The Kids Are Alright
Soundtrack album by
The Who
Released8 June 1979
Recorded1965–1978
GenreRock
Length79:35
LabelPolydor
ProducerVarious
The Who chronology
Who Are You
(1978) 		The Kids Are Alright
(1979) 		Quadrophenia
(1979)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[2]
MusicHound Rock3/5[3]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[4]
The Village VoiceB[5]

The Kids Are Alright is a soundtrack album by the British rock band The Who, a companion to the band's documentary film of the same name.[6] As a compilation album, it serves as a retrospective look at the band's biggest hits throughout their career to the point it was released. Most of the tracks are live recordings, rather than the original studio versions.

It was originally released as a double album in June 1979 on Polydor Records in the UK and MCA Records in the US. The performance of "My Wife" was from a concert The Who filmed for The Kids Are Alright at the Gaumont State Cinema in Kilburn; however the footage was not used in the film. That show was later restored for DVD and released as The Who at Kilburn: 1977 in 2008. "Tommy Can You Hear Me" had a longer outro with Roger Daltrey repeating the word "Tommy" before Keith Moon screams "'Ello!" to end the song. The soundtrack album did well in the US where it peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard albums chart and went platinum, while it peaked at No. 26 on the UK charts.

The Kids Are Alright soundtrack album was reissued in its original packaging with the 20-page booklet and two LPs on coloured vinyl (LP1 on red vinyl, LP2 on blue vinyl) for Record Store Day in 2018.

Track listing

All tracks written and composed by Pete Townshend, except where noted.

No.TitleRecording venue and dateLength
1."My Generation"The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, 15 September 19674:32
2."I Can't Explain"Twickenham Film Studios, 3 August 19652:01
3."Happy Jack (not used in the film)"University of Leeds Refectory, 14 February 19702:13
4."I Can See for Miles (not used in the film)"credited as from The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, 15 September 1967; actually a new stereo remix of the standard studio version[citation needed]4:19
5."Magic Bus"Beat-Club, 12 October 1968; actually a simulated stereo mix of the single version3:23
6."Long Live Rock"Olympic Studios, Barnes, London, 5 June 1972; different mix from the version featured on the Odds & Sods album3:58
7."Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" (Townshend, Roger Daltrey)Ready Steady Go!, 1 July 19652:50
8."Young Man Blues" (Mose Allison)Coliseum, London, 14 December 19695:46
9."My Wife (not used in the film)" (John Entwistle)Gaumont State Theatre, Kilburn, London, 15 December 19776:07
10."Baba O'Riley"Shepperton Film Studios, London, 25 May 19785:29
11."A Quick One, While He's Away"The Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus film, recorded on 11 December 19687:32
12."Tommy Can You Hear Me?"Beat-Club, 27 September 19691:47
13."Sparks"Woodstock festival, New York, 17 August 19693:01
14."Pinball Wizard"Woodstock festival, New York, 17 August 19692:48
15."See Me, Feel Me"Woodstock festival, New York 17 August 19695:27
16."Join Together/Road Runner/My Generation Blues (Medley)" (Townshend/McDaniel)Pontiac Silverdome, Pontiac, Michigan on 6 December 1975; not featured on early CD pressings9:55
17."Won't Get Fooled Again"Shepperton Film Studios, London, 25 May 19789:58

Vinyl track listing

Reel One
  1. "My Generation"
  2. "I Can't Explain"
  3. "Happy Jack"
  4. "I Can See for Miles"
  5. "Magic Bus"
  6. "Long Live Rock"
Reel Two
  1. "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere"
  2. "Young Man Blues"
  3. "My wife"
  4. "Baba O'Riley"
Reel Three
  1. "A Quick One"
  2. "Tommy Can You Hear Me?"
  3. "Sparks"
  4. "Pinball Wizard"
  5. "See Me, Feel Me"
Reel Four
  1. "Join Together"
  2. "Roadrunner"
  3. "My Generation Blues"
  4. "Won't Get Fooled Again"

Personnel[edit]

The Who

Design

Charts[edit]

Chart (1979) Peak
position
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[7] 30
UK Albums (OCC)[8] 26
US Billboard 200[9] 8

Certifications[edit]

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[10] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[11] Gold 100,000‡
United States (RIAA)[12] Platinum 1,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "The Kids Are Alright – The Who | Releases". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
  2. ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
  3. ^ Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 1227. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
  4. ^ "The Who: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 6 February 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  5. ^ Christgau, Robert (31 December 1979). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  6. ^ "The Who Official Band Website – Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, and Keith Moon | | The Kids Are Alright". Thewho.com. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  7. ^ "Charts.nz – The Who – The Kids Are Alright". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  9. ^ "The Who Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  10. ^ "Canadian album certifications – The Who – The Kids Are Alright". Music Canada.
  11. ^ "Who: The Kids Are Alright". British Phonographic Industry.
  12. ^ "American album certifications – The Who – The Kids Are Alright". Recording Industry Association of America.
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