/guid/9202a8c04000641f800000000065c878 rename

"Pinball Wizard" is a song written by Pete Townshend and performed by the English rock band The Who...

"Pinball Wizard" is a song written by Pete Townshend and performed by the English rock band The Who, and featured on their 1969 rock opera album Tommy. The original recording was released as a single in 1969 and reached #4 in the UK charts and #13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The lyrics are written from the perspective of a pinball champion, called "Local Lad" in the Tommy libretto book, astounded by the skills of the opera's eponymous main character, Tommy Walker: "That deaf, dumb and blind kid sure plays a mean pinball", and "I thought I was the Bally table king, but I just handed my pinball crown to him". Townshend once called it "the most clumsy piece of writing [he'd] ever done"; nevertheless, the song was a gigantic commercial success and one of the most recognized tunes from the opera. It was a perpetual concert favourite for Who fans due to its pop sound and familiarity. The song was introduced into Tommy as an afterthought. In late 1968 or early 1969, when The Who played a rough assembly of their new album to critic Nik Cohn, Cohn gave a lukewarm reaction. Following this, Townshen, as Tommy's principal composer, discussed the album with Cohn and concluded that, to