The Who first captivated rock critic Mike Segretto throughtheir documentary, The Kids are Alright. Their disruptive appearance on theSmothers Brothers show provided one of those rare episodes when the well-oiledmachinery of network television was monkey-wrenched. He was hooked.
Years later he is the author of The Who FAQ: All That’sLeft to Know About Fifty Years of Maximum R&B (published by BackbeatBooks). As with all the rock FAQs, it’s a chronicle filled with information,quotes from band members and interesting digressions put across in breezy tonesof fandom.
Segretto maintains that this visually dynamic band “washeaded for the silver screen” from the get-go. In a forecast of the MTV era,The Who shot a promo film for “Happy Jack” (1966). They talked about making moviesthroughout the ‘60s but nothing came of them. Alas, The Who never had theirHard Day’s Night, but The Kids are Alright (1979) partly fills the gap.Segretto argues that documentary isn’t the right word, describing it as “achronology-annihilating scrapbook” of TV clips, concert footage and promofilms. No mindless fan, Segretto criticizes Thirty Years of Maximum R&BLive (1994) for devoting too much time to post-Keith Moon concert footage. Headmits that Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who (2007) isn’t great cinema,but includes good interviews with Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey. Segretto’scritique of the seriously flawed film version of Tommy (1974) by kitschdirector Ken Russell is spot on. Filmmaker Franc Roddam’s Quadrophenia (1979)gets deserved praise.
