Pete Townshend interview on the BBC

Pete Townshend on the BBC



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/29/2025 07:21AM by ira.

Enjoyed listening. Astounding that 60 years on he’s still willing to graciously answer these types of Who-related questions.

I was always much more of a fan of his early 80s solo work, the Who being overplayed staples of dreaded FM ‘classic rock’ stations when I was 13-14. (It was the TP issue with the Who song guide that got me to start appreciating their ‘deeper cuts’).

Thanks for sharing Ira!

Finally got a chance to hear this. Thanks for posting that Ira! I'm actually not that familiar with Townshend's formative years, so it was fascinating and all new to me. The interview also puts to bed the tabloid gossip being amplified (and further distorted) by overzealous fans on whether the "final" U.S. tour will collapse. Mind you, it's not going to be remotely the Who of yore - as Townshend points out, they're simply much too old with two of the original members sorely missing - but at this point people probably know what they're getting. (FWIW, I recently discovered the official DVD of their 1975 Houston show and it is amazing. Granted it looks like a multi-cam house feed, but the performance is mind-blowing and really drives home what late comers have missed about this band if they never saw the original four on stage.)

Re: Townshend's solo work, his first three non-Who albums (Who Came First, Rough Mix with Ronnie Lane, Empty Glass) and the Scoop demo collections are all favorites, but it does indeed get really spotty after that. At best, I'd say Cowboys has three cuts that I like, same with White City, and there's even a couple of songs on the Iron Man album and a couple on Psychoderelict that I enjoy. (I'll also throw in the Psychoderelict outtake "Uneasy Street.") I wouldn't call any of the later cuts forgotten greats - if you haven't heard them, you're not missing anything that'll expand your appreciation for Townshend's work - but they're generally tuneful, catchy songs.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/2025 09:18PM by belfast.

I saw The Who in 2007 in Fresno, CA and it was a great show. John Entwistle had passed a few years earlier so I figured it was going to be my last chance at seeing them live before they all kicked the bucket. I can't believe that was 18 years ago and they are about to go out on tour again. I thought they were old back then.

Pete's brother Simon handled most of the guitar work and Pete stuck to rhythm mostly except for his most signature solo's. Zak Starkey was the drummer and I thought he did a admirable job filling Keith Moon's shoes with Pete even complementing him on stage by saying he was the only drummer who could play like Moon.

I still feel like Kenny Jones got a raw deal though.

An acquaintance of mine, perhaps one of the two biggest Who fans I know, is also a big Faces fan and played me some vintage footage of the Faces to explain why Jones would've been seen as a good fit, musically-speaking. (I know he was also a sentimental favorite because they all had similar roots, going back to when they were growing up.) It was convincing and closer to Moon's style of drumming than the more conventional approach he had on the records.

FWIW, I thought the 1997 remix of Face Dances was an improvement partly because it gave Jones a better drum sound - he complained from the start that producer Bill Szymczyk or the engineers made his kit sound "like pudding." (Szymczyk was not a great fit for the band, but kudos to him for navigating the tense relations that made recording extremely difficult.) Personally, I think they recorded some good songs that should've been picked over the weaker cuts. I would've replaced "Cache Cache" with "It's In You" (look for the original mix, which was used on a 2011 Japanese reissue of the album, every other release is marred with some serious glitches) and "Did You Steal My Money" with both the Who version of "Somebody Saved Me" and "Dance It Away" (though I prefer the one issued as a Townshend B-side - some say it's Entwistle and Jones playing on it, but I'm skeptical). Make those adjustments and you have a pretty good album.

It's Hard is beyond saving, but "Eminence Front" b/w "Athena" and "Cry If You Want" would've made a respectable farewell 12" single.