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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
National
David McLean

When rock legends The Who joined Glasgow busker and met fans outside the Savoy Centre in 1979

If there's one thing guaranteed to draw a large crowd in Glasgow city centre, it's the presence of bona fide rock legends - and we don't use that word lightly when we're talking about The Who.

On Friday, June 8, 1979, the My Generation stadium rockers were in town and gearing up to deafen the masses at the city's famous Apollo theatre.

And the band, in spite of having only recently lost seminal drummer Keith Moon, who had tragically passed away the previous September, appeared in buoyant mood as they posed for pictures with fans both young and old on Sauchiehall Street.

READ MORE: When Glasgow hosted legendary BBC music show Top of the Pops at Archaos nightclub in 1999

Speaking of which, Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Kenny Jones were in the presence of Glasgow royalty - and we're sure they would've known it too.

The man in charge of the lens that day was none other than former Sunday Mail picture editor, the late Ronnie Anderson, who enjoyed a lifetime's career capturing the biggest names in showbiz and sport, from Jimi Hendrix to Jock Stein.

With the captions being scant of info, and our dear Ronnie having ventured off to the great gig in the sky in 2019, piecing together the precise details behind these photos is a rather difficult task - but try we must.

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The Who's main men are seen greeting fans outside the Savoy Centre and the La Scala cinema, and there are several shots where they're accompanied by an unidentified bearded busker - at least we assume the chap was a busker. He may well have been a supporting act at the Apollo gig, for all we know!

The pictures, which we sourced from our own Mirrorpix archives, came without detailed annotations - we didn't even know the date, which is why we contacted one man we hoped might be able to peer through the fog. Cue Norry Wilson of Lost Glasgow.

The ever-helpful local nostalgia guru did not disappoint, and even managed to pin down the exact day Ronnie Anderson took his 'orphaned' pics.

Roger Daltrey's hair, Norry explained, was a dead giveaway, as it was clear the singer had chopped the long curly locks, which he'd rocked for much of the seventies, in order to appear in an upcoming movie. The La Scala advertising itself as a "triple-screen" cinema was another indicator of the year.

Norry told us: "Yep, must be the June '79 visit, with Daltrey's hair short for the McVicar role. That film came out in 1980, and the La Scala became three screens in '78. By the '81 tour, when I saw them, Daltrey's hair was a bit longer, and Entwhistle's hair much shorter."

Ideally, however, we'd like to go one step further. There are faces in here that deserve a name, beyond the familiar mugs of The Who.

We all know who The Who are, but who's the hirsute busker? Who's the elderly couple. Who's who among the unidentified weans? Who knows?

That's where you, our faithful readers come in: if you were there to witness The Who that day, more than 40 years ago, on Sauchiehall Street, we'd love if you could fill in the gaps. Maybe you recognise the busker, or perhaps you're even one of the young fans meeting their idols.

Please feel free to leave a comment, email news@glasgowlive.co.uk, or even just drop us a line on our social media channels.

You can view the full set of Ronnie Anderson's photos of The Who on Sauchiehall Street by clicking on the gallery link below.

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