The Who Sell Out (33 1/3) (Paperback)

by John Dougan (Author)
Key Phrases: pop art music, pop music radio, pirate radio, Sell Out, Radio London, Keith Moon (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Despite being so thoroughly rooted in late-60s Britain, Sell Out still sounds wonderful today. In this fascinating book, John Dougan explores the stories and the culture behind the making of the album – looking in particular at radio in Britain during the 1960s, and at the impact that "Swinging London" and its swirl of ideas had on the Who as a band.

About the Author
John Dougan has a Ph.D in American Studies from the College of William & Mary and is an associate professor in the Department of Recording Industry at Middle Tennessee State University.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 131 pages
• Publisher: Continuum (September 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826417434
• ISBN-13: 978-0826417435
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 4.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #627,900 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This item is part of The Thirty Three and a Third Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's all about the context, dear boy., December 11, 2006

By	Michael Hockinson "popular culture snob" (Portland, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Keith Moon might respond to the previous review by the gentleman from New York that, "It's all about the context, dear boy." Everything he found to fault in this excellent overview is precisely why you should read it.

"Sell Out" is a concept album in the truest sense of the word, and Mr. Dougan enlightens the reader to Pete Townshend's intents and the history behind it, detailing his own art school background, the history of pop art and culture along with a succinct history of pirate radio in the UK and the conditions that arose that made it necessary. As an American fan with strong Anglophile music tastes, I really appreciated the overview. And because this is a 33 1/3 title, one must expect the author to relate his personal experience of the album he has chosen; I appreciated John's period context.

Granted, the recording and marketing of "Sell Out" do take up a small portion of the overall text, but far from being glib and weightless, I found it to be packed with interesting information that has greatly enhanced my enjoyment of what is also my favourite Who album. Dougan's prose is well-written and researched. You'll find yourself plowing through it as I did. Highly recommended.

9 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars John Dougan Cops Out, November 6, 2006

By	Mike Segretto (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

Being that 'The Who Sell Out' has long been my favorite album by my favorite band, I was greatly looking forward to reading this book. What a disappointment. Writer John Dougan wastes so much time describing his own early experiences with music and the history of British pirate radio that he ends up devoting a mere 20 pages to the actual content of the Who's masterpiece. And much of what he says about that music is as offhand and cursory as his chapters about pirate radio are unnecessarily exhaustive (he can barely muster two sentences in his discussion of the song "Relax"). Elsewhere, his evaluations are often glib and weightless (his ambivalent reaction to John Entwistle's "Silas Stingy" will be particularly irritating to anyone who actually likes this album). Dougan should have taken a look at Andy Miller's fine 33 1/3 installment on 'The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society' (incidentally, an album that was released at the end of 1968, Mr. Dougan, NOT 1967, as you suggest) to see how these books should be written.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of time..., January 27, 2008

By	Great Caesar's Ghost (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

There's hardly any information here about the making of this album at all--just a glance at the circumstances that led to the gestation of it. It's a cursory accounting of the social conditions and the state of The Who at the time.

When I bought this I was hoping for something new and interesting, but this isn't a bit as good as any issue of MOJO magazine! If you are a long-time fan of both The Who and this album you probably already know most of what's in this book because the authors sites only other well known books about the band as his main sources. Books, by the way, that were all published years ago. Many topics brought up in this book have been expounded upon by Townshend & Co. in much greater detail over the past 15 years. There's no excuse for this book to be so outdated.

Besides the very common knowledge are his opinions on various aspects of the album, the times and pop music. So what? It would have been worth it if he had scared up some new revelations or had even interviewed somebody in the band, but no.

Don't bother with this one, chaps. Unless you want to buy my copy?