Twelve studio albums is the number most people expect. My map has twenty-two stations, and the ten extra ones are the reason a gift for The Who fans works better as a map than a poster. Live records and film soundtracks are on there too, and they change the shape of almost every line.
The clearest example: Keith Moon's line stops in 1979 and then reappears in 1996, eighteen years after he died. I had to sit with that one for a while before I was happy drawing it.
The short version. My Who map plots 22 releases from My Generation (1965) to Who (2019), a span of 54 years: 12 studio albums, 7 live albums and 3 film soundtracks. My research sheet carries roughly 70 named contributors. Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend appear on all 22, John Entwistle on 19, Keith Moon on 13, John "Rabbit" Bundrick on 6, and Kenney Jones and Zak Starkey on 5 each. Available as a Giclée art print in A2 and A1, unframed or framed, from £42.00.
Why This Gift for The Who Fans Has Twenty-Two Stations, Not Twelve
I could have plotted the twelve studio albums and stopped. With most bands I would have. With The Who it would have thrown away the most interesting part of the story.
Live at Leeds in 1970 is not a footnote in this catalogue, and neither is the Tommy film soundtrack in 1975 or Quadrophenia in 1979. Those records brought in players who never appeared on a studio album, and they are where several of the most surprising lines on the map begin and end.
So the map runs 12 studio albums, 7 live albums and 3 film soundtracks as one continuous route. It is a busier print than the studio-only version would have been, and every extra station earns its place.
The Who Discography Map
Twenty-two releases across 54 years, three drummers and around 70 contributors, drawn as one transit network.
Explore This Art PrintDaltrey and Townshend Are the Only Lines That Never Break
Roger Daltrey is credited on all twenty-two. So is Pete Townshend. Two unbroken lines from 1965 to 2019, and nothing else on the map comes close to that.
John Entwistle reaches nineteen. His last credit is the Royal Albert Hall live album issued in 2003, taken from concerts recorded before his death in 2002, so his line stops three stations short of the end rather than at the moment you might expect.
For somebody who has followed this band for fifty years, that gap between nineteen and twenty-two is the whole late history of The Who in one glance.
Keith Moon's Line Stops in 1979 and Comes Back in 1996
Moon is credited on thirteen stations. Twelve of them run consecutively from My Generation in 1965 through to the Quadrophenia soundtrack in 1979, including his vocal turn as Uncle Ernie on the Tommy film soundtrack and his co-lead vocal on "Bell Boy".
Then nothing for eighteen years, and then a thirteenth credit on the Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 album, released in 1996. He died in 1978. The performance is from 1970 and only reached shops twenty-six years later.
This is exactly why I plot by release rather than by recording date and then annotate the exceptions. A line that jumps eighteen years tells you something true about how a catalogue actually reaches its audience.
Three Drummers, and One Arrived Before the Vacancy Existed
Kenney Jones is on the map from 1975, on the Tommy film soundtrack, three years before Moon died and four before Jones officially took the job. He came in through a side door, and nobody looking at a tracklist would ever notice.
His five stations run 1975, the Quadrophenia soundtrack in 1979, Face Dances in 1981, Who's Last and It's Hard. Before The Who, he had the Small Faces and the Faces behind him, which is a fair amount of history to bring to a replacement job.
Zak Starkey picks up from 2000, appearing on five stations from Blues to the Bush through to Who in 2019. He is Ringo Starr's son, and by most accounts it was Moon who pushed him towards drumming in the first place. Three drummers, one line handing to the next, and the middle one starting before the first one finished.
The Royal Albert Hall Is Where Six Other Careers Cross This One
The Royal Albert Hall live album is the single richest guest station on the map. Six musicians appear there and nowhere else in the whole catalogue.
| Guest | Credited on | Known for |
|---|---|---|
| Eddie Vedder | Vocals on four songs, including "I'm One" | Pearl Jam |
| Paul Weller | Vocals and acoustic guitar on "So Sad About Us" | The Jam, The Style Council |
| Noel Gallagher | Guitar and backing vocals on "Won't Get Fooled Again" | Oasis |
| Bryan Adams | Vocals on "Behind Blue Eyes" | His own catalogue |
| Kelly Jones | Vocals and rhythm guitar on "Substitute" | Stereophonics |
| Nigel Kennedy | Violin on "Baba O'Riley" | Classical and crossover violin |
Two of those six have their own maps in my range, which means a Who fan looking at this print is often looking at two or three others by the end of the evening.
Eric Clapton and Ronnie Wood Share a Station With a Newsreader
The Tommy film soundtrack in 1975 gathers fourteen credits, and it is the strangest guest list in the catalogue. Eric Clapton is there on vocals and guitar. So is Ronnie Wood on guitar, Arthur Brown on vocals, Mick Ralphs, Nicky Hopkins on piano, Chris Stainton on organ, Caleb Quaye on guitar, Phil Chen on bass and Tony Newman on drums.
Two stations earlier, on Quadrophenia in 1973, Jon Curle is credited for the newsreader voice on "Cut My Hair". He is not a musician, and he still gets a line, because the sleeve credits him as part of the record. Dave Arbus gets one for the violin on "Baba O'Riley" on Who's Next in 1971, and never appears again.
Elsewhere, the long-servers do the quiet work. John "Rabbit" Bundrick runs six stations from Face Dances in 1981 to Endless Wire in 2006, which makes him the most persistent non-member on the map. Al Kooper turns up twice, four years apart, on The Who Sell Out and Who's Next. Rod Argent appears once, on Who Are You in 1978.
Choosing a Size for Somebody Who Knows the Catalogue
The A2 at 420 x 594mm (18 x 24 in) carries twenty-two stations comfortably and reads the two unbroken lines and the three drummers clearly from a few feet back. It starts at £42.00.
The A1 at 594 x 841mm (24 x 36 in) is what I would send to somebody who owns the box sets. At that size, the Royal Albert Hall guest cluster and the fourteen credits on the Tommy soundtrack separate out properly, and you can trace Moon's eighteen-year jump without hunting for it.
Both sizes are available unframed or framed and ready to hang. Every print is a Giclée on 230gsm premium fine art paper, textured matte, archival and acid-free, with everything set out on the print and frame specification page.
The Questions That Come Up Most on This One
Does it only cover the studio albums?
No, and that is the point of it. Twelve studio albums, seven live albums and three film soundtracks, all plotted as one route, which is what takes the total to twenty-two.
How many stations does Keith Moon actually appear on?
Thirteen. Twelve consecutively from 1965 to 1979, then one more on the Isle of Wight 1970 album released in 1996.
Is Kenney Jones on there, or just Moon and Zak Starkey?
All three drummers are on it. Jones has five stations, and the first of them is 1975, well before he joined.
Does it go up to the 2019 album?
Yes. Who in 2019 is the final station, and it brings in seventeen credits of its own, including Benmont Tench from Tom Petty's Heartbreakers.
Do the solo careers appear on the print?
Not on the print. My research sheet tracks the Townshend, Entwistle and Daltrey solo catalogues alongside the band records for cross-referencing, but the map itself plots the twenty-two band releases.
Maps That Connect to This One
The pairings here are not guesswork; they come straight off the credits. Noel Gallagher played on the Royal Albert Hall record, so the Noel Gallagher map shares a station with this one. Paul Weller sang on the same album, which puts the Paul Weller map in the same position. And Benmont Tench's credit on the 2019 album links directly to the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers map.
For the wider generation, the 1960s bands collection gathers their contemporaries, and the music art print collection holds the full range. If it is the gift you came for, the Who discography map is available in A2 or A1, unframed or framed, from £42.00.
