Anniversaries of anniversaries

A couple of nights ago, I watched a documentary on BBC4 about the Secret Policeman's Ball. I missed the start, but it quickly became apparent from the age of the talking heads that this was not a new, or recent, programme. Turns out that it was celebrating the 25th anniversary of the first Secret Policeman's Ball, and was first screened in 2004... in other words, it won't be long before we can celebrate the 20th anniversary of a documentary celebrating a 25th anniversary.

Anyway, it was a great watch, particularly with regard to the first two balls - I've got nothing against Dawn French, but I think Peter Cook was funnier, that's all. You can, and probably should, take a squizz whilst you still can, over on the iPlayer.

The point of this post? Well, the doc drew attention to the fact that the balls weren't just about comedy, but music too. A clip was shown from 1979, I think, in which Pete Townshend performed Won't Get Fooled Again acoustically, ably (though barely audibly) accompanied by John Williams of Cavatina fame. Turns out that this was the first time Pete had ever performed the song acoustically. I think it's brilliant, and shows what a great song it is, even shorn of Roger's shredding vocals, John's thunderous bass and Keith's carpet-bomb drums. Here it is.

For comparison, here's what can only be described as an incendiary full-band live performance of the same track from a year before, in what was Keith's last live performance. Note how Pete's pointed "Do ya?", after the line Oh I know that the hypnotized never lie, is aimed squarely at the audience in both performances.

A final thought before we move on, and for the sake of completeness, let's all take a moment to remember Roger's pre- and post-Brexit stance, and acknowledge that, ironically, he was fooled again.