SEPTEMBER 17, 1967 – The Who literally gave an explosive performance on live television

SEPTEMBER 17, 1967 – The Who literally gave an explosive performance on live television. As buttoned-down as its hosts appeared to be, “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour” came as close as any network program could in 1967 to being culturally and politically subversive. Tommy and Dick Smothers fought a running battle with CBS during their show’s three-year run over scripts that subtly tweaked “the Establishment” and guests whose off-air politics were deemed controversial by network censors. Though there was nothing overtly political about the Who, it was more than just lyrics like “Hope I die before I get old” that marked the group as happy warriors in the generational battle being waged in the late 1960s. It was also, among other things, the sheer volume at which they preferred to play and their penchant for leaving every stage they played on looking as if a bomb had just gone off. On this day, one actually did.

Keith Moon was already in the habit of placing an explosive charge in one his two bass drums to detonate during Pete Townshend’s guitar-smashing at the end of each Who performance. But for their Smothers Brothers appearance, Moon’s stagehand packed several times the normal amount of explosives into his drum kit, so when he set it off during “My Generation” a gigantic explosion rocked the set as a cloud of white smoke engulfed Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey, and startled fellow guests Bette Davis and Mickey Rooney. Though bassist John Entwistle never lost his cool, Moon’s leg was cut, Daltrey practically flew downstage and when Townshend emerged from the smoke, his scorched hair was almost literally blown to one side of his head. 

Though the incredible explosion has been rumored to have caused Pete Townshend’s eventual near-deafness, credit for that should probably go instead to the Who’s pioneering use of stacked Marshall amplifiers as a means of achieving maximum volume during their live performances.