In an unfortunate premonition of the repackaging to come, the album opens with “I Can’t Explain”, “I Can See For Miles” and “Pinball Wizard”. However, that repetition is redeemed by the first US appearance of “Let’s See Action”, a post-Who’s Next single that Who freaks would have known from Pete’s version on Who Came First. This track is easily as good, with Nicky Hopkins on piano, good use of delay and Roger taking the verses before giving the bridge over to Pete. “Summertime Blues” from Leeds precedes an edited “Relay”, another stopgap single that’s an acquired taste. Side two provides something of a distillation of Who’s Next, with the necessary inclusion of “Baba O’Riley” and “Behind Blue Eyes”, but leaving off “Won’t Get Fooled Again” in favor of “Bargain” and “The Song Is Over”.
“Join Together”, a very strong single, starts off side three, then we jump ahead for “Slip Kid” and “Squeeze Box” before going back to 1973 for “The Real Me” and “5:15”. On side four, “Drowned” also comes from Quadrophenia, and finishes with “Had Enough” (the Entwistle song, not the Quad track), “Sister Disco” and “Who Are You””, nicely distilling that album.
The odd juxtapositions and repositioning notwithstanding, Hooligans is a worthwhile compilation. The inclusion of the three rare singles made it essential, but its usefulness would be trampled within two short years by the pointless cash-in of Who’s Greatest Hits. 1988’s Who’s Better, Who’s Best, released worldwide, was another two-record/single-CD set, but leaned heavily on the ‘60s. (Both also used the pointless single edit of “Won’t Get Fooled Again”.)
It’s a shame that with all the repackagings, we couldn’t simply have nice upgraded versions of Meaty Beaty Big And Bouncy and Hooligans to keep the catalog concise and complete. All they had to do was cut the first three songs off Hooligans and the rest would fit onto a single CD. Why is this so difficult for anyone else to figure out?
The Who Hooligans (1981)—4
Current CD equivalent: none
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