Formed in Shepherd's Bush, London, in 1964, the Who evolved out of local youth club band the Detours. Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey  and John Entwistle founded this attraction, and having  jettisoned Colin Dawsonand Doug Sanden,  recruited Keith Moon  as a replacement for the latter in a unit now bearing their more dynamic  appellation. The restructured quartet was adopted by manager/publicist Peter Meadon, who changed the group's
 name to the High Numbers, dressed them in stylish clothes and determinedly courted a mod audience. Their sole single, ''I'm The Face'', proclaimed this allegiance although  Meadon shamelessly purloined its melody from Slim Harpo's ''Got Love If You Want It''. Two budding film directors, Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, then assumed management  responsibilities and having reverted to their Who sobriquet, the group assiduously began courting
controversial publicity. Townshend's guitar pyrotechnics  were especially noteworthy; the instrument was used as an object of rage as he smashed it against floors and  amplifiers in simulation of painter Gustav Metzke's
 auto-destructive art, although the origins of the act derived from when Townshend accidentally broke the neck of his guitar in a low-ceilinged club to the perverse delight of the crowd.

    Their in-person violence matched an  anti-social attitude and despite a highly successful residency at the famed Marquee club, the Who were
 shunned by major labels. They eventually secured a deal  through Shel Talmy, an independent producer who placed the group with American Decca. Their recordings were then sub-contracted through UK subsidiary, Brunswick, a  perilous arrangement bearing later repercussions. ''I Can't
Explain'', released in January 1965, rose to the UK Top 10  on the strength of appearances on television's Ready Steady Go and Top Of The Pops, the latter transpiring when another act dropped out. Written by Townshend - already the group's established composer - but modelled on the Kinks, the song's formal nature surprised those expecting a more explosive performance. The pivotal release of "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere"- one of the benchmarks of British 60s pop - served as the title track to the Who's debut album, the release of which was delayed to accommodate new Townshend originals at the  expense of now passé cover versions. ''The Kids Are Alright'' and ''Out In The Street'' articulated a sense of cultural affinity and if the songwriter's attachment to the mod phenomenon was undoubtedly expedient, the cult held  a lasting fascination for him.

    Townshend's decidedly English perceptions initially precluded a sustained international success. A Quick One and The Who Sell Out, the latter of which was, in part, programmed as a homage to pirate radio, thus proved more acceptable to the UK audience. The Who's popularity in the USA flourished only in the wake of their appearance at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. They returned to the UK Top 10 in  the winter of 1967 with the powerful ''I Can See For Miles''. Despite their strength as singles artists, however, the group failed to achieve a number 1 hit on either side of  the Atlantic. The group embraced the album market fully with Tommy, an extravagant rock opera which became a staple part of their increasingly in-demand live  appearances. The set spawned a major hit in ''Pinball  Wizard'' but, more crucially, established the group as a serious act courting critical respectability. Tommy was  later made into a film, directed by the suitably eccentric Ken Russell, as well as an orchestrated  interpretation, recorded under the aegis of impresario Lou Reizner. This over-exposure undermined the power of  the original, and fixed a musical albatross around its creator's neck.

    ''Won't Get Fooled Again'' reached the UK Top 10 and was the prelude to a series of specifically created singles - ''Let's See Action'' (1971), ''Join Together'' (1972), ''Relay'' (1973) - which marked time as Townshend completed work on  Quadrophenia. This complex concept album was a homage  to the mod sub-culture which provided the artist with his  first inspiration. Although compared unfavourably with Tommy, the set's plot and musical content - while stylistically the antithesis of the group's early outburst- has shown a greater longevity and was the subject of a  commercially successful film. Commitments to solo careers undermined the  parent unit's progress and The Who By Numbers, although a relevant study of the ageing rock star, was deemed low-key in comparison with earlier efforts. Another hiatus ensued, during which the ever self-critical Townshend
reassessed his progress in the light of punk. The quartet  re-emerged with the confident Who Are You, but its  release was sadly overshadowed when, on 23 August 1978, Keith Moon died following an overdose of medication taken
to alleviate alcohol addiction. His madcap behaviour and idiosyncratic, exciting drumming had been an integral part of the Who fabric and rumours of a permanent split  abounded.

    A retrospective film, The Kids Are Alright, enhanced a sense of finality, but the group resumed recording in 1979 having added former Small Faces /
Faces drummer Kenny Jones  to the line-up. However, any newfound optimism was undermined that year when 11  fans were killed prior to a concert at the Cincinnati  Riverfront Colosseum in Ohio during a rush to secure prime vantage points, and neither Face Dances nor It's Hard recaptured previous artistic heights, although the former contained the fiery ''You Better You Bet'', which  restored them to the UK Top 10. A farewell tour was undertaken in 1982-83 and although the group did reunite for an appearance at Live Aid, they remained estranged until the end of the decade.

    Townshend's reluctance to tour - he now suffered from tinnitus - and his
much-publicized period of heroin addiction, were major stumbling blocks, but in 1989 he agreed to undertake a series of US dates to celebrate the group's 25th anniversary. Townshend,  Daltrey and Entwistle were augmented by a large ensemble of supporting musicians for a set indebted to nostalgia,
 which culminated in Hollywood with an all-star gala  rendition of Tommy. As such, the tour confirmed the guitarist's fears - a request to include material from his concurrent solo album The Iron Man was vetoed.

    In 1993, over 25 years after its original release as an album, a production of Tommy, retitled The Who's Tommy, was  staged on Broadway, and won five Tony Awards.  Further reissues in 1995 included The Who Sell Out, Who's Next and A Quick One. Both are expertly remastered and contain many extra tracks, including the legendary Ready Steady Who EP.

    In June 1996 the band performed at London's Hyde Park performing Quadrophenia in front of 200,000 people. Further performances were given in the USA and the UK later that year. The drummer for this latest re-formation was Zak Starkey, son of the famous Beatle. Released three decades too late for most Who fans, the Live At The Isle Of Wight set demonstrates what an astonishing live band they were. The quality of the Isle Of Wight concert recording is remarkably good, and is a welcome windfall to their considerable following.