Song by Song: "My Generation" Trivia Quiz

Answer: Pete Townshend

Shel Talmy produced the song, which was released in November 1965 by Decca records. It was written by the Who's guitarist, Pete Townshend, who was a co-founder of the band, its primary songwriter, and a secondary vocalist. Rolling Stone magazine reports that Townshend "supposedly wrote" the song "on his 20th birthday, May 19th, 1965, while riding a train from London to Southampton for a television appearance."

Answer: True

The song peaked at number two on the U.K. Singles Chart (the Official Charts Company) and was their highest charting single ever in the U.K. It also spent five weeks on the U.S. Billboard Top 100, where it peaked at number 74. Pete Townshend told Rolling Stone magazine in a 1987 interview that the song "was very much about trying to find a place in society" and that at the time he wrote it, he was "very, very lost" and feared his "career would be incredibly brief."

Answer: John Entwistle

According to music critic Per Elias Drabløs in his 2016 book "The Quest for the Melodic Electric Bass," this song features one of the first bass solos in rock history. Rolling Stone magazine wrote that the Who's guitar bassist, John Entwistle, "took the solo breaks with crisp, grunting aggression" and reports that his strings kept breaking and he couldn't find replacements, so "he had to buy three new basses to finish the recording."

Answer: Roger Daltrey

Rolling Stone magazine, in its 2004 article on the "500 Greatest Songs of All time," described Roger Daltrey's singing as a "stuttering, howling performance" with Townshend and Entwistle supplying "R&B-inspired" backing vocals.

The song was released as a single in the U.K. on October 29, 1965 with "Shout and Shimmy" on the B-side. A few days later, on November 5, it was released in the U.S. with "Out in the Street" on the B-side.

Answer: Keith Moon

Doug Sandom was the first drummer for the Who, but Keith Moon took his place after his departure. Kenny Jones replaced Keith Moon as drummer when Moon died of a drug overdose.

Rolling Stone magazine, in its article on the "500 Greatest Songs of All time," described Pete Townshend as "spewing feedback all over Keith Moon's avalanche drumming" in this song.

Answer: get around

"People try to put us d-down (talkin' 'bout my generation)
Just because we get around (talkin' 'bout my generation)"

"My Generation" was included in Def Leppard's "Rock of Ages" medley released on their fourth studio album "Hysteria" in 1987. The medley also included "Radar Love," "Come Together," and "Whole Lotta Love."

Answer: old

"Things they do look awful c-c-cold (talkin' 'bout my generation)
I hope I die before I get old (talkin' 'bout my generation)
This is my generation
This is my generation, baby."

"My Generation" peaked at number three on Canada's Top Singles (RPM) chart and hit number five on the Netherlands Dutch Top 40. It also hit number two on the Australian weekly record chart, the Kent Music Report.

Answer: sensation

"Why don't you all f-fade away (talkin' 'bout my generation)
Don't try to dig what we all s-s-s-say (talkin' 'bout my generation)
I'm not trying to 'cause a big s-s-sensation (talkin' 'bout my generation)
I'm just talkin' 'bout my g-g-g-generation (talkin' 'bout my generation)."

"My Generation" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and also included on Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll." Rolling Stone magazine named it the 37th "Greatest Hard Rock Song" in 2009 and the 11th greatest song its "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list in 2004.

Pete Townshend told Radio X that the song "was inspired by the fact that I felt as artists we had to draw a line between all those people who had been involved in the second world war and all those people who were born right at the end of the war."

Answer: Green Day

Sweet Children was the original name of the band that would become Green Day. Released in August of 1990 through Skene! Records, Green Day's "Sweet Children" EP included four tracks, among them a cover of the Who's "My Generation." This cover, along with the other songs from the "Sweet Children" EP, was also included on the CD and cassette version of "Kerplunk," Green Day's second studio album.

Answer: Iron Maiden

"Lord of the Flies" was the second track on Iron Maiden's 1995 album "The X Factor." The single had the Who cover on the B-side as well as "Doctor Doctor." Other musicians to cover "My Generation" include Groovy Waters, Slow Feet, Liquid Blue, Hilary Duff, Skin, and Gorky Park.