Who Sells Out?: Petra Haden in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

Abstract

In 2005, Petra Haden released her version of The Who Sell Out, notable for the meticulousness and creativity with which she mimicked the various instruments on the album, and for the fact that she produced the project with an eight-track recorder and only her own voice. This article examines the ways in which Haden’s interpretation of the classic album elevates it into the realm of “high art” while retaining its status as a commodity within the realm of popular music. Although the Who’s original recording (1967) was one of the first concept albums, its unification comes not through a storyline or characters, as with other albums of that era, but through the foregrounding of its existence as a commodity. Radio jingles for both real and fake products are interspersed among the genuine commodities of pop songs, and the cover art features the Who in fake advertisements. Haden includes the jingles and even the cover artwork in her interpretation, but the changes she makes through generating every sound with her voice provide a level of unification that the original album does not possess. Haden’s live reinterpretation (with her band the Sellouts) casts doubt on what constitutes the “authentic” version of the album, since the current lineup of the Who (two surviving members and various supporting musicians) no longer performs the material. Ultimately, Petra Haden Sings: The Who Sell Out functions as an art project that goes beyond the original album’s intent.