By 1980, The Who was going through a turbulent time. Just two years earlier, the band lost drummer Keith Moon, who died at age 32. After regrouping for a ninth album Face Dances in 1981, the band’s first of two with former Faces drummer Kenney Jones left the surviving members, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, and Roger Daltrey feeling off-tune.
Cadillac v. Rolls Royce
“I just felt that Keith was such an extraordinary drummer, to try and replace him was just ridiculous,” said Daltrey in 1994. “We just filled the gap and pushed it back into the same slot with a drummer who was quite obviously the completely wrong drummer. I’m not saying he’s a bad drummer. I’m not saying he’s a bad guy. I didn’t dislike the guy, but I just felt he wasn’t the right drummer for the Who. It’s like having a wheel off [of] a Cadillac stuck onto a Rolls Royce. It’s a great wheel but it’s the wrong one.”
On replacing his friend Moon, in 2021, Jones said: “I look upon it as fondness and sadness, because one of the things I regret in life is Keith Moon is no longer with us, and I wish he was. I mean, as far as I’m concerned there’s only one drummer for the Who, and that’s Keith Moon and always will be. So, I never tried to emulate him. Purposely, also, because I’m not nuts like he is. He was a good friend and we had such a laugh together. I miss him to this day.”
At the time, Townshend’s drinking hit its peak, often leading to physically violent episodes with bandmates, and he had undergone a detox program to get over Ativan. The band was not on the best of terms yet still moved ahead to work on It’s Hard, under pressure from their label to release another album and tour.
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‘It’s Hard’
Written by Townshend—with the exception of “Dangerous”, “It’s Your Turn” and “One at a Time,” which were penned by Entwistle—the album had two charting singles with “Athena,” peaking at No. 28 on the Hot 100 and “Eminence Front,” which went to No. 5 on the Mainstream Rock chart, but It’s Hard still wasn’t a proud moment for The Who.
Though the band barely commented on the album, Townshend later said that Face Dances and It’s Hard were not the band’s strongest releases. “‘Face Dances’ and ‘It’s Hard’ were made by a band who were very unsure about whether or not they wanted to be making a record,” said Townshend in 1985 “and I think that’s a terrible doubt.”
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“A Complete Piece of S–t”
Daltrey went so far as to say that it never should have been released. “‘It’s Hard’ should never have been released,” he said. “I had huge rows with Pete. I said, ‘Pete, this is just a complete piece of s–t and it should never come out.'”
Daltrey added, “It’s more of a live-type album. I think it’s very unpretentious. It’s not particularly my favorite Who album. I think there’s about five really good tracks on it. It’s a stopgap album. I think musically you just cannot keep doing the same old thing. I think that’s been one of our mistakes; that’s one of my main criticisms of this album. It is a bit like this is The Who doing what they know how to do and I don’t like that particularly. I like taking chances.”
It’s Hard was also the final album by The Who to feature founding member Entwistle, who died in 2002.
Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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