Thursday 3 October 2024

Music Giants X - The Who - blockbuster issue 17 October 2024.

Royal Mail's latest musical extravaganza features the 1960s rock band The Who, which really is my generation.  Formed in 1964, they celebrate their 60th anniversary this year (like Porridge).

Royal Mail's write-up 

Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon formed The Who in 1964. Within five years, they went from performing club shows to headlining the Woodstock festival and becoming the biggest box-office draw in the world. The group changed the way rock music was presented live and produced records that were often intelligent and challenging in content while pushing technological boundaries – both on the stage and in the studio.

The band embraced different genres of music, from proto-punk to soft rock, mock opera to rock opera, and heavy rock to orchestrated rock. They produced songs that spoke for the disaffected youth and, as The Who themselves grew older, the middle-aged. Pete Townshend, as chief songwriter, became the voice of his generation. Along their 60-year journey, The Who lost Keith Moon (in 1978) and John Entwistle (in 2002), but Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend continue to thrill audiences with some of the best rock music ever written. 

They also support a host of charities, for which they have raised millions of pounds in funding over the years. There has never been another band quite like The Who. Having sold over 100 million records worldwide, and now celebrating their 60th anniversary, the group are among the most innovative and influential bands of the rock and roll era. 

Set of 8 stamps celebrating the 60th anniversary of rock band The Who, issued 17 October 2024.

The set consists of 4 x 1st class stamps and 4 x £2 stamps which, as many have said, do not satisfy any particular postage rate.

The stamps - album covers.

1st Class: My Generation
Released in the UK in December 1965 and reaching number five in the charts, My Generation is one of the best debut albums.
in history. Mixing cover versions with original material, the record highlights The Who’s unique song writing and performing abilities, not least on its title track and lead single – a rallying call to the disaffected youth of Britain.
 
1st Class: Tommy
The Who’s career-making double album, 1969’s Tommy was a tour de force that peaked at number two in the UK and redrew the boundaries of what could be achieved in rock music. Centred on a narrative that has since been adapted for stage and screen, it included the transatlantic hit ‘Pinball Wizard’ and continues to enthrall audiences around the world.
 
1st Class: Who’s Next
Following Tommy was never going to be easy, but The Who managed it with Who’s Next, which topped the UK charts in 1971. Featuring songs such as ‘Baba O’Riley’ and ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’, it proved the group could deliver anthems outside of a conceptual framework and made The Who one of the first bands capable of filling stadium venues.
 
1st Class: Quadrophenia
Telling the story of Jimmy, a mod seeking his place in the world in the mid- 1960s, Quadrophenia continued Pete Townshend’s exploration of spiritual fulfilment. Issued in late 1973 and reaching number two on both sides of the Atlantic, the double album featured a complex narrative that proved to be difficult to perform live, even for The Who.
 
£2.00: Who Are You
Released at the height of the punk era in Aug 78, Who Are You picked up where The Who By Numbers left off, its title track railing against the machinations of the music business. An ailing Keith Moon died three weeks after the album’s release, just as it peaked at number 6 in the UK charts.
 
£2.00: Face Dances
The Who’s first album with new recruits Kenney Jones (drums) and John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick (keyboards), Face Dances was released in March 1981 and heralded the band’s biggest UK tour for many years. Lead single ‘You Better You Bet’ took the group into the UK top ten for the first time since the mid- 1970s, helping its parent album hit number two.
 
£2.00: Endless Wire
Having paid tribute to bassist John Entwistle on the song ‘Old Red Wine’, written and recorded for the 2004 compilation Then and Now, Townshend and Daltrey, with Pino Palladino (bass) and Zak Starkey (drums), released The Who’s 11th album, Endless Wire, in October 2006. Based on a story by Townshend, it was hailed by critics as a return to form.
 
£2.00: WHO
In no hurry to return to the studio, The Who issued WHO 13 years after Endless Wire, in December 2019. Reaching number three in the UK, the album proved that Pete Townshend had become the ultimate cross- generational spokesman and revealed Roger Daltrey to be the epitome of a rock god, helping to steer the group’s survival through the ages.

Miniature sheet

The ms also contains a mix of 1st class and £2 stamps.  To use the latter as basic letter rate stamps, 20p more is required for international surface mail outside Europe, and 50p for international airmail; or 10p for an inland large letter under 100g.

The above paragraph was written in August before the new postage rates were announced.  So here's a rewrite:

The ms also contains a mix of 1st class and £2 stamps.  To use the latter as basic letter rate stamps, 60p (ie two stamps) more is required for international surface mail outside Europe, and 80p (at least 3 stamps) for international airmail.

Miniature sheet of 4 stamps celebrating the 60th anniversary of rock band The Who, issued 17 October 2024.
1st class: The Who in 1968; The Who at the Marquee Club in 1967; £2 The Who at Kings Hall, Belle Vue, Manchester 1973; The Who c.1965.

 

Technical details & acknowledgements

The design reverts to the 'Album Covers' style last used for the Paul McCartney issue in 2021.  The 38 x 31mm gummed stamps are printed in litho in sheets of 48 by Cartor Security Printers, perforated 14½ x 14.  
On the 192 x 74mm self-adhesive(?) miniature sheet the 60 x 30 mm stamps are also printed by CSP in litho, perforated 14½.  The stamps are designed by Royal Mail based on an original design by Studio Dempsey. 
Acknowledgements: The Who album covers © 2024 YEARHOUR 2017 LLP under license from Bravado International Group Limited. All rights reserved.    The Who pictured in 1968 © Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo; The Who at the Marquee Club, London, in March 1967, photo © Ray Stevenson; The Who at Kings Hall, Belle Vue, Manchester, during the Quadrophenia tour in November 1973 © David Warner Ellis/Redferns/Getty Images; The Who pictured in c.1965 © Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo; border image: The Who memorabilia © Pictorial Press Ltd/Alamy Stock Photo. 2024 YEARHOUR 2017 LLP

Prestige Stamp Book

This 24-book is written by music photographer and writer Matt Kent.  Panes 1 & 2 (the sheet stamps) are on gummed paper; Panes 3 & 4 (miniature sheet and definitives) are self-adhesive.  The defnitive pane contains just two x £2 definitives, and three labels.

The Who Prestige Stamp Book Cover


The Who Prestige Stamp Book

Collectors Sheet

Unusually in recent times this is gummed as the self-adhesive format was not possible because the die-cutter was not available for the 'Album Covers' format.  So the same as the sheet stamps (although the phosphor may turn out to be different: time will tell).

The Who Collectors Sheet issued 17 October 2024

Not a Retail booklet

No retail booklets have been issued since the introduction of barcoded definitives due to the change of size and difficulty accommodating the mix.  Royal Mail are now pleased to be able to introduce these again produce something similar for this issue with 4 x 1st Class The Who stamps in a specially designed stamp booklet. 

The book features a graphic background of The Who roundel or ‘target’ and includes the 4 x 1st Class album cover stamps of: My Generation, Tommy, Who’s Next and Quadrophenia in a folded book.
Print: these self-adhesive booklets are printed in gravure (presumably by the Walsall end of Cartor Security Printers) and so make 4 different stamps.

Retail booklet of 4 x 1st class The Who stamps, printed gravure on self-adhesive paper, issued 17 October 2024.

UPDATE 11 October.

A spokesman for Royal Mail has confirmed that this product is not considered as a Retail Book and that that term was only used to describe its format and size.

"These are planned only for the Music issues at this time, by extension then they are for the fan bases and are in response to those fans loving the option of having mint stamps for postage within their basket of collectibles.  It’s also a low price product for the fan collector. It isn’t a substitute for the Retail Booklets or Retail Booklet focused stamp collectors.  It will not be distributed by Post Office Ltd nor Royal Mail Retail."

In my view even if some supermarkets resist this type of product, with a barcode and a simple A5 point of sale card Royal Mail could have sold to people doing their grocery or greetings card shopping.  The demographic that still sends cards are exactly the people who would have enjoyed The Who.

I know the Philatelic team at Royal Mail were disappointed that Retail or Commemorative Booklets were not accommodated when the barcoded stamps were issued as "the rationale behind them is as valid today as it was then in terms of taking stamps to a non-stamp collecting audience". 

Maybe next year? 

Products

Set of 8 stamps, miniature sheet, presentation pack, first day covers (2), stamp cards (13), press sheet of 8 miniature sheets, collectors sheet, prestige stamp book, limited edition prestige stamp book, retail booklet,  fan sheets (2), medal covers (2), platinum stamp set, framed products.

Fans of the US television forensic crime series CSI will know that four tracks from The Who have been used as the theme tunes since the middle of series 1.   The original CSI: Crime Scene Investigation used Who Are You;  CSI: Miami used Won't Get Fooled Again;  CSI:NY - Baba O'Riley; CSI: Cyber - I Can See For Miles; and CSI: Vegas - Who Are You







20 comments:

  1. Not sure it's a retail booklet for retailers or just another collector product.... there is not a barcode on it for retailers to scan!

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    1. Is it not on the back? I think Special Stamp retail booklets are a great product - if they are widely available - as a way to engage people who rarely use a post office.

      Years back I was buying greetings cards and as usual the assistant asked "Do you need any stamps?". I didn't but jokingly said "Only if you've got interesting ones" and he produced a David Bowie booklet. So I bought it.

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    2. Reading the update.... I absolutely agree with Ian. RM have missed a trick if this isn't available to the casual purchaser in Post Offices, card shops and the like.

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    3. Despite its size, the 4 x 1st booklet looks superb. Nice and simple.

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  2. The standard PSB is missing from the RM website - maybe they are hoping collectors will buy the limited edition version by mistake!

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  3. Early today no prestige booklet was showing. The order code for the basic PSB is YB122.

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  4. Wont get fooled again into buying these.

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    Replies
    1. Nice :-D The best I could manage was in the opening sentence.

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  5. My first week's wage was a £5 note - yes, I am very old!4 October 2024 at 16:14

    I really HATE the £2 stamps - not just because they don't match a tariff rate, but the knock-on effect that using them for postage usually means placing them alongside an outsized definitive. (Such is the pace of technology that, had Royal Mail waited until this year, it would have been possible to introduce matrix-code stamps at the same size as the former definitive range, which would match commemorative/special stamps.)

    On a wider point, I wish that ALL non-definitive stamps were NVIs - 1st, 2nd inland (together with the Large variants), and a new first-tier Air Mail NVI. If other 'values' were wanted/needed, something like a standard 2nd-to-1st upgrade stamp (which would also change in value when tariffs change), or 1st-to-AirMail could also prove useful.

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  6. Just had an order advice note for a Welsh Country definitive stamp value £2.50 which is being issued on 14/11/2024 . I thought I read here that RM were not issuing any more Country definitives? Very weird.

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    1. I think the statement was that they wouldn't issue Air Mail rate stamps any more. Presumably the Welsh QEII 1st and 2nd are running low?

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    3. No more comments here about Welsh stamps please. I'll post something about them on 29 October which is when the embargo ends prior to issue on 14 November. Doubtless you'll see them before then on the other important blog.

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  8. Most of my stamps arrived from Edinburgh today. Gosh their packaging is bad - it's a wonder any stamps arrived at all. Does anyone else have the same issues? I think it's only a row of the stamps and the overpriced Smilers Sheet that have been folded. How none of the other stamps fell out of the hole in the envelope is beyond me. Wish me luck when I win Edinburgh tomorrow.

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  9. Last 3 issues of stamps from Edinburgh have arrived in plastic bags. The A5 envelopes have been crushed, the A4 envelopes have either been folded or the holes in the envelope have led to items falling out. Some envelopes have proper packing inside to help protect the stamps, while others have no protection what so ever. The Who issue has arrived intact for once, but I'm still waiting for part of my standing order to arrive. So lets hope RM can deliver it intact for once.

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  10. Hi, it’s Brendan . Disappointed not to find the retail booklet at one of the main crown post offices in Central London. I was told that Tallents House hadn’t sent them any. Also surprised to see that the label on the “My Generation” album cover stamp depicts the 1980 Virgin reissued version, as opposed to the iconic 1960’s Brunswick label. Pretty poor on the part of the designer.

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    1. Hi Brendan - it's not a retail booklet in the original sense, see the update in blue, above.

      As for the album cover, yes I would have expected the earliest version to be shown, even if it may not be the best known (although it probably is).

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    2. Hi. Anyone wanting this booklet, I noticed Royal Mail are selling it on eBay, at face value, but importantly with no postage charge. It's headed "The Who Special Stamp Book"

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