Customer Reviews

Scoop

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Very few artists rejected demos would be interesting. I can think of maybe a handful of artists -Andy Partridge, The Beatles, Ray Davies and Pete Townshend who create demos that are detailed and equal or nearly equal in stature to the stuff they released with their respective bands (or as solo artists). "Scoop" originally released in the 80's features a healthy 25 tracks of Who, solo and unreleased demos from throughout Pete's career. Keep in mind that the sound quality on this set varies depending upon how old the original demo is and how it was recorded so that means often some of this stuff might not measure up to the finished final versions but they have a charm all their own.

This remaster (sadly) doesn't feature any bonus tracks nor did anyone bother to add any special notes to the booklet beyond what was in the original vinyl release/CD release. That along with the fact that BOTH discs could have fit on a single CD (they come out to about 75 minutes total)suggests that this isn't really worth repurchasing if you got the first CD issue.

On the other hand if you don't own this set and are a Who/Townshend fan you're doing yourself a disservice. There's some terrific previously unreleased material contained on this set. As with later sets in his series "Scoop" (which probably inspired The Beatles to do the Anthology series)features some thrilling tracks that were surprisingly rejected for Who albums. Even the "rejects" prove Townshend's depth as a writer with fascinating melodies and thoughtful lyrics.

The sound quality is marginally better with Jon Astley doing a nice job of remastering the songs for CD. There is slightly better depth and clarity but that is all dependent upon how good the original demo sounded as well.

The songs cover Who releases (demos for "So Sad About", "Squeezebox" which has quite a bit of charm in Pete's solo version, "Bargain", "Behind Blue Eyes", "Magic Bus", "Cache, Cache" and "Love Reign O'er Me")and rejected demos for both Pete's solo albums ("You're So Clever", "Body Langauge") and The Who ("Popular" which when retooled provided the basis for "It's Hard", "Dirty Water" and "Zelda" demos for "Face Dances", "Mary" originally intended for the double "Lifehouse" album that turned into "Who's Next")as well as odd instrumentals and experiments. Most of it is tuneful and well worth listening to.

In many respects the "Scoop" series inspired other performers/writers to release their rarities/demos (Andy Partridge's "Fuzzy Warbles" series, The Beatles "Anthology" series which included band outtakes as well, Dave Davies' demo releases, etc.)and some of these releases certainly live up to the quality of Pete's first venture into the archives. If you don't have "Scoop" and are a Who/Townshend fan it's well worth picking up. If you have the previous CD edition I'd suggest spending your money on something new or with bonus tracks (or--radical thought--try and download the best songs here and save a bit of $$).

Knowing only the classic rock radio staples of the Who and the All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes album by Pete Townshend (hey it was the early, heady days of MTV), I first received this album on double vinyl as a 13-year old back in 1983 and it opened me up to a whole new side of the Who and Pete Townshend that I didn't realize existed.

From the opening "So Sad about Us" (perhaps the Who's catchiest pop song) to "Love Reign O'er Me" sung by Pete rather than Roger, Scoop packs some powerful demos that stand well on their own, or as a necessary footnote to the Who's long & storied career. Pete includes some great liner notes so you can follow along on how he developed his recording studio and his songwriting talents from the 1960s through the 1980s.

Since I wore out the vinyl version of this a while ago, I recommend you get the CD and start searching for the out-of-print sequel, Another Scoop.

I'm surprised this classic album of demos and unused songs is out of print; I found my copy on the $2 vinyl wall at the vintage music store in my college town, along with 'Another Scoop.' There's barely a song on here I skip; the only ones I don't care for are "Squeeze Box," "To Barney Kessell," "Cache Cache," and "Magic Bus." It's unfortunate that not all of the recording dates are provided, but you can guess many of them if it's a demo of a Who song that you know came out in a certain year or if it's mentioned that it was recorded around the time of a certain album. These songs are really fun, happy, and upbeat; despite being demos, it's not something that a new fan would be turned off by, since they're such high-quality demos and such nice songs, not rarities that only hardcore fans and completists would be interested in. It's also interesting to hear the original genesis of some of the songs, like "Bargain" or "LROM," since you get to judge if Roger's interpretation matched Pete's original idea. Sometimes a demo is better than the later song, and sometimes worse. It's particularly obvious in the two abovementioned songs; you can just tell that they were written for someone with a deeper throat, and Pete is straining to hit the notes that Roger makes easily. Someone who has a tenor/low-range falsetto doesn't deliberately write songs requiring deep growly and throaty notes for oneself.

My faves on here are "Zelda," "Politician," "You're So Clever" (EG would have been even better if it had been included there like originally intended!), "So Sad About Us," "Circles," "Unused Piano: Quadrophenia," "Cookin,'" "Body Language," "Goin' Fishin,'" "You Came Back," and "Initial Machine Experiments." There's also a classic comment about the song "Melancholia," "I'm pretty sure The Who didn't even hear this song." Pete often has memory lapses, but this one is the funniest, since we all know that "Melancholia" came out as a bonus track on the remastered 'Sell Out' and as one of the then-new songs on the boxed set. Maybe he really was so melancholic over how "ICSFM" only got to #9 that he really did block out doing the song with the group.

What can I say? Pete is the man! This album shows him doing it all: Playing so many instruments, writing and singing all those songs. Even in their skeletal states, songs like "Behind Blue Eyes," "Circles," "Melancholia," and "Magic Bus" still don't fail to impress. His piano work on the untitled Quadrophenia song is brilliant, his acoustic version of "So Sad About Us" is heartwarming, "Goin' Fishin'" sounds like the Beach Boys circa-Pet Sounds, and Pete's version of "Love, Reign O'er Me" is just as strong as the original.

Even Townshend's bits and pieces shine when given their light of day. A fascinating look at works in progress and further proof that the Who should not just be remembered for about half a dozen songs.

The Scoop series, much like Pete's output in general (baring a few mistakes and poor albums) have been very consistently great. These albums are like the Beatles anthologies, in some ways, but much more interesting. I say they're similar because both display demos and work in progress of popular songs by both artists. However, the Scoop series is much more interesting and artisticlaly succesful than the anthology's.

First of all, Pete has added a lot more unreleased songs here than were on the anthology's. I don't think there were more than five or six unreleased songs there. Almost half of each Scoop volume is unreleased songs, which are usually of very high quality, as good as anything else he has written.

Secondly, on the demos, pete usually plays all of the instruments (not counting strings) and it's amazing to see how well developed these songs were BEFORE being recorded. It's sometimes interesting to see the way a producer and other band members contribute to arrangments (such as on the anthology, where Lennon's acoustic demo of "strawberry fields forever" is slowly transformed into what it is today) and one always wonders how much the songwriter contributes to the arrangements. But here, Pete records full realized, full arranged, sometimes fully instrumented (with decent bass work, and rudimentary but appropriate drumming) work, that closely follows the who's final arrangment. This is not to detract from John's amazing bass playing or Keith's amazing drumming: both of these added immeasurably to Pete's basic work on each. But besides changing a few details, the arrangments of all instruments, as devised by Pete, are present on the demos.

The last thing that makes this more impressive than the anthology's is the pure weirdness. Here, Pete explores more weird songwriting avenues than any other songwriter I've ever heard, and much more so than is evident on the anthology's (which consists of the work of three song writers, remember.) Yes, many times these are complete dead ends: how many songs in the mold of "Zelda" do you think could be created? Nevertheless, these Scoop albums, much more so than Pete's last few solo albums (iron man and psychoderelict) illustrate his genius loud and clear.

I got this album used on vinyl on eBay. I bought it solely to hear Pete's early versions of Who songs. "So Sad About Us" is great (though it would have been better if it were unedited), and "Bargain," "Behind Blue Eyes" and "Magic Bus" are also up there. I bought a CD of The Who live at Mountain View in July of 2002 (released as part of their "Encore" series), and Pete was talking about how back in the day he used to record by himself at home, and he talked about how good it sounded, then he was just waiting for a band to come in and spoil it all. By listening to the purity of these recordings, I can see his point. I love The Who and Pete Townshend, and even so, this is the Pete I thought I'd never hear.

An excellent disc that I have owned for some time. Cookin', where Pete experiments with a steel guitar is a particular favorite. This disc is a must for any Pete Townshend fan.

this body of demos and aborted tracks by far demonstrates that even townshends half conceived ideas remain a superior effort to many of the genres current releases.

Scoop is a collection of Pete's home recordings and demo's for the Who. What makes this collection so outstanding is the view we get of his works in progress. You can hear his original ideas for "Bargain" and see how close it was to the finished version on Who's Next and then turn around and here the differences from the seed of "Magic Bus" and the one we know from the actual release. What cements this CD as an all time masterpiece however is the vast collection of songs that never saw the light of day anywhere. These were essentially Townshend's throw-aways, songs that never went anywhere but in Pete's head. These tunes display the genius that Townshend possesses, and that his abilities extend far beyond his hits. Fans of the Who should consider Scoop an essential part of any collection, and anyone who appreciates eclectic songwriting will love this record.