1964 – The Who play the Glenlyn Ballroom in Forest Hill
1966 – The Who, performing as a trio with Pete and John sharing lead vocals, play the Town Hall in Stourbridge.
1967 – The Who play at the Mässhallen in Norrköping
1967 – The Who play in Jönköping at the Rigoletto where they played to a house-record crowd of 1,700 fans.
1968 – Melody Maker carries an interview with Pete by Chris Welch. They also carry news that The Who’s U.S. tour has been extended from 3 to 9 weeks. The Who is also featured in the “Mailbag” section
Transcription (not reviewed)
CHRIS WELCH talks to PETE TOWNSHEND
Would you let your daughter marry a Venusian?
TYPICAL Who sound blasted in stereo from a battery of speakers—screaming guitar, vocals, bass and drums. But Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle and Keith Moon were not involved. The “group” was all Pete Townshend.
Pete’s songwriting for the Who is a complicated business of getting words down on tape with the aid of a guitar, then building up four and eight track recordings in the studio at his home in Victoria, London.
PLANT
Pete once had a fabulous flat in Wardour Street, Soho, complete with recording equipment, drums, organ, guitars, mammoth hi-fi set up, massive record collection and a giant rubber plant.
Most of it has been transferred to his new home, and it was there Pete played me a tape of a song called “Now I’m A Farmer,” which even the rest of the Who hadn’t heard.
It is a song from Pete’s project, the long awaited Townshend Opera, which he has been working on in different forms, on and off, for a couple of years.
Heavy commitments in America have held him up, and also Pete was disappointed at the image of pop opera created by Keith West’s “Teenage Opera.”
Pete, tall, angular and energetic, dressed in blue jeans, a dinner jacket and Fair Isle pullover, ready for an open air drink at his local.
“Ooh — Pete Townshend has got Paul McCartney’s pullover,” sniffed Pete, loading himself up with tissue paper to hold a Spring cold in check.
“I tried like mad to get this. It was the only one in the shop, but they wouldn’t let me take it. When I got home, there it was! My girl friend had bought it for me.”
In the pub he fought the usual battle for service, then launched into an amazing conversational marathon, full of startling ideas, and wild enthusiasm.
How did he enjoy the Who’s first performance in England for many months at London’s Marquee Club last week?
“I enjoyed the Marquee very much. For the first few minutes I was very scared the whole thing was going to go wrong.
“But the audience was lovely. Although we have played there hundreds of times, it seemed strange to play such a small place after the States.
DRAG
“In some places 50,000 turn out for us at huge stadiums. And they really turn out in those numbers for pop in Canada and America.
“Those flop tours over here recently were a drag. I don’t think the ‘names’ were very well balanced.
“Last year’s English tours were great, and I really thought we were getting the young kids back into pop.
“At the Marquee, we weren’t particularly together because we hadn’t actually played since we got back from the States.
“We didn’t do any special act because we tried all those things at the Saville last year and they always make me feel uncomfortable.
“I smashed up two guitars at the end of the show, because one I was using had recently been repaired and broke as I came on stage, so I played another one I use for recording.
“At the end, I thought ‘What the hell,’ and smashed them both. Sure—I lost money, and the amps, which were borrowed, will cost about £20 each to repair. The Gibson Stereo cost £200.
“No I can’t put it down on tax because when I say I use 70 guitars a year, they don’t believe me. They put it down as part exchange.
“We make a profit, but it is a disaster for us to go touring America, because we never make any bread. Other groups do, I suppose. We make our money on recording.
“I enjoy going to America very much. It’s changing—for the better. The war has taken the sting out of their aggressiveness.
“They’re scared of war and they are beginning to respect the views of the young because of their persistence.
“Just think—the billion dollars a day spent by America on the war in Vietnam would keep every Vietnamese in two cars and a TV set.
“As for the race scene here . . . Jamaicans are such nice friendly people, I’m sure the English don’t really hate them as much as they insist they do.
“The world is a melting pot and the sooner it has melted the better. The sooner we are all a bronzed brown colour the better.
“Half-castes are much better looking than pure breds, who are the most disgusting, despicable characters of all.
“Eventually race will be non-existent, but by then the interplanetary races will be coming over here and we’ll get the whole thing over again.
PLANS
“Would you let your daughter marry a Venusian? ‘But mother, we’re in love!’ ‘I don’t care, I’m not letting you marry one of those spons.’ ”
How are the Who changing – and what are Pete’s plans for the future?
“I like writing for the Who, but I can’t do that when we’re away on long tours.
“The group sound is changing—probably getting more sophisticated. We’re conscious now of sound balance, and we do play quiet numbers. You can hear the vocals now, which you couldn’t a couple of years ago.
“I’m working on an opera, which I did once before, and I am thinking of calling it ‘The Amazing Journey.’
“I’ve completed some of it, and I’d like to put it on an LP. The theme is about a deaf, dumb and blind boy who has dreams and sees himself as ruler of the cosmos.
“I’d like to call it ‘Journey Into Space,’ but there might be problems because of the old radio show.
“I love pop, and so much can be done through a pop medium. Pop is today.
“I don’t think about yesterday’s pop—although to make a terrible admission I like Cliff Richard and always have done for years and years.
“Basically, I’m interested in the progression of pop, and I don’t think it’s as exciting at the moment as it should be.
“And I’m not saying that because we haven’t got a record in the chart.”
TOWNSHEND: “We make our money on recording.”
1968 – The Who play Mountford Hall at Liverpool University in Liverpool
1974 – This is the final day of the filming of the “Uncle Ernie” sequence
1977 – Roger appears on Capital Radio’s Your Mother Wouldn’t Like It
1996 – Pete plays the second of two nights at the Supper Club in New York City
1997 – The Who play Olympiahalle in Munich, Germany
1999 – Paul Shanklin releases the Anti-President Clinton comedy CD Executive Privileges with a parody version of “My Generation.”
2001 – Fastball, who are performing “The Real Me” on the forthcoming official Who tribute CD, say they learned the song after finding the guitar tabs at Whotabs on thewho.net
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Listen to Fastball performing “The Real Me” on YouTube here
2004 – The Times reports on recent remarks made by Roger Daltrey to a Radio Academy conference. “Why can’t rock music be about growing old? I believe Pete Townshend is the only person in rock and roll who can write about that path from middle to old age. I’m still angry about lots of things. So many things we thought would get better when we were young have not. Pete is the one person who can articulate this and drag rock and roll into old age.”
2009 – Lisztomania is released on DVD for the first time, but only in the U.K
2010 – Wreckless Eric and Amy Rigby release their album Two-Way Family Favorites featuring a cover of “Endless Wire”You can listen to it on YouTube here
2016 – The Who play the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
2025 – Roger plays the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester