Me in Place

For the longest time, the only thing my kitchen radio could receive was a classic rock station. So I rocked my baby, cooked the food and cleaned to the sounds of classic angst. A few songs they played were by The Who, a group I knew mainly because of friend Craig’s interest (dare I say obsession?) with them. So, when Craig listed Quadrophenia on his list of recommended music, I borrowed the double CD album from him and sat down for a good analytical listen. Here’s what I learned (and since this is my blog, not all facts have been checked. I’m just giving you my analyzation.):

-Quadrophenia is the story of Jimmy, a boy who is rebelling against his parents, and apparently against having his hair cut. Sounds like my Baptist high school to me. But, Jimmy finds solace in dressing up in clothing in the Mod fashion. Oh, but the Mods don’t want him either and he either a)drives a scooter off a cliff or b) jumps into the ocean or c) feels the cleansing rain on his sad little face. I can’t figure out which it is. My Baptist classmates found similar solace in a)working on their cars, b)getting pregnant and c)feeling the cleansing rain on their sad little faces.
-The word, “quadrophenia”, is a play on the word schizophrenia. Quadrophenia having the idea of four personalities. Jimmy apparently is all four.
-The Mod scene apparently was about dressing all fancy. It also involved riding a scooter. This somehow was a statement against authority. But then the police said, “No, Mod McModPants, you may not ride that scooter on the the streets of Londontown because you don’t have rear view mirrors on them.” So the Mod kids got sarcastic and attached mirrors to their scooters. Not tiny mirrors, but huge mirrors. This was called Making a Statement.

-After listening to the CD, I found an episode of “The Avengers” on TV. I knew it was Mod because of the red/blue target in the corner as seen here:

I lasted about five minutes watching the show before becoming claustrophobic. So, relatively speaking, the CDs were much better.

On the cover of Quadrophenia, you will notice the four mirrors on the scooter. You will note the faces of the four members of The Who reflected in the four mirrors. You will think to yourself, possibly this is saying that the Quad personalities of Jimmy stand for each member of the band. Hmmm…

The music was actually quite enjoyable, for the most part. Every so often, a flash of Nigel Tufnel from Spinal Tap came to mind, but I tried not to dwell on that.

Favorite Song: Drowned (mainly because of the piano)

Least Favorite Song: Love Reign O’er Me

Overall Rating: I rate this album an 8 and can certainly understand how one could have an Interest/Obsession with it.

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