The Who "early morning cold taxi" forgotten gem!

I can't get this song out of my head its really catchy I am surprised its not on any of the single greatest hits cds its really impressive and seems to be a big miss by a lot of fans. just like the kinks the more you look into this group the more forgotten gems are to be found.

 

Written by Daltrey and Cy Langston; it's a bit clunky for me to call it a classic, but there's certainly potential.

In a wider discussion, there're a bunch of songs that didn't make Sell Out that could've/should've been released at the time- 'Jaguar', 'Melancholia', 'Glow Girl' etc. Were they all just left off because of space, or were they recorded for another specific project that got shelved?

 

I really like that song. The unreleased material from the period between Sell Out and Tommy is remarkable... Townshend was searching for the right music to put The Who over-the-top. In retrospect it’s too bad that the US Magic Bus album was so cobbled-together… there was no shortage of good material in the can. I did a CDR project that's kind of Sell Out OVERSTOCK and I've gotten a lot of mileage out of it. Fun stuff.

1 More Music More Music > CALL ME LIGHTNING
2 Wonderful Radio London > DR. JEKYLL & MR. HYDE
3 RAEL II > Top Gear
4 GLITTERING GIRL > Coke II
5 MELANCHOLIA > Bag O' Nails
6 MAGIC BUS > Smooth Sailing with WRL
7 SOMEONE'S COMING > John Mason's Cars I
8 JAGUAR > John Mason's Cars II
9 EARLY MORNING COLD TAXI > Coke I
10 HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING > Radio 1
11 GIRL'S EYES > Odorono (Last Verse)
12 MARY ANNE WITH THE SHAKY HAND
13 GLOW GIRL
14 RL Reminds You, Go to the Church of your Choice > FAITH IN SOMETHING BIGGER
15 LITTLE BILLY
16 DOGS
17 DOGS PART TWO
18 Here's the Latest Weather Word > FORTUNE TELLER
19 Radio London News Bulletin > YOUNG MAN BLUES
20 SUMMERTIME BLUES
21 MY WAY > Track Records

 

Probably not on a Greatest Hits compilation because it wasn't a hit! An ok track IMHO, but nothing more.

 

This thread could easily be about many Who songs; just a few that would fit the bill:
I Can't Reach You
Our Love Was, Is
Tattoo
So Sad About Us
Disguises

 

I've always like the song Glittering Girl. I first heard it in 1982 when local radio station WBCN played all of The Who's songs A to Z during their "farewell" tour and I instantly loved it. I searched high and low for it and finally found it on a boot in 1985. I was a little disappointed when they used a rough mix version on the '95 remix of Sell Out. So many good unused songs from that period.

 

"Melancholia" and "Glow Girl" are 1968 recordings for an album that never saw release ("Who's For Tennis"). I still hope in vain that they will cobble it together someday for us as there's a few songs that have never been released in any format.

Hearing the original 1968 stereo mix of "Melancholia" (on the Japanese reissues a few years back) was an absolute revelation - it finally had the '68 spookiness!

 

Run of the mill Who song but from one of my favourite periods, so I like it.

 

Totally agree re: Melancholia, great song!! Was amazed to see it in the track listing for 30 Years of Maximum R&B as Townshend wrote in the liner notes for Scoop he probably never played that demo to the band. Always liked his demo and love the band's version.

 

I was so confused by that in the "Scoop" liner notes!

I love "Melancholia" too but not the remixes so much. They made it drier (and changed the sound of the vocals especially) making it sound more generic than it is. The original mix has character and it's a shame it's not on any domestic reissues.

Same with "Glittering Girl" - they kinda sucked the life out of it in my opinion.

 

Always hoped someone would discover a band's version of the song Politician too!! One of my all-time favorite Townshend demos!! I've never heard the original 1968 stereo mix of Melancholia and now I must search it out.

 

It's on this CD -

The Who - Who's Missing & Two's Missing

Along with an original '68 mono mix of "Fortune Teller" as well as the original EP versions of "Postcard" and "I Don't Know Myself". Unfortunately, no 1968 version of "Now I'm A Farmer" though.

Well worth it still!

 

Yikes! Just looked at the price for that CD!

 

Ha ha!! $387 for a VG CD from Japan. I love The Who but I think I will pass

 

Yeah - no CD is worth that kind of money!

 

Great song. Love the 1995 version of Sell Out.

 

$133 here for "VG", still too much. https://www.amazon.com/Whos-Missing...3059566&sr=8-2&keywords=the+who+twos'+missing

 

I bought that on vinyl for under $20 recently in VG+ with a mint cover. Well worth it for the music!

 

From the Hypertext Who site: actually composed by Dave "Cy" Langston only. He and Roger were attempting to become a song-writing team at the time and agreed to post all their compositions as joint authorship, ala Lennon/McCartney. Previously Cy had left his job heading up the band Cyrano and The Bergeracs to become The Who's first roadie.

 

Not surprising, Rog wasn't much of a writer. Early Morning Cold Taxi has potential, but it looses steam during the second half of the song.

 

Love the song and all the other unreleased stuff on the expanded Who Sell Out. There's something about the 1967 era Who thats extra special.

 

Oh... which Japanese reissue? I don't think I have this one and I desperately would like to hear the spook.

Edit: I see above that others inquired. Hope these versions can be easily available at some point.