York, NY. Page 407. BD Bob Dylan (2022). The Philosophy of Modern Song. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. Pages 41-4. HL Michael Heatley and Spencer Leigh (1998). Behind the Song: The Stories of 100 Great Pop & Rock Classics. Blandford Books: London, UK. Page 126. DM Dave Marsh (1989). The Heart of Rock & Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made. New American Library: New York, NY. Pages 92-3 and page 269. RS500 Rolling Stone (2011). “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time” SJ Bob Shannon and John Javna (1986). Behind the Hits: Inside Stories of Classic Pop and Rock and Roll. Warner Brothers, Inc.: New York, NY. Page 174. SF Songfacts.com SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Pages 701-2. DT Dave Thompson (2011). 1000 Songs That Rock Your World. Krause Publications: Iola, WI. Page 271. TB Thunder Bay Press (2006). Singles: Six Decades of Hot Hits & Classic Cuts. Outline Press Ltd.: San Diego, CA. Page 75. WK Wikipedia page for “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere” WK Wikipedia page for “The Kids Are Alright” Related DMDB Pages: First posted 5/19/2010; last updated 9/1/2025.