The Who - "Empty Glass"

Lots of Who fans have debated endlessly over whether the band should have continued after drummer Keith Moon died. But whether they should or shouldn't have, the fact is that just eight months after Moon died, The Who kicked off their first tour with new drummer Kenney Jones.

But before The Who issued a new album with its new drummer (1981's Face Dances), Pete Townshend released a solo album in April 1980 titled Empty Glass. Roger Daltrey is on record as criticizing Townshend for using his best songs for Empty Glass. In particular, Daltrey pointed to "Rough Boys" and the title track as being well-suited for the band. Some critics have even called Empty Glass the Who album that never was.

I've no idea how Townshend determined which songs he'd use for himself and which ones he'd turn over to the band. But I wanted to see what a 1980 Who album might have been. To do so, I looked at Empty Glass, the McVicar soundtrack (which featured songs sung by Daltrey) and John Entwistle's Too Late the Hero, as well as some one-offs and outtakes.

SIDE A

1. Let My Love Open the Door

2. Empty Glass

3. Dancing Master

4. Without Your Love

5. It’s In You

SIDE B

1. Rough Boys

2. My Time is Gonna Come

3. Dance It Away

4. Talk Dirty

5. Free Me

Right off the bat, we start with a cheat. Daltrey released a version of "Let My Love Open the Door" in 2016 that was used in a bank commercial. My feeling is that you really don't have a Who album unless most of the songs are sung by Daltrey. And since the version released in 1980 was on Townshend's Empty Glass solo album, I took a bit of liberty here. Daltrey's version of "Let My Love Open the Door" is available via download on Amazon and other music sites.

I included Townshend's "Rough Boys" and "Empty Glass," since Daltrey considered both to be good choices for the band. Ironically, since Daltrey never recorded them, both tracks have Townshend on lead vocals. Jones plays drums on "Rough Boys" so at least half the band is present. Interestingly, The Who had actually recorded "Empty Glass" (again with Townshend on vocals) as part of the Who Are You sessions, but it was left off the final album. The version on Townshend's album is superior, so I've used that one.

Although Townshend, Entwistle and Jones are listed as performing on the McVicar soundtrack, I couldn't find any official listing of which tracks they actually played on. After rummaging around music chat rooms and Who fan sites, the best I can determine is that all four members of the Who play on "My Time is Gonna Come" and "Free Me." So I've included both. I also used "Without Your Love," which reached #20 as a single. Granted, I don't know if Townshend would have been that keen on including songs on a Who album that a band member didn't write, but I make the concession here to provide more songs with Daltrey on lead vocals.

There are almost always at least two Entwistle-penned songs on a Who album, but the only source of his songs from this period are from his solo album Too Late the Hero. Even though it was released in 1981, some sessions were recorded as early as 1979. One from that session was "Dancing Master" so included it. I couldn't find details of what other songs may have been recorded at that time, so I also decided to use the "hit" from the album, "Talk Dirty."

Curiously, a song The Who performed during their 1980 tour didn't appear on either Face Dances or Empty Glass. Instead, a studio version of "Dance It Away" remained locked in the vaults until 1982 when it was issued as a b-side to Townshend's "Uniforms" single. It didn't make its CD debut until 2006 when it was included as a bonus track to Townshend's All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes. And it apparently has both Entwistle and Jones playing on it so it actually may be a Face Dances outtake.

I swear that it is a complete coincidence that the two songs with the word "dance" in them ended up being the third track on each side when this album was assembled.

Finally, I felt that the album needed one more track. With Townshend on lead vocal on three songs already, I didn't want to add another tune from his solo album. And I really didn't want to include another song from McVicar since the rest of the tracks only feature Daltrey and wouldn't be written by a Who member. And so I chose "It's In You," an outtake from Face Dances. I've no idea when Townshend wrote the song so it may not fit timewise. But it works in general.

The result? This is a rockin' album, more so I think than either Empty Glass or Face Dances on their own.

Since we're moving "Empty Glass" from Townshend's solo album to this imagined Who album, I decided to take the album title as well. For a cover, I tried monkeying around with band photos from the time period, but the results were unsatisfactory. Searching around the web I came across this melted beer mug and thought it was kind of appropriate.

NOTE: Since posting this, I've learned that an expanded version of Face Dances will be released to coincide with the album's 40th anniversary and that it includes a version of "Dance It Away" with Daltrey on vocals. Once available, that should be the version used here.