Technically speaking The Who belong to the second wave of the British invasion and personify what Arnold Shaw terms the “rage and frustration” syndrome of the hard rock era.

At the Monterey Pop Festival in the dear, dead days of 1967, they ignited smoke bombs, overturned drums, smashed a guitar and managed to attract the attention of a considerable number of fans.

They had toured America previously in 1966. At that time the crowds seemed more interested in hearing the “boy scouts of rock” (Herman’s Hermits) than this quartet.

Though few Americans were aware of it, The Who had been around since 1963. Originally they were called the “Highnumbers,” one of the many groups playing for summer dances and rock fests during those first feverish years. The boys came along a little after the Yardbirds and the Rolling Stones. They caught the eye and ear of two ambitious young entrepreneurs who hoped to stumble on a new Beatle-type group. It was the promoters who dubbed the foursome “The Who” and set them on their future course.

IN THOSE gotta-have-a-gimmick days, The Who had several. Chief among them was Peter Townshend himself, with his expressive, grimacing face and haughty nose, the guy who played the “meanest looking guitar in all rock.” Add to this Peter’s “Union Jacket,” made from a British flag. (The day he shed it will be remembered with sadness by many who showed appreciation of their idol by copying and wearing one just like it!)

Roger Daltry, lead vocalist, adopted the ultra-mod fashions of the day, tossing his mike about his head to display his newest shirt or jacket better.

The ultimate show stopper was the orgy of destruction that ended the performance. It began, they say, as an accidental thing. They had been notified while playing a club gig that their other performances had been canceled. Dismayed at the happening the boys began clowning around, wound up by smashing their instruments. The audience loved it and went into ecstasies of applause and appreciation. The act was saved. The group was rehired. Rock ’n’ wreck became part of their routine.

The group is not as wantonly careless with their instruments as such actions would lead you to believe.

When they were playing Birmingham some years ago, I interviewed Peter Townshend while he was carefully repairing the guitar bashed at the first performance, readying it for re-smashing at the second show. It wasn’t, he assured me, the expensive guitar he regularly played, but a less costly version picked up in a pawn shop for the on-stage finale.

NOW THE SMASH act is often omitted since they insist they only destruct when they feel like it. But the flash, fire and frenzy are still there. They are unique in the excitement they create. Pete leaps around the stage like a madman, spinning his arm in the propeller fashion that is his trademark, ramming his guitar in the amplifier to produce a roaring feedback. Roger Daltry still tosses his mike high in the air, swinging it on the lead and catching it. At times he clings to it as if for support. Keith Moon attacks his drums with a ferocity that makes the sticks splinter. John Entwistle keeps his cool and plays his bass.

Gimmickry has never blinded anyone to the unique talents of The Who. They were the first of the now popular three-instrument groups (drums, bass and lead guitar), and one of the first to use feedback most creatively. Experimentation and showmanship distinguish their material and their performances. There isn’t a band in the world that couldn’t take a lesson or two from them.

The Who also worked to eliminate the traditional pecking order among its members. In many records like “My Generation” they placed equal emphasis on singer Roger Daltry and the guitar-bass-drum trio.

“TOMMY,” A ROCK OPERA written and performed by The Who, marked the first time that the Metropolitan Opera had ever opened its door to rock. The two performances were sold out within an hour after the tickets went on sale.

“What’s next? Of their future, Townshend said: “It’s inevitable to say that the group is at its most trying period. That is why the group must challenge itself. Obviously we can split up and each do something. But why do it that way because we have so much fun being The Who.”

That they enjoy making their own kind of music is apparent in other statements made by various members of the group. Roger Daltry said, “The rock press have made it all so serious. Fifty per cent of rock is having a good time.”

You get the chance to enjoy that good time along with The Who on Monday at 8 p.m. The group that is billed as “the most exciting stage act” will appear at the Coliseum at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa for one performance at that time — the only Alabama stop during their current tour of the U. S.