Chat Board - The Who - Baba O’Riley

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The Who - Baba O’Riley

Printed From: Top 40 Music on CD
Category: Top 40 Music On Compact Disc
Forum Name: Chat Board
Forum Description: Chat away but please observe the chat board rules
URL: https://top40musiconcd.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=6439
Printed Date: 08 June 2025 at 1:13am
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Topic: The Who - Baba O’Riley

Posted By: aaronk
Subject: The Who - Baba O’Riley
Date Posted: 09 September 2011 at 12:37pm

OK, not even released as a single in the US, but it happens to be one of my all-time favorite songs, and if it's good enough to make the Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, I figure it's fair game to discuss here.

As I pointed out in another thread, many of the remastered Who albums from the mid-1990s were also remixed. On my remastered copy of "Who's Next," the song runs 5:08. On "Ultimate," it runs 4:58. The difference in length is due to where the piano hits start. On "Who's Next," they start at 0:41. On "Ultimate," they begin at 0:32.

As far as I can tell, original vinyl LP copies run the shorter length (shorter intro), and probably match the mix on "Ultimate." The remastered version is certainly cleaner sounding (far less hiss); whereas the "Ultimate" CD suffers from noise reduction on many tracks.

It's too bad the '90s remasters are all remixed, because they really are superior in sound quality.

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Aaron Kannowski
http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound
http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop

Replies:

Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 09 September 2011 at 3:04pm

Have you ever noticed some people think the song is called "Teenage Wastland"?

Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 09 September 2011 at 6:37pm

Considering the song title is not in any of the lyrics, it's not surprising that some people would think that.

As a side note, I tracked down a copy of the Steve Hoffman mastering of "Who's Next" and the sound quality is far superior to "Ultimate." It's not as hissy, and there isn't any noise reduction.

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Aaron Kannowski
http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound
http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop

Posted By: Yah Shure
Date Posted: 09 September 2011 at 7:45pm

"Wastland"? That country doesn't seem to be listed in the latest Rand McNally. :) Aside from the "Teenage Wasteland" title, I've referred to the song for years as "Teenage Waistline", an ode, of sorts, to having once been less old and more sveldt.

(I'd have to add Head East's "Never Been Any Reason" to the no-one-seems-to-know-what-the-actual-title-of-this-song-is sweepstakes: "Save My Life," "Goin' Down For The Last Time" and on and on.)

Back To "Baba O'Wawa": we used to have issues with this vinyl track at my college station, as the stylus would alternately skip and get stuck during the intro, making it seem to go on forever. This thread got me to thinking: "what if "Baba" had been issued as a single? What would have been the best way to shorten that long intro without making the overall result sound like a hack job?

It can be done. With a little extra copying and pasting magic, I came up with a file that runs 4:05 and shortens the intro to :21. The only trimming came during the first half, as anything cut from the latter half just plain didn't work. Y'know, I could probably get that down under 3:30 if I sped it up a mere 20% or so. :)

Posted By: Santi Paradoa
Date Posted: 16 February 2025 at 4:22pm

"Baba O'Riley" was issued on a 45 in several countries back in late 1971/early 1972 (including France, Portugal, Germany, Australia and Netherlands).

Some of those 45s have listed times of 4:58, 4:27 and some have no time listed. I've never heard an edit running 4:27 but would be cool to see if that truly exists.

I agree the song is a 70s classic (no surprise it made that Top 500 Rolling Stone list back in the day).

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Santi Paradoa

Miami, Florida

Posted By: LunarLaugh
Date Posted: 18 February 2025 at 3:38pm

eriejwg wrote:

Have you ever noticed some people think the song is called "Teenage Wastland"?

Pete's demos for The Who's aborted "Lifehouse" rock opera concept album (which the Who's Next album was cobbled together from once it was shelved) actually feature a different
track entitled "Teenage Wasteland" that features the same lyrics but sang to a rather slow, dirge-like rhythm before picking up to the more familiar "Baba O'Riley" tempo towards the
end.

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https://thelunarlaugh.bandcamp.com/ - Listen to The Lunar Laugh!