On February 5, 1967 The Smothers Brothers, Tommy and Dick Smothers launched The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour on CBS, mixing folk music with sharp, risky jokes about real-world issues.
The show dealt with political and religious topics that the CBS executives were uncomfortable with having on air. One of The Smothers Brothers’ unforgettable shows was with the British rock band, The Who.
The Who were already famous for their high-energy shows. At the end of their concerts, guitarist Pete Townshend often smashed his guitars into the amplifiers. Drummer Keith Moon also liked to smash his drum kit, and everything about the show was so loud and wild.
In 1967, The Who took their loud and out-of-control shows into The Smothers Brothers show. By the time their performance ended, the stage was in ruins, and the audience was in shock.
The Who wanted to make their TV appearance special, but that went too far when Keith Moon decided to add real explosives to his bass drum. It actually wasn’t the first time, but usually he used small explosive charges for dramatic effect, and a bit more noise, as if the show wasn’t noisy enough. But for this TV appearance, he packed far more explosives into his drum than normal.
When Moon set it off, a huge explosion rocked the set and white smoke covered Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey.
Tommy Smothers talked about this show in an interview, he said, “The bit was supposed to end with Townshend smashing my guitar. There was shrapnel everywhere. I thought there was going to be dead bodies. Pete staggers over to me, shell-shocked. He takes my guitar and starts banging it. Everyone assumed this wasn’t part of the act because I was looking around panicked. It was a real authentic moment. One of the great moments in rock ‘n’ roll.”
The detonation caught Townshend standing less than a meter away, leaving him temporarily deafened and ringing with tinnitus.
Townshend has often mentioned this specific moment as a cause for his lifelong ear trouble, as the explosion caught him standing less than a meter away and left him temporarily.
Allan Blye, a producer-writer for the show, said, “The Who wanted to do a big explosion at the end of their performance. In dress rehearsal, it was a powder puff. So, I say to the special effects guy, “We have to make a bigger boom.” Unbeknownst to us, The Who had told their own guy the same thing. When the explosion went off, it affected Pete Townshend’s hearing permanently. Keith Moon got blown off his drumstand, but was too out of it to know.”
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