The song was performed by Elton John in Ken Russell's 1975 film adaptation of Tommy. It was a perpetual concert favourite for Who fans due to its pop sound and familiarity. Nevertheless, the song was a commercial success and remains one of the most recognised tunes from the opera. Townshend once called it "the most clumsy piece of writing ever done". The lyrics are written from the perspective of a pinball champion, called "Local Lad" in the Tommy libretto book, astounded by the skills of the opera's eponymous main character, Tommy Walker: "He ain't got no distractions / Can't hear those buzzers and bells / Don't see lights a flashin' / Plays by sense of smell / Always gets a replay / Never seen him fall / That deaf dumb and blind kid / Sure plays a mean pin ball.", and "I thought I was the Bally table king, but I just handed my pinball crown to him". Despite the title, it has no musical connection to the Who's 1968 UK single "Dogs". The B-side of the "Pinball Wizard" single is an instrumental credited to Keith Moon, titled "Dogs Part Two". The original recording was released as a single in 1969 and reached No. "Pinball Wizard" is a song written by Pete Townshend and performed by the English rock band the Who, featured on their 1969 rock opera album Tommy. Elton John - Pinball Wizard (YouTube) quote: Townshend was incensed, and hit Hoffman with his guitar while herding him off the stage with a chorus of invective.įor all its controversies, ‘Pinball Wizard’ remains one of The Who’s crowning glories.The Who - Pinball Wizard (YouTube) vs. He grabbed the microphone and started ranting about the imprisonment of John Sinclair, the leader of the White Panther Movement and the MC5’s manager. While they were playing their “opera” section, Abbie Hoffman infamously stormed on stage just after they had just finished ‘Pinball Wizard’. Tommy formed the core of The Who’s set at the Woodstock Festival in the middle weekend of August 1969. Tommy was finished in March and released in May to critical and fan acclaim in equal measure, although there were some poor misguided critics who deemed it “sick.” Despite a poor sales start, the double album’s growing mystique eventually pushed Tommy to No. All this despite BBC Radio 1 DJ, Tony Blackburn calling ‘Pinball Wizard’ “distasteful.” Released in the US two weeks after its UK appearance, it made the Hot 100 in early April, eventually peaking too No.19 on the Billboard chart on 24th May. 2 with ‘Goodbye,’ with the great Desmond Dekker and the Aces’ ‘The Israelites’ at No. 1 and fellow Apple Records artist Mary Hopkin at No. Released on Friday 7th March, on Track Records it made the UK chart on the 22nd, climbing to No.4 on 3rd May. On 7th February 1969, The Who went into Morgan Studios, in the High Road, Willesden, far from the most prestigious recording set up in central London, and set about ‘Pinball Wizard’ with Kit Lambert as producer. I knocked a demo together and took it to the studio and everyone loved it.” I attempted the same mock baroque guitar beginning that’s on ‘I’m a Boy’ and then a bit of vigorous kind of flamenco guitar. Written in haste, Pete was unsure of its merit, saying, “It was going to be a complete dud, but I carried on. Anything with pinball in it’s fantastic.’ And so I wrote ‘Pinball Wizard,’ purely as a scam.” Pete, knowing Cohn to be a massive pinball fan, asked “So, if it had pinball in it, would you give it a decent review?’ He went, ‘Of course I would. With much of the album in the can, Pete had played some of it to his friend, the music critic Nik Cohn, who liked it, but thought it only worth four stars, rather than five. The song was, of course, part of Pete Townshend magnum opus “ Tommy”,which he and the band had begun recording in September 1968, but they had broken off from working on to tour. ‘Pinball Wizard’ is one of those very special pieces of music, It’s a great rock song, but at the same time a classic song, and yet it was not as big a hit as perhaps we all remember, such is its popularity today, five decades after it was recorded.
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