Who's Tommy?

Music has always effected me deeply.  Combine great music with a fantastic story and you've got me on your side for years to come.  But combine great music, a fantastic story, and the film making style of Ken Russell and I'm hooked for life.

When I was just a little kid, I saw the classic 1975 film version of The Who's rock opera "Tommy" and I was enchanted.  The film was magical in a way, suffused with color and light and so many strange and wonderful songs.  All the musicals I'd seen and heard before were more of the Rodgers and Hammerstein variety, or even Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.  The idea of rock 'n' roll songs as the pivots of the story was amazing to a little kid.

And then, a few years later, I played pinball (the very game "Tommy" revolves around) for the first time.  Care to guess what the theme of the table was?  I'll give you a hint.

 

That's right.  I first played pinball on such an iconic table.  Oh, how I loved to hit the "Smash the Mirror" and "Holiday Camp" goals.  I'll grant you that the table is based more on the stage show than the film version, but it was the FEELING of it.

Anyway, I soon expanded my musical horizons.  I met other rock/pop musicals like "The Phantom of the Paradise" and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" and I took them to my heart.  Still, in some place deep down, "Tommy" remained special for me.

"Tommy" may be far from the only rock opera/musical to provide part of the soundtrack to my life, but it's one of the best and brightest.