The Who known as The High Numbers on this date in 1964 played a gig at The Railway Hotel in Harrow, England. Just before the band was scheduled on stage, Roger Daltry’s father-in-law entered into the venue and dragged the singer outside and beat him. The band took up their set with Daltry appearing back on stage after the fight.

From July to October in 1964, The Who changed their name to The High Numbers. The band released one track under that billing before going back to the more relevant name, The Who.

The history of the name change was that it arose from their association with mod Pete Meaden, who quickly managed them in mid-1964. Meaden helped to get the band to brand their music and image more toward the mod movement. The name evolved from mod slang.

The High Numbers did the 45 single in July of 1964, ‘I’m the Face’/’Zoot Suit’, both sides were written by Meaden.

The lyrics of both were quite blunt pastiches of mod jargon and sloganeering. The Who’s charisma did not prevail.

Pete Townshend’s guitar was indistinguishable, bearing a slight resemblance to his power chords and searing feedback on The Who’s 1965 singles. The single’s leads were so jazzy and poor that one doubts if they were the work of a session musician. ‘Zoot Suit’ eclipsed the routine R&B of A-side, having unusual minor-key tune and rushed tempo. The single went practically unnoticed upon initial drop.

The High Numbers wisely changed their name back to The Who by November 1964. They replaced the management of the band, replacing Meadon with Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp.  Whether this was intentional, it also eliminated any stigmas attached to them as the result of The High Numbers’ flop 45, and allowed them to offer their first 1965 single, ‘I Can’t Explain’ as the debut of a brand-new band, The Who. Very rare for a decade, “I’m the Face” and ‘Zoot Suit” appeared on The Who compilation albums in the ‘70s, and afterward on CD.

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