Magic Bus: The Who On Tour

In 1968 the British rock band The Who did not have a studio album scheduled for release. In Britain, the band's record label, Track Records, issued a compilation of singles and B-sides titled Direct Hits [release date: 12 October, 1968]. This was a well-packaged product, but was not warmly received. In the United States, where the Who did not have as long a history of chart success as in Britain, the band's label, Decca, sought to capitalise on the success of the band's eponymous single by issuing Magic Bus: The Who On Tour [release date: 30 November 1968]. Despite the title's implication that the album consisted of live ['on tour'] material, it was a compilation of singles, B-sides and tracks from previously issued EPs and albums. The poor mastering of the album, coupled with lazy packaging, did not detract from the album's success, peaking at number 39 on the Billboard Chart.

The ephemeral pop sensibility of Magic Bus: The Who On Tour and many similarly rushed releases marked by the marketing concerns of recording corporations, was challenged by the Who's subsequent studio album release, Tommy, in 1969. The creative achievement and public appraisal of Tommy revolutionised many pop and rock artists' ambitions. Alongside the creative control that The Beatles had won from their recording company, before setting up their own label, popular recording artists viewed Tommy as a shift in the relationship between themselves and their record companies. The effect of this re-establishment prevailed in a sizeable sector of popular music production for much of the 1970s. In the light of this, Magic Bus: The Who On Tour is an insignificant chapter in the history popular music. Its importance rests solely on its market penetration in the United States, which helped to give The Who a public profile with which to expose the Tommy project to a mass audience.

• Song list:
  • Disguises
  • Run, Run, Run
  • Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
  • I Can't Reach You
  • Our Love Was, Is
  • Call Me Lightning
  • Magic Bus
  • Someone's Coming
  • Doctor, Doctor
  • Bucket T
  • Pictures of Lily