March 01
**Roger Harry Daltrey's Birthday**



Roger Daltrey is best known as he founder and lead singer of the legendary rock bank The Who. After Roger left grade school, he joined a band called The Detours in in 1959 and played lead guitar. He subsequently invited schoolmate John Entwistle to play bass, and Pete Townshend to play guitar. The Detours' lead singer was Colin Dawson. After Colin left the band, Roger switched to vocals. n 1964 Keith Moon joined the bands as their new drummer. At that time, Roger learned that another band was playing as The Detours. Townshend's roommate suggested "The Who." The next morning, Daltrey made the decision for the band, saying "It's The Who, innit?"

Townshend and Entwistle wrote songs that launched The Who's successful recording career. Townsend wrote the first mini-rock opera for their second album and became the subject of the first Rolling Stone interview. Townshend said he was working on a full-length rock opera - Tommy - a story about a "deaf, dumb, and blind boy" who becomes the leader of a messianic movement. T Tommy became a critical smash, Life saying, "...for sheer power, invention and brilliance of performance, Tommy outstrips anything which has ever come out of a recording studio. Tommy shattered musical barriers and established The Who as a major artistic voice in contemporary music, Roger was the face and voice of The Who. When Ken Russell's released his film version of Tommy in 1975, Roger played the lead role, was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for "Best Acting Debut in a Motion Picture" and appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine on 10 April 1975. The Who have sold about 100 million records,and have charted 27 top forty singles in the UK and US , as well as 17 top ten albums in the United States . The band continues to perform sporadically with different drummers since Keith Moon's death. Roger also continued to pursue a successful solo recording and acting career. In Tommy, the deaf, dumb, ands blind; boy's mother sets him up on a blind date with The Acid Queen - a prostitute dealing in LSD - who sends Tommy on a wild trip that unfortunately fails to waken him. So an appropriate celebratory dish for Roger's birthday would by Blind Dates which you can enjoy while watching the Ken Russell film version of the landmark rock opera.

Blind Dates

Ingredients

1 3 oz package cream cheese; room temperature 1 cup sifted, white flour 1/8 tsp salt 1/2 cup butter; chilled	1/2 tsp vanilla 2 TB. confectioner's sugar 24 pitted dated 24 walnuts; quartered
Instructions

1. Stuff each of the pitted dates with 1 of the walnut quarters. Set aside. 2. Combine first 6 ingredients, Mix well & divide dough into 4 balls. Cover balls with plastic wrap & put in fridge to chill for 2 hours. 3, Working with 1 ball of dough at a time, roll each ball to 1/8 inch thickness on a board dusted with confectioner's sugar. Cut rolled-out dough into rounds with a 2 and 1/2 inch cookie cutter. Place one walnut-stuffed date in center of each round. Fold edges over & pinch ends to points. 4. Place 1 inch apart on lightly greased cookie sheet; seam side down. Bake at 350º F for 10 to 12 minutes. Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar & cool on racks.
© 2011 Gordon Nary and Tyler Stokes