Pete Townshend was tremendously disappointed that "I Can See For Miles" only cracked the top ten. He was certain the song was going to be a number one hit. It's not well known but this song's failure made Townshend redouble his efforts when it came to song writing. He felt the song was getting a lot of pop exposure to the point where it was making The Who an over played band. Critical underground radio stations were abandoning The Who, much to Townshend's concern. If one is over played and being kicked off the college radio dial, you should at least be able to bask in the satisfaction of having a number one hit. Townshend had neither.

What to do? What to do? What Townshend did was write Tommy. He'd show them. He'd show them all!

And he did.

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