Tommy - Pinball Wizard!

The Who's "Tommy" was one of the first ever concept albums recorded. And "Pinball Wizard" became the anthem for Pinball Machines and a part of Pinball History.

A story about a deaf, dumb and blind kid, who's talent was being the best ever pinball player! He could beat the champions at their own game, without being able to see or hear what was going on!

That deaf, dumb and blind kid, sure plays a mean pinball!

The song was written from the perspective of the local Pinball Champ, who is amazed by Tommy's ability to play Pinball better than he can.

The local champ wonders if this kid is for real, or just a trick? And eventually concedes his title.

I thought I was the Bally table king, but I just handed my pinball crown to him.

Although the double album follows his life from the start, the Pinball reference comes up repeatedly as the main thing that helps Tommy through the process of being able to see, hear and speak again.

It has been reported that the Pinball theme was an after thought to the album concept, written in so the Tommy character was good at something, making the story more appealing, and creating the hit song.

Eventually, a Pinball Machine was created to capture this story...

The Who's Tommy Pinball Wizard

25 years after the album was released, Data East released "The Who's Tommy Pinball Wizard".

Carefully constructing the game's rules and toys around the concept album's lyrics and basing it on the Broadway musical version, Data East created one of their best Pinball's for game play.

It features the Bomber Airplane, Mirror and the Union Jack on the playfield, along with modes for each of the stages of the musical.

The Union Jack shows the different modes that need to be completed before you can enter the Pinball Wizard mode. At this point, the blinder is activated, and you now have to play like Tommy does - you can no longer see the flippers!

But why leave all the fun to the players who can get to the final stage? The blinder can also be activated at the start of the game by pressing and holding the Extra Ball Buy-In button while you press the Start button.

Doing this enters you into "Tommy Mode" and the blinder is active for the duration of the game. A facinating and frustrating way to play Pinball!

Tommy is definately a Pinball Wizard, and part of Pinball History.