Tuesday, 29 September 2026

Revealed. The site of the 'Who's next' cover photo

What was it exactly? 

A concrete pillar set in the midst of a large excavation, it featured on one of the most revered rock albums of the 1970s. And yet no one knew what it was, or for that matter where it was. Until now, 55 years later. 

The cover shot of the monolith on which the four members of The Who have just relieved themselves, was apparently taken in a Sheffield slag heap they passed in the tour bus. Or at least that was the story they recalled later, although none of them could quite remember.  

It was a spontaneous decision to stop the bus on the way to the next gig and take some photos. Photographer Ethan Russell said he thought, after they had done it, there was no chance it would be used.

Quite how it was selected, then, will remain a mystery. But in a recent twist to the tale, someone in Derbyshire identified where the monolith actually was - contradicting what Russell and the band had remembered. 

The concrete pillar was actually a drain built into a spoil heap from a Derbyshire colliery to help prevent landslips.

John Hirst, who worked for Chesterfield Borough Council in the 1970s, photographed it a number of times before it all but disappeared.

He told the Derbyshire Times that someone in his office was a fan of The Who and said he knew where the photo had been taken.

"He used to drive past it every day. So we went up there and I took photo of him standing with it.

"I got married soon after and moved nearby, and over the next couple of years I took more photos as the land was filled in around it.”

Today only the very top of it is visible at ground level, in what is now a farmer’s field.

Pete Townsend hated the image, saying, "Of course I don’t like it. It’s got no artistic consequence whatsoever. No link to the music. It’s meaningless. It’s four guys stopping in a car and pissing up against a chunk of concrete. Anyway, can we move on?" 

The stone pillar as it is today
 As I wrote in my story about the making of Who's next, Pete may have failed to get the broader 'Lifehouse' project off the ground, but Who's next nonetheless carries a strong sense of what the NME observed as “We’re all part of something bigger and somehow one day we’ll all join together as one.”

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