Royal Mail honors 60 years of the Who

By David Hartwig

Great Britain’s Royal Mail celebrates 60 years since the formation of the English rock band the Who on 12 stamps in an Oct. 17 issue.

Royal Mail presents eight of the Who stamps in two horizontal se-tenant (side-by-side) strips of four. The stamps in one strip are denominated at the first-class rate (currently £1.65), and the stamps in the other strip are denominated £2.

The stamps in the set of eight reproduce eight different album covers spanning the years from 1965 to 2019. A souvenir sheet included with the issue features four additional stamps.

Two first-class stamps on the souvenir sheet show a publicity photograph from 1968 and a photograph of the band at the Marquee Club in London in 1967. Two stamps denominated £2 show the band at Kings Hall in Manchester in 1973 as well as a publicity photo from around 1965.

Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon formed the Who in 1964, and in 1965 the group released their first album, My Generation, the cover of which is seen on one of the first-class stamps.

Another first-class stamp shows the cover of Tommy, a rock opera the Who released in 1969. Tommy tells the story of a deaf, mute and blind boy who becomes a pinball champion and spiritual leader. The concept album was not only a commercial success but also a cultural phenomenon, later adapted into a film and a stage musical.

Released in 1971, Who’s Next is widely regarded as the Who’s masterpiece, with songs such as “Baba O’Riley” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” Rolling Stone magazine ranked the album at No. 77 in the 2020 edition of its 500 greatest albums of all time list.

The 1973 rock opera Quadrophenia explores the life of a young London man named Jimmy as he struggles with identity and disillusionment. A fourth first-class stamp shows the cover of this double album.

A £2 stamp shows the cover of 1978’s Who Are You, which marks Keith Moon’s final contribution to the band. Moon suffered from alcoholism and died at the age of 32 just three weeks after the album’s release.

The Who’s next album, shown on another £2 stamp, was released in 1981 with the title Face Dances. The album features new drummer Kenney Jones and a shift in the band’s sound as they entered the 1980s.

Aside from an album in 1982, the Who did not have another album of original material until the 2006 album Endless Wire, which was also the first album without original bassist John Entwistle, who died in 2002.

Another studio album, Who, followed 13 years later in 2019. The album showcases Daltrey as vocalist and Townshend on guitar, and reached No. 3 on the United Kingdom’s album chart and No. 2 in the United States.

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and the United Kingdom Music Hall of Fame in 2005. In 2008 Townshend and Daltrey received Kennedy Center Honors as members of the band.

Regarding commemoration on a postage stamp, Pete Townshend said: “Stamp! Stamp! Stamp! It’s what I’ve done on stage all my life, sometimes in the air. At last, my stamping, and that of my buddy Roger, has been honoured properly, and will help letters, parcels and birthday cards travel through time and space, just as we have.”

This is the seventh time Royal Mail has dedicated a stamp issue to a music group.

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