The Who: Less Influential Than Def Leppard?

In a taping for VH1 on Saturday in Los Angeles, everyone from Pearl Jam, Tenacious D and Flaming Lips to X-Files spook David Duchovny, Office nerd Rainn Wilson and more showed up to fete The Who. The occasion was the taping of VH1 Rock Honors, a show that supposedly bows down to the rock icons […]
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Roger Daltrey, left, and Pete Townsend, of the Who, perform at the VH1 Rock Honors “The Who” on Saturday July 12, 2008 in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)AP

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In a taping for VH1 on Saturday in Los Angeles, everyone from Pearl Jam, Tenacious D and Flaming Lips to X-Files spook David Duchovny, Office nerd Rainn Wilson and more showed up to fete The Who. The occasion was the taping of VH1 Rock Honors, a show that supposedly bows down to the rock icons that shaped music as we know it.

I say "supposedly," because this is the third installment of the show, which airs on July 17. And despite the fact that attendee Jack Black called The Who "the greatest band of all time," a sentiment few might disagree with, VH1 nevertheless only got around to the legendary group after first bestowing its honors on Def Leppard, Queen, KISS, ZZ Top, Genesis, Heart and Ozzy Osbourne.

Not Black Sabbath. Just Ozzy.

this audio or video is no longer availableOf course, it's VH1, which is to say MTV, which is to say television that used to be about music. Previous tapings of the Honors had taken place in Las Vegas, which tells you how seriously they should be taken. But it still bugs to think that the band responsible for the lyrics "It's no fun/Being an illegal alien" landed honors before the band who wrote "My Generation," "The Real Me" and "Won't Get Fooled Again."

Speaking of, Pearl Jam rocked "The Real Me" and "Love Reign O'er Me" with a full orchestral complement, Rainn Wilson rocked Elton John's Local Lad getup from Tommy, and the Flaming Lips tackled much of that rock opera from within a giant bubble that bobbed atop the audience. Good times, yes, but it was left to participant Sean Penn to state the obvious.

"We know that we're all here tonight because The Who never did sell out," he told the crowd, "unlike certain music channels."

Photo: AP/Matt Sayles

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