The sound quality varies from excellent Soundboard to scratchy with noticable "hiss" on some of the older recordings. However, don't this does not detract from the overall quality of this release.
1-2: UK -TV "Ready, Steady Go", London 21 May, 1965
3-4: US - TV "Shinding", London, 3 August, 1965
5: US-TV "Ready Steady Go", X-mas Special, London 24 December, 1965
6: BBC - session, London, 13 Septmeber, 1966
7-9: German TV- "Beat Club", Marquee, London, 2 March, 1969
10-13: BBC-session, London, 15 October, 1967
14: Interview, (BBC March 1969)
15-20: BBC - session, London, 13 April, 1970
Bonustracks:
21. Shepherd`s Bush Entertainment (Pete Townshend - interview filmed for UK - TV,
"A whole seene going", January 5, 1966 with brief live versions of HEATWAVE and
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT, Hastings 4 August, 1965
22-25: Excerpts from an early WHO - concert, under the name THE HIGH NUMBERS,
Exact date not known, but probably 2 September, at the Scene Club in Soho, London
where their new manager Kit Lambert also filmed the group
Although tracks 10, 17, 18, 19, 20 were, at the time, billed as live BBC-recordings,
they are merely re-mixed studio-versions.
The concept behind this bootleg is a decent one: to gather early Who radio and TV recordings that have not been officially released. For plugging holes in the archives, it has its satisfactions, but as a listening experience, it's mostly for the diehards. The 1965 television shows are interesting in that they provide documentary evidence of how the Who sounded live as they began their recording career, and the performances are good (though one, "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" on Ready, Steady, Go, seems to be the same track that came out officially on the soundtrack to The Kids Are Alright). But the sound is only fair to lousy, which is too bad, as the live versions of "Shout and Shimmy," a substantially different arrangement of "My Generation" (from August 1965, prior to the single's release), and Marvin Gaye's "Baby, Don't You Do It" (from December 1965, not the B-side that was officially released from an early-'70s concert) are rare and intriguing. On the other hand, the 1966 BBC version of "So Sad About Us" is good in both performance and fidelity respects, as are the three songs done in London's Marquee club in March 1967 (not March 1969, as the liner notes claim) for the German Beat Club program. The late-1967 BBC versions of songs from the era of The Who Sell Out sound like the studio versions, except for a take of "Our Love Was" with a different, country-ish guitar solo. The half-dozen BBC songs from April 1970 likewise seem mostly or totally comprised of remixed official studio versions, and the four songs from a live 1964 show have long been available on bootlegs that actually include more material from that same gig. The Pete Townshend TV interview from early 1966, at least, does demonstrate that his opinions of the group and its significance flip-flopped maniacally even at the dawn of his stardom.