Royal Mail celebrates The Who's 60th anniversary with set of stamps
They're the latest band to be honoured
Last updated 3rd Oct 2024
Royal Mail are celebrating the 60th anniversary of The Who by issuing a special commemorative set of stamps.
The 12 stamps feature eight of The Who’s enduring album covers, plus photos and live shots from the influential rock band’s six-decade history.
Vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon formed The Who in London in 1964, and they went on to sell tens of millions of records worldwide.
Following the hallowed footsteps of The Beatles in 2007, Pink Floyd in 2016, Queen in 2020, The Rolling Stones in 2022 and Iron Maiden in 2023, The Who are only the sixth British band to feature in a dedicated Royal Mail stamp set.
Who albums that feature in the collection are ‘My Generation’ (1965), ‘Tommy’ (1969), ‘Who's Next’ (1971), ‘Quadrophenia’ (1973), ‘Who Are You’ (1978), ‘Face Dances’ (1981), ‘Endless Wire’ (2006) and ‘Who’ (2019).
The stamps featuring band photos capture The Who in 1965 and 1968, plus at live shows at London Marquee Club in 1967 and Manchester Kings Hall in 1973.
Available to order from The Royal Mail’s official website, prices range from £5.45 for a four-stamp set through to a Platinum Stamp set for £199.99, which is limited to 1,964 units.
Roger Daltrey says: "The artwork on the album sleeves was almost as important to the success of the record as the music. It's great to be reminded of them."
Pete Townshend adds: "Stamp! Stamp! Stamp! It's what I've done on stage all my life, sometimes in the air.
"At last my stamping has been honoured properly, and will help letters travel through time and space, just as we have."
Album cover parodies, including The Who:
Scott Weiland – ‘12 Bar Blues’ (1998)
The late-great Stone Temple Pilots singer's debut solo album features a blue-tinged image of Scott on the cover.
John Coltrane – ‘Blue Train’ (1958)
From the image to the font, Scott Weiland's '12 Bar Blues' is a homage to jazz legend John Coltrane's landmark 'Blue Train' album from 40 years earlier.
Anthrax – ‘Kings Among Scotland’ (2018)
The thrash metallers' 2018 live album 'Kings Among Scotland', which captures their 2017 show at Glasgow's Barrowland Ballroom, came with this visually striking animated sleeve.
Kiss - ‘Rock and Roll Over’ (1976)
The Anthrax sleeve is an overt parody of the aesthetically vibrant animated cover to Kiss's fifth studio album 'Rock and Roll Over'.
The Clash - ‘London Calling’ (1979)
The seminal cover to The Clash's 'London Calling' features a black-and-white image of bassist Paul Simonon smashing his Fender Precision Bass at the Palladium in New York City. It was created by designer Ray Lowry.
Elvis Presley - ‘Elvis Presley’ (1956)
With its pink and green lettering and black-and-white photo, 'London Calling' pays direct homage to Elvis Presley's self-titled debut album from 23 years earlier.
Iron Maiden - ‘Powerslave’ (1984)
The heavy metal legends' long-term artist Derek Riggs designed the Ancient Egyptian themed cover to their fifth album 'Powerslave.' Truly one of the best sleeves in metal history.
Earth, Wind & Fire - ‘All n’ All’ (1977)
Visually, Iron Maiden's 'Powerslave' is extremely similar to Earth, Wind & Fire's album 'All n' All' from seven years earlier. Maiden artist Derek Riggs has dismissed the idea he copied the funk band, saying: "Somebody somewhere said it was inspired by an Earth Wind & Fire cover, but that's just crap. Because of the song Bruce wrote it had to be Egyptian, so I went back to the tomb of Rameses 2 and copied the idea from that (just like Earth, Wind & Fire did) but mine is better. It's also got a hieroglyph Micky mouse in the bottom left corner. Ha! Earth Wind and Fire don't have a Mickey Mouse. Obviously inferior." Well said, Derek!
Mötley Crüe – ‘Too Fast for Love’ (1981)
The artwork to Mötley Crüe's debut album features a close-up of a rock star's crotch area.
The Rolling Stones - ‘Sticky Fingers’ (1971)
Mötley Crüe's 'Too Fast for Love' is, of course, a tribute to The Rolling Stones' infamous 'Sticky Fingers artwork from a decade earlier. Created by legendary artist Andy Warhol, the visible outline of the model's manhood caused quite a stir upon the album's release 49 years ago.
Deep Purple – ‘Deep Purple’ (1969)
The dark and macabre cover artwork to 1969's self-titled 'Deep Purple' is adorned with the right-hand painting from Hieronymus Bosch's 15th Century triptych, The Garden of Earthly Delights. It depicts the horrors of hell.
Pearls Before Swine - ‘One Nation Underground’ (1967)
Deep Purple weren't the first band to use The Garden of Earthly Delights on their album sleeve – Floridian psychedelic folk act Pearls Before Swine used a slightly different part of the painting for their 1967 debut album 'One Nation Underground'.
Manowar - ‘Fighting the World’ (1987)
Manowar enlisted fantasy artist Ken Kelly to create the 'Fighting the World' sleeve.
Kiss - ‘Destroyer’ (1976)
The 'Destroyer' cover art was also designed by Ken Kelly and features Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Frehley and Peter Criss standing atop some rubble with destroyed buildings in the background.
Led Zeppelin – ‘Physical Graffiti’ (1975)
Led Zeppelin's iconic 'Physical Graffiti' depicts two side-by-side tenement buildings located at 96 and 98 St. Mark's Place in New York's East Village. JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, astronaut Neil Armstrong, Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra, King Kong, the Virgin Mary, Judy Garland and Led Zeppelin themselves are among the faces peering out of the windows.
Jose Feliciano - ‘Compartments’ (1973)
The concept for Led Zeppelin's 'Physical Grafitti' cover was allegedly inspired by the sleeve on Puerto Rican guitarist Jose Feliciano's 1973 album 'Compartments', which features different faces peering out of windows.
Genesis – ‘Land of Confusion’ (1986)
Just like the hilarious video, Genesis' 'Land of Confusion' single artwork features Spitting Image incarnations of Tony Banks, Phil Collins and Mike Rutherford.
The Beatles - ‘With The Beatles’ (1963)
Genesis' 'Land of Confusion' is a hilarious pastiche of the artwork on The Beatles' second studio album 'With The Beatles.'
The Who – ‘The Who Sings My Generation’ (1966)
The US edition of The Who's debut album 'My Generation' not only featured a different title and track list but also alternative artwork of Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon stood in front of the Big Ben clock tower.
The Rockin’ Berries – ‘In Town’ (1964)
Two years before The Who's 'The Who Sings My Generation', Birmingham beat group The Rockin' Berries released their debut album 'In Town', which also featured an image of the band standing in front of the Big Ben clock tower against a blue sky. A minor hit, the album dented the UK album chart at no.15.
Tom Waits ‘The Heart of Saturday Night’ (1974)
Gravelly voiced singer Tom Waits' second album features an illustration of a tired Waits being observed by a blonde haired woman as he exits a neon-lit cocktail lounge late at night.
Frank Sinatra ‘In the Wee Small Hours’ (1955)
Tom Waits' 'The Heart of Saturday Night' is based on 'In the Wee Small Hours' by Frank Sinatra, which depicts the singer on an eerie and deserted street awash in blue-tinged streetlights. Tom Waits listed 'In the Wee Small Hours' as his favourite album of all time in a 2005 interview with The Guardian.
The Mothers of Invention - ‘We're Only In It for the Money’ (1968)
Frank Zappa's art director Cal Schenkel and Jerry Schatzberg photographed a collage for the 'We're Only In It for the Money' album cover that directly parodied The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band', which was released a year earlier. Zappa's good mate Jimi Hendrix appears on the sleeve on the right hand side where the wax sculpture of Sonny Liston appears on The Beatles' sleeve. Much to Zappa's dismay, Capitol Records issued the album with an alternate photograph and the Beatles parody was demoted to the inside cover.
The Beatles – ‘Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band’ (1967)
Here's the iconic sleeve to The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' designed by pop artists Peter Blake and Jann Haworth.
Lordi - ‘Beast Loose In Paradise’ (2008)
The monstrous Finnish metallers, who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006 with their song 'Hard Rock Hallelujah', released a single called 'Beast Loose In Paraside' in 2008 for the soundtrack to their film 'Dark Floors'. The artwork features a very blue photograph of Lordi.
Kiss - ‘Creatures of the Night’ (1982)
Lordi's 'Beast Loose In Paradise' single cover pays tribute to the sleeve to Kiss' 10th studio album 'Creatures of the Night'.
12. Uriah Heep – ‘Live at Shepperton '74’ (1986)
Released 12 years after it was recorded at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, 'Live at Shepperton '74' features a bootleg LP style brown paper sleeve with a stamp of the Uriah Heep band name and album title.
The Who - ‘Live at Leeds’ (1970)
Uriah Heep's 'Live at Shepperton '74' is clearly highly reminiscent of The Who's seminal 1970 live album 'Live at Leeds'. It could be argued that 'Live at Leeds' is in fact a homage to The Rolling Stones' bootleg LP 'Live'r Than You'll Ever Be' from 1969.
David Bowie ‘The Next Day’ (2013)
The cover to David Bowie's 24th studio album 'The Next Day' is a tweaked version of Bowie's 1977 album "Heroes" and features a white square obscuring the music legend's face. It was designed by Jonathan Barnbrook, who also created the 'Heathen' and 'Black Star' sleeves, and is meant to signify wiping out the past.
David Bowie – “Heroes” (1977)
Here's the "Heroes" cover from 1977 featuring an iconic image of David Bowie taken by photographer Masayoshi Sukita. The pose was inspired by German artist Erich Heckel's 1917 painting Roquairol.
Slade – ‘Till Deaf Do Us Part’ (1981)
Slade's tenth studio album featured a lovely image of a nail being hammered into an ear canal. Delightful stuff.
Manfred Mann's Earth Band – ‘The Roaring Silence’ (1976)
Slade's 'Till Deaf Do Us Part' is highly reminiscent of Manfred Mann's Earth Band's 'The Roaring Silence' from 15 years earlier, which features a huge outer ear with a mouth inside it. It was created by artist Derek Goldsmith.
Thee Oh Sees / Paul Cary – ‘Thee Oh Sees / Paul Cary’ (2010)
San Francisco alternative rock band Thee Oh Sees released a self-titled split 7" single with musician Paul Cary in 2010.
Rush – ‘Rush’ (1974)
Thee Oh Sees' single is of course a carbon copy of Rush's eponymous debut album from 1974.
David Byrne – ‘Grown Backwards’ (2004)
The Talking Heads frontman's sixth solo album features a photograph of Byrne gazing into the yonder.
Phil Collins – ‘… But Seriously’ (1989)
Genesis drummer/vocalist Phil Collins also gazed pensively into the yonder on his fourth solo album.