It’s been a couple of decades since The Who (or what’s left of The Who) was relevant in the pop eye. Why did the NFL feel the need to travel back in time to find it’s half time music act? While they were an awesome live band in their prime of the 70’s, by the early 1980s, old age, arthritis, and other various ailments have stricken the band and many members have been replaced. While this is understandable in show business, the Superbowl’s rendition of the band made me wonder just WHO is now in charge of the once great band.
A few months ago, THE WHO, was billed as the half-time performers at this year’s 2110 Super Bowl. At that time I was like, “Man, they are going to have to get out the Geritol for this one.” I had seen some current pictures of Roger Daltry and Pete Townsend and honestly had no idea how they were going to pull if off.
But come on! Did the NFL really think we would fall for it? Who is fooling who? While the band sounded okay due in part to Millie Vanilli lip-sync technology, the entire segment was bizarre to watch with the replacement of the band’s front man. I don’t get it. It is mind-boggling to me why Roger Daltry and Pete Townsend would allow Tom Baker, aka Doctor Who, to replace Daltry, as lead singer. I mean, do they really think we wouldn’t notice?
I don’t begrudge the duo for wanting to keep the band performing. But it’s clear that their best days (or even okay days) are way behind them, and that a time travel exposition to the past may not be one that should be revisited.
It was a total mystery to me why the NFL booked The Who in the first place, until I saw Tom Baker complete with his Austin Powers scarf, filling in for the 65-yer-old Roger Daltry who no longer has it in him. Then it came to me. If one of the buttons popped on Tom Baker’s shirt, no one would have any Janet Jackson flash backs.
All joking aside, as a DJ in my thirties, I feel a lot of sympathy for those aging rockers who want to rock out and look like they did years ago. I am sure that being fifty or sixty on the outside doesn’t matter to most of them, as they still like the teenager idol superstar they once were. However, Tom “Doctor Who” Baker should lose the microphone and stick with traveling the space time continuum in his little green phone booth, robotic dogs and sonic screwdrivers.
