At the beginning of 1979, it looked as if The Who, enduring champions of adolescence and rock’s most madcap band, was through.

Drummer Keith Moon had died of a drug overdose in November ’78 on the eve of his marriage. Weeks earlier the band had issued its first new album in three years, “Who Are You,” which discussed the problem of musicians over age 30 sustaining careers in rock. And The Who’s guiding force, guitarist-songwriter Pete Townshend, had been widely quoted about his lack of artistic stimulation and disinterest in touring.

“We were at the end of an era,” Townshend told the Associated Press. “Keith died at a time when The Who really was finished . . . . But his death was such an incredible, catalytic thing.”

Indeed, the tragic loss reinvigorated The Who. Townshend, singer Roger Daltrey and bassist John Entwistle regrouped with

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drummer Kenney Jones, formerly of the Faces. And, by the end of 1979, The Who was named rock band of the year by the readers and staff of Rolling Stone magazine.

That was quite an accomplishment for a group that did not issue any recordings of new material that year. Instead, the British quartet assaulted the United States with two movies — “The Kids Are Alright,” a documentary of the band’s career, and “Quadrophenia,” a drama based on the Who’s ’73 album — and a brief concert tour.

The triumphant concert tour indicated The Who definitely had come back. But it also brought the group, and rock music, notoriety neither will ever be able to shake. The day of infamy was Dec. 3, 1979, in Cincinnati. Eleven persons were trampled to death trying to get into a concert by The Who, which was riding the pop charts with the hit “Long Live Rock.”

The show went on that night. And The Who has continued to press on. The group has embarked on a new concert tour, which visits the St. Paul Civic Center Wednesday and next Friday. Meanwhile, singer and sometimes actor Daltrey is starring in a dramatic film about British thief John McVicar and Townshend has recorded a solo album. And The Who is working on a new group album, which is expected to be released in October.

The popularity and influence of this celebrated British band is rivaled only by the Beatles and Rolling Stones. The Who was the first punk band. And the quartet has made a career of singing about the trials of adolescence.

The group began in London in 1963 as

the Detours. Townshend (on banjo) and Entwistle (on trumpet) had played in a Dixieland jazz band in school. Entwistle looked up his old crony when the Detours, which included guitarist-singer Daltrey and drummer Doug Sanden, needed a rhythm guitarist.

Townshend’s interest in the music of U.S. bluesman John Lee Hooker guided the direction of the Detours, who changed their name to The Who. The band’s managers realized the players were less than accomplished so they urged the musicians

to take advantage of the current teen fad of the Mods, rebellious working-class kids who favored ties and coats, and dresses.

However, drummer Sanden didn’t fit in. He was more than 10 years older than his colleagues; so he was sacked and the group changed its moniker to the High Numbers.

Keith Moon auditioned by destroying a drum kit that had served its previous owner for 20 years; he was hired. And, before too long, the band gained a following in

the London pubs with its gritty rhythm-and-blues sound and recorded a single, “I’m the Face,” with “Zoot Suit” on the flip side.

Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, small-time film directors, took note of the High Numbers’ popularity and took over management. They encouraged the band (which reverted to its old name) to incorporate aggression in its stage act that would match the physical aggression of the Mods.

Onstage, Daltrey, who had put away his guitar, twirled his microphone like a lariat and stuttered his lyrics in imitation of the amphetamine-chewing Mods. Townshend leaped into the air and swung his arm like a windmill while producing feedback and distortion on his guitar. Entwistle stood stoically in the corner and watched it all.

The final touch to The Who’s stage an-

WHO

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