FLASHBACK CLASSIC | The Who - Pinball Wizard 1969 live in Tom Jones show USA | Colouring The Past

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From the TV show 'This Is Tom Jones' . . . . .that we were looking at lately (See CSNY)

again from the brilliant Facebook page of  

Colouring The Past

On this date in 1969, THE WHO recorded the single PINBALL WIZARD (Feb 7, 1969).

NOTE: The video here is The Who performing the song on a 1969 episode of THIS IS TOM JONES.

Written by Pete Townshend, PINBALL WIZARD featured on The Who's 1969 rock opera album Tommy and was originally released as a single the same year peaking at #4 in the UK charts.

This was the last song written for Tommy. Townshend wrote it when he found out influential UK rock critic Nik Cohn was coming to review the project.

Townshend knew Cohn was a pinball fanatic, so he put this together to ensure a good review. Cohn gave it a great review, and pinball became a main theme of the rock opera.

Townshend once called it "the most clumsy piece of writing [he'd] ever done". Nevertheless, the song was a commercial success and remains one of the most recognised tunes from the opera.