POP SCENE

England's the Who suggests feeding time at the zoo

By Ritchie Yorke

Watching the English pop group, the Who, perform is not unlike being at the zoo just before and during the feeding of the big cats. The people gather around, some with bated breath — expecting anything, prepared for everything.

With the Who, and with lions and tigers at feeding time, it's all action — very basic action. The group gets in there, each member striding across the stage like a half-starved animal, full of vengeance and vigor.

In short, the Who is very much of a visual act. It has always been that throughout its stormy four-year career; and at last night's concert in the Rock Pile, which drew more than 2,500 young fans — nobody cared too much about how good the group was, instrumentally.

Despite guitarist Pete Townshend's, disconcertingly restless tendencies, the Who left no doubt it was one of the finest non-blues groups in England. Much of the credit must go to the obvious skills of each member of the quartet, and also to the composing talents of Townshend.

His songs were full of imaginative lyrics, identifiable situations and wry humor.

He showed the ability to do the more serious in the Who's new album, Tommy, a two-disc pop opera about the experiences of a deaf, dumb and blind boy.

Time prevented the Who from fully outlining the width and depth of this pop opera; but the 15-minute segment offered was novel and exciting.

The histrionics presented by the group, in addition to its exciting music, was purely incidental.

The Who's visual effects were really only a bonus, even if unnecessary one.

The Mothers of Invention's appearance before about 2,300 at Massey Hall, also suffered from conflicting images. Many believe this group, led by Frank Zappa, exists solely to continue a spate of vulgarity, but this is in not altogether true.

There are few groups that can top the Mothers in a musical sense, and if Zappa ever concentrated only on making serious pop music, the Mothers could become one of the most respected acts in North America.

Last night's concert was not the best the Mothers had done in Toronto, yet it was not a failure. It was just that the group did not arouse the emotions of the audience to a degree evident at the Mothers' February appearances.

One of the problems facing the Mothers is that fulfilling a serious role in the pop world is always going to be difficult while the audience is in two minds about the apparent satire offered. Was Zappa really moved by the old doody-dooh-wah rock songs? Or was he sending them up?

It would be a big-beat boon if the Mothers could successfully fill both roles. After all, pop can use satire, and at this point, the more serious musicians who become involved, the better.