Simon Mayo
Birth name	Simon Andrew Hicks Mayo
Born	(1958-09-21) 21 September 1958 (age 53) Southgate, London, England[1]
Show	Simon Mayo Drivetime
Station(s)	BBC Radio 2
Time slot	5-7pm GMT/BST weekdays
Show	Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews
Station(s)	BBC Radio 5 Live
Time slot	2-4pm GMT/BST Fridays
Country	United Kingdom
Website	Simon Mayo Drivetime Kermode and Mayo's Film Review

Simon Mayo (born 21 September 1958 in Southgate, London) is an English radio presenter who has worked for BBC Radio since 1981. As of January 2010, Mayo is presenter of Simon Mayo Drivetime on BBC Radio 2 and, with Mark Kermode, presenter of Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews on BBC Radio 5 Live.

In 2008, Mayo was recognised as the "radio broadcaster of the year" at the 34th annual Broadcasting Press Guild Awards^[2] and the "Speech Broadcaster of the Year" at the Sony Radio Academy Awards, receiving the latter for his "ability to paint colourful pictures of location and event and his ability to bring the very best out of his guests, encouraging conversation and interaction between them while skilfully nudging and controlling them" and for being "a master of light and shade, handling serious and lighter issues with aplomb."^[3] Known as a committed Christian, Mayo has criticised the BBC for marginalising religion and being anti-Christian.^[4]

Early career[link]

Mayo attended Solihull School^[5], an historic independent school in the West Midlands, and after graduating from the University of Warwick in 1980 with a degree in History and Politics,^[6] Mayo spent some time honing his skills at Southlands Hospital Radio^[7], worked for five years as a presenter with BBC Radio Nottingham, before joining the national pop network BBC Radio 1 in 1986, presenting a two hour Saturday evening show from 7.30-9.30pm.

In October 1987 he progressed to the weekend early slots from 6.00am-8.00am and then became presenter of the weekday evening show in January 1988, which went out from 7.30pm-10.00pm. Five months later he was offered the Radio 1 breakfast show, regarded as the most prestigious presentation job in UK radio.^[8][9]

Radio 1 Breakfast Show[link]

Mayo spent five years presenting the Radio 1 Breakfast Show. Throughout his tenure on the breakfast show, Mayo was joined by news anchor Rod McKenzie and went through a series of sidekick weather girls, including Carol Dooley, Sybil Ruscoe, Jakki Brambles and Dianne Oxberry. The show's producer was Ric Blaxill who also made regular speaking contributions. A regular conceit was that the show was being overseen by a celebrity "guest producer", played by Blaxill without making any attempt to disguise his normal voice.^{[citation needed]}

He started his first breakfast show by playing Somewhere in my Heart by Aztec Camera, which was preceded by a montage of previous breakfast show hosts and then Mayo himself saying 'It's me, Simon Mayo, good morning.'

The programme became known for various features, including On This Day In History, soundtracked by a looped version of George Michael's "I Want Your Sex", and the long-running cryptic game The Identik-Hit Quiz, where Mayo and his cohorts would 'act' a short scene which cryptically led listeners to the title of a hit song.

He also ran his Confessions feature where members of the public sought absolution for their (often frivolous or humorous) "sins", and it moved to a television series in later years. Mayo had already presented the dilemma show Scruples for BBC television, and had joined his BBC Radio 1 colleagues on the host roster for Top of the Pops.

Both On This Day In History and Confessions spawned spin-off books.

Due to frequent plays from Mayo^{[citation needed]}, several unlikely hit singles reached the UK charts, including "Kinky Boots" by Patrick Macnee and Honor Blackman; "Donald Where's Yer Troosers?" by Andy Stewart; and "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", sung and written by Eric Idle. For helping Monty Python have a hit with the latter 13 years after it first appeared on the soundtrack to The Life of Brian, Idle presented Mayo with a model bare foot, in the style of the animated version which used to end the opening titles to the TV show.

Presenters who covered the breakfast show when Mayo took holidays included Bruno Brookes, Gary King, Phillip Schofield, Nicky Campbell, and Mark Goodier.^{[citation needed]}

Mayo, like all of Radio 1's high-profile presenters of the time,^{[citation needed]} would take his turn to spend a week in a coastal area of the UK during the Radio 1 Roadshows which occurred for three months of the summer. For a short while, he also presented an additional weekend show for the station on a Sunday afternoon and provisionally titled O Solomon Mayo - to cover for the absent Phillip Schofield, who was working in the West End.

Radio 1 mid-mornings[link]

Mayo officially gave up the breakfast show in 1993, though he had been on an extended period of paternity leave when the announcement was made. His stand-in Goodier was his replacement. Mayo moved on to the mid-morning slot from 9 am to 12 midday, and survived the cull of long-standing presenters which Radio 1 underwent the same year on the arrival of controller Matthew Bannister and his wish to rebrand the station as younger and more 'cutting edge'.^{[citation needed]}

In addition to his mid-morning show, from April 1994 - October 1995, Mayo also presented Simon Mayo's Classic Years, where he got to play two hours of classic pop tunes. The show originally went out on a Sunday lunchtime from 12.00noon-2.00pm, but in November 1994 went out from 10.00am-12.00noon on Sundays.

In January 1997, Mayo made a brief return to the breakfast show for three weeks when Chris Evans was dismissed, but both Mayo and Radio 1 ruled out the possibilities of a permanent return to the programme. On his first morning as breakfast stand-in, he read out an email from a man who had emigrated to New Zealand four years earlier and had arrived back in the UK that morning, and was "delighted to hear you're still doing the breakfast show".

In 1999 Simon Mayo broke a world record by broadcasting for 37 hours in aid of that year's Comic Relief.^[10] This record was broken by Chris Moyles and Dave Vitty on 17th March 2011.^[11][12]

Mayo remained on the mid-morning slot until he left Radio 1 in 2001, seeing breakfast-show presenters Mark Goodier, Steve Wright, Chris Evans, Mark and Lard, Kevin Greening, Zoe Ball & Sara Cox, come and go from the slot.

His final show was on Friday 16 February 2001 and before signing off, he said, "One of the reasons I'm not going to do a DLT is that I've nothing to complain about at all - though as I'll still be employed by the BBC it'd be a stupid thing to do. I always thought as a kid working at Radio 1 would be the most fun and the best place for any presenter to work and I still think that's true."^[13] His final track played on BBC Radio 1 was Ace of Spades by Motorhead.

Five Live[link]

In May 2001, after 15 years with Radio 1, Mayo joined another national BBC station, Radio Five Live to present an afternoon programme.

Mayo began broadcasting on Five Live every weekday from 1.00pm to 4.00pm, where he remained until December 18, 2009. He was on air in 2001 when the 9/11 attacks took place in the United States, broadcasting live as the events unfolded.

The programme generally combined topical debates, interviews and reviews. It came live from Westminster each Wednesday for live coverage of Prime Minister's Questions, with discussion and debate afterwards with political correspondents and MPs. The programme also featured Mayo's old Radio 1 sidekick Mark Kermode reviewing the new movie releases each Friday afternoon. The banter between Mayo and Kermode in this section of the programme was described by both men as "wittertainment at its most wittertaining."^[15] (The neologism wittertainment is a portmanteu of witter and entertainment, and was coined in a – now deleted – Wikipedia entry.^[16] However, Kermode and Mayo took note of the article before its deletion and have since been using the term regularly to refer to their show.^[17][18][19])

In a May 2008 interview with The Guardian, Mayo mentioned he "signed a contract for the next two years" and was uncertain whether he would still be at Five Live when it moves to Greater Manchester.^[20] It was later confirmed that Mayo was to move to the Radio 2 drivetime slot, though he will also continue to host a weekly two-hour film review show on Radio 5 Live with Mark Kermode.^[21]

In May 2009 Mayo and Kermode won a Gold Sony Radio Award in the Speech Award category, due to continued good work and passion for radio ^[22]

Radio 2[link]

In addition to his daily programme on BBC Radio 5 Live, from October 2001 - April 2007, Mayo hosted the Album Chart show each week for BBC Radio 2. Alongside this, on 2 January 2006, he presented The Ultimate Music Year for the station, where listeners got the chance to vote for their favourite year for music. He has also presented many Sold on Song projects, presented the Top 100 Albums and provided holiday cover for Johnnie Walker on Sundays. From April 2007 - April 2008 Mayo took over the Radio 2 Music Club every Monday night from 11.30pm-12.30am.

In January 2010, Mayo took over from Chris Evans on the Drivetime show,^[23] noting he was "very lucky to be given a second chance in such a high-profile slot."^[14] The programme includes a number of regular daily features including a "Nigel's Recipes", "Confessions", "Homework Sucks" and "The Showstopper".

As his opening theme Mayo has used a 2003 recording by Jools Holland and Prince Buster of the 1948 song "Enjoy Yourself (It's Later than You Think)" by Carl Sigman and by Herb Magidson. Later editions of the show have also used the popular 1950 hit version by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians.

In May 2011, Mayo won a Sony Award for "Best Music Show" for his work and that of his team on the BBC Radio 2 drive time slot.^[24]

Other work[link]

Radio 4[link]

Mayo presents Act Your Age, a panel game for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast on Radio 4 on 27 November 2008.^[25]

Television projects[link]

On TV he presented the first and second series of BBC show Winning Lines as part of the corporation's National Lottery output; he also hosted a TV version of his radio feature "Confessions".^{[citation needed]}

In 2005 he presented a series "The Big Dig" on BBC TV about allotments in the Rhondda Valley contrasted with others in Highgate, London.^[26]

Mayo currently hosts a revival of the classic quiz show Blockbusters, which began airing on Challenge on the 14th of May 2012.^[27]

Books[link]

Confessions based on the hit game from his BBC Radio 2 drivetime show^[28] was released in October 2011. The book is a compilation of the best confessions sent to the show by listeners.

Mayo's debut novel, Itch, was released on 1st March 2012. The titular protagonist is a fourteen year old boy who discovers a never-before-seen element.^[29]

Radio credits[link]

• BBC Radio Nottingham - The Simon Mayo Show 1981-86
• BBC Radio 1:
  • Saturday evenings 7.30-9.30pm 1986-87
  • Weekend early mornings 6-8am Late 1987
  • Monday-Thursday evenings 7.30pm-10.00pm January-May 1988
  • Breakfast Show 6.00am-9.00am May 1988-September 1993
  • Mid Morning Show 9.00am-12.00 noon October 1993-February 2001
• BBC Radio 5 Live - Afternoon Show 1.00pm-4.00pm May 2001-December 2009
  • Wittertainment 2.00pm-4.00pm January 2010–Present
• BBC Radio 2:
  • Album Chart Show Monday evenings 7.00pm-8.00pm October 2001-April 2007
  • Music Club Monday nights/Tuesday mornings 11.30pm-12.30am April 2007-April 2008
  • Drivetime Mon - Fri 5.00pm-7.00pm January 2010–Present
• BBC Radio 4 - Act Your Age 6.30pm November-December 2008

Personal life[link]

Mayo was educated at Solihull School, a boys' Independent school in the English West Midlands, and Worthing Sixth-Form College, West Sussex. He subsequently graduated from the University of Warwick, Coventry, with a degree in history and politics.^[30] While at university, he was a presenter on the student radio station, Radio Warwick.^[31] In 2005 the university awarded him an honorary Doctor of Letters.^[31]

Mayo married Hilary Bird, a Radio Nottingham colleague,^[32] on 11 October 1986 in Burton Joyce, Nottinghamshire. They have two sons (born 1991 and 1999) and a daughter (born 1994).^{[citation needed]} He is a supporter of Tottenham Hotspur.^[1]

References[link]

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (November 2008)

External links[link]

• Simon Mayo Drivetime from BBC Radio 2
  • Simon Mayo's blog for the Radio 2 Drivetime programme
• Kermode and Mayo's Film Review from BBC Radio 5 Live
  • Film review video podcast by Simon Mayo and Mark Kermode, from Radio Five Live's website
• Flickr photo sets from Radio 5 Live:
  • Mayo in the USA from October 2008
  • Simon Mayo's Guests
  • Mayo at the 2008 Wentworth PGA Championship
• Simon Mayo from Radio Rewind's website
• Shed of the year 2011 judge Simon Mayo

Mark Kermode
Kermode performing with the Dodge Brothers in 2009.
Born	Mark Fairey (1963-07-02) 2 July 1963 (age 48) Barnet, North London, England
Residence	Brockenhurst, New Forest, Hampshire, England
Nationality	British
Citizenship	British
Education	PhD (English)
Alma mater	University of Manchester
Occupation	Film critic, presenter, musician
Employer	BBC, The Observer, Sight and Sound
Known for	Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews, The Culture Show, The Dodge Brothers

Mark Kermode (born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician and a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He contributes to Sight and Sound magazine, The Observer newspaper and BBC Radio 5 Live, where he presents Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews with Simon Mayo on Friday afternoons.^[1] He also co-presents the BBC Two arts programme The Culture Show and discusses other branches of the arts for the BBC Two programme Newsnight Review. Kermode writes and presents a film-related video blog for the BBC.

Early life and education[link]

Kermode, born Mark Fairey^[2][3] in Barnet, North London, England,^[4] attended Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, an independent boys' school in Elstree, a few years ahead of comedians Sacha Baron Cohen, Matt Lucas and David Baddiel and in the same year as actor Jason Isaacs.^[5] He was raised as a Methodist, and is now a member of the Church of England.^[6]

Mark Fairey's parents divorced when he was in his early 20s and he subsequently changed his surname to his GP mother's maiden name by deed poll.^[7] (Neither of them is related to the literary critic Frank Kermode.^[8])

He earned his PhD in English at the University of Manchester in 1991, writing a thesis on horror fiction.^[4] Kermode has stated that "I was a revolutionary communist affiliate in the 80s", but that "none of us had any respect for Stalin".^[9]

Personal life[link]

Kermode lives in Brockenhurst with his wife, Linda Ruth Williams, a professor who lectures on film at the University of Southampton and has written The Erotic Thriller in Contemporary Cinema and co-edited Contemporary American Cinema.^[10] In October to November 2004, they jointly curated a History of the Horror Film season and exhibition at the National Film Theatre in London.^[10] Kermode and Williams have two children.^[7] Kermode has been described as "a feminist, a near vegetarian (he eats fish), a churchgoer and a straight-arrow spouse who just happens to enjoy seeing people's heads explode across a cinema screen".^[11]

Career[link]

Horror specialisation[link]

Kermode is a visiting fellow at the University of Southampton, having gained a PhD at the University of Manchester in modern English and American horror fiction.^[12] He has also contributed to Fangoria magazine,^[13] authored the monograph The Exorcist (BFI Modern Classics), and worked on film-related documentaries like The Fear of God; 25 Years of the Exorcist, Hell on Earth: The Desecration and Resurrection of Ken Russell's The Devils, The Edge of Blade Runner, and The Cult of The Wicker Man.^[14] He calls The Exorcist (1973) "the best film ever made".^[15] He recommends The Witch Who Came From the Sea as one of the best video nasties of the 1970s.^[16]

Kermode is sometimes critical of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), the censor for film in the UK, calling for horror films from abroad to be shown in their uncut versions. However, in recent years, he has stated on numerous occasions that the BBFC do a good job in an impossible situation, and expressed his approval of their decisions.^[17]

Print media[link]

Kermode began his film career as a print journalist, writing for Manchester's City Life, and then Time Out and the NME in London. He has also written for The Independent, Vox, Empire, Flicks, Fangoria and Neon.^[18] Until September 2005, Kermode reviewed films each week for the New Statesman.^[19] Since 2009 Kermode has written "Mark Kermode's DVD round-up" for The Observer, a weekly review of the latest releases.^[20] He sometimes writes for the British Film Institute's Sight and Sound magazine.^{[citation needed]}

In February 2010, Random House released his autobiography, It's Only a Movie, which he describes as being "inspired by real events".^[21] Its publication was accompanied by a UK tour.^[22] In September 2011 he released a follow-up book entitled The Good, the Bad and the Multiplex, in which he puts forth his opinion on the good and bad of modern films, and vehemently criticizes the modern multiplex experience and the 3D film craze of the early 2000s.^[23]

Radio[link]

Kermode began working at BBC Radio 1 in 1993, on a regular Thursday night slot called Cult Film Corner on Mark Radcliffe's Graveyard Shift session.^[24] He later moved to Simon Mayo's BBC Radio 1 morning show. He also hosted a movie review show with Mary Anne Hobbs on Radio 1 on Tuesday nights called Cling Film.^[25] Between February 1992 and October 1993, he was the resident film reviewer on BBC Radio 5's Morning Edition with Danny Baker.

Kermode also co-hosted an early 1990s afternoon magazine show on BBC Radio 5 called A Game of Two Halves alongside former Blue Peter presenter Caron Keating.^[26]

He currently reviews and debates new film releases each Friday afternoon with Simon Mayo on Mayo's BBC Radio 5 Live show, which is also available as a podcast.^[27] The programme won Gold in the Speech Award category at the 2009 Sony Radio Academy Awards on 11 May 2009. The judges' citation was:^[28]

The winner of the Gold Award made the judges laugh out loud. They found this programme witty and entertaining, cheeky and irreverent, and they admired the sustained passion and energy of its presenters who made listening an effortless and rollercoaster pleasure.

His derisive review of the Christopher Columbus film Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief inspired the Australian comedy film Benjamin Sniddlegrass and the Cauldron of Penguins.

Television[link]

Kermode is currently a regular presenter on BBC Two's The Culture Show. He also appears regularly on Newsnight Review and Film 24 on BBC News. It was during a 2006 interview with Kermode for The Culture Show in Los Angeles that Werner Herzog was shot by an air rifle. Herzog appeared unflustered, later stating "It was not a significant bullet. I am not afraid".^[29][30] On 19 May 2007 he was featured on the show playing with his skiffle band, The Dodge Brothers, in which he plays the double bass.

Kermode is also a film critic and presenter for Film4 and Channel 4, presenting the weekly Extreme Cinema strand. He also writes and presents documentaries for Channel 4.^[18] Once a week, he reviews films for BBC News at Five.

Kermode rarely watches television, calling it "trivial" and stating that "I have been doing my best to avoid [TV] for the last 20 years."^[31] On being challenged by The Observer to watch TV, he admitted "if there's one thing I've learned from agreeing to take up the Observer's TV challenge this summer, it's that an awareness of what's going on in television is probably helpful to an understanding of movies. Worse, it may even be essential".^[31]

Kermode appeared in a cameo role as himself in the revival of the BBC's Absolutely Fabulous on January 1, 2012.^[32]

Other work[link]

As of April 2008, Kermode has started a twice-weekly video blog hosted on the BBC website, where he posts clips of himself talking about films and telling anecdotes.^[33]

Kermode has recorded DVD audio commentaries for Tommy, The Ninth Configuration, The Wicker Man^[34] and (with Peter O'Toole) Becket.^[35] He also appears in the DVD extras of Lost in La Mancha, interviewing Terry Gilliam. Kermode has written books, published by the BFI in its Modern Classics series, on The Exorcist^[36] and The Shawshank Redemption^[37][38] and his documentary for Channel 4, Shawshank: The Redeeming Feature, is on the film's 10th anniversary special edition DVD.^[39]

Opinions[link]

Kermode's appreciation of genre cinema is not always in line with popular taste. He dislikes all four Pirates of the Caribbean films,^[41] all of the live action Transformers films, and considers the Star Wars series to be a "gross infantalisation of the dark hearted 'serious' sci-fi" that he grew up with.^[42] Kermode has also expressed his dislike of director Chris Columbus, labelling him an "accountant director" and producing a negative analysis of the first two Harry Potter films, which Columbus directed. However, Kermode says he has "grown into the Potter story" as the films have advanced in their mature themes and content.^[43] He dislikes 3D films, and is particularly disdainful of the trend for what he calls "retrofitting" 2D movies into 3D,^[44] and he also detests the Cannes Film Festival. Kermode's emphasis on genre cinema has also meant he often expresses a liking for films panned by other critics, such as Basic Instinct 2 (2006)^[45] because it follows genre expectations. Kermode has been critical of documentary maker Michael Moore (despite praising Capitalism: A Love Story on his radio show), accusing him of "feeding his own ego".^[46]. However he expressed his admiration for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, directed by David Slade, a film dismissed by the majority of critics. Kermode has very strong views and is well known for his rants against certain blockbuster movies such as the Michael Bay films mentioned above, often citing the director as a bad example of filmmaking.

Music[link]

Kermode played double-bass for a skiffle/rockabilly band called The Railtown Bottlers in the early 1990s. The Railtown Bottlers were also the house band on the BBC show Danny Baker After All for a series, starting in 1993,^[47][48] where he performed with Madness lead singer, Suggs.^[49] He currently plays bass in skiffle quartet The Dodge Brothers.^[48]

Awards and other recognition[link]

Kermode is 75th on The Guardian's Film Power 100;^[52] According to The Screen Directory, Kermode is tenth in the list of the best film critics, in company that includes Alexander Walker, Pauline Kael, Roger Ebert, David Thomson, and James Agee.^[40]

Kermode is a patron of the Phoenix Cinema in North London.^[53]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Profile of Mark Kermode at the University of Southampton
• Archive of selected articles by Kermode in Critics / Authors Review and Articles at Rotten Tomatoes
• Mark Kermode at BBC Programmes
• Kermode Uncut: Mark Kermode's Movie Blog at BBC Online
• Interview with Mark Kermode at subtitledonline.com
• Video interview with Mark Kermode regarding The Good, The Bad and The Multiplex at subtitledonline.com

Roger Daltrey
Daltrey at the Hyde Park Live 8 concert in 2005.
Background information
Birth name	Roger Harry Daltrey
Born	(1944-03-01) 1 March 1944 (age 68) Hammersmith, London, England, UK
Genres	Rock, art rock, hard rock, power pop
Occupations	Musician, singer-songwriter, film producer, actor
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, harmonica, percussion, trombone, keyboards, cello, violin, ukulele, saxophone, bass guitar
Years active	1959–present
Labels	Various
Associated acts	The Who, The RD Crusaders, No Plan B Band, Pete Townshend
Website	www.thewho.com

Roger Harry Daltrey, CBE (born 1 March 1944), is an English singer, musician, songwriter and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. He has maintained a musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of films, theatre and television roles and also producing films. In 2008 he was ranked number 61 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest singers of all time.

Early life[link]

Roger Harry Daltrey was born in the Hammersmith area of London, but was brought up in Acton, the same working class suburban district that produced fellow Who members Pete Townshend and John Entwistle. He was one of three children born to parents Irene and Harry Daltrey, and grew up with two sisters, Gillian and Carol. Harry Daltrey worked for a water closet manufacturer, and Irene Daltrey was told she would be unable to have children because of losing a kidney in 1937. Nevertheless, she went into labour during a World War II air raid and gave birth to her son at the nearby Hammersmith Hospital, West London. At the age of three, the young Roger swallowed a rusty nail which had to be surgically removed, leaving a visible scar. At the age of five, the rust from the nail caused an ulcer in his stomach which required him to be hospitalised.

Daltrey attended Victoria Primary School and then Acton County Grammar School for Boys along with Pete Townshend and John Entwistle. He showed academic promise in the English state school system, ranking at the top of his class on the eleven plus examination that led to his enrollment at the Acton County Grammar School. His parents hoped he would eventually continue on to study at university, but Daltrey turned out to be a self-described "school rebel" and developed a dedicated interest in the emerging rock and roll music scene instead.

He made his first guitar from a block of wood, a cherry red Strat copy, and joined an existing skiffle band called the Detours in need of a lead singer. They told him he had to bring a guitar, and within a few weeks he showed up with it, and he could play it too.^[1] When his father bought him an Epiphone guitar in 1959, he became the lead guitarist for the band and soon afterwards was expelled from school for smoking. Describing the post-war times, Pete Townshend wrote in his autobiography, "Until he was expelled, Roger had been a good pupil. Then he heard Elvis and transmogrified into a Teddy Boy with an electric guitar and a dress-sneer. Was it simply rock ‘n’ roll? It was obvious to a young man as intelligent as Roger that there was no future in conforming any more."

Daltrey became a sheet metal worker during the day, while practising and performing nights with the band at weddings, pubs and working men's clubs. He invited schoolmate John Entwistle to play bass in the band, and on the advice of Entwistle, invited Pete Townshend to play guitar. At that time, the band consisted of Daltrey on lead guitar, Pete Townshend on rhythm guitar, John Entwistle on bass, Doug Sandom on drums and Colin Dawson on lead vocals. After Colin Dawson left the band, Daltrey switched to vocals and played harmonica as well, while Townshend became the lead guitarist. In 1964 drummer Doug Sandom left the band, eventually being replaced by Keith Moon.

Early on, Daltrey was the band's leader, earning a reputation for using his fists to exercise control when needed, despite his small stature (his height is reportedly 5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m)). According to Townshend, Roger "ran things the way he wanted. If you argued with him, you usually got a bunch of fives."^[2] He generally selected the music they performed, including songs by the Beatles, various Motown artists, James Brown and other rock standards.

In 1964 the group discovered another band working as the Detours and discussed changing their name. Pete Townshend suggested "The Hair" and Townshend's roommate Richard Barnes suggested "The Who." The next morning, Daltrey made the decision for the band, saying "It's The Who, innit?"

During 1964, band manager Peter Meaden renamed the band the High Numbers as part of a move to establish the band as Mod favourites. The name was a reference to the T-shirts with "numbers" that the Mods used at the time. Pete Meaden composed Mod songs for them (in fact, the songs were almost copies of Mod hits at the time, with changed lyrics) and they released one single, "I'm The Face/Zoot Suit", on Fontana Records. The single was unsuccessful.

After Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp discovered the High Numbers at the Railway Hotel, the band changed their name back to the Who, since neither Lambert nor Stamp liked the name the "High Numbers".

Music career[link]

The Who years[link]

With the band's first hit single and record deal in early 1965, Townshend began writing original material and Daltrey's dominance of the band began to decline.

The other members of the Who expelled Daltrey from the band in late 1965 after he beat up drummer Keith Moon for supplying drugs to Townshend and Entwistle, causing him to re-examine his methods of dealing with people. A week later, Daltrey was admitted back to the band, but was told he'd be on probation. He promised there would be no more violent outbursts or assaults. Daltrey recalled, "I thought if I lost the band I was dead. If I didn't stick with the Who, I would be a sheet metal worker for the rest of my life."

The band's second single, "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" was the only song on which Daltrey and Townshend collaborated, and Daltrey only wrote two other songs for the band during these years. As Townshend developed into one of rock's most accomplished composers, Daltrey's vocals became the vehicle through which Townshend's visions were expressed, and he gained an equally vaunted reputation as a powerful vocalist and riveting frontman. The Who's stage act was highly energetic, and Daltrey's habit of swinging the microphone around by its cord on stage became his signature move.

Daltrey, with microphone, and Townshend, on stage

Daltrey's Townshend-inspired stuttering expression of youthful anger, frustration and arrogance in the band's breakthrough single, "My Generation", captured the revolutionary feeling of the 1960s for many young people around the world and became the band's trademark. Later, his scream near the end of "Won't Get Fooled Again" became a defining moment in rock and roll.

By 1973, Daltrey was experiencing considerable success with his solo projects and acting roles. While others of the band worked on recording the music for Quadrophenia, Daltrey used some of this time to check the Who's books. He found they had fallen into disarray under the management of Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp. Lambert was also Pete Townshend's artistic mentor and challenging him led to renewed tension within the band. During a filming session (in an incident that Daltrey claimed was overblown) Townshend and Daltrey argued over the schedule. Townshend whacked the singer over the head with his guitar and Daltrey responded by knocking Townshend unconscious, again with a single blow.^[3]

With each of the Who's milestone achievements, Tommy, Who's Next, and Quadrophenia, Daltrey was the face and voice of the band as they defined themselves as the ultimate rebels in a generation of change. When Ken Russell's adaptation of Tommy appeared as a feature film in 1975, Daltrey played the lead role, was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for "Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture" and appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine on 10 April 1975. Afterward, Daltrey worked with Russell again, starring as Franz Liszt in Lisztomania. He worked with Rick Wakeman on the soundtrack to this film, writing the lyrics to three songs and also performing these, as well as others.

Daltrey, right, with Pete Townshend

The Who went on after the death of Keith Moon in 1978, but tension continued as Daltrey felt new drummer Kenney Jones was the wrong choice for the Who. In 1980 Daltrey completed a major project for The Who Films, Ltd., a dramatic film called McVicar about British bank robber John McVicar. Daltrey produced and starred in the film, and completed a striking soundtrack with other members of the band. This success, along with other stresses, contributed to a deterioration of relations with Townshend, and the Who retired from active touring in 1982 when Townshend felt he was no longer able to write for the band. The band continued to work together sporadically, reuniting for the Live Aid concert and recording songs for Daltrey's solo album Under a Raging Moon and Townshend's solo album Iron Man.

Daltrey turned to working as an actor, completing such high profile projects as The Beggar's Opera and The Comedy of Errors for the BBC. He also appeared in several film, television and stage productions during this period, including Mike Batt's The Hunting of the Snark (1987), The Little Match Girl (1987), Buddy's Song (1990), which he also produced, and Mack the Knife (1990). In 1991 he received a Grammy Award with the Chieftains for An Irish Evening: Live at the Grand Opera House, Belfast.

The Who returned in 1989 with their 25th Anniversary Tour, which was also the 20th anniversary of the rock opera Tommy. The tour featured a large backing band and guest appearances by Steve Winwood, Patti LaBelle, Phil Collins, Elton John and Billy Idol. Although Daltrey experienced severe health problems due to an abdominal hemangioma (later removed by surgery), he managed to complete the tour. He continued to work on stage and screen during these years, completing projects such as The Wizard of Oz in Concert: Dreams Come True (1995) appearing as the Tin Woodman alongside Nathan Lane, Joel Grey, Natalie Cole and Jewel Kilcher as Dorothy. During this time, he also began to appear in U.S. television shows.

In 1994 Daltrey celebrated his 50th birthday by performing a two-night spectacular at Carnegie Hall titled A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who, and popularly called Daltrey Sings Townshend. The show was produced by Daltrey's manager at the time, Richard Flanzer. The Who's music was arranged for orchestra by Michael Kamen, who conducted The Juilliard Orchestra for the event. Bob Ezrin, who produced Pink Floyd's The Wall CD, among other famous albums, produced the live CD. Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, Eddie Vedder (who performed a special acoustic tribute), Sinéad O'Connor, Lou Reed, David Sanborn, Alice Cooper, Linda Perry, the Chieftains and others performed as special guests. Michael Lindsay-Hogg directed the telecast, which was aired on satellite TV. The concert, at the time, was the fastest sell-out in the famed venue's history. The event was followed by a major tour financed by Daltrey and including John Entwistle on bass, Zak Starkey on drums and Simon Townshend on guitar. Although the tour was considered an artistic success, it failed to make a profit due to the expense of providing extraordinary musicians and orchestras in every city to replicate the Carnegie Hall event. Significantly, the tour did attract attention to songs from the Who's rock opera Quadrophenia and gathered support for a staging and major tour of the rock opera in 1996-97.

In 1996 Pete Townshend was approached to produce Quadrophenia for the Prince's Trust concert at Hyde Park, London. He at first planned to perform the opera as a solo acoustic piece using parts of the film on the screens, but after receiving offers of financing decided on a full-out production. When he first contacted Daltrey to request a collaboration, Daltrey refused, but after some discussion, he agreed to help produce a one-off performance. The opera was performed with a large backing band, including John Entwistle on bass, Pete Townshend on acoustic guitar and vocals, Zak Starkey on drums, Rabbit Bundrick and Jon Carin on keyboards, Simon Townshend on guitar and special guests including David Gilmour, Adrian Edmondson, Trevor McDonald and Gary Glitter. A horn section and backing vocalists were added, along with other actors. On the night before the show, Daltrey was struck in the face by a microphone stand swung by Gary Glitter. The accident fractured his eye socket and caused considerable concern that he might not be able to perform safely, but Daltrey donned an eye-patch to cover the bruises and completed the show as scheduled. Afterward, Townshend decided to take the production on tour in 1996-97 as the Who.

After their Quadrophenia tour was successful, the band returned as the Who in a stripped-down, five-piece lineup for tours in 1999-2000. The band continued to work together, making a major impact at the Concert for New York City. After Entwistle's death in June 2002, both Daltrey and Townshend decided to continue with an already planned tour as the Who. Bassist Pino Palladino was chosen to fill Entwistle's place. The band also completed a brief tour in 2004. In 2006, they released their first studio album of new material in twenty-four years, Endless Wire, leading some fans and critics to say that the highly acclaimed artistic tension within the Who lay between the two principals Daltrey and Townshend. The band completed a world tour in 2006-07 to support this album.

In February 2010, Townshend and Daltrey, headlining as the Who, performed the halftime show at Super Bowl XLIV in front of 105.97 million viewers across the globe. In March 2010, Townshend and Daltrey, along with an extensive backing band, performed Quadrophenia at the Royal Albert Hall in London as a tenth anniversary charity benefit for the Teenage Cancer Trust. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam sang the part of the Godfather, and Tom Meighan of Kasabian sang the part of Aceface,^[4] and Tom Norris, London Symphony Orchestra Co-Principal Second Violin, played violin for the production.

Rock persona[link]

Daltrey singing with the Who in Hamburg, August 1972

When Colin Dawson left the Detours, Roger Daltrey took over as lead vocalist, giving up his guitar. The band as a whole acknowledged Moon and Entwistle's innovation and talent on their instruments, and Pete Townshend had begun writing hit songs, but Daltrey struggled to find a voice to present their new music. His expression carried Townshend’s material well enough in recordings, and at the time his live persona suited the small club scene where the Who made their beginnings. However, this presentation lacked the confidence of later years, and he was arguably still a singer seeking a voice.

The Who first toured North America in 1967, appearing at the Monterey Pop Festival, and Daltrey brought back new experiences in dealing with larger venues and stages. 1968 proved a pivotal year with Townshend's movement beyond the quick three-minute single towards his goal of writing a rock opera. Beginning with "A Quick One (While He's Away)", a nine-minute mini-opera, Daltrey’s performance in the Rolling Stones Rock and Roll Circus showed him with a new confidence in dealing with Townshend’s material. In 1969, the Who’s first major rock opera Tommy was released, and Daltrey found a voice for the lead character that carried the Who to world stardom at such music venues as Woodstock and the Isle of Wight Festival, and in opera houses around the world during the next two years. Townshend later remarked in the film Amazing Journey, that with Tommy, and with Daltrey's adaptation to portraying the character on-stage, the singer evolved from what was essentially a tight, tough guy to one who outstretched his arms, bared his body to the audiences, and began to truly engage them. "With this change, the band was at last complete," he summed up. "It was a marriage," Townshend emphasised, "but it was a good marriage. Those were glorious years". Daltrey confirmed this, saying, he felt at last accepted, displaying a newly energetic role and sound during live performances.

Daltrey has long been known as one of the most charismatic of rock’s frontmen. According to Pete Townshend, "He almost invented the pseudo-messianic role taken up later by Jim Morrison and Robert Plant."^[5] His persona has earned him a position as one of the “gods of rock and roll”^[6] He developed a trademark move of swinging and throwing his microphone through a complex sequence, matching these sequences with the tempo of the song that was being played at the moment, although Daltrey reduced the athleticism of his performances in later years.

Musical equipment[link]

Daltrey, exuberant and confident with his role on stage. October 1976

Roger Daltrey hand-built his first guitar from a piece of plywood, and also built guitars for the band in the early days when they had little money to buy equipment.^[7] As lead guitarist for the Detours, Daltrey played a 1961 Epiphone Wilshire solidbody electric guitar which he later sold to Pete Townshend on an easy payment plan.^[8][9] After he took over vocals for the band in the 1960s and during the 1970s, Daltrey rarely played guitar on stage; however, he played a Martin acoustic guitar for appearances to promote his solo album Daltrey.^[10] He began playing guitar with the Who again during the band's tours in the 1980s, and used a Fender Esquire to play a second guitar part for the song "Eminence Front" on the Who's 1982, 1989 and later tours.^[11] During the 1989 tour, he played a Gibson Chet Atkins SST guitar for the song "Hey Joe." During the Who's 1996-97 Quadrophenia tour, Daltrey played a Gibson J-200 acoustic guitar.^[12]

After 1999, it became more common for Daltrey to play guitar during both the Who and solo shows. He ordered a Versoul Buxom 6 handmade acoustic guitar that he played on the Who's 2002 tour.^[13] Daltrey owns a Gibson Everly Brothers Flattop acoustic guitar which he played on the Who and solo tours in the late first decade of the 21st century.^[14] On his 2009 tour with No Plan B, Daltrey played Pete Townshend's "Blue, Red and Grey" on an Ashbury cutaway tenor EQ ukulele.^[15]

Roger Daltrey is known as one of the harmonica players who brought the instrument out of blues and into popular music.^[16] Although the mouth harps that Daltrey uses have varied over the years, brands he has used include Hohner and Lee Oskar harmonicas.^[17] Daltrey plays using the blues harp (2nd position) or cross harp technique which originated in blues music.

Daltrey uses Shure microphones with cords which he tapes to reinforce the connection and avoid cutting his hands when he swings and catches the microphone. He commonly uses a standard Shure SM58,^[18] but has also used Shure SM78 (in 1981), Shure model 565D Unisphere 1, and Shure model 548 Unidyne IV.^[19] Daltrey also uses a hybrid monitoring system with one in-ear monitor supplemented by floor wedges.^[20]

Who songs written by Daltrey[link]

Although never a writing force in the Who and overshadowed by the song writing talents of Townshend and Entwistle, Daltrey did contribute a small handful of songs to the band's catalogue during their early career:

• "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere" (1965)-The Who's second single, co-written by Townshend.
• "See My Way" (1966)-Daltrey's contribution to A Quick One.
• "Early Morning Cold Taxi" (1968)-Outtake from The Who Sell Out (later appearing as a bonus track on deluxe editions), co-written with David "Cyrano" Langston.
• "Here for More" (1970)-B-side to "The Seeker".

Daltrey also wrote a song called "Crossroads Now" for the Who which grew out of an onstage jam in 1999 after the song "My Generation."^[21] Another Daltrey song, entitled "Certified Rose," was rehearsed by the Who shortly before the death of John Entwistle. The band had planned on playing it (as well as Townshend's "Real Good Looking Boy") during their 2002 tour, but plans were halted after Entwistle's death.^[22] Although it was rumoured that a studio version was recorded during the Endless Wire sessions (and might feature Entwistle's basslines from 2002), Townshend later stated that no such recording was made.^[23]

"Early Morning Cold Taxi", a song recorded during The Who Sell Out sessions in 1967 and released in 1994 on the Thirty Years of Maximum R&B boxset, is credited to Roger Daltrey and Who roadie Dave "Cy" Langston. Some sources report that the song was solely written by Langston.^[24] At the time Daltrey and Langston were planning to form a writing-partnership, where all songs written by either of them would be credited as Daltrey/Langston. The partnership produced only one other song—an unreleased demo titled "Blue Caravan." Langston went on to play guitar on John Entwistle's first solo album, Smash Your Head Against the Wall, in 1970.

Solo music career[link]

Daltrey closing out a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert, December 2007

Daltrey has released eight solo albums. The first was the self-titled Daltrey in 1973, recorded during a hiatus in the Who's touring schedule. The top single off the album, "Giving It All Away", reached number five in the UK and the album, which introduced Leo Sayer as a songwriter, made the Top 50 in the United States. The inner sleeve photography shows a trompe-l'œil in reference to the Narcissus myth, as Daltrey's reflection in the water differs from his real appearance. He also released a single in 1973, "Thinking" with "There is Love" on the B-side. Bizarrely, the British release, with considerable airplay of "Giving it all away" (first lines "I paid all my dues so I picked up my shoes, I got up and walked away") coincided with news reports of the Who being sued for unpaid damage to their hotel on a recent tour, including a TV set being thrown out of the window.

Daltrey's second album, Ride a Rock Horse, was released in 1975 and is his second most commercially successful solo album. Its cover, photographed by Daltrey's cousin Graham Hughes, is remarkable for depicting the singer as a rampant centaur.

When Sayer launched his own career as an artist, Daltrey called on a widening group of friends to write for and perform on his albums. Paul McCartney contributed the new song "Giddy" to One of the Boys, where the band included Hank Marvin, Eric Clapton, Alvin Lee and Mick Ronson. On this cover, another visual trick is played with Daltrey's mirror image, with reference to Magritte's famous painting Reproduction Interdite.

McVicar was billed as a soundtrack album for the film of the same name, in which Daltrey starred and also co-produced. It featured all the other members of the Who (Townshend, Entwistle and Kenney Jones). McVicar included two hit singles, "Free Me" and "Without Your Love", and is Daltrey's best-selling solo recording.

The title track to Under a Raging Moon was a tribute to Who drummer Keith Moon, who died in 1978. Each of the album's tracks, including "Let Me Down Easy" by Bryan Adams, expresses the frustration of growing older as only a man who sang "Hope I die before I get old" can. On his album Rocks in the Head, Daltrey's voice ranges from a powerful bluesy growl à la Howlin' Wolf to the tender vocals shared with his daughter Willow on the ballad "Everything A Heart Could Ever Want". This was his first major effort as a song-writer for his own solo albums.

In 1992, Daltrey appeared in the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, singing the hard rock song "I Want It All", to pay homage to his longlife friend Freddie Mercury, who died the previous year one day after a public announcement that he suffered from AIDS.

Daltrey celebrated his fiftieth birthday in 1994 by performing at Carnegie Hall in two shows (23 and 24 February ) later issued on CD and video called A Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who, sometimes called Daltrey Sings Townshend, accompanied by the Juilliard Orchestra, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle, Irish dancers and other special guests. The success of these two shows led to a U.S. tour by the same name, featuring Pete Townshend's brother Simon on lead guitar with Phil Spalding taking bass duties for the first half of each show and John Entwistle playing for the second half. An Australian leg was considered but eventually scrapped.

Daltrey took on a number of other solo projects, including a tour with the British Rock Symphony in 1998, and the Night of the Proms in 2005. Daltrey also worked with the Rock 'n Roll Fantasy Camp, raising money for charities during the final concert. In 2005, Daltrey had a short weekly series on BBC Radio 2, presenting a personal choice of rock 'n' roll favourites. In 2009, Daltrey formed a new touring band.

No Plan B/The Roger Daltrey Band[link]

Roger Daltrey embarked on a solo tour of the U.S. and Canada on 10 October 2009, officially called the "Use It or Lose It" tour with a new band that he called "No Plan B" on the Alan Titchmarsh Show.^[25] The band included Simon Townshend on rhythm guitar and vocals, Frank Simes on lead guitar, Jon Button on bass, Loren Gold on keyboards and Scott Devours on drums.^[26] Eddie Vedder made a guest appearance at the Seattle, WA show on 12 October.^[27] In 2010, Daltrey and No Plan B appeared for several dates with Eric Clapton,^[28] including Summerfest at Milwaukee, Wisconsin.^[29] The band also scheduled additional dates in 2010 without Clapton.

In 2011 the band performed the rock opera Tommy and other songs at a warm-up show in Bournemouth at the O2 Academy 19 March in preparation for a show scheduled at the Royal Albert Hall to benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust on 24 March.^[30] Pete Townshend played and sang as a guest at the TCT show. Later in 2011, the band scheduled the "Tommy Reborn" tour of the UK and Europe, followed by a tour of the US and Canada. Additional dates were booked in Europe and Australia for 2012. Downloads from the tour were made available through the Internet.

Non-Who songs written by Daltrey[link]

After his first efforts at writing songs with the Who, Daltrey wrote songs almost entirely for his solo recordings or for other projects. Daltrey first co-wrote songs for his solo albums beginning with the 1977 One of the Boys, including "The Prisoner", "Satin and Lace" and "Doing It All Again." On his 1985 album Under a Raging Moon, Daltrey is credited as co-writer on "Don't Talk to Strangers," "The Pride You Hide," "Move Better in the Night" and "It Don't Satisfy Me." On the 1987 album Can't Wait to See the Movie, Daltrey is credited as co-writer on the tracks "Balance on Wires" and "Take Me Home." On the 1992 Rocks in the Head, Daltrey is credited (along with Gerard McMahon) for co-writing seven of the eleven tracks, including: "Times Changed," "You Can't Call It Love," "Love Is," "Blues Man's Road," "Days of Light," "Everything A Heart Could Ever Want" and "Unforgettable Opera." For his 2005 compilation album Moonlighting, Daltrey co-wrote the song "A Second Out" with Steve McEwan of the band UnAmerican. The recording features Daltrey's vocals backed by McEwan on acoustic guitar.

Daltrey's song-writing for other projects includes the 1975 soundtrack for Lisztomania, where he is credited with "Love's Dream", "Orpheus Song" and "Peace at Last." Daltrey also wrote "Child O Mine" with Gerard McMahon, featured on the soundtrack for The Banger Sisters and on the TV show Witchblade. In 2006, he wrote and performed a specially commissioned song, "Highbury Highs", for the Highbury Farewell ceremony following the final football match on 7 May at Highbury between Arsenal and Wigan Athletic, in which Arsenal celebrated the previous 93 years at Highbury, preparing for their move to the Emirates Stadium, Ashburton Grove, the following season.^[31]

Discography[link]

Collaborations[link]

In 1984, Daltrey appeared on "Bad Attitude", the title track of an album by Meat Loaf, sharing the lead vocal. The following year, he appeared in Barbra Streisand's music video for her single "Emotion", playing Streisand's emotionally uninterested husband.

In 1992, he appeared on the Chieftains' Grammy Award-winning album, An Irish Evening: Live at the Grand Opera House. He also released an album with the Boys Choir of Harlem in 1998 with selections from A Christmas Carol. Also in 1998, Daltrey performed two songs with the Jim Byrnes Blues Band at the Los Angeles Highlander Convention.^[32] He borrowed a guitar to play for the songs, after reassuring the owner that he would not break it. Daltrey taught thirteen-year-old Drake Bell how to play the guitar in 1999. Drake later starred in Drake and Josh and released two albums.

In 2001, Daltrey provided backing vocals for the title track of the Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros album Global a Go-Go. In 2003, he provided backing vocals for thrash-metal band Anthrax on the song "Taking the Music Back" from their album We've Come for You All. The collaboration came about through Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian's girlfriend, Pearl Aday, daughter of Meat Loaf, whose mother was a friend of Daltrey and his wife. In 2005, Daltrey collaborated with the British pop band, McFly to sing his hit song "My Generation". On 14 and 15 December 2007, he appeared with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York and Izod Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey, performing "Behind Blue Eyes," "Pinball Wizard" and "See Me, Feel Me."

On 12 January 2009, Daltrey headlined a one-off concert along with Babyshambles at the O2 Academy Bristol for Teenage Cancer Trust. On Sunday 5 July 2009, he joined Paul Weller onstage at Hop Farm Festival in Kent for an encore of "Magic Bus".^[33] In 2011 Daltrey recorded a duet on the song "Ma seule amour" with French singer and composer Laurent Voulzy for his album Lys and Love.^[34]

Film and stage career[link]

Film roles[link]

Roger Daltrey in Boston's House of Blues in 2009

After the Who retired from active work in 1982, Daltrey developed his career in film and on the theatre stage. Daltrey's appearances in over 30 feature films include early starring roles in Tommy, as "deaf, dumb and blind boy" Tommy Walker in 1975; Lisztomania, as Hungarian composer Franz Liszt in 1975, and McVicar, as British armed-robber-turned-journalist John McVicar in 1980. Through the 1980s and 1990s, he appeared in various musicals and dramas, including The Beggar's Opera, The Comedy of Errors, The Little Match Girl, Mack the Knife and Buddy's Song.

In 1992 Daltrey appeared in The Real Story of Happy Birthday to You, a children's animation. In 2003, he starred as the voice of Argon the Dragon Bus Driver in the award-winning children's DVD called The Wheels on the Bus: Mango and Papaya's Animal Adventure from Armstrong Moving Pictures. The DVD featured Daltrey as a costumed children's dragon, who drove a bus for two lost puppets trying to return to their home at the zoo. Daltrey provided vocals for children's classics, such as "The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round," in addition to songs written specifically for the home video. He later appeared in two other videos for this series.

Television roles[link]

Daltrey has played a number of television roles, including BBC Television Shakespeare as both Dromios in The Comedy of Errors, the police drama series The Bill, the science fiction series Sliders as Col. Angus Rickman, the VH1 series Strange Frequency 2, Witchblade as the devil, and was a recurring guest star in Highlander: The Series as Immortal Hugh Fitzcairn, one of the closest friends of lead character Duncan MacLeod. In 1983, he played Macheath, the outlaw hero of BBC TV's production of John Gay's 1728 ballad opera, 'The Beggar's Opera'.

In 1986 he acted in the TV series Buddy. In 1993, He guest-starred (along with Steve Buscemi) in an episode of Tales From The Crypt entitled "Forever Ambergris". Daltrey appeared as a villain in a 1996 episode of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. He also played Nobby Clegg, a character named after the band Nobby Clegg and the Civilians, in the Showtime series Rude Awakening.

Daltrey appeared in an episode of The Simpsons, "A Tale of Two Springfields", as himself along with John Entwistle (Pete Townshend was replaced by his brother Paul for the episode). The Who helped Homer break down a wall he had built through the town of Springfield.

A self-described history buff, Daltrey often involves himself in history research related media including television documentaries. Pirate Tales from 1997, is a documentary/action show about the age of piracy in the 18th century, in which Daltrey impersonated English buccaneer William Dampier in a main role as the narrator throughout the series. In 2003 he hosted the History Channel's Extreme History with Roger Daltrey talking about historical events and explaining the survival techniques the civilisations treated had available. He also appeared in "That '70s Musical", the 100th episode of That '70s Show as Fez's musical director.

Daltrey guest starred in a 7 November 2006 episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ("Living Legend") as Mickey Dunn, a prominent Las Vegas 1970s mob boss who returns to Las Vegas to avenge his attempted murder. The Who's music, and Daltrey's singing, provide the themes for all three of the series in the CSI franchise every week ("Who Are You" for the original show, "Won't Get Fooled Again" for CSI: Miami and "Baba O'Riley" for CSI: NY).

In 2005, Daltrey had a cameo appearance as himself in the episode "The Priest and the Beast" in Series 2 of The Mighty Boosh. He is found by the main characters vacuuming a desert, presumably as a "karmic" consequence of leaving Woodstock early and not helping to clean up. Also in 2005, he played the part of loblolly boy in the TV drama Trafalgar Surgeon.

Besides acting, Daltrey has performed on the soundtrack of a number of films and television shows, most notably CSI. He also appeared in the music video for "Emotion" by Barbra Streisand, although neither he nor the Who were the featured act.

Filmography[link]

Roger Daltrey has acted in advertisements, television and films, and maintains an extensive filmography. A sampling of his films and TV roles follows:^[35]

Daltrey in 2008 prior to a screening of "The Who Live At Kilburn 1977" at the ArcLight Sherman Oaks 2008