THE WHO: Hooligans (1981)

First things first!

What a great  title for a Greatest Hits set. “Hooligans” put out by The Who way back in 1981 (been out of print for decades) and  I was beyond psyched too find it here in Thunder Bay for $10!

Holy Moly…

Back in the early 80s when I first discovered The Who thanks to my pal John Young (missing in action since 1992) he had this on vinyl and of course I have never been big on these record company cash grabs due to contractual obligations or what not, but for some reason I’m really good with this one.

When I got my hands on this copy the first guy I sent a pic to was my pal Max down in Nashville( who is one of the biggest Who and Beatles fan I know) and he  commented on the fact that I scored the “Holy Grail of Greatest Hits” sets!

Click the link below to Max’s blog and give him a follow if you haven’t already!

https://powerpop.blog

“Hooligans” came out in September 1981 and was eventually certified Gold in the U.S back in ’83 so this one actually sold and of course The Who have a hundred of compilations which kinda get’s silly but the charm of this one is not only the songs but the packaging!

Double vinyl along with a gatefold and including lyrics this is a well done package plus I love the cover with the ditched TV set with a pic of The Who in it. Lot’s of TV’s were demolished by these guys in the 60’s and 70’s so it’s rather fitting isn’t it?

Even the back cover is cool with each side being marked by ‘Hooligans’ and even The Who list themselves as the 5th bunch of Hooligans.

For the hardcore Who fans there’s a few hard to find singles on here those being “I Can’t Explain”, “Let’s See Action”, “The Relay”and “Join Together.”

Each side of the album is pretty much stuffed with 20 minutes of music so you’re getting more value bang for your buck.

The songs range from 1965 all the way to 1978 with the focus being on The Who’s 70’s output which as you can see is stellar as considering chaos always followed these guys (thanks to Keith Moon) as Pete Townsend can and did craft some classic rock tracks that all still hold up today. Kinda weird in 2022 not to see “Won’t Get Fooled Again” on here but maybe that was due to the length of the all time great song.

Each side is stuffed with classics so I could never even say what side of plastic on here would be my favourite.

It’s all killer, no filler!

“Hooligans” is the ultimate starter kits if you are getting into The Who for the first time.

One thing I will add is you can find Hooligans on Discogs and even you can buy it used from Amazon but buyer beware if your purchasing this on CD as it says Double CD but from my understanding it only comes with one disc. (I’m assuming its the whole “Hooligans” set on one disc).

Than again why buy it on CD as the The Who needs to be heard on vinyl!

deKe’s vinyl score of Hooligans-10/10

 

 

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