Song 183: “Pinball Wizard” by the Who, part 1: Always Playing Clean episode artwork

EPISODE · Feb 12, 2026 · 1H 44M

Song 183: “Pinball Wizard” by the Who, part 1: Always Playing Clean

from A History of Rock Music in 500 Songs · host Andrew Hickey

Apologies for the delay in posting this episode — I had a chronic illness flare-up and a frankly awful January. With luck, part two of this story will be up before the end of February. For those who haven’t heard the announcement I posted, songs from this point on will sometimes be split among multiple episodes, so this is the first part of a multi-episode look at the song “Pinball Wizard” by The Who. Click the full post to read liner notes, links to more information, and a transcript of the episode. Patreon backers also have an eighty-two-minute bonus episode available, on “Father and Son” by Cat Stevens. Tilt Araiza has assisted invaluably by editing, and will hopefully be doing so from now on. Check out Tilt’s irregular podcasts at http://www.podnose.com/jaffa-cakes-for-proust and http://sitcomclub.com/ (more…)

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Song 183: “Pinball Wizard” by the Who, part 1: Always Playing Clean

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