MY GENERATION

THE WHO (1965)

'You Really Got Me' may have communicated the blunt directness of the sixties generation but it was at heart still just a love (or lust) song. It took another group of Londoners to really convey the aggression and iconoclastic verve of the new British r & b.

A rallying call for the Mod subculture which had developed from its jazz roots over the course of the decade, 'My Generation' is a vitriolic cry of rebellion against the reactionary views of the establishment. Built around a call and response framework Roger Daltrey stutters out such notorious lines as 'hope I die before I get old' to a frenzied, staccato beat and one of the first bass solos courtesy of John Entwistle.

Daltrey's vocal tic was sufficiently original to merit numerous myths about its purpose springing up. Depending on who you believe it is variously a reflection of the vocal effect of the amphetamines so beloved of the Mods or a juvenile attempt at innunendo (the 'f-f-fade away' line being anticipated as something altogether more explicit.) Its true purpose scarcely matters, it fits the jerky, restless energy of the song perfectly and whilst it may become increasingly embarrassing for Townshend et al to trot out in their mid-sixties it remains a hugely influential and enervating rock classic; proto-punk for the scooter generation.