A
Fortnight of Furore
The Who and the Small Faces Down
Under
68 pages, A4 Softback. Mutley Press
In Australasia, The Beatles and
The Rolling Stones are looked upon as being at the forefront of English groups
from the '60's Beat Boom.
However,
The Who and The Small Faces conjure up perhaps the most vivid memories of
outrageous behaviour, both on and offstage, from their one and only riotous
two-week visit there in 1968.
Now, some
30 years later, this problem-plagued tour has been immortalised in a new book
written by Andrew Neill, who has co-authored books on The Rolling Stones and
The Who, and is a frequent contributor to the globally distributed Record
Collector magazine.
"I've
really set out to chronicle what happened on this rock tour to end all rock
tours, because in most biographies, it tends to get scant mention via a
throwaway line or two, but in Australia at the time, it really was a big
deal!"
"These
days, nobody bats an eyelid at what so-called rock stars get up to. It's almost
considered passe if a T.V. set gets sent out of a hotel window, but The Who and
The Small Faces were the first, and it happened in, of all places, New Zealand!"
"I
was too young to see the concerts, but ever since, the whole tour has never
ceased to fascinate me. Two of the most vibrant bands from the '60's Mod
movement being flown, uncomfortably I might add, to the other side of the world
for the kind of package tour which was already considered old hat in England,
and encountering this violent culture shock - violent, both metaphorically and
literally!"
"Australia, the nation, was up in arms at what these long-haired monsters were supposedly up to. So much so, that the then Prime Minister, Senator John Gorton, sent a telegram to Pete Townshend requesting The Who never set foot in Australia again. Townshend shot back a colourful reply, and to
this day has kept his word
and never returned!"
"A
Fortnight of Furore" contains:
· Exclusive interviews with key
participants
· Previously unpublished photos
and memorabilia
· A full reproduction of the rare,
original tour programme
· A complete Australia and New
Zealand Who/Small Faces discography