Where does the term Who are you come from?

Answer 1

Since I am involved in music I'm going to give the synopsis of "Who Are You" as a song and an album versus the phrase itself which, consequently, has been around for much longer than the song and album itself.

"Who Are You" is a classic song and title track from the album Who Are You by the famous Rock group known as The Who. "Who Are You" is the last song on The Who's 1978 album Who Are You. *The song exudes deliberate irony in the title, chorus and backing vocals ...hence the name of the group performing it. It is one of the three most popular Who songs (along with "Baba O'riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again"). The song "Who Are You" itself would be the last time then drummer, Keith Moon, would play with the enthusiasm and energy he was known for. The rest of the albums drumming was some what sub-par considering Moons known ability. Keith Moon died shortly after the albums release in the late summer of 1978. The song was a major rock radio hit and to this day it receives considerable air-play and downloads via the internet.

The track itself is characterized by three main components that seem to stick out in a persons mind when remembering the song: Unique sounding layered synthesizers that are up high and out if front in the mix, energetic drumming, and singer Roger Daltrey boldly singing the line "Who the F_______K are you" a few times towards the songs end.

The Who were among the top groups to come from the infamous British Invasion in the 1960's. The Who are known for their raw and explosive sound. They created an image that signified a tough, blue collar approach to playing Rock n Roll. It's safe to say The Who were known for putting a lot of sweat into playing music minus many of the frills other groups were showing at this time. Much of The Who's early singles were on the lighter and smoother edged side of the playing field compared to their later sound. However, by the end of the 1960's The Who's music grew into the hard hitting, no non-sense sound that became their primary signature as a group. In addition, The Who incorporated Opera to Rock Music towards the end of the decade. Building upon this new direction The Who started introducing much more melody to their sound. This gave The Who certain substance from an artistic standpoint in addition to their already established straight forward Hard Rock foundation. Although The Who became popular in the mid 1960's they certainly never stopped being at least semi-productive in the 1960's alone. The Who continued relatively strong in the next decade (1970's) and into the 1980's even though they lost legendary drummer Keith Moon along the way. Guitarist and song writer Pete Townshend has certainly been the creative force behind the group. Townshend also has many solo endeavors. In some respect The Who have performed sporadically through the present if considering only certain members reuniting here and again as being The Who. Bassist John Entwistle died in 2002. The Who are one of the greatest bands of all time considering certain music they created, their influence to Punk and Hard Rock, and certainly their musicianship. The Who paved the road for some select groups that followed such as Queen and later, Pearl Jam, who (punn intended) are heavily influenced by The Who's music. The Who remained a viable force (though sporadic) in the Rock genre spanning into three decades. The remaining members of The Who have reunited (at times with replacement drummer Kenny Jones) occasionally since the early 1980's mostly performing live in celebrating the music of their past.

Ian Billen with AlbumProduction.com

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