The Buckinghams in Concert

Inquiring minds want to know: when did Pete Townshend decide to destroy perfectly incredible guitars? Who, who came up with this attention-getting ploy? Was it in a band 'group meeting' or did he just strike out on his own one day, and Keith Moon followed suit by kicking his drums, and Roger, not to be left out, mauled the microphone... People who watch any version of the CSI shows, whether CSI New York, CSI Miami, CSI Las Vegas, etc., are treated to a carefully controlled wildboy version of Pete Townshend's remakes of songs at the opening and closing of the episodes. Because audiences hear them each week, it's easy to expect that a second and third generation of young rockers think the tunes, made famous by The Who, are now enjoying new life as considerably more 'contemporary' music. Little do they suspect that some 45 years ago, the lads were new in town, new in the USA and new to the simple courtesies of not destroying the equipment for the next guys on stage...

The Who's Pete Townshend with Sunn Amplifier's Buck Munger Unparalleled raconteur Buck Munger recently provided powerful words and great memories in photos from his blog on www.guitararcheology.com and the only way to do his words justice is to direct you specifically to his site. He spins a fascinating tale as a roving representative of Sunn Amplifiers, which was carving out quite a reputation as a musician-owned business in the midst of fierce competition to blast the sounds from a burgeoning revolution in amplifiers. In a recent radio interview, Carl Giammarese told a story about how The Who was once an opening act for The Buckinghams. The Bucks were ill prepared for the onstage antics of their then warm-up act. An excerpt from Buck's blog "The WHO and Sunn Amps Part 3", by Buck Munger: "In Kansas City, the Who were opening for the Buckinghams (“Kind of a Drag”) who were on their fifth hit single on Columbia from producer Jim Guercio. The sound check was ...