Richard Alan Barnes (born 3 October 1944) is an English author, best known for his association with the
mod subculture
Mod, from the word modernist, is a subculture that began in London and spread throughout Great Britain and elsewhere, eventually influencing fashions and trends in other countries, and continues today on a smaller scale. Focused on music and ...
and the rock group
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
, including his book on the group ''Maximum R&B''. He gave The Who their name when he was roommates with
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s.
Townsh ...
, after the group had originally been called The Detours.
The Who
Barnes started a course at
Ealing Art College
Ealing Art College (or Ealing Technical College & School of Art) was a further education institution on St Mary's Road, Ealing, London, England. The site today is the Ealing campus of University of West London.
History
In the early 1960s the S ...
at the same time as Townshend and the two of them shared a flat together, bonding over their mutual love for old R&B and soul records. Townshend subsequently said that Barnes was "very important to The Who's thinking process in the early days. He and I used to sit around and talk about The Who as an installation, we wrote a manifesto for the group together." When Townshend's group, The Detours, needed a new name, the pair sat up all night suggesting joke names, until Barnes came up with The Who. The group's singer,
Roger Daltrey
Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the Rock music, rock band The Who.
Daltrey's hit songs with The Who include "My Generation", "Pinball Wizard", "Won't Ge ...
endorsed the new name the next day.
In early 1964, Barnes was working as a promoter for the Railway Hotel, Wealdstone. He removed all the lights in the pub apart from two pink ones, and turned up the heating to create a sweaty atmosphere. He managed to achieve average audience attendances of between 500 - 1000, including a weekly residency by The Who every Tuesday. Barnes believed The Who should have split up around the mid-1970s, and believes the only reason they stayed together was for the money.
In 1977, Barnes & Townshend collaborated on a book to coincide with the Ken Russell film of The Who's rock-opera ''Tommy'', entitled ''The Story Of Tommy''.
1982 saw the first publication of ''The Who: Maximum R & B'', an officially authorised biography of the band with photographs. After multiple pressings, the book is still in print.
In 1993 Barnes was listed as director and collaborator on Townshend's "Psychoderelict solo album and theatrical American solo-tour that followed.
Barnes was featured in the official and definitive documentary of the group: ''Amazing Journey - The Story Of The Who'', directed by Murray Lerner and given a 2007 worldwide theatrical release.
Barnes was featured in the 2013 documentary on the making of the band's 1973 ''Quadrophenia'' album: ''Quadrophenia: Can You See the Real Me'', as well as many other documentaries focussed on the band's and also specifically the members Pete Townshend and Keith Moon.
Mod culture
In 1979 Barnes wrote and compiled the book ''Mods!'', in which he described the
mod movement with particular emphasis in London.
Other work
Barnes as a journalist worked as an art director on ''The Daily Mirror'' in the early 1970s and has contributes to a wide number of
UK music magazines to this day. He has appeared in many television and film documentaries speaking about subjects pertaining to Mods, The Who and its members or the London of the 1960s in general.
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Richard
1944 births
Living people
Place of birth missing (living people)
The Who
English male writers