And then three years after Earls Court this happened…

On stage with The Who 43 years ago this week…

The Whole Story:

43 years ago this week on May 25 1978, I was lucky enough to attend a secret filming of The Who at Shepperton Studios. This was arranged to capture footage for their film the Kids Are Alright. Little did I know back then that a rather excited spontaneous leap on to the stage by me at the close of their performance of Won’t Get Fooled Again would be captured for all time – and featured in the film – and subsequently on DVD and YouTube.

So how did all this happen?

Well firstly I was a big Who fan for sure – and had been since 1969. Pinball Wizard was one of the first singles I’d owned. I’d seen them at the Empire Pool Wembley in October 1975 and at Charlton on a very rainy bank Holiday in May 1976 – on both occasions they were absolutely brilliant. I loved all the albums – particularly Quadrophenia, Who’s Next and The Who By Numbers – albums that spoke to me, were my guiding light and packed power and emotion – next to Led Zeppelin during this era, they were my second favourite band without a doubt.

In 1977, The Who began making a film to be titled the Kids Are Alright – a career spanning documentary. For that purpose in December 1977 they decided to perform a low key gig at Kilburn State Theatre in London. My very good friend Dec through the then boyfriend of his sister Yvonne, managed to get in on this gig. A guy named Steve Margo was the link – he was a massive Who fan – along with another high profile Who fan ‘Irish’ Jack Lyons and one or two others, later staged a Who Exhibition at London’s ICA in August 1978.

Back to the story – the gig was arranged at short notice and due to the fact I had no phone at home at that point (how ridiculous that seems now!), Dec was unable to inform me that this gig was on – so I missed out. However, all was not lost

The Who were unhappy with the footage they got that day and decided to have another go at capturing footage for the film. In early May we heard through Steve Margo that The Who would soon be staging a gig in London to be filmed for the documentary. Plans were all veiled in secrecy – eventually word came though and we were instructed to meet at Hyde Park Corner on the morning of May 25, 1978.

At that time Led Zeppelin were somewhat inactive following the curtailing of their 1977 US tour due to the tragic death of Robert Plant’s son. In May there were reports in the press that they had re grouped at Clearwell Castle for some rehearsing. Later in the year they would travel to Abba’s studio in Stockholm to record The In Through The Out Door album.  In early May, I was contacted by Sounds writer Geoff Barton. He had seen I had replied to a couple of Zep queries in their Wax Fax column. Sounds were planning a special three week feature to run in September to mark the tenth anniversary of Led Zeppelin’s formation.

I was commissioned to produce a ten year timeline history alongside an extensive discography covering official releases and bootlegs. I had a fair few meetings at the Sounds office in Long Acre and took in a large collection of memorabilia and albums for them to photograph – no scanning of images back then of course. Subsequently, my summer of 1978 was dominated by this work which had to be in for early August. I hand wrote the entire contents of the feature and by and large when it was all published as a four week part work it was a big success . It was my first time in print and I also got paid for it. More on all this later in the year. I also attended two amazing gig in July of that summer – David Bowie at Earls Court and Bob Dylan at Blackbushe.

Back to the story – so it was against this backdrop of Zep writing that I turned my attention to this very exciting prospect of witnessing The Who live on stage again.

So come the day – Thursday May 25 , we were duly ferried out of London by coaches to the Shepperton studio complex – wined and dined in the canteen where we mixed with 18th century costume drama actors and actress’s and then led into the Studio 2 soundstage for a mini performance by The Who.

The filming had been set up by director Jeff Stein to make up for the rather lucklustre footage he had garnered from the aforementioned Kilburn Theatre the previous December. It was to be the contemporary insert of a career spanning documentary that would emerge as The Kids Are Alright released to theatres on both sides of the Atlantic the next year.

So it was in a state of some considerable awe that we were ushered into the studio where a specially constructed stage aimed at replicating any night on the road for The Who had been assembled. The audience of around 200 consisted of a mixture of Who fanatics, liggers, journalists and musicians – amongst the latter was a young Chrissie Hynde. Also in attendance shooting one of his first gigs was the soon to become world renowned photographer Ross Halfin.

The last time I had seen The Who live was amongst 65,000 rain sodden fans at The Who Put the Boot In show at Charlton Athletic football ground in May 1976. Now I was just a few feet away as Pete Townshend power chorded his way through a riveting Baba O Reily -one of my all time fave numbers not just by The Who, but anyone. Thrilling deliveries of John Entwhistle’s  My Wife and Won’t Get Fooled Again followed.

The initial plan had been to perform just those three numbers. Impressed by the by the relaxed of nature of the whole affair, Townshend signalled to Daltrey, Moon and Entwhistle to stay on stage – and spontaneously they kicked in to Substitute and then instantly into I Can’t Explain.

We had come under the guise of seeing The Who shoot a handful of numbers for their film – we were now privvy to a mini greatest hits concert as they ran through Summertime Blues, Magic Bus My Generation and My Wife (again). It was another blast through Won’t Get Fooled Again that brought this extraordinary performance to a close. Watching it all unfold in such close proximity was truly the stuff of rock’n’roll dreams – it was just utterly sensational.

And that’s when it happened…

Fulled by a combination of beer and wine, and a surge of adrenalin from the sheer wonder of what I was witnessing, as Won’t Get Fooled Again ended and the band warmly took the applause, I took it upon myself to climb on the camera tracking and make one giant leap towards Pete Townshend and then one small step towards Roger Daltrey accidentally cuffing him in the eye in the process. On any regular gig this spontaneous stage rush may well have resulted in the stinging sensation of a swinging Gibson Les Paul crushing against flesh. I was aware of Abbie Hoffman’s treatment by Pete when he walked on to the Woodstock stage during their performance in 1969 – I really did not have time to think of any consequences as I made that leap. Luckily for me Townshend hugged me warmly and Daltrey good humouredly shrugged off my enthusiastic arm waving. it’s worth noting I was not alone in this stage invasion – though I was not aware of it at the time. In the film just before my entry you can see a young lady more calmly approach and hug Roger.

Behind all this action, a permanently devilish grin was spread across the face of Kith Moon. Physically showing the strains of his LA lifestyle he was at last back where he functioned best… on stage with the ‘Orrible ‘Oo.

As we waded out into the bright late afternoon sunshine little did we realise we had just witnessed Keith Moon’s final public performance with The Who. And little did I realise that my leap of faith would be subsequently retained in the film’s final cut.

Outside in the grounds of Shepperton there was one more task for the lucky few in attendance to perform. We were asked to line up in four rows behind each member of The Who. This was for a potential album cover design for The Who’s forthcoming Who Are You album – the concept being that we would act as clones  for the band to illustrate the album title. So we were all asked to line up – I was in the queue behind Keith Moon. As it turned out this cover idea was scrapped. However, years later a couple of outtake photos from this session appeared in the Ross Halfin complied Who Genesis Publications photo book. These photos  reveals that for some reason, I had stepped out of line and you can see me in my blue bomber jacket to the right – another remnant of the day.

And then there was more.

Incredibly this was not the end of the Shepperton saga. Steve Margo informed us that he had been invited to attend another filming session the next day – and did we want to tag along? Did we ever!

So it was on Friday May 26 Dec and I met along with Dec’s sister’s boyfriend Jack we met  Steve in St. John’s Wood who then drove us to the Shepperton Studio complex. We were were allowed in to the Studio 2 soundstage again  and there before us onstage were The Who. This time in front of a camera crew and a few technicians, road crew and Who personnel including soundman  Bob Pridden, lighting expert John Wolff  and Who manager Bill Curbishley. I could never have envisaged  back then that one day I would interview Bill in his office discussing The Who, Led Zeppelin , Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. Irish jack was also there.

The objective of this days filming was to perfect the laser sequence during Keith Moon’s drum solo and into Roger’s scream before Pete and John come back in. We watched multiple takes of Keith performing his solo and Roger bathed in lasers marching on the spot as the camera panned in. We watched this repeated scene in absolute awe. 40 years on this close up experience of The Who filming this sequence remains right up there amongst the most thrilling live music moments I’ve been lucky enough to witness.

I was back behind the counter at my job in WH Smiths next day – and back on the Led Zep Sounds feature for the next few weeks. I did hastily hand write a couple of thousand words of a review of the May 25 Shepperton experience – I aim to search that out from the loft in the next week or so and get it into shape to put up here.

This was not quite the end of The Who 1978 story.

On August 1 1978, Dec and I attended the opening of the Who’s Who Exhibition at London’s ICA. Both Pete Townshend and Keith Moon were in attendance. The producer of the film Jeff Stein saw me and informed my I could be clearly seen in the final scenes of the film leaping on stage. The Who’s Who exhibition was superbly well done and way ahead of it’s time with stage clothes, instruments ,videos etc. I had a chat with both Pete and Keith – and had a photo taken with him. He seemed on great form proudly talking about the famous Pictures Of Lily drum kit that was on display. This pic shows me with Keith and Ian Dury with his back to us.

The Who Are You album came out in August and I purchased it on the day of release. An excellent album with some superb performances such as New Song, Sister Disco, Love Is Coming Down and the title track. It still sounds brilliant.

On the evening of Thursday September 7, I was watching the News at Ten on TV when they announced that Keith Moon had been found dead. It was no secret that Keith had carried a lot of demons around in recent years but it was still a terrible shock.

Unlike Zep, The Who decided to carry on – for them I’d say it was the right decision though it was never quite the same.

The following May  The Who played an unannounced show at London’s Rainbow Theatre – I missed out on that but Dec and I did have a vague plan to go to Frejus in France to see further gigs they were playing to launch the film – however, that plan did not come off

In June 1979 The Kids Are Alright film came to Bedford. Knowing I may appear in it, our gang of Dec, Tom, Phil etc all came along to view it at the Granada Cinema in Bedford (sadly long gone).  The film overall was excellent with some fantastic footage – no sighting of me of course until right at the close as the credits rolled… then on I leap into Pete Townshend’s’ arms (and nearly poking Roger Daltrey’s eye in the process!). In the cinema a huge cheer greeted my arrival – and of course I was well pleased I had made the final cut.

So there it was – my leap of faith captured for all time for all to see…

In August 1979 ,a week after the second Zep Knebworth show we went to Wembley Stadium to see The Who on a bill that included AC/DC (with Bon Scott), The Stranglers and Nils Lofgren. The Who were still great with Kenney Jones on drums but it was a somewhat challenging day – with lots of crowd trouble down the front.

I’ve seen The Who a fair few times since 1978 – notably at the Watford Town Hall in 2002, at the London Forum 2004, the Quadrophenia presentation at the Royal Albert Hall in 2010 and on March 23 2015 at the 02.

Even though they are now down to The Who Two , their catalogue of era defining music is still a crystal clear definition of what rock is all about – the last occasion I saw them at that 02 Arena was yet further testament to the lasting durability of The Who.

As for the Shepperton experience, well I’ve dined out on that clip many times since that leap of faith all of 40 years ago. I’m still in touch with the legendary Who fan Irish Jack who was there on those magic Shepperton afternoons – in fact I was in touch with him this week.

Looking back now, It was a moment that crystallised the impact a live performance can have.

It was a completely unplanned spontaneous action. If I had planned it, I would probably have worn a Who T- shirt rather than the McCartney/Wings London Town one I had on!

I was completely overwhelmed at The Who’s incredible performance and right then at that moment I needed to show my appreciation and where better to do it than on the actual stage with the band…

My Facebook friend Michael Starke described this photo (a still from the footage) of me hugging Pete  as ”The greatest fan interaction shot ever”.

That is some accolade…

It was some afternoon back in 1978 and 43 years on, the memory of it all looms ever large and pleasingly so…not least because it can be seen from several angles on the YouTube clip.

I was in the right place at the right time for it all to be captured on film –  and yes on the afternoon of May 25 1978, this 21 year old kid from Bedford was very much alright…

Dave Lewis – May 20,2021

………………….

YouTube clips:

The Who At Shepperton Studios  May 25, 1978 – Won’t Get Fooled Again: Dave Lewis on stage with The Who – 43 years ago this week:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg0464LMlzs

I arrive at 10mins 42

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6n8DHBIHFk

I arrive on multiple angles at 11mins 05

LZ News:

My thoughts on…

Led Zeppelin Final Winterland 1969 2nd Night – Source 2 (No label 2CD)

This is a 2 CD transfer of the recently surfaced second tape source of Led Zeppelin’s performance at the Wintelrland Ballroom in San Francisco on November 7 1969. This show was released online by the Dogs of Doom group.

The recording captures the second performance of a three night stand which marked the end of their Fall tour of the US – their fourth visit of that tumultuous year.

The packaging is a standard slim line double CD case, the cover art work replicates the ticket and poster design and features some relevant black and white photos from the era.

Sound wise this a good for the time lively audience tape –slightly muffled at times and not in the Blueberry Hill category but very listenable.

As for the performance, unsurprisingly it’s a clear case of what’s not to like.

They were on absolute fire doing this period ignited by a relentless schedule that kept their momentum flying high. This fourth US visit saw them elevate to new heights, driven by the constantly amazed audience reception and the reaction to their just released second album. This show is in fact the 147th of 149 they would perform that year. You would never know that given the sheer intensity of their playing.

The proceedings begin by catching a few moments of the support act Isaac Hayes performance of Walk On By

It’s followed by the arrival of the four members of Led Zeppelin – a curt ‘Good Evening’ from Plant and they are out of the traps and into the power riff opening of Good Times Bad Times. It segues quickly into a frantic (can it be anything else) delivery of Communication Breakdown. This two way sucker punch was a short lived set opener during the latter part of 1969

From there they switch instantly into I Can’t Quit You Baby. Again a feature of this era is Robert Plant’s growing confidence – he bends, shrieks and hollers the lines with remarkable vocal agility.   Behind him, John Paul Jones and John Bonham lock horns rhythmically as only they can. As for Jimmy Page, he is in his absolute element . The flurry of riffs and lead runs just keep on coming.

Heartbreaker is a suitable showcase for the newly released Led Zeppelin II and at this early stage it keeps in line with the album version – Page does switch briefly into the Bach Bouree section that would light up many a version ahead.

Dazed And Confused is at its loose and improvisational best with plenty of spontaneity spread amongst the differing sections.

White Summer /Black Mountainside is another showpiece gaining in stature. It’s amazing to think that a mere 18 months previously, Page was attempting to garner interest in the flagging Yardbirds career by presenting this virtuoso piece to sometimes lukewarm response. Not so tonight in the Winterland Ballroom.

Babe I’m Gonna Leave You has Plant inserting lines from Neil Young’s Down By T River as it stretches in length – this would actually be one of the final occasions it would be performed live.

In stark contrast, What Is And What Should Never Be is a new arrival to the set fresh from Zep II and destined to be an on stage staple for the next couple if years. Moby Dick follows and is slightly hard going given the limitations of the audience tape.

How Many More Times is the extended finale. This includes Plant’s customary band introductions before it moves on to the Oh Rosie/The Hunter segment which has Page flexing the Whole Lotta Love riff. There’s a short reference to John Lee Hooker’s Boogie Chillun’ which would become a regular part of the Whole Lotta Love medley on future tours.

Finally, we get to the real bonus of this release. A previously undocumented encore performance of Bring It On Home – newly adapted from Zep II and one of its first ever live airings. Even at this early stage, it’s developing in a live setting as following JPJ’s bass intro, it moves into a lengthy middle section that has Plant’s harmonica bursts and John Bonham’s dramatic drum fills all battling for attention within Page’s guitar rages.

Summary:

This November 1969 Winterland stand marked the first phase of Zep’s plan for world domination. When they returned to touring in early 1970 they had a new set opener in We’re Gonna Groove and a new anthem in Whole Lotta Love – the latter catapulted to prominence via its huge US single success.

It’s by no means the sharpest quality tape of their 1969 adventures, but Final Winterland 1969 Second Night is an enjoyable snapshot of a significant period during the development of Led Zeppelin as a unique and truly exceptional live act.

Dave Lewis May 15,2021.

Stop Press: New issue of Classic Rock…

The forthcoming issue of Classic Rock has a major front cover feature Led Zeppelin IV – 50 Years On: The Ultimate Celebration – I did some work for this – more info to follow…

DL Diary Blog Update:

Friday May 14:

One for the Vinyl Barn on Wednesday Buddy & Julie Miller with Robert Plant What You Gonna Do Leroy promo CD single – taken from the 2009 Written In Chalk album – not seen this before…50P? I’ll take it – thanks Darren!

Friday May 14:

Friday treats at the Slide Record Shop…

This afternoon at the always excellent Slide Record shop in Bedford I was well pleased to pick up my reserved copy of the Paul Weller new album Fat Pop –the limited yellow vinyl edition – thanks Nerys and Warren!

I’ve had a long association with the music of Paul Weller dating back to when I bought The Jam’s debut single In The City at WH Smith where I worked in May 1977 – sharing his musical journey continues to be a delight and I am very much looking forward to soaking up this latest album…

Saturday May 15:

Saturday treats at the Vinyl Barn…

At the always excellent Vinyl Barn this morning, I was well pleased to find something of a curio – namely the Original Soundtrack to the film You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk it(Or You’ll Lose That Beat) by Donald Fagen, Walter Becker &Denny Diaz – complete with for Promotional Only Use sticker on the US Visa Records label.

This has some of the earliest recordings of the Steely Dan pair from 1971 – I look forward to investigating this one – thanks Darren!

Saturday May 15:

Saturday is platterday

on the player the new Paul Weller album Fat Pop …the third spin since I got it yesterday.

Initial impressions:

I love the compact aspect of it – 12 songs on two sides of a record like the old days. None of the tracks outstay their welcome coming in at three minutes or so – all with subtle use of strings, sax and flute.

I generally find I check in on a new Paul Weller album to find out his thoughts and reflections in words and music and always come away reflecting on my own.

In doing so it’s an uplifting experience and so it is with this one…

As he states on the title track which is an ode to the power of music –

‘’Who’s always there when you really need them, who’s been a friend when you really need one – Ah Fat – Pop’’

How right you are Mr Weller

Saturday May 15:

Saturday is platterday…on the player Family – The Best Of Family – one of Leicester’s finest…along with their FA cup winning team today….

Sunday May 16:

I have a lot to thank this man for as back in 1990 in his role as editor in chief at Omnibus Press, he commissioned my book idea Led Zeppelin A Celebration. It set me on my way and since then Chris has sanctioned and edited further Led Zeppelin books I’ve been involved with.

Always a great support to all things TBL, his illuminating on the road tales of his association with Led Zep when he was with Melody Maker has lit up a fair few of the Zep conventions and fan meets I’ve helped stage – as some of you reading this will know. His musings on his Just Backdated blog also lights up many a day –hey Chris we need your memoirs!

Chris has also been a great support to me personally over many years.-given his status as an authirty on all things Who related, it’s rather fitting his Birthday coincides with the original release date of The Who Live At Leeds album all of 51 years ago today. Long may you ride that magic bus Chris… Happy Birthday from Janet and I – have a great day!

Sunday May 16:

It was 51 years ago today…

CD sounds on Sunday – loading up the brilliant 2 CD deluxe edition of The Who Live At Leeds album –the original album was released 51 years ago today…

Sunday May 16:

More Who…

Celebrating The Who Live At Leeds released 51 years ago today:

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the album back in 2010 I was commissioned to write a feature on the Live At Leeds album for Record Collector. It turned into a 15 page epic and was the cover story of the July 2010 issue issue 337 (back issues can be ordered via their website).

Along with a Nick Drake Five Leaves Left making of feature, this was one of the first major non Zep features I had written after going freelance after being made redundant after 35 years in music retailing.

I vividly remember reading this copy of the NME with it’s cover advert for The Who Live At Leeds album back on the weekend of May 23 1970 when I was a 13 year old schoolboy…

Never in my wildest dreams could I envisaged that in a mere eight years almost to the day I’d be sharing the stage with them but that incredibly is what happened on May 25 1978 at their filming session at Shepperton when I made a leap of faith into Pete Townshend’s arms…