The Kids Are Alright by The Who, album cover
Album · Compilation

The Kids Are Alright

Released8 June 1979
Popularity43.1
Also cited9 June 1979

The Kids Are Alright is the soundtrack to the Who's documentary film of the same name, and it doubles as a look back over their biggest songs up to that point. Most of it is live rather than the familiar studio takes. It came out in June 1979 as a double album, on MCA Records in the US and Polydor in the UK. It sits between Who Are You (1978) and Face Dances (1981) in their story.

The live angle is the draw. "My Wife" comes from a show at the Gaumont State Cinema in Kilburn, filmed for the movie though left out of the final cut, and later restored for DVD as The Who at Kilburn: 1977. "Tommy Can You Hear Me" has an extended ending, with Roger Daltrey repeating "Tommy" before Keith Moon screams "'Ello!". It reached No. 8 in the US, where it went platinum, and No. 26 in the UK.

The Kids Are Alright: tracklist, credits and charts

17 tracks · 1:20:25

Tracklist

  1. Disc 1
  2. 1My GenerationPete Townshend4:29
  3. 2I Can’t ExplainPete Townshend2:01
  4. 3Happy JackPete Townshend2:12
  5. 4I Can See for MilesPete Townshend4:15
  6. 5Magic BusPete Townshend3:23
  7. 6Long Live RockPete Townshend3:57
  8. 7Anyway, Anyhow, AnywhereRoger Daltrey and Pete Townshend2:50
  9. 8Young Man BluesMose Allison5:44
  10. 9My WifeJohn Entwistle5:59
  11. 10Baba O’RileyPete Townshend5:25
  12. Disc 2
  13. 1A Quick One, While He’s AwayPete Townshend7:30
  14. 2Tommy, Can You Hear Me?Pete Townshend1:46
  15. 3SparksPete Townshend3:01
  16. 4Pinball WizardPete Townshend2:48
  17. 5See Me, Feel MePete Townshend5:25
  18. 6Join Together / Roadrunner / My Generation BluesPete Townshend and Bo Diddley9:54
  19. 7Won’t Get Fooled AgainPete Townshend9:48
Produced by
Glyn Johns, The Who, Various
Recorded at
Twickenham Film Studios, University of Leeds, Olympic Studios, London Coliseum, Gaumont State Cinema, Shepperton Studios, Yasgur’s Farm, Pontiac Silverdome
Recorded
1965–1978
Engineered by
Cy Langston
Labels
MCA Records, Polydor (UK), MCA (US)
Length
1:20:25

Peak chart positions

ChartPeak
US Billboard 200 · 19798
UK Albums Chart · 197926
Canadian Albums (RPM) · 197910
New Zealand Albums · 197930

Certifications

RegionCertification
Canada · 1979Gold
United Kingdom · 2019Gold
United States · 1979Platinum

From MusicBrainz and Wikipedia. Only what the sources record is shown.

43.1
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
58
ListenBrainz listeners
34k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
1.8k
Deezer fans (all editions)

Released the same week

Also released on 8 June

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Releases and pressings

How we know the release date wikipedia 1979-06-08 vs 1979-06-09 (musicbrainz)
SourceDateNote
MusicBrainz9 June 1979
Wikipedia infobox8 June 1979
Wikidata1979
US release1979earliest US date
UK / Europe release9 June 1979earliest UK or European date
14 editions
DateCountryLabelBarcodeKind
—USMCA Records076732689929other
—USMCA Records076732689929other
—XWUniversal UMC00602567796473other
1979USMCA Recordsother
9 June 1979GBPolydororiginal
1988CAMCA Records00076732689929other
1988USMCA Records076732689929other
1993GBPolydor731451794728other
2001GBPolydor731454369428other
17 April 2001USMCA Records731454369428other
21 December 2011JPPolydor4988005690814other
20 February 2013JPPolydor4988005749659other
21 April 2018XEPolydor602567132325other
21 April 2018XEPolydor602567132325other
Cover art sources

deezer · upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)

SourceSizeVerdict
deezer ✓1200×1200upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)
fanarttv1000×1000upscaled
coverartarchive600×600upscaled