Show Notes
Buddy Ascott talks about playing with Tony Fletcher in The Dear Boys, being sacked by his previous band and not knowing why, The Who’s influence on The Chords, offering his drumming services to The Who when he was 18, the large Mod audience that followed The Chords through word of mouth, recording BBC radio sessions for John Peel, his love for The Who By Numbers and why it’s an underrated album, and drunkenly heckling The Who and ending up in their dressing room in the same night.
Music by The Garage
The Dear Boys – 'Put It Down' (Page/Fletcher), used with kind permission
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RELATED LINKS
The Chords – ‘Maybe Tomorrow’ Top of the Pops, February 1980
The Chords – ‘Something’s Missing’ Top of the Pops, May 1980
The Chords – first Peel Session BBC Radio 1, July 1979
The Chords – second Peel Session BBC Radio 1, March 1980
Proper – Meant To Say Something Bandcamp
The Dear Boys on Bandcamp
The Chords on London Weekend Show May 1979 (a teenage Tony Fletcher can be seen from 2:59–3:03)
The Chords – ‘This is What They Want’
‘The Ox’
The Chords – ‘Don’t Go Back’
‘Heaven and Hell’ Tanglewood, Lenox, MA, July 1970
The Dear Boys – ‘Put It Down’ YouTube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Talking About The Who
Paul Bearman is joined by author and musician Dante DiCarlo to look at the news stories relating to The Who for September 2026 and travel down various tangents along the way:
Paul Bearman is joined by YouTuber Ethan Fisher and musician Matt Weston to report on two concerts from Roger Daltrey’s solo North American tour of 2026.
In 1983, Paul Bearman was three years old, hyperactive, and rarely slept. One evening, he defied his parents' expectations by sitting completely transfixed as BBC Two aired a documentary about Jimi Hendrix as part of its Rock Around the Clock programming… and his life was changed forever. Soon afterwards, he developed a love for The Who, watching The Kids Are Alright and The Who Rocks America on repeat, receiving albums and books for birthdays and at Christmas, and playing toy guitars while pretending to be Pete Townshend.
Rain. Crowd violence. Counterfeit tickets. Overcrowding. People climbing up floodlights. Lasers. Keith Moon’s last gig to a paying audience in England. The final entry in The Guinness Book of Records for loudest concert ever recorded.
The final episode of Season Three will now be released on Wednesday 22nd July. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.