Wholigan's Corner

SHEL TALMY'S BLUEPRINT FOR I CAN'T EXPLAIN EXCERPTS
I chose ‘I Can’t Explain’ to record for the first session I produced for The who, and having used Pye #2 studio for most of The Kinks’ tracks, decided to stay with it for the initial Who recording.  The date was November 4, 1964.

Next step was to find a home for the band, who would “love” them and promote them.
I still felt some loyalty to Decca, so played it for the A&R guys. I wasn’t surprised when they rejected The Who, a repeat of the time when I brought them Manfred Mann and Georgie Fame.
I wondered why I had bothered and was very relieved they’d passed, because from the get-go, I thought this band would be of more interest in America, and so I flew to New York later that week to see if I was right.

I sought opinions from my contacts there and the majority said try American Decca, as they’re the ones who need new talent and hits.

Yes, LOL, I recognized how ironic this was going from one Decca to another, albeit the companies, while still associated, were no longer jointly owned.
My attorney made an appointment for me, and I was ushered in to a conference room where the three top Decca executives were waiting for me. The room was oak-paneled with a long, highly polished table that looked antique to my untrained eye.  

The three executives were older gentlemen in suits and ties, and it shot through my mind that maybe this twenty-something trying to sell a very loud power-pop band was an exercise in futility with a group used to dealing with the Sinatra’s, Ella Fitzgerald’s and maybe even Lawrence Welk’s of the world!

Fortunately for me, I was wrong!  They received me with courtesy and couldn’t have been nicer.
Even before I played The Who for them, I was told their company objective was to get heavily involved with rock’n’roll and all other new music trends, with the intention of Decca being a major player and competitive with the other major labels.

SHEL TALMY'S BLUEPRINT FOR BALD HEADED WOMAN EXCERPT
The Who’s recording was done at the very first session I produced with them, also at Pye, on November 14th, 1964. It would become the B-side of their first hit ‘I Can’t Explain’, released in December, 1964 in the U.S., and on January 15, 1965 in the UK. It’s length was 2:32.

To this day, I couldn’t swear they actually understood The Who, but they claimed they did and made me an offer I felt was good for a new untried band, and we agreed a deal. And the irony number two was that their release outlet in Great Britain was the Brunswick label, distributed by--you guessed it, British Decca!

American Decca did promote the record, but it languished until airplay from Terry Knight on station WTAC in Flint, Michigan broke “I Can’t Explain” in his area and it started spreading countrywide.