Pete Townshend
Encyclopedia
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend (born 19 May 1945) is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who
, as well as for his own solo career. His career with The Who spans more than 40 years, during which time the band grew to be considered one of the most influential bands of the 1960s and 1970s, and, according to Eddie Vedder
, "possibly the greatest live band ever."
Townshend is the primary songwriter for The Who, having written well over 100 songs for the band's 11 studio albums, including concept albums and the rock opera
s Tommy
and Quadrophenia
, plus popular rock and roll
radio staples like Who's Next
, and dozens more that appeared as non-album singles, bonus tracks on reissues, and tracks on rarities compilations like Odds & Sods. He has also written over 100 songs that have appeared on his solo albums, as well as radio jingles and television theme songs
. Although known primarily as a guitarist, he also plays other instruments such as keyboards, banjo
, accordion
, synthesiser, bass guitar and drums, on his own solo albums, several Who albums, and as a guest contributor to a wide array of other artists' recordings. Townshend has never had formal lessons in any of the instruments he plays.
Townshend has also been a contributor and author of newspaper and magazine articles, book reviews, essays, books, and scripts, as well as collaborating as a lyricist (and composer) for many other musical acts. Townshend was ranked #3 in Dave Marsh
's list of Best Guitarists in The New Book of Rock Lists, #10 in Gibson.com's list of the top 50 guitarists, and #50 in Rolling Stone
magazine's 2003 list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. Townshend was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
as a member of The Who in 1990.
, London into a musical family (his father Cliff Townshend
was a professional saxophonist
in The Squadronaires
and his mother Betty (née Dennis) was a singer), Townshend exhibited a fascination with music at an early age. In the mid-1950s he was drawn to American rock and roll
; his mother recounts that he repeatedly saw the 1956 film Rock Around the Clock
. When he was 12, his grandmother gave him his first guitar, which he has described as a "cheap Spanish thing". Townshend's biggest guitar influences include Link Wray
, John Lee Hooker
, Bo Diddley
and Hank Marvin
of The Shadows
.
Townshend's brother Simon
(who also became a musician) was born in 1960. In 1961, Townshend enrolled at Ealing Art College
, with the intention to become a graphic artist and a year later, he and his school friend from Acton County Grammar School John Entwistle
founded their first band, The Confederates, a Dixieland
duet featuring Townshend on banjo and Entwistle on horns. From this beginning they moved on to The Detours, a skiffle
/rock and roll
band fronted by Roger Daltrey
, another former schoolmate. With the encouragement and assistance of his old classmate Entwistle, Daltrey invited Townshend to join as well. In early 1964, because another band had the same name, The Detours renamed themselves The Who. Drummer Doug Sandom
was replaced by Keith Moon
not long afterwards. The band (now comprising Daltrey on lead vocals and harmonica
, Townshend on guitar, Entwistle on bass guitar and french horn, and Moon on drums) were soon taken on by a mod publicist
named Peter Meaden
who convinced them to change their name to The High Numbers to give the band more of a mod feel. After bringing out one failed single ("I'm the Face/Zoot Suit"), they dropped Meaden and were signed on by two new managers, Chris Stamp
and Kit Lambert
, who had paired up with the intention of finding new talent and creating a documentary about them. The band anguished over a name that all felt represented the band best, and dropped The High Numbers name, reverting to The Who.
", "Pictures of Lily
", "Substitute", and "My Generation". Townshend became known for his eccentric stage style during the band's early days, often interrupting concerts with lengthy introductions of songs. He developed a signature move
in which he would swing his right arm against the guitar strings in a style reminiscent of the vanes of a windmill. He became one of the first musicians known for smashing guitars on stage and would repeatedly throw them into his amplifiers
and speaker cabinets
. The first incident of guitar-smashing happened when Townshend accidentally broke the neck of his guitar on the low ceiling of an early concert venue at the Railway Tavern in Harrow. The stage, only about a foot high, nevertheless brought the ceiling to within 7 feet. After smashing the instrument to pieces, he carried on by grabbing another guitar and acting as if the broken guitar had been part of the act. Drummer Keith Moon was delighted; he loved attention and destruction on any level, and smashed his drum kit as well. The press sensationalised the incidents. The on-stage destruction of instruments soon became a regular part of The Who's performances. This was further dramatised with pyrotechnics
, an idea which came from Moon, who incorporated it in his exploding drum kits. At a concert in Germany, a police officer walked up to Townshend, pointed his gun at him, and ordered him to stop smashing the guitar. Townshend, always a voluble interview subject, would later relate these antics to German/British artist Gustav Metzger
's theories on auto-destructive art
, to which he had been exposed at art school. However, on several occasions, he admitted that the destruction was a gimmick that set the band out apart from the others and gave them the publicity edge that they needed to be noticed.
The Who thrived, and continue to thrive, despite the deaths of two of the original members. They are regarded by many rock critics as one of the best live bands from a period of time that stretched from the mid-1960s to the 2000s, the result of a unique combination of high volume, showmanship, a wide variety of rock beats, and a high-energy sound that alternated between tight and free-form. The Who continue to perform critically acclaimed sets in the 21st century, including highly regarded performances at The Concert For New York City
in 2001, the 2004 Isle of Wight Festival
, Live 8
in 2005 and the 2007 Glastonbury Festival
.
Townshend remained the primary songwriter and leader of the group, writing over one hundred songs which appeared on the band's eleven studio albums. Among his most well-known accomplishments are the creation of Tommy
, for which the term "rock opera
" was coined, and a second pioneering rock opera, Quadrophenia
; his dramatic stage persona; his use of guitar feedback as sonic technique; and the introduction of the synthesiser as a rock instrument. Townshend revisited album-length storytelling throughout his career and remains the musician most associated with the rock opera form. Many studio recordings also feature Townshend on piano or keyboards, though keyboard-heavy tracks increasingly featured guest artists in the studio, such as Nicky Hopkins
, John Bundrick
or Chris Stainton
.
Townshend is one of the key figures in the development of feedback in rock guitar. When asked who first used feedback, Deep Purple
guitarist Ritchie Blackmore
said, "Pete Townshend was definitely the first. But not being that good a guitarist, he used to just sort of crash chords and let the guitar feedback. He didn't get into twiddling with the dials on the amplifier until much later. He's overrated in England, but at the same time you find a lot of people like Jeff Beck
and Hendrix
getting credit for things he started. Townshend was the first to break his guitar, and he was the first to do a lot of things. He's very good at his chord scene, too." Similarly, when Jimmy Page
was asked about the development of guitar feedback, he said, "I don't know who really did feedback first; it just sort of happened. I don't think anybody consciously nicked it from anybody else. It was just going on. But Pete Townshend obviously was the one, through the music of his group, who made the use of feedback more his style, and so it's related to him. Whereas the other players like Jeff Beck and myself were playing more single note things than chords."
Many rock guitarists have cited Townshend as an influence, among them Slash
, Alex Lifeson
and Steve Jones
.
, recorded a trio of albums devoted to his teachings: Happy Birthday
, I Am
, and With Love
. In response to bootlegging of these, he compiled his personal highlights (and "Evolution", a collaboration with Ronnie Lane
), and released his first major-label solo title, 1972's Who Came First
. It was a moderate success and featured demos of Who songs as well as a showcase of his acoustic guitar talents. He collaborated with The Faces' bassist and fellow Meher Baba devotee Ronnie Lane
on a duet album (1977's Rough Mix
). Townshend's solo breakthrough, following the death of Who drummer Keith Moon
, was the 1980 release Empty Glass
, which included a top-10 single, "Let My Love Open the Door
". This release was followed in 1982 by All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes
, which included the popular radio track "Slit Skirts". While not a huge commercial success, noted music critic Timothy Duggan listed it as "Townshend's most honest and introspective work since Quadrophenia." Through the rest of the 1980s and early 1990s Townshend would again experiment with the rock opera
and related formats, releasing several story-based albums including White City: A Novel
(1985), The Iron Man: A Musical
(1989), and Psychoderelict
(1993).
Townshend also got the chance to play with his hero Hank Marvin
for Paul McCartney
's "Rockestra" sessions, along with other respected rock musicians such as David Gilmour
, John Bonham
and Ronnie Lane
.
Townshend has also recorded several concert albums, including one featuring a supergroup he assembled called Deep End, who performed just two concerts and a television show session for The Tube, to raise money for a charity supporting drug addicts. In 1984 Townshend published a collection of short stories entitled Horse's Neck. He has also reported that he is writing an autobiography. In 1993 he and Des McAnuff
wrote and directed the Broadway adaptation of the Who album Tommy
, as well as a less successful stage musical based on his solo album The Iron Man, based upon the book by Ted Hughes
. McAnuff and Townshend later co-produced the animated film The Iron Giant
, also based on the Hughes story.
A production described as a Townshend rock-opera and titled The Boy Who Heard Music
debuted as part of Vassar College
's Powerhouse Summer Theater program in July 2007.
In February 2006, a major world tour by The Who was announced to promote their first new album since 1982. Townshend published a semi-autobiographical story The Boy Who Heard Music
as a serial on a blog beginning in September 2005. The blog closed in October 2006, as noted on Townshend's website. It is now owned by a different user and does not relate to Townshend's work in any way. On 25 February 2006, he announced the issue of a mini-opera inspired by the novella for June 2006. In October 2006 The Who released their first album in 26 years, Endless Wire
.
The Who performed at the Super Bowl XLIV
half-time show on 7 February 2010, playing a medley of songs that included "Pinball Wizard", "Who Are You", "Baba O'Riley", "See Me Feel Me" and "Won't Get Fooled Again".
believed to be the result of noise-induced hearing loss; in other words, his extensive exposure to loud music. Some such incidents include a Who concert at the Charlton Athletic Football Club
, London, on 31 May 1976 that was listed as the "Loudest Concert Ever" by the Guinness Book of Records
, where the volume level was measured at 126 decibel
s 32 metres from the stage. Townshend has also attributed the start of his hearing loss to Keith Moon's famous exploding drum set during The Who's 1967 appearance on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
.
In 1989, Townshend gave the initial funding to allow the formation of the non-profit hearing advocacy group H.E.A.R.
(Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers). After the Who performed at half-time at the Super Bowl XLIV
, Townshend stated that he is concerned that his tinnitus has grown to such a point that he might be forced to discontinue performing with the band altogether. He told Rolling Stone, "If my hearing is going to be a problem, we’re not delaying shows. We're finished. I can’t really see any way around the issue." Neil Young
introduced him to an audiologist who gave him the possible option of a hearing device to use, and although The Who have cancelled their spring touring schedule, Townshend planned a test run with the aid at their one remaining London concert on 30 March 2010, to ascertain the feasibility of continuing to perform with The Who.
In March 2011, Roger Daltrey said in an interview with the BBC that Townshend had recently experienced gradual but severe hearing loss and was now trying to save what remained of his hearing.
"Pete's having terrible trouble with his hearing. He's got really, really bad problems with it...not tinnitus, it's deterioration and he's seriously now worried about actually losing his hearing."
Referring to that, in July 2011, Townshend wrote at his blog: "My hearing is actually better than ever because after a feedback scare at the O2 Indigo in December 2008 I am taking good care of it. I have computer systems in my studio that have helped me do my engineering work on the forthcoming Quadrophenia release. I have had assistance from younger forensic engineers and mastering engineers to help me clean up the high frequencies that are out of my range. The same computer systems work wonderfully well on stage, proving to be perfect for me when The Who performed at the Super Bowl and doing Quadrophenia for TCT at the Royal Albert Hall in 2010. I'm 66, I don't have perfect hearing, and if I listen to loud music or go to gigs I do tend to get tinnitus. DON'T WE ALL????"
From The Who's emergence on the British musical landscape, Pete Townshend could always be counted upon for a good interview. By early 1966 he had become the band's spokesman, interviewed separately from the band for the BBC television series A Whole Scene Going admitting that the band used drugs and that he considered The Beatles
' backing tracks "flippin' lousy". In a 1967 interview, however, Townshend complimented one of The Beatles' songs: "I think "Eleanor Rigby
" was a very important musical move forward. It certainly inspired me to write and listen to things in that vein." Throughout the 1960s Townshend made regular appearances in the pages of British music magazines, but it was a very long interview he gave to Rolling Stone in 1968 that sealed his reputation as one of rock's leading intellectuals and theorists.
Townshend gave interview after interview to the newly risen underground press, not only providing them with a star for their covers, but firmly establishing his reputation as a commentator on the rock 'n' roll scene. In addition, he wrote his own articles, starting a regular monthly column in Melody Maker
, and contributing to Rolling Stone with an article on his guru
Meher Baba
and a review of The Who's album Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy
.
Townshend has withdrawn from the press on occasion. On his 30th birthday, Townshend discussed his feelings that The Who were failing to journalist Roy Carr, making unflattering comments on fellow Who member Roger Daltrey
and other leading members of the British rock community. Carr printed his remarks in the NME
causing strong friction within The Who and embarrassing Townshend. Feeling betrayed, he stopped interviews with the press for over two years.
Nevertheless, Townshend has maintained close relationships with journalists, and sought them out in 1982 to describe his two-year battle with cocaine
and heroin. Some of those press members turned on him in the 1980s as the punk rock
revolution led to widespread dismissal of the old guard of rock, Townshend attacked two of them, Julie Burchill
and Tony Parsons
, in the song "Jools And Jim" on his album Empty Glass
after they made some derogatory remarks about Who drummer Keith Moon
. Meanwhile several journalists denounced Townshend for what they saw as a betrayal of the idealism about rock music he had espoused in his earlier interviews when The Who participated in a tour sponsored by Schlitz in 1982 and by Miller Brewing
in 1989. Townshend's 1993 concept album
Psychoderelict
offers a scathing commentary on journalists in the character of Ruth Streeting, who attempts to scandalise the main character, Ray High.
On 25 October 2006, Townshend declined at the last minute to do a scheduled interview with Sirius Satellite Radio
star Howard Stern
after Stern's co-host Robin Quivers
and sidekick Artie Lange
made joking references to his 2003 arrest. Stern conducted an interview instead with Roger Daltrey
and repeatedly expressed regret about the utterances of his on-air colleagues, stating that they did not reflect his own feelings of respect for Townshend.
Later in 2006, Townshend appeared on the Living Legends radio show in an exclusive interview with Opal Bonfante
. The interview, broadcasted worldwide on Radio London
, was his first live interview in 15 years. Townshend spoke about his forthcoming UK tour, his online novella and his memories of the old pirate radio
stations.
Also in late 2006, Townshend granted an interview with author Mark Wilkerson, which led to Wilkerson's 2008 biography Who Are You: The Life of Pete Townshend.
In a BBC Radio 4
interview, first broadcast on 27 October 2009, Townshend informed the audience that from the time he was involved in writing the music for the Who's first album, he has been influenced by the works of the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell
.
In BBC 6 Music
's inaugural John Peel
Lecture, Townshend urged Apple to use its power to help new bands instead of "bleeding" artists like a "digital vampire". He also argued against unauthorised file-sharing, saying the internet was "destroying copyright as we know it".
, Gibson
, and Fender models. He has also used Guild
, Takamine
and Gibson J-200
acoustic
models.
In the early days with The Who, Townshend played an Emile Grimshaw SS De Luxe and 6-string and 12-string Rickenbacker
semi-hollow electric guitars primarily (particularly the Rose-Morris UK-imported models with special f-holes). However, as instrument-smashing
became increasingly integrated into The Who's concert sets, he switched to more durable and resilient (and sometimes cheaper) guitars for smashing, such as the Fender Stratocaster
, Fender Telecaster
and various Danelectro
models. On The Who's famous The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour appearance in 1967, Townshend used a Vox
Cheetah guitar, which he only used for that performance; and the guitar was smashed to smithereens by Townshend and Moon's drum explosion. In the late 1960s, Townshend began playing Gibson SG
models almost exclusively, specifically the Special models. He used this guitar at the Woodstock and Isle of Wight
shows in 1969 and 1970, as well as the Live at Leeds
performance in 1970.
By 1970, Gibson
changed the design of the SG Special which Townshend had been using previously, and thus he began using other guitars. For much of the 1970s, he used a Gibson Les Paul DeLuxe, some with only two mini-humbucker
pick-ups and others modified with a third pick-up in the "middle position" (a DiMarzio
Superdistortion / Dual Sound). He can be seen using several of these guitars in the documentary The Kids Are Alright, although in the studio he often played a '59 Gretsch 6120
guitar (given to him by Joe Walsh
of The Eagles), most notably on the albums Who's Next
and Quadrophenia
.
During the 1980s, Townshend mainly used Fenders, Rickenbackers and Telecaster-style models built for him by Schecter
and various other luthier
s. Since the late-1980s, Townshend has used the Fender Eric Clapton Signature Stratocaster
, with Lace Sensor
pick-ups, both in the studio and on tour. Some of his Stratocaster guitars feature a Fishman PowerBridge piezo pick-up system to simulate acoustic guitar tones. This piezo system is controlled by an extra volume control behind the guitar's bridge.
During The Who's 1989 Tour Townshend played a Rickenbacker guitar that was ironically smashed accidentally when he tripped over it. Instead of throwing the smashed parts away, Townshend reassembled the pieces as a sculpture. The sculpture was featured at the Rock Stars, Cars And Guitars 2 exhibit during the summer of 2009 at The Henry Ford
museum.
There are several Gibson
Pete Townshend signature guitars, such as the Pete Townshend SG, the Pete Townshend J-200, and three different Pete Townshend Les Paul Deluxes. The SG was clearly marked as a Pete Townshend limited edition model and came with a special case and certificate of authenticity, signed by Townshend himself. There has also been a Pete Townshend signature Rickenbacker
limited edition guitar of the model 1998, which was his main 6-string guitar in the Who's early days. The run featured 250 guitars which were made between July 1987-March 1988, and according to Rickenbacker CEO John Hall, the entire run sold out before serious advertising could be done.
He also used the Gibson ES-335
, one of which he donated to the Hard Rock Cafe. Townshend also used a Gibson EDS-1275
double neck very briefly circa late 1967, and both a Harmony
Sovereign H1270 and a Fender Electric XII
for the studio sessions for Tommy
for the 12-string guitar parts.
In 2006, Townshend had a pedal board designed by long-time gear guru Pete Cornish
. The board apparently is composed with a compressor, an old Boss OD-1 overdrive pedal, as well as a T-Rex
Replica delay pedal.
Over the years, Pete Townshend has used many types of amplifiers, including Vox
, Fender, Marshall
, Hiwatt
etc., sticking to using Hiwatt amps for most of four decades. Around the time of Who's Next
, he used a tweed Fender Bassman
amp, which he also used for Quadrophenia
and The Who by Numbers
. Since 1989, his rig consisted of four Fender Vibro-King stacks and a Hiwatt head driving two custom made 2x12" Hiwatt/Mesa Boogie speaker cabinets. However, since 2006, he has only three Vibro-King stacks, one of which is a backup.
Townshend figured prominently in the development of what is widely known in rock circles as the "Marshall Stack". It has been recounted by others during the start of popularity of Jim Marshall's guitar amplifiers, that Townshend became a user of these amps.
He also ordered several speaker cabinets that contained eight speakers in a housing standing nearly six feet in height with the top half of the cabinet slanted slightly upward. These became hard to move and were incredibly heavy.
Jim Marshall then cut the massive speaker cabinet into two separate speaker cabinets, at the suggestion of Townshend, with each cabinet containing four 12-inch speakers. One of the cabinets had half of the speaker baffle slanted upwards and Marshall made these two cabinets stackable. The Marshall stack was born, and Townshend used these as well as Hiwatt stacks.
His amplifier rig currently usually consists of four Fender Vibro King amps with extension cabinets.
He has always regarded his instruments as being merely tools of the trade and has, in latter years, determinedly kept his most prized instruments well away from the concert stage. These instruments include a few vintage and reissue Rickenbackers, the Gretsch 6120, an original 1952 Fender Telecaster
, Gibson Custom Shop's artist limited edition reissues of Townshend's Les Paul DeLuxe models 1, 3 and 9 as well his signature SG Special reissue.
Townshend also worked with synthesisers that made their debut on Who's Next
that included the EMS VCS3, the ARP Instruments, Inc.
ARP 2600
, some of which modified a Lowrey TBO Berkshire organ
. Current photos of his home studio also show an ARP 2500
. Townshend was featured in ARP promotional materials in the early 1970s.
An early example of Townshend’s writing came in August 1970 with the first of nine installments of "The Pete Townshend Page", a monthly column written by Townshend for the British music paper Melody Maker
. The column provided Townshend’s perspective on an array of subjects, such as the media and the state of U.S. concert halls and public address systems, as well as providing valuable insight into Townshend’s mindset during the evolution of his Lifehouse project.
Townshend also wrote three sizeable essays for Rolling Stone magazine, the first of which appeared in November 1970. In Love With Meher Baba described Townshend’s spiritual leanings. "Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy", a blow-by-blow account of The Who compilation album of the same name, followed in December 1971. The third article, "The Punk Meets the Godmother", appeared in November 1977.
Also in 1977, Townshend founded Eel Pie Publishing
, which specialised in children's titles, music books, and several Meher Baba-related publications. A bookstore named Magic Bus (after the popular Who song) was opened in London. The Story of Tommy, a book written by Townshend and his art school friend Richard Barnes (now the Who's official biographer) about the writing of Townshend’s 1969 rock opera and the making of the 1975 Ken Russell
-directed film, was published by Eel Pie the same year.
In July 1983, Townshend took a position as an acquisitions editor
for London publisher Faber and Faber
. Notable projects included editing Animals
frontman Eric Burdon
’s autobiography, Charles Shaar Murray
’s award-winning Crosstown Traffic: Jimi Hendrix and Post-War Pop, Brian Eno
and Russell Mills
's More Dark Than Shark
, and working with Prince Charles
on a volume of his collected speeches. Townshend commissioned Dave Rimmer
’s Like Punk Never Happened
, and was commissioning editor
for radical playwright Steven Berkoff
.
Two years after joining Faber and Faber, Townshend decided to publish a book of his own. Horse's Neck
, published in May 1985, was a collection of short stories he’d written between 1979 and 1984, tackling subjects such as childhood, stardom and spirituality. As a result of his position with Faber and Faber, Townshend developed a friendship with the Nobel prize-winning author of Lord of the Flies
, Sir William Golding
, and became friends with British Poet Laureate
Ted Hughes
. His friendship with Hughes led to Townshend’s musical interpretation of Hughes's children's story, The Iron Man, six years later, as The Iron Man: The Musical by Pete Townshend, released in 1989.
Townshend has written several scripts spanning the breadth of his career, including numerous drafts of his elusive Lifehouse project, the last of which, co-written with radio playwright Jeff Young, was published in 1999. In 1978, Townshend wrote a script for Fish Shop, a play commissioned but not completed by London Weekend Television
, and in mid-1984 he wrote a script for White City: A Novel
which led to a short film.
In 1989, Townshend began work on a novel entitled Ray High & The Glass Household, a draft of which was later submitted to his editor. While the original novel remains unpublished, elements from this story were used in Townshend’s 1993 solo album Psychoderelict
.
In 1993, Townshend authored another book, The Who's Tommy
, a chronicle of the development of the award-winning Broadway version of his rock opera.
The opening of his personal website and his commerce site Eelpie.com, both in 2000, gave Townshend another outlet for literary work. Several of Townshend’s essays have been posted online, including "Meher Baba—The Silent Master: My Own Silence" in 2001, and "A Different Bomb", an indictment of the child pornography
industry, the following year.
Townshend’s most recent literary contribution is The Boy Who Heard Music
, a novella which began a chapter-a-week online posting in September 2005. It is now available to read at his website. Like Psychoderelict this is yet another extrapolation of Lifehouse and Ray High & The Glass Household.
Townshend signed a deal with Little, Brown and Company
publishing in 1997 to write his autobiography. Reportedly half-complete and titled Pete Townshend: Who He? this is a work in progress. Townshend's creative vagaries and conceptual machinations have been chronicled by Larry David Smith in his book The Minstrel's Dilemma (Praeger 1999).
's book The God-Man, introducing him to the writings of the Indian "perfect master" Meher Baba
, who blended elements of Vedantic, Sufi, and Mystic
schools.
Townshend swiftly absorbed all of Baba's writings that he could find; by April 1968, he announced himself Baba's disciple. At about this time, Townshend, who had been searching the past two years for a basis for a rock opera, created a story inspired by the teachings of Baba and other Indian spiritualists that would ultimately become Tommy
.
Tommy
did more than revitalise The Who's career (which was moderately successful at this point but had reached a plateau); it also marked a renewal of Townshend's songwriting and his spiritual studies infused most of his work from Tommy forward, including the unfinished Who project Lifehouse. The Who song "Baba O'Riley
", written for Lifehouse and eventually appearing on the album Who's Next
, was named for Meher Baba and minimalist
composer Terry Riley
. His newfound passion was not shared by his bandmates, whose attitude was tolerant, but who were unwilling to become the spokesmen for a particular religion. Few of the thousands of fans who packed stadiums across Europe and the U.S. to see The Who noticed the religious message in the songs: that "Bargain" and the middle section of "Behind Blue Eyes
" from Who's Next
and "Listening To You" from Tommy were all originally written as prayers, that "Drowned" from Quadrophenia
and "Don't Let Go The Coat
" from Face Dances
were based on Baba's sayings, that the "who are you, who, who, who, who" chorus from the song "Who Are You" was based on Sufi chants, or that "Let My Love Open The Door" was not a message from a lover but from God.
In interviews Townshend was more open about his beliefs, penning an article on Baba for Rolling Stone in 1970 and stating that following Baba's teachings, he was opposed to the use of all psychedelic drug
s, making him one of the first rock stars with counterculture
credibility to turn against their use.
His stardom quickly made him the world's most notable follower of Baba. Having missed out on meeting his guru with Baba's death 31 January 1969 (work on Tommy kept him from making the pilgrimage), Townshend made several trips to visit Baba's tomb in India as well as becoming a frequent visitor to the Meher Baba Spiritual Center
in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
. At home he recorded and released his most overtly spiritual songs on records assembled, pressed and sold by Baba organisations. When these records became widely bootlegged, Townshend put together a selection of the tracks for release as the solo album Who Came First
. One of the songs from that album, "Parvardigar
", a Baba prayer set to music by Townshend, would gradually be accepted as a hymn by the Baba movement. In 1976 he opened the Oceanic Centre in London, using it as a haven for English Baba followers and Americans making a pilgrimage to Baba's tomb in Meherabad
, India as well as a place for small concerts (one such in 1979 was released on CD in 2001 as Pete Townshend & Raphael Rudd—The Oceanic Concerts
) and a repository for films made of Baba.
Townshend became a lower-profile member after 1982, having felt that his former addictions to cocaine and heroin made him a poor candidate for spokesman. Nevertheless, his discipleship continues to the current day.
and sister of record producer Jon Astley
), while in art school and married her in 1968. The couple separated in 1994 and divorced in 2009. They have three children: Emma
(b. 1969), who is a singer/songwriter, Aminta (b. 1971), and Joseph (b. 1990). Townshend currently lives with his long-time partner, musician Rachel Fuller
, in The Wick
, Richmond, England. He also owns a house in Churt, Surrey, England, and in 2010 purchased a lease on the historic National Trust
property Ashdown House
in Oxfordshire. According to The Sunday Times
Rich List
his assets are worth £40 million as of 2009.
Townshend has two younger brothers by nearly a generation, Paul Townshend (b. 1958) and Simon Townshend
, (b. 10 October 1960). Simon is a guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist. Simon initially has had a career as a solo artist, and has performed with other bands, but began to record with The Who in the studio as early as their work on the film version of Tommy, and began to play with Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle on their solo efforts. By 1996, Simon joined The Who on their Quadrophenia
support tour for two years as a backup guitarist and singer. He also returned again after the death of Entwistle as a part of their touring band. Paul played the voice of his brother, Pete, in The Simpsons
episode, "A Tale of Two Springfields
" as Pete was unavailable.
The earliest public example of Townshend’s involvement with charitable causes was in 1968, when Townshend donated the use of his former Wardour Street apartment to the Meher Baba Association. The following year, the association was moved to another Townshend-owned apartment, the Eccleston Square former residence of wife Karen. Townshend sat on a committee which oversaw the operation and finances of the centre. "The committee sees to it that it is open a couple of days a week, and keeps the bills paid and the library full," he wrote in a 1970 Rolling Stone article.
In 1969 and 1972 Townshend produced two limited-release albums, Happy Birthday and I Am, for the London-based Baba association. This led to 1972’s Who Came First, a more widespread release, 15 percent of the revenue of which went to the Baba association. A further limited release, With Love, was released in 1976. A limited-edition boxed set of all three limited releases on CD, Avatar, was released in 2000, with all profits going to the Avatar Meher Baba Trust
in India, which provided funds to a dispensary, school, hospital and pilgrimage centre.
In July 1976, Townshend opened Meher Baba Oceanic, a London activity centre for Baba followers which featured film dubbing and editing facilities, a cinema and a recording studio. In addition, the centre served as a regular meeting place for Baba followers. Townshend offered very economical (reportedly £1 per night) lodging for American followers who needed an overnight stay on their pilgrimages to India. "For a few years, I had toyed with the idea of opening a London house dedicated to Meher Baba," he wrote in a 1977 Rolling Stone article. "In the eight years I had followed him, I had donated only coppers to foundations set up around the world to carry out the Master’s wishes and decided it was about time I put myself on the line. The Who had set up a strong charitable trust of its own which appeased, to an extent, the feeling I had that Meher Baba would rather have seen me give to the poor than to the establishment of yet another so-called 'spiritual center'." Townshend also embarked on a project dedicated to the collection, restoration and maintenance of Meher Baba-related films. The project was known as MEFA, or Meher Baba European Film Archive.
took place at San Diego’s La Jolla Playhouse in July 1992. The show was earmarked as a benefit for the London-based Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Foundation, an organisation which helps children with autism
and mental retardation
.
Townshend performed at a 1995 benefit organised by Paul Simon
at Madison Square Garden
's Paramount Theatre, for The Children’s Health Fund. The following year, Townshend performed at a benefit for the annual Bridge School Benefit
, a California facility for children with severe speech and physical impairments with concerts organised by Neil
and Pegi Young. In 1997, Townshend established a relationship with Maryville Academy
, a Chicago area children’s charity. Between 1997 and 2002, Townshend played five benefit shows for Maryville Academy, raising at least $1,600,000. His 1998 album A Benefit for Maryville Academy
was made to support their activities and proceeds from the sales of his release were donated to them.
As a member of The Who
, Pete Townshend has also performed a series of concerts, beginning in 2000, benefiting the Teenage Cancer Trust
in the UK, raising several million pounds. In 2005, Townshend performed at New York’s Gotham Hall for Samsung’s Four Seasons of Hope, an annual children's charity fundraiser, and donated a smashed guitar to the Pediatric Epilepsy Project.
On November 4, 2011, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend launched the Daltrey/Townshend Teen and Young Adult Cancer Program at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
in Los Angeles, to be funded by The Who's charity Who Cares. The launch, followed on November 5 by a fund-raising event, was also attended by Robert Plant
and Dave Grohl
.
. In a 1985 radio interview, he said:
The "large clinic" Townshend was referring to was a plan he and drug rehabilitation experimenter Meg Patterson had devised to open a drug treatment facility in London; however, the plan failed to come to fruition. Two early 1979 concerts by The Who raised £20,000 for Patterson’s Pharmakon Clinic in Sussex
.
Further examples of Townshend’s drug rehabilitation activism took place in the form of a 1984 benefit concert
, an article he wrote a few days later for Britain’s Mail On Sunday urging better care for the nation’s growing number of drug addicts, and the formation of a charitable organisation, Double-O Charities, to raise funds for the causes he’d recently championed. Townshend also personally sold fund-raising anti-heroin T-shirts at a series of UK Bruce Springsteen
concerts, and reportedly financed a trip for former Clash
drummer Topper Headon
to undergo drug rehabilitation treatment. Townshend's 1985–86 band, Deep End, played two benefits at Brixton Academy in 1985 for Double-O Charities.
organisation Amnesty International
when he performed three songs for its benefit show The Secret Policeman's Ball
– performances that were released on record and seen in the film of the show. Townshend's acoustic performances of three of his songs ("Pinball Wizard
", "Drowned", and "Won't Get Fooled Again
") were subsequently cited as having been the forerunner and inspiration for the "unplugged
" phenomenon in the 1990s. Townshend had been invited to perform for Amnesty by Martin Lewis, the producer of The Secret Policeman's Ball
who stated later that Townshend's participation had been the key to his securing the subsequent participation for Amnesty (in the 1981 sequel show) of Sting, Eric Clapton
, Jeff Beck
, Phil Collins
and Bob Geldof
. Other performers inspired to support Amnesty International in future Secret Policeman's Ball
shows and other benefits because of Townshend's early commitment to the organisation include Peter Gabriel
, Bruce Springsteen
, David Gilmour
and U2
singer Bono
who in 1986 told Rolling Stone magazine: "I saw The Secret Policeman's Ball and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed...."
by the British police in 2003 as part of Operation Ore
. Following a news leak
that Townshend was among the subjects of the investigation, he publicly stated that on one occasion he had used a credit card to access a website advertising child pornography. Townshend, who had posted essays on his personal website in 2002 as part of his campaign against the widespread availability of child pornography on the internet, said that he had entered the site for research purposes and had not downloaded any images. A four-month police investigation, including forensic examination of all of his computers, established that Townshend was not in possession of any illegal downloaded images. Instead of pressing charges, the police elected to caution him, stating, "It is not a defence to access these images for research or out of curiosity." In a statement issued by his lawyer, Townshend said, "I accept that I was wrong to access this site, and that by doing so, I broke the law, and I have accepted the caution that the police have given me."
In 1968 Townshend helped assemble a band called Thunderclap Newman
consisting of three musicians he knew. Pianist Andy Newman (an old art school friend), drummer John "Speedy" Keen (who had written "Armenia City in the Sky" for The Who to record for their 1967 album The Who Sell Out
) and teenage guitarist Jimmy McCulloch
(later to join Wings
). Townshend produced the band and played bass on their recordings under the tongue-in-cheek pseudonym "Bijou Drains". Their first recording was the single "Something in the Air
", which became a number one hit in the UK and a substantial hit elsewhere in the world. This was the only number one hit in the UK that Townshend performed on (The Who had none.) Following this success, Townshend produced their sole album, Hollywood Dream.
Townshend also produced "Fire" by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown in 1968 that was No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 in the US.
In 1971, Townshend, along with Keith Moon
and Ronnie Lane
, backed Mike Heron
(of the Incredible String Band
) on one song "Warm Heart Pastry" from Heron's first solo LP, Smiling Men with Bad Reputations
. On the album notes, they are listed as "Tommy and the Bijoux". Also present on the track was John Cale
on viola.
In 1984, Townshend contributed lyrics to two songs ("Love on The Air" and "All Lovers are Deranged") on David Gilmour
's solo album About Face
.
For albums Townshend composed as a member of The Who, see their entry. Not included are albums by other artists on which Townshend played as a session musician. Through much of 2005, Pete Townshend recorded and performed alongside his partner Rachel Fuller
, a classically trained pianist and singer-songwriter.
In 2006, Townshend opened a website for implementation of The Lifehouse Method
based on his 1971 Lifehouse concept. This website was in collaboration with composer Lawrence Ball
and software developer David Snowden. Applicants at the website could input data to compose a musical "portrait" which the musical team could then develop into larger compositions for a planned concert or series of concerts.
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, as well as for his own solo career. His career with The Who spans more than 40 years, during which time the band grew to be considered one of the most influential bands of the 1960s and 1970s, and, according to Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder is an American musician and singer-songwriter who is best known for being the lead singer and one of three guitarists of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam. He is widely considered a cultural icon of alternative rock.He is also involved in soundtrack work and contributes to albums...
, "possibly the greatest live band ever."
Townshend is the primary songwriter for The Who, having written well over 100 songs for the band's 11 studio albums, including concept albums and the rock opera
Rock opera
A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...
s Tommy
Tommy (rock opera)
Tommy is the fourth album by English rock band The Who, released by Track Records and Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Decca Records/MCA in the United States. A double album telling a loose story about a "deaf, dumb and blind boy" who becomes the leader of a messianic movement, Tommy was...
and Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by English rock band The Who. Released on 19 October 1973 by Track and Polydor in the UK, and Track and MCA in the US, it is a double album, and the group's second rock opera...
, plus popular rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
radio staples like Who's Next
Who's Next
Who's Next is the fifth studio album by English rock band The Who, released in August 1971. The album has origins in a rock opera conceived by Pete Townshend called Lifehouse. The ambitious, complex project did not come to fruition at the time and instead, many of the songs written for the project...
, and dozens more that appeared as non-album singles, bonus tracks on reissues, and tracks on rarities compilations like Odds & Sods. He has also written over 100 songs that have appeared on his solo albums, as well as radio jingles and television theme songs
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
. Although known primarily as a guitarist, he also plays other instruments such as keyboards, banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
, accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, synthesiser, bass guitar and drums, on his own solo albums, several Who albums, and as a guest contributor to a wide array of other artists' recordings. Townshend has never had formal lessons in any of the instruments he plays.
Townshend has also been a contributor and author of newspaper and magazine articles, book reviews, essays, books, and scripts, as well as collaborating as a lyricist (and composer) for many other musical acts. Townshend was ranked #3 in Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on...
's list of Best Guitarists in The New Book of Rock Lists, #10 in Gibson.com's list of the top 50 guitarists, and #50 in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's 2003 list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. Townshend was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
as a member of The Who in 1990.
Early life
Born in ChiswickChiswick
Chiswick is a large suburb of west London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located on a meander of the River Thames, west of Charing Cross and is one of 35 major centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically an ancient parish in the county of Middlesex, with...
, London into a musical family (his father Cliff Townshend
Cliff Townshend
Clifford Blandford Townshend was an English jazz musician noted for playing the saxophone in The Royal Air Force Dance Orchestra, popularly known as The Squadronaires. He was described by acquaintances as a quiet man with a wry sense of humor. He also played clarinet in the band and was respected...
was a professional saxophonist
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
in The Squadronaires
The Squadronaires
The Squadronaires is a Royal Air Force band which began and performed in England during and after World War II. The official title of the band was 'The Royal Air Force Dance Orchestra', but it was always known by the more popular title "The Squadronaires"....
and his mother Betty (née Dennis) was a singer), Townshend exhibited a fascination with music at an early age. In the mid-1950s he was drawn to American rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
; his mother recounts that he repeatedly saw the 1956 film Rock Around the Clock
Rock Around the Clock (film)
Rock Around the Clock is the title of a 1956 Musical film that featured Bill Haley and His Comets along with Alan Freed, The Platters, Tony Martinez and His Band, and Freddie Bell and His Bellboys. It was produced by B-movie king Sam Katzman and directed by Fred F...
. When he was 12, his grandmother gave him his first guitar, which he has described as a "cheap Spanish thing". Townshend's biggest guitar influences include Link Wray
Link Wray
Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr was an American rock and roll guitarist, songwriter and occasional singer....
, John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
, Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley
Ellas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
and Hank Marvin
Hank Marvin
Hank Brian Marvin is an English guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows. The group, which primarily performed instrumentals, was formed as a backing band for vocalist Cliff Richard...
of The Shadows
The Shadows
The Shadows are a British pop group with a total of 69 UK hit-charted singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. Cliff Richard in casual conversation with the British rock press frequently refers to the Shadows by their nickname: 'The Shads'...
.
Townshend's brother Simon
Simon Townshend
Simon Townshend is a British guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is the younger brother of The Who's Pete Townshend, and is most associated with The Who and the various side projects of its original members, despite many other musical ventures in his career....
(who also became a musician) was born in 1960. In 1961, Townshend enrolled at Ealing Art College
Ealing Art College
Ealing Art College was 'Ealing Technical College & School of Art', a further education institution on St Mary's Road, Ealing, London, England. The site today is the Ealing campus of University of West London...
, with the intention to become a graphic artist and a year later, he and his school friend from Acton County Grammar School John Entwistle
John Entwistle
John Alec Entwistle was an English bass guitarist, songwriter, singer, horn player, and film and record producer who was best known as the bass player for the rock band The Who. His aggressive lead sound influenced many rock bass players...
founded their first band, The Confederates, a Dixieland
Dixieland
Dixieland music, sometimes referred to as Hot jazz, Early Jazz or New Orleans jazz, is a style of jazz music which developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century, and was spread to Chicago and New York City by New Orleans bands in the 1910s.Well-known jazz standard songs from the...
duet featuring Townshend on banjo and Entwistle on horns. From this beginning they moved on to The Detours, a skiffle
Skiffle
Skiffle is a type of popular music with jazz, blues, folk, roots and country influences, usually using homemade or improvised instruments. Originating as a term in the United States in the first half of the twentieth century, it became popular again in the UK in the 1950s, where it was mainly...
/rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
band fronted by Roger Daltrey
Roger Daltrey
Roger Harry Daltrey, CBE , is an English singer and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. He has maintained a musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of films, theatre and television roles and also...
, another former schoolmate. With the encouragement and assistance of his old classmate Entwistle, Daltrey invited Townshend to join as well. In early 1964, because another band had the same name, The Detours renamed themselves The Who. Drummer Doug Sandom
Doug Sandom
Doug Sandom is a British drummer who was the original drummer for the English rock band The Who. During the infancy of the band's career, while they were playing as The Detours , Sandom, a bricklayer, joined as drummer...
was replaced by Keith Moon
Keith Moon
Keith John Moon was an English musician, best known for being the drummer of the English rock group The Who. He gained acclaim for his exuberant and innovative drumming style, and notoriety for his eccentric and often self-destructive behaviour, earning him the nickname "Moon the Loon". Moon...
not long afterwards. The band (now comprising Daltrey on lead vocals and harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
, Townshend on guitar, Entwistle on bass guitar and french horn, and Moon on drums) were soon taken on by a mod publicist
Publicist
A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a public figure, especially a celebrity, a business, or for a work such as a book, film or album...
named Peter Meaden
Peter Meaden
Peter Alexander Edwin Meaden was a publicist for various musicians and the first manager for The Who. He was a prominent figure in the English mod subculture of the early 1960s....
who convinced them to change their name to The High Numbers to give the band more of a mod feel. After bringing out one failed single ("I'm the Face/Zoot Suit"), they dropped Meaden and were signed on by two new managers, Chris Stamp
Chris Stamp
Christopher Stamp is a British psychodrama therapist based in the state of New York. Stamp is also known for co-founding the now defunct Track Records and for co-managing and producing such musical acts as The Who and Jimi Hendrix in the 1960s and '70s.-Childhood:Born into a working-class family,...
and Kit Lambert
Kit Lambert
Christopher "Kit" Sebastian Lambert was a record producer and the manager for The Who.-Early life:Kit Lambert was the son of noted composer, Constant Lambert...
, who had paired up with the intention of finding new talent and creating a documentary about them. The band anguished over a name that all felt represented the band best, and dropped The High Numbers name, reverting to The Who.
Breakthrough
After The High Numbers once again became The Who, Townshend wrote several successful singles for the band, including "I Can't ExplainI Can't Explain
"I Can't Explain" is a song by the English rock band The Who, written by Pete Townshend, and produced by Shel Talmy. The song was issued as a single in December 1964 in the United States and on 15 January 1965 in the United Kingdom.-Background:...
", "Pictures of Lily
Pictures of Lily
"Pictures of Lily" is a single by the British rock band The Who, written by guitarist and primary songwriter Pete Townshend. It was released in 1967 as a single, and made the top five in the UK, but failed to break into the top 50 in the United States....
", "Substitute", and "My Generation". Townshend became known for his eccentric stage style during the band's early days, often interrupting concerts with lengthy introductions of songs. He developed a signature move
Signature move
A signature move is a move or ability that is almost analogous to the person or character that uses it. This may infer that the move is usually a staple of the user's repertoire, and on most occasions was invented by the performer.-Usage:...
in which he would swing his right arm against the guitar strings in a style reminiscent of the vanes of a windmill. He became one of the first musicians known for smashing guitars on stage and would repeatedly throw them into his amplifiers
Instrument amplifier
An instrument amplifier is an electronic amplifier that converts the often barely audible or purely electronic signal from musical instruments such as an electric guitar, an electric bass, or an electric keyboard into an electronic signal capable of driving a loudspeaker that can be heard by the...
and speaker cabinets
Loudspeaker
A loudspeaker is an electroacoustic transducer that produces sound in response to an electrical audio signal input. Non-electrical loudspeakers were developed as accessories to telephone systems, but electronic amplification by vacuum tube made loudspeakers more generally useful...
. The first incident of guitar-smashing happened when Townshend accidentally broke the neck of his guitar on the low ceiling of an early concert venue at the Railway Tavern in Harrow. The stage, only about a foot high, nevertheless brought the ceiling to within 7 feet. After smashing the instrument to pieces, he carried on by grabbing another guitar and acting as if the broken guitar had been part of the act. Drummer Keith Moon was delighted; he loved attention and destruction on any level, and smashed his drum kit as well. The press sensationalised the incidents. The on-stage destruction of instruments soon became a regular part of The Who's performances. This was further dramatised with pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics
Pyrotechnics is the science of using materials capable of undergoing self-contained and self-sustained exothermic chemical reactions for the production of heat, light, gas, smoke and/or sound...
, an idea which came from Moon, who incorporated it in his exploding drum kits. At a concert in Germany, a police officer walked up to Townshend, pointed his gun at him, and ordered him to stop smashing the guitar. Townshend, always a voluble interview subject, would later relate these antics to German/British artist Gustav Metzger
Gustav Metzger
Gustav Metzger is an artist and political activist who developed the concept of Auto-Destructive Art and the Art Strike. Together with John Sharkey, he initiated the Destruction in Art Symposium in 1966...
's theories on auto-destructive art
Auto-destructive art
Auto-Destructive art is a term invented by the artist Gustav Metzger in the early 1960s and put into circulation by his article Machine, Auto-Creative and Auto-Destructive Art in the summer 1962 issue of the journal Ark. From 1959, he had made work by spraying acid onto sheets of nylon as a protest...
, to which he had been exposed at art school. However, on several occasions, he admitted that the destruction was a gimmick that set the band out apart from the others and gave them the publicity edge that they needed to be noticed.
The Concert for New York City
The Concert for New York City was a benefit concert, featuring many famous musicians, that took place on October 20, 2001 at Madison Square Garden in New York City in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks...
in 2001, the 2004 Isle of Wight Festival
Isle of Wight Festival
The Isle of Wight Festival is a music festival which takes place every year on the Isle of Wight in England. It was originally held from 1968 to 1970. These original events were promoted and organised by the Foulk brothers under the banner of their company Fiery Creations Limited...
, Live 8
Live 8
Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from 6–8 July 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid...
in 2005 and the 2007 Glastonbury Festival
Glastonbury Festival
The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, commonly abbreviated to Glastonbury or even Glasto, is a performing arts festival that takes place near Pilton, Somerset, England, best known for its contemporary music, but also for dance, comedy, theatre, circus, cabaret and other arts.The...
.
Townshend remained the primary songwriter and leader of the group, writing over one hundred songs which appeared on the band's eleven studio albums. Among his most well-known accomplishments are the creation of Tommy
Tommy (rock opera)
Tommy is the fourth album by English rock band The Who, released by Track Records and Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Decca Records/MCA in the United States. A double album telling a loose story about a "deaf, dumb and blind boy" who becomes the leader of a messianic movement, Tommy was...
, for which the term "rock opera
Rock opera
A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...
" was coined, and a second pioneering rock opera, Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by English rock band The Who. Released on 19 October 1973 by Track and Polydor in the UK, and Track and MCA in the US, it is a double album, and the group's second rock opera...
; his dramatic stage persona; his use of guitar feedback as sonic technique; and the introduction of the synthesiser as a rock instrument. Townshend revisited album-length storytelling throughout his career and remains the musician most associated with the rock opera form. Many studio recordings also feature Townshend on piano or keyboards, though keyboard-heavy tracks increasingly featured guest artists in the studio, such as Nicky Hopkins
Nicky Hopkins
Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins was an English pianist and organist.He recorded and performed on noted British and American popular music recordings of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as a session musician....
, John Bundrick
John Bundrick
John Douglas "Rabbit" Bundrick is an American rock keyboardist, pianist and organist. He is best known for his work with The Who and associations with others including Eric Burdon, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Roger Waters, Free and Crawler. Bundrick is noted as the principal musician for the cult...
or Chris Stainton
Chris Stainton
Christopher "Chris" Stainton is an English session musician, keyboard player and songwriter, who first gained recognition with Joe Cocker in the late 1960s...
.
Townshend is one of the key figures in the development of feedback in rock guitar. When asked who first used feedback, Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
guitarist Ritchie Blackmore
Ritchie Blackmore
Richard Hugh "Ritchie" Blackmore is an English guitarist and songwriter, who was known as one of the first guitarists to fuse Classical music elements with rock. He fronted his own band Rainbow after leaving Deep Purple where he was unhappy because his favourite musical style wasn't adequately...
said, "Pete Townshend was definitely the first. But not being that good a guitarist, he used to just sort of crash chords and let the guitar feedback. He didn't get into twiddling with the dials on the amplifier until much later. He's overrated in England, but at the same time you find a lot of people like Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
and Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
getting credit for things he started. Townshend was the first to break his guitar, and he was the first to do a lot of things. He's very good at his chord scene, too." Similarly, when Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
was asked about the development of guitar feedback, he said, "I don't know who really did feedback first; it just sort of happened. I don't think anybody consciously nicked it from anybody else. It was just going on. But Pete Townshend obviously was the one, through the music of his group, who made the use of feedback more his style, and so it's related to him. Whereas the other players like Jeff Beck and myself were playing more single note things than chords."
Many rock guitarists have cited Townshend as an influence, among them Slash
Slash (musician)
Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...
, Alex Lifeson
Alex Lifeson
Aleksandar Živojinović, OC, better known by his stage name Alex Lifeson, is a second generation Serbian-Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist of the Canadian rock band Rush. In the summer of 1968, Lifeson founded the band that would become Rush with friend, drummer John Rutsey...
and Steve Jones
Steve Jones (musician)
Stephen Philip "Steve" Jones is an English rock guitarist, singer and actor, best known as guitarist and founding member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols.-Childhood:...
.
Solo career
In addition to his work with The Who, Townshend has been sporadically active as a solo recording artist. Between 1969 and 1971 Townshend, along with other devotees to Meher BabaMeher Baba
Meher Baba , , born Merwan Sheriar Irani, was an Indian mystic and spiritual master who declared publicly in 1954 that he was the Avatar of the age....
, recorded a trio of albums devoted to his teachings: Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday (1970 album)
Happy Birthday is a collaboration album by Pete Townshend and friends including Ronnie Lane, pressed and released in 1970 by Universal Spiritual League. The album was originally released in February 1970 as the first in a series of tribute albums dedicated to Pete Townshend's spiritual mentor...
, I Am
I am (Pete Townshend album)
I Am is a collaboration concept album by Pete Townshend and friends pressed in 1972. The album includes the original version of "Baba O'Riley" played by Townshend alone without lyrics, which, at 9:48, is almost twice as long as the augmented version which opens Who's Next. I Am was produced as a...
, and With Love
With Love (1976 album)
With Love is a 1976 album by Pete Townshend and friends dedicated to Townshend's spiritual mentor Meher Baba. Appearances and backup artists include Billy Nicholls, Steve Humphries, Ronnie Lane, Ron Wood, Bruce Rowland, Lol Benbow, Paul Wyld, Peter Hope-Evans , Sydney Foxx, among others...
. In response to bootlegging of these, he compiled his personal highlights (and "Evolution", a collaboration with Ronnie Lane
Ronnie Lane
Ronald Frederick "Ronnie" Lane was an English musician, songwriter, and producer who is best known as the bass guitarist and founding member of two prominent English rock and roll bands; the Small Faces where he was nicknamed "Plonk", – and, after losing the band's frontman, Faces, with two new...
), and released his first major-label solo title, 1972's Who Came First
Who Came First
Who Came First is the first major-label solo album by Pete Townshend, released in 1972 on Track Records in the UK and Track/Decca in the US. It includes demos from the aborted concept album Lifehouse, part of which became Who's Next...
. It was a moderate success and featured demos of Who songs as well as a showcase of his acoustic guitar talents. He collaborated with The Faces' bassist and fellow Meher Baba devotee Ronnie Lane
Ronnie Lane
Ronald Frederick "Ronnie" Lane was an English musician, songwriter, and producer who is best known as the bass guitarist and founding member of two prominent English rock and roll bands; the Small Faces where he was nicknamed "Plonk", – and, after losing the band's frontman, Faces, with two new...
on a duet album (1977's Rough Mix
Rough Mix
Rough Mix is an album by guitarist Pete Townshend and bassist Ronnie Lane, released in September of 1977 as Polydor 2442 in the UK and MCA 2295 in the US...
). Townshend's solo breakthrough, following the death of Who drummer Keith Moon
Keith Moon
Keith John Moon was an English musician, best known for being the drummer of the English rock group The Who. He gained acclaim for his exuberant and innovative drumming style, and notoriety for his eccentric and often self-destructive behaviour, earning him the nickname "Moon the Loon". Moon...
, was the 1980 release Empty Glass
Empty Glass
Empty Glass was released in 1980 as the first Pete Townshend solo album and was his most successful...
, which included a top-10 single, "Let My Love Open the Door
Let My Love Open the Door
"Let My Love Open the Door" is a song written and performed by Pete Townshend from his 1980 album Empty Glass. It reached the top ten in America in that same year, reaching number nine....
". This release was followed in 1982 by All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes
All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes
All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes is the third official solo album by English rock musician and songwriter Pete Townshend. It was produced by Chris Thomas and recorded by Bill Price at Eel Pie, A.I.R. and Wessex studios in London...
, which included the popular radio track "Slit Skirts". While not a huge commercial success, noted music critic Timothy Duggan listed it as "Townshend's most honest and introspective work since Quadrophenia." Through the rest of the 1980s and early 1990s Townshend would again experiment with the rock opera
Rock opera
A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...
and related formats, releasing several story-based albums including White City: A Novel
White City: A Novel
White City: A Novel is a solo concept album by Pete Townshend of The Who, released in 1985 on Atco.The title refers to a story that accompanies the album, and which takes place in a low-income housing estate in the West London area of White City, near where Townshend grew up...
(1985), The Iron Man: A Musical
The Iron Man: A Musical
The Iron Man: The Musical by Pete Townshend, released in 1989, is an adaptation of Ted Hughes' story The Iron Man, produced and largely composed and performed by Pete Townshend of The Who...
(1989), and Psychoderelict
Psychoderelict
Psychoderelict is a concept album written, produced and engineered by Pete Townshend. Some characters and issues presented in this work were continued in Townshend's later opus The Boy Who Heard Music, first presented on The Who's album Endless Wire and then adapted as a rock musical.This is...
(1993).
Townshend also got the chance to play with his hero Hank Marvin
Hank Marvin
Hank Brian Marvin is an English guitarist, best known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows. The group, which primarily performed instrumentals, was formed as a backing band for vocalist Cliff Richard...
for Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
's "Rockestra" sessions, along with other respected rock musicians such as David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
, John Bonham
John Bonham
John Henry Bonham was an English musician and songwriter, best known as the drummer of Led Zeppelin. Bonham was esteemed for his speed, power, fast right foot, distinctive sound, and "feel" for the groove...
and Ronnie Lane
Ronnie Lane
Ronald Frederick "Ronnie" Lane was an English musician, songwriter, and producer who is best known as the bass guitarist and founding member of two prominent English rock and roll bands; the Small Faces where he was nicknamed "Plonk", – and, after losing the band's frontman, Faces, with two new...
.
Townshend has also recorded several concert albums, including one featuring a supergroup he assembled called Deep End, who performed just two concerts and a television show session for The Tube, to raise money for a charity supporting drug addicts. In 1984 Townshend published a collection of short stories entitled Horse's Neck. He has also reported that he is writing an autobiography. In 1993 he and Des McAnuff
Des McAnuff
Desmond McAnuff is the Canadian-American artistic director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and director of musical theatre of such Broadway productions as Big River, The Who's Tommy and Jersey Boys.-Biography:...
wrote and directed the Broadway adaptation of the Who album Tommy
Tommy (rock opera)
Tommy is the fourth album by English rock band The Who, released by Track Records and Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Decca Records/MCA in the United States. A double album telling a loose story about a "deaf, dumb and blind boy" who becomes the leader of a messianic movement, Tommy was...
, as well as a less successful stage musical based on his solo album The Iron Man, based upon the book by Ted Hughes
Ted Hughes
Edward James Hughes OM , more commonly known as Ted Hughes, was an English poet and children's writer. Critics routinely rank him as one of the best poets of his generation. Hughes was British Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death.Hughes was married to American poet Sylvia Plath, from 1956 until...
. McAnuff and Townshend later co-produced the animated film The Iron Giant
The Iron Giant
The Iron Giant is a 1999 animated film produced by Warner Bros. Animation, based on the 1968 novel The Iron Man by Ted Hughes. Brad Bird directed the film, which stars a voice cast of Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick, Jr., Vin Diesel, Eli Marienthal, Christopher McDonald and John Mahoney...
, also based on the Hughes story.
A production described as a Townshend rock-opera and titled The Boy Who Heard Music
The Boy Who Heard Music
The Boy Who Heard Music is a rock opus that began life as an Internet novella written by musician and songwriter Pete Townshend. Townshend wrote in the foreword to the novella that he typically sketches out his opera in this way to lay out the plots and storylines, but in this case he published the...
debuted as part of Vassar College
Vassar College
Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
's Powerhouse Summer Theater program in July 2007.
Recent Who work
From the mid-1990s through the present, Townshend has participated in a series of tours with the surviving members of The Who, including a 2002 tour that continued despite Entwistle's death.In February 2006, a major world tour by The Who was announced to promote their first new album since 1982. Townshend published a semi-autobiographical story The Boy Who Heard Music
The Boy Who Heard Music
The Boy Who Heard Music is a rock opus that began life as an Internet novella written by musician and songwriter Pete Townshend. Townshend wrote in the foreword to the novella that he typically sketches out his opera in this way to lay out the plots and storylines, but in this case he published the...
as a serial on a blog beginning in September 2005. The blog closed in October 2006, as noted on Townshend's website. It is now owned by a different user and does not relate to Townshend's work in any way. On 25 February 2006, he announced the issue of a mini-opera inspired by the novella for June 2006. In October 2006 The Who released their first album in 26 years, Endless Wire
Endless Wire (The Who album)
Endless Wire is the eleventh album by the English rock band The Who released on 30 October 2006, through Polydor Records and the following day in the United States by Universal Republic. It was their first new album of original material in twenty-four years following the release of It's Hard in 1982...
.
The Who performed at the Super Bowl XLIV
Super Bowl XLIV
Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the American Football Conference champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference champion New Orleans Saints to decide the National Football League champion for the 2009 season. The Saints defeated the Colts by a score of...
half-time show on 7 February 2010, playing a medley of songs that included "Pinball Wizard", "Who Are You", "Baba O'Riley", "See Me Feel Me" and "Won't Get Fooled Again".
Hearing loss
Townshend suffers from partial deafness and tinnitusTinnitus
Tinnitus |ringing]]") is the perception of sound within the human ear in the absence of corresponding external sound.Tinnitus is not a disease, but a symptom that can result from a wide range of underlying causes: abnormally loud sounds in the ear canal for even the briefest period , ear...
believed to be the result of noise-induced hearing loss; in other words, his extensive exposure to loud music. Some such incidents include a Who concert at the Charlton Athletic Football Club
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...
, London, on 31 May 1976 that was listed as the "Loudest Concert Ever" by the Guinness Book of Records
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
, where the volume level was measured at 126 decibel
Decibel
The decibel is a logarithmic unit that indicates the ratio of a physical quantity relative to a specified or implied reference level. A ratio in decibels is ten times the logarithm to base 10 of the ratio of two power quantities...
s 32 metres from the stage. Townshend has also attributed the start of his hearing loss to Keith Moon's famous exploding drum set during The Who's 1967 appearance on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour is an American comedy and variety show hosted by the Smothers Brothers and initially airing on CBS from 1967 to 1969.-History:...
.
In 1989, Townshend gave the initial funding to allow the formation of the non-profit hearing advocacy group H.E.A.R.
H.E.A.R.
H.E.A.R. is a non-profit organization dedicated to preventing hearing loss, mainly from loud rock music. The acronym stands for Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers. It was founded in 1988 by rock musician Kathy Peck and physician Flash Gordon, M.D. after Kathy suffered tinnitus and...
(Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers). After the Who performed at half-time at the Super Bowl XLIV
Super Bowl XLIV
Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the American Football Conference champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference champion New Orleans Saints to decide the National Football League champion for the 2009 season. The Saints defeated the Colts by a score of...
, Townshend stated that he is concerned that his tinnitus has grown to such a point that he might be forced to discontinue performing with the band altogether. He told Rolling Stone, "If my hearing is going to be a problem, we’re not delaying shows. We're finished. I can’t really see any way around the issue." Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
introduced him to an audiologist who gave him the possible option of a hearing device to use, and although The Who have cancelled their spring touring schedule, Townshend planned a test run with the aid at their one remaining London concert on 30 March 2010, to ascertain the feasibility of continuing to perform with The Who.
In March 2011, Roger Daltrey said in an interview with the BBC that Townshend had recently experienced gradual but severe hearing loss and was now trying to save what remained of his hearing.
"Pete's having terrible trouble with his hearing. He's got really, really bad problems with it...not tinnitus, it's deterioration and he's seriously now worried about actually losing his hearing."
Referring to that, in July 2011, Townshend wrote at his blog: "My hearing is actually better than ever because after a feedback scare at the O2 Indigo in December 2008 I am taking good care of it. I have computer systems in my studio that have helped me do my engineering work on the forthcoming Quadrophenia release. I have had assistance from younger forensic engineers and mastering engineers to help me clean up the high frequencies that are out of my range. The same computer systems work wonderfully well on stage, proving to be perfect for me when The Who performed at the Super Bowl and doing Quadrophenia for TCT at the Royal Albert Hall in 2010. I'm 66, I don't have perfect hearing, and if I listen to loud music or go to gigs I do tend to get tinnitus. DON'T WE ALL????"
Interviews
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' backing tracks "flippin' lousy". In a 1967 interview, however, Townshend complimented one of The Beatles' songs: "I think "Eleanor Rigby
Eleanor Rigby
"Eleanor Rigby" is a song by The Beatles, simultaneously released on the 1966 album Revolver and on a 45 rpm single. The song was written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney...
" was a very important musical move forward. It certainly inspired me to write and listen to things in that vein." Throughout the 1960s Townshend made regular appearances in the pages of British music magazines, but it was a very long interview he gave to Rolling Stone in 1968 that sealed his reputation as one of rock's leading intellectuals and theorists.
Townshend gave interview after interview to the newly risen underground press, not only providing them with a star for their covers, but firmly establishing his reputation as a commentator on the rock 'n' roll scene. In addition, he wrote his own articles, starting a regular monthly column in Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
, and contributing to Rolling Stone with an article on his guru
Guru
A guru is one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom, and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others . Other forms of manifestation of this principle can include parents, school teachers, non-human objects and even one's own intellectual discipline, if the...
Meher Baba
Meher Baba
Meher Baba , , born Merwan Sheriar Irani, was an Indian mystic and spiritual master who declared publicly in 1954 that he was the Avatar of the age....
and a review of The Who's album Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy
Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy
Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy is a compilation album of singles by British rock band The Who, released in 1971 as Track 2406 006 in the UK and as Decca DL 79184 in the US. It entered the US Billboard 200 chart on 20 November 1971, peaking at #11, and the UK chart on 3 December 1971, peaking at #9...
.
Townshend has withdrawn from the press on occasion. On his 30th birthday, Townshend discussed his feelings that The Who were failing to journalist Roy Carr, making unflattering comments on fellow Who member Roger Daltrey
Roger Daltrey
Roger Harry Daltrey, CBE , is an English singer and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. He has maintained a musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of films, theatre and television roles and also...
and other leading members of the British rock community. Carr printed his remarks in the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
causing strong friction within The Who and embarrassing Townshend. Feeling betrayed, he stopped interviews with the press for over two years.
Nevertheless, Townshend has maintained close relationships with journalists, and sought them out in 1982 to describe his two-year battle with cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
and heroin. Some of those press members turned on him in the 1980s as the punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
revolution led to widespread dismissal of the old guard of rock, Townshend attacked two of them, Julie Burchill
Julie Burchill
Julie Burchill is an English writer and journalist. Beginning as a writer for the New Musical Express at the age of 17, she has written for newspapers such as The Sunday Times and The Guardian. She is a self-declared "militant feminist". She has several times been involved in legal action...
and Tony Parsons
Tony Parsons (British journalist)
Tony Parsons is a British journalist broadcaster and author. He began his career as a music journalist on the NME, writing about punk music. Later, he wrote for The Daily Telegraph, before going on to write his current column for the Daily Mirror...
, in the song "Jools And Jim" on his album Empty Glass
Empty Glass
Empty Glass was released in 1980 as the first Pete Townshend solo album and was his most successful...
after they made some derogatory remarks about Who drummer Keith Moon
Keith Moon
Keith John Moon was an English musician, best known for being the drummer of the English rock group The Who. He gained acclaim for his exuberant and innovative drumming style, and notoriety for his eccentric and often self-destructive behaviour, earning him the nickname "Moon the Loon". Moon...
. Meanwhile several journalists denounced Townshend for what they saw as a betrayal of the idealism about rock music he had espoused in his earlier interviews when The Who participated in a tour sponsored by Schlitz in 1982 and by Miller Brewing
Miller Brewing
The Miller Brewing Company is an American beer brewing company owned by the United Kingdom-based SABMiller. Its regional headquarters are located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the company has brewing facilities in Albany, Georgia; Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin; Eden, North Carolina; Fort Worth, Texas;...
in 1989. Townshend's 1993 concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
Psychoderelict
Psychoderelict
Psychoderelict is a concept album written, produced and engineered by Pete Townshend. Some characters and issues presented in this work were continued in Townshend's later opus The Boy Who Heard Music, first presented on The Who's album Endless Wire and then adapted as a rock musical.This is...
offers a scathing commentary on journalists in the character of Ruth Streeting, who attempts to scandalise the main character, Ray High.
On 25 October 2006, Townshend declined at the last minute to do a scheduled interview with Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio
Sirius Satellite Radio is a satellite radio service operating in North America, owned by Sirius XM Radio.Headquartered in New York City, with smaller studios in Los Angeles and Memphis, Sirius was officially launched on July 1, 2002 and currently provides 69 streams of music and 65 streams of...
star Howard Stern
Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern is an American radio personality, television host, author, and actor best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style...
after Stern's co-host Robin Quivers
Robin Quivers
Robin Ophelia Quivers is an American radio personality, most notable for being the long-running news anchor and co-host of The Howard Stern Show. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, Quivers graduated from the University of Maryland with a major in nursing. In 1975, she joined the United States Air Force...
and sidekick Artie Lange
Artie Lange
Arthur Steven "Artie" Lange, Jr. is an American actor, comedian and radio personality best known for his tenures with the The Howard Stern Show and the comedy sketch series MADtv....
made joking references to his 2003 arrest. Stern conducted an interview instead with Roger Daltrey
Roger Daltrey
Roger Harry Daltrey, CBE , is an English singer and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. He has maintained a musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of films, theatre and television roles and also...
and repeatedly expressed regret about the utterances of his on-air colleagues, stating that they did not reflect his own feelings of respect for Townshend.
Later in 2006, Townshend appeared on the Living Legends radio show in an exclusive interview with Opal Bonfante
Opal Bonfante
Opal Bonfante is a British television and radio presenter.Opal currently hosts various shows on British satellite TV, including Gala TV, the television channel of Gala Bingo...
. The interview, broadcasted worldwide on Radio London
Wonderful Radio London
Radio London, also known as Big L and Wonderful Radio London, was a top 40 offshore commercial station that operated from 16 December 1964 to 14 August 1967, from a ship anchored in the North Sea, three and a half miles off Frinton-on-Sea, Essex, England...
, was his first live interview in 15 years. Townshend spoke about his forthcoming UK tour, his online novella and his memories of the old pirate radio
Pirate radio
Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...
stations.
Also in late 2006, Townshend granted an interview with author Mark Wilkerson, which led to Wilkerson's 2008 biography Who Are You: The Life of Pete Townshend.
In a BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
interview, first broadcast on 27 October 2009, Townshend informed the audience that from the time he was involved in writing the music for the Who's first album, he has been influenced by the works of the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell
Henry Purcell – 21 November 1695), was an English organist and Baroque composer of secular and sacred music. Although Purcell incorporated Italian and French stylistic elements into his compositions, his legacy was a uniquely English form of Baroque music...
.
In BBC 6 Music
BBC 6 Music
BBC 6 Music is one of the BBC's digital radio stations, was launched on 11 March 2002 and originally codenamed Network Y. It was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years....
's inaugural John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
Lecture, Townshend urged Apple to use its power to help new bands instead of "bleeding" artists like a "digital vampire". He also argued against unauthorised file-sharing, saying the internet was "destroying copyright as we know it".
Musical equipment
Throughout his solo career and his career with The Who, Townshend has played (and destroyed) a large variety of guitars – including various GretschGretsch
The Gretsch Company was founded in 1883 by Friedrich Gretsch, a twenty-seven year old German immigrant recently arrived in the US. Friedrich Gretsch manufactured banjos, tambourines, and drums, until his death in 1895. His son, Fred, moved operations to Brooklyn, New York in 1916...
, Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
, and Fender models. He has also used Guild
Guild Guitar Company
The Guild Guitar Company is a USA-based guitar manufacturer founded in 1952 by Alfred Dronge, a guitarist and music-store owner, and George Mann, a former executive with the Epiphone Guitar Company...
, Takamine
Takamine Guitars
is a Japanese guitar manufacturer based in Nakatsugawa, Gifu, Japan. Takamine is known for its steel-string guitars.The company was founded in May 1962; in 1978 they were one of the first companies to introduce acoustic-electric models, where they pioneered the design of the preamp-equalizer...
and Gibson J-200
Gibson J-200
Gibson J-200 is an acoustic guitar model produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation.Gibson entered into production of this model in 1938 as its top-of-the-line flat top guitar, initially called the Super Jumbo, changing the name in 1939 to the Super Jumbo 200. It was made at the Gibson Factory in...
acoustic
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
models.
In the early days with The Who, Townshend played an Emile Grimshaw SS De Luxe and 6-string and 12-string Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker, is an electric and bass guitar manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California...
semi-hollow electric guitars primarily (particularly the Rose-Morris UK-imported models with special f-holes). However, as instrument-smashing
Smashing guitars
The destruction of musical instruments is a ritual performed by a few pop, rock and other musicians during live performances, particularly at the end of the gig.-Early years:...
became increasingly integrated into The Who's concert sets, he switched to more durable and resilient (and sometimes cheaper) guitars for smashing, such as the Fender Stratocaster
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
, Fender Telecaster
Fender Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is typically a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender.Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music...
and various Danelectro
Danelectro
Danelectro is an American manufacturer of musical instruments and accessories, specializing in rock instruments such as guitars, bass guitars, amplifiers and effects units.-History:...
models. On The Who's famous The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour appearance in 1967, Townshend used a Vox
Vox (musical equipment)
Vox is a musical equipment manufacturer which is most famous for making the Vox AC30 guitar amplifier, the Vox Continental electric organ, and a series of innovative but commercially unsuccessful electric guitars and bass guitars...
Cheetah guitar, which he only used for that performance; and the guitar was smashed to smithereens by Townshend and Moon's drum explosion. In the late 1960s, Townshend began playing Gibson SG
Gibson SG
At the launch of the SG in 1961, Gibson offered four variants of the SG; the SG Junior , the SG Special, the SG Standard, and the top-of-the-line SG Custom. However, Gibson's current core variants as of 2010 are the SG Standard and the SG Special...
models almost exclusively, specifically the Special models. He used this guitar at the Woodstock and Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
shows in 1969 and 1970, as well as the Live at Leeds
Live at Leeds
Live at Leeds is The Who's first live album, and is the only live album that was released while the group were still recording and performing regularly. Initially released in the United States on 16 May 1970, by Decca and MCA and the United Kingdom on 23 May 1970, by Track and Polydor, the album...
performance in 1970.
By 1970, Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
changed the design of the SG Special which Townshend had been using previously, and thus he began using other guitars. For much of the 1970s, he used a Gibson Les Paul DeLuxe, some with only two mini-humbucker
Humbucker
A humbucker is a type of electric guitar pickup, first patented by Seth Lover and the Gibson company, that uses two coils, both generating string signal. Humbuckers have higher output than a single coil pickup since both coils are connected in series...
pick-ups and others modified with a third pick-up in the "middle position" (a DiMarzio
DiMarzio
DiMarzio, Inc. is an United States manufacturer best known for its revolutionary direct-replacement guitar pickups. The company also produces miscellaneous guitar accessories, such as cables, straps and hardware.DiMarzio became known for its Super Distortion model, which was the first after...
Superdistortion / Dual Sound). He can be seen using several of these guitars in the documentary The Kids Are Alright, although in the studio he often played a '59 Gretsch 6120
Gretsch 6120
The Gretsch 6120 is a hollow body electric guitar with f-holes manufactured by Gretsch and first appearing in the mid-1950s with the endorsement of Chet Atkins. It was quickly adopted by rockabilly artist Eddie Cochran, Duane Eddy, Eric Clapton, Brian Setzer and many others...
guitar (given to him by Joe Walsh
Joe Walsh
Joseph Fidler "Joe" Walsh is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has been a member of three commercially successful bands, the James Gang, Barnstorm, and the Eagles, and has experienced notable success as a solo artist and prolific session musician, especially with B.B...
of The Eagles), most notably on the albums Who's Next
Who's Next
Who's Next is the fifth studio album by English rock band The Who, released in August 1971. The album has origins in a rock opera conceived by Pete Townshend called Lifehouse. The ambitious, complex project did not come to fruition at the time and instead, many of the songs written for the project...
and Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by English rock band The Who. Released on 19 October 1973 by Track and Polydor in the UK, and Track and MCA in the US, it is a double album, and the group's second rock opera...
.
During the 1980s, Townshend mainly used Fenders, Rickenbackers and Telecaster-style models built for him by Schecter
Schecter Guitar Research
Schecter Guitar Research, commonly known as simply as Schecter, is a US guitar manufacturer. The company was founded in 1976 by David Schecter and originally produced only replacement parts for existing guitars from manufacturers such as Fender and Gibson...
and various other luthier
Luthier
A luthier is someone who makes or repairs lutes and other string instruments. In the United States, the term is used interchangeably with a term for the specialty of each maker, such as violinmaker, guitar maker, lute maker, etc...
s. Since the late-1980s, Townshend has used the Fender Eric Clapton Signature Stratocaster
Eric Clapton Stratocaster
The Eric Clapton Stratocaster is the signature model electric guitar of English guitarist Eric Clapton, and was the first signature model guitar ever released by Fender.-Background:...
, with Lace Sensor
Lace Sensor
The Lace Sensor is a guitar pickup designed by Don Lace and manufactured by AGI since 1985.This line of electric guitar pickups was used exclusively by Fender from 1987 to 1996....
pick-ups, both in the studio and on tour. Some of his Stratocaster guitars feature a Fishman PowerBridge piezo pick-up system to simulate acoustic guitar tones. This piezo system is controlled by an extra volume control behind the guitar's bridge.
During The Who's 1989 Tour Townshend played a Rickenbacker guitar that was ironically smashed accidentally when he tripped over it. Instead of throwing the smashed parts away, Townshend reassembled the pieces as a sculpture. The sculpture was featured at the Rock Stars, Cars And Guitars 2 exhibit during the summer of 2009 at The Henry Ford
The Henry Ford
The Henry Ford, a National Historic Landmark, , in the Metro Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Michigan, USA, is a large indoor and outdoor history museum complex...
museum.
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
Pete Townshend signature guitars, such as the Pete Townshend SG, the Pete Townshend J-200, and three different Pete Townshend Les Paul Deluxes. The SG was clearly marked as a Pete Townshend limited edition model and came with a special case and certificate of authenticity, signed by Townshend himself. There has also been a Pete Townshend signature Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker
Rickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker, is an electric and bass guitar manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California...
limited edition guitar of the model 1998, which was his main 6-string guitar in the Who's early days. The run featured 250 guitars which were made between July 1987-March 1988, and according to Rickenbacker CEO John Hall, the entire run sold out before serious advertising could be done.
He also used the Gibson ES-335
Gibson ES-335
The Gibson ES-335 is the world's first commercial thinline arched-top semi-acoustic electric guitar. Released by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its ES series in 1958, it is neither hollow nor solid; instead, a solid wood block runs through the center of its body...
, one of which he donated to the Hard Rock Cafe. Townshend also used a Gibson EDS-1275
Gibson EDS-1275
The Gibson EDS-1275 is a doubleneck Gibson electric guitar introduced in 1963 and still in production. Popularized by both rock and jazz musicians such as Jimmy Page and John McLaughlin, it was called "the coolest guitar in rock."-History:...
double neck very briefly circa late 1967, and both a Harmony
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
Sovereign H1270 and a Fender Electric XII
Fender Electric XII
The Fender Electric XII was a purpose-built 12-string electric guitar, designed for folk rockers. Instead of using a Stratocaster-body style, it used one similar to a Jaguar/Jazzmaster body style. It was also a departure from the typical "Stratocaster"-style headstock, instead featuring a long...
for the studio sessions for Tommy
Tommy (rock opera)
Tommy is the fourth album by English rock band The Who, released by Track Records and Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Decca Records/MCA in the United States. A double album telling a loose story about a "deaf, dumb and blind boy" who becomes the leader of a messianic movement, Tommy was...
for the 12-string guitar parts.
In 2006, Townshend had a pedal board designed by long-time gear guru Pete Cornish
Pete Cornish
Pete Cornish is a British designer of electric guitar effects and other electronic musical instruments. He is mainly noted for his elaborate fully custom guitar pedalboard systems...
. The board apparently is composed with a compressor, an old Boss OD-1 overdrive pedal, as well as a T-Rex
T-Rex Engineering
T-Rex ApS is a manufacturer of hand-made electric guitar effects pedals.-Company history:Based in the town of Vejle, Denmark, T-Rex Engineering was founded in 1996 by friends Lars Dahl-Jorgensen and Sebastian Jensen....
Replica delay pedal.
Over the years, Pete Townshend has used many types of amplifiers, including Vox
Vox (musical equipment)
Vox is a musical equipment manufacturer which is most famous for making the Vox AC30 guitar amplifier, the Vox Continental electric organ, and a series of innovative but commercially unsuccessful electric guitars and bass guitars...
, Fender, Marshall
Marshall Amplification
Marshall Amplification is a British company, founded by drummer Jim Marshall, that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, brands personal headphones/earphones , and, after acquiring Natal Drums, drums and bongos. Marshall amplifiers, and specifically their guitar amplifiers, are among the most...
, Hiwatt
Hiwatt
Hiwatt was a British company that manufactured amplifiers for electric guitars and electric basses. Starting in the late 1960s, together with Marshall and Vox, the company contributed to the sonic image popularly termed "British sound"....
etc., sticking to using Hiwatt amps for most of four decades. Around the time of Who's Next
Who's Next
Who's Next is the fifth studio album by English rock band The Who, released in August 1971. The album has origins in a rock opera conceived by Pete Townshend called Lifehouse. The ambitious, complex project did not come to fruition at the time and instead, many of the songs written for the project...
, he used a tweed Fender Bassman
Fender Bassman
The Fender Bassman was a bass amplifier introduced by Fender in 1952. Although it was originally designed for bass guitars, it was frequently used for normal electric guitar in rock and roll, blues, and country bands.-History:...
amp, which he also used for Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by English rock band The Who. Released on 19 October 1973 by Track and Polydor in the UK, and Track and MCA in the US, it is a double album, and the group's second rock opera...
and The Who by Numbers
The Who by Numbers
The Who by Numbers is the seventh album by English rock band The Who, released on 3 October 1975 in the United Kingdom through Polydor Records, and on 25 October 1975 in the United States by MCA Records...
. Since 1989, his rig consisted of four Fender Vibro-King stacks and a Hiwatt head driving two custom made 2x12" Hiwatt/Mesa Boogie speaker cabinets. However, since 2006, he has only three Vibro-King stacks, one of which is a backup.
Townshend figured prominently in the development of what is widely known in rock circles as the "Marshall Stack". It has been recounted by others during the start of popularity of Jim Marshall's guitar amplifiers, that Townshend became a user of these amps.
He also ordered several speaker cabinets that contained eight speakers in a housing standing nearly six feet in height with the top half of the cabinet slanted slightly upward. These became hard to move and were incredibly heavy.
Jim Marshall then cut the massive speaker cabinet into two separate speaker cabinets, at the suggestion of Townshend, with each cabinet containing four 12-inch speakers. One of the cabinets had half of the speaker baffle slanted upwards and Marshall made these two cabinets stackable. The Marshall stack was born, and Townshend used these as well as Hiwatt stacks.
His amplifier rig currently usually consists of four Fender Vibro King amps with extension cabinets.
He has always regarded his instruments as being merely tools of the trade and has, in latter years, determinedly kept his most prized instruments well away from the concert stage. These instruments include a few vintage and reissue Rickenbackers, the Gretsch 6120, an original 1952 Fender Telecaster
Fender Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is typically a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender.Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music...
, Gibson Custom Shop's artist limited edition reissues of Townshend's Les Paul DeLuxe models 1, 3 and 9 as well his signature SG Special reissue.
Townshend also worked with synthesisers that made their debut on Who's Next
Who's Next
Who's Next is the fifth studio album by English rock band The Who, released in August 1971. The album has origins in a rock opera conceived by Pete Townshend called Lifehouse. The ambitious, complex project did not come to fruition at the time and instead, many of the songs written for the project...
that included the EMS VCS3, the ARP Instruments, Inc.
ARP Instruments, Inc.
ARP Instruments, Inc. was an American manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, founded by Alan Robert Pearlman in 1969. Best known for its line of synthesizers that emerged in the early 1970s, ARP closed its doors in 1981 due to financial difficulties...
ARP 2600
ARP 2600
The ARP 2600 is a semi-modular analog subtractive audio synthesizer, designed by Alan R. Pearlman , and manufactured by his company, ARP Instruments, Inc...
, some of which modified a Lowrey TBO Berkshire organ
Lowrey organ
The Lowrey organ is an electronic organ named after Chicago industrialist Frederick Lowrey.During the 1960s and 1970s, Lowrey was the largest manufacturer of electronic organs in the world. In 1989, the Lowrey Organ Company produced its 1,000,000th organ....
. Current photos of his home studio also show an ARP 2500
ARP 2500
The ARP 2500, built from 1970 through the mid-70's, was ARP's first product. A monophonic analog modular synthesizer equipped with a set of sliding matrix switches above each module. These were the primary method of interconnecting modules. There were also rows of 1/8" miniphone jacks at the end...
. Townshend was featured in ARP promotional materials in the early 1970s.
Literary work
Although known for his musical compositions and musicianship, Pete Townshend has been extensively involved in the literary world for more than three decades, writing newspaper and magazine articles, book reviews, essays, books, and scripts.An early example of Townshend’s writing came in August 1970 with the first of nine installments of "The Pete Townshend Page", a monthly column written by Townshend for the British music paper Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
. The column provided Townshend’s perspective on an array of subjects, such as the media and the state of U.S. concert halls and public address systems, as well as providing valuable insight into Townshend’s mindset during the evolution of his Lifehouse project.
Townshend also wrote three sizeable essays for Rolling Stone magazine, the first of which appeared in November 1970. In Love With Meher Baba described Townshend’s spiritual leanings. "Meaty, Beaty, Big and Bouncy", a blow-by-blow account of The Who compilation album of the same name, followed in December 1971. The third article, "The Punk Meets the Godmother", appeared in November 1977.
Also in 1977, Townshend founded Eel Pie Publishing
Eel Pie Publishing
Eel Pie Publishing is a publishing house founded by musician and author Pete Townshend in 1977, and named after Eel Pie Island. It is part of the Eelpie Group of Companies including Eel Pie Recording Production Ltd., which was set up in 1970 by Pete Townshend....
, which specialised in children's titles, music books, and several Meher Baba-related publications. A bookstore named Magic Bus (after the popular Who song) was opened in London. The Story of Tommy, a book written by Townshend and his art school friend Richard Barnes (now the Who's official biographer) about the writing of Townshend’s 1969 rock opera and the making of the 1975 Ken Russell
Ken Russell
Henry Kenneth Alfred "Ken" Russell was an English film director, known for his pioneering work in television and film and for his flamboyant and controversial style. He attracted criticism as being obsessed with sexuality and the church...
-directed film, was published by Eel Pie the same year.
In July 1983, Townshend took a position as an acquisitions editor
Commissioning editor (book publishing)
In book publishing, a commissioning editor is essentially a buyer. It is the job of the commissioning editor to advise the publishing house on which books to publish. Usually the actual decision of whether or not to contract a book is taken by a senior manager rather than the editor.-...
for London publisher Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...
. Notable projects included editing Animals
The Animals
The Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London...
frontman Eric Burdon
Eric Burdon
Eric Victor Burdon is an English singer-songwriter best known as a founding member and vocalist of rock band The Animals, and the funk rock band War and for his aggressive stage performance...
’s autobiography, Charles Shaar Murray
Charles Shaar Murray
Charles Shaar Murray is an English music journalist. His first experience in journalism came 1970 when he was asked to contribute to the satirical magazine Oz...
’s award-winning Crosstown Traffic: Jimi Hendrix and Post-War Pop, Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
and Russell Mills
Russell Mills (artist)
Russell Mills is a British artist who was born in Ripon, Yorkshire, UK in 1952. He paints, creates multimedia installations, designs stage sets and lighting and has produced record covers and book covers for Brian Eno, the Cocteau Twins,Michael Nyman, David Sylvian, Peter Gabriel, and Nine Inch...
's More Dark Than Shark
More Dark Than Shark
More Dark Than Shark is a 1986 book by Brian Eno and Russell Mills. It features the lyrics to Eno's songs, each accompanied by an artwork inspired by the song's lyrics by Mills...
, and working with Prince Charles
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
on a volume of his collected speeches. Townshend commissioned Dave Rimmer
Dave Rimmer
Dave Rimmer is a music journalist and critic who has written books and articles about a number of pop and rock artists. He wrote for SMASH HITS and FACE in the 1980s, and wrote a book about 1980s pop entitled Like Punk Never Happened. His second book Once Upon a Time in the East, is about Eastern...
’s Like Punk Never Happened
Like Punk Never Happened
Like Punk Never Happened: Culture Club and the New Pop is a 1986 book about 1980s pop by music journalist Dave Rimmer. The book compares 1980s pop bands with the 1970s punk rock groups that preceded them...
, and was commissioning editor
Commissioning editor (book publishing)
In book publishing, a commissioning editor is essentially a buyer. It is the job of the commissioning editor to advise the publishing house on which books to publish. Usually the actual decision of whether or not to contract a book is taken by a senior manager rather than the editor.-...
for radical playwright Steven Berkoff
Steven Berkoff
Steven Berkoff is an English actor, writer and director. Best known for his performance as General Orlov in the James Bond film Octopussy, he is typically cast in villanous roles, such as Lt...
.
Two years after joining Faber and Faber, Townshend decided to publish a book of his own. Horse's Neck
Horse's Neck (book)
Horse's Neck is a collection of short stories written by Pete Townshend between 1979 and 1984. It was first published in 1985 by Faber and Faber.-Reviews:...
, published in May 1985, was a collection of short stories he’d written between 1979 and 1984, tackling subjects such as childhood, stardom and spirituality. As a result of his position with Faber and Faber, Townshend developed a friendship with the Nobel prize-winning author of Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Flies
Lord of the Flies is a novel by Nobel Prize-winning author William Golding about a group of British boys stuck on a deserted island who try to govern themselves, with disastrous results...
, Sir William Golding
William Golding
Sir William Gerald Golding was a British novelist, poet, playwright and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate, best known for his novel Lord of the Flies...
, and became friends with British Poet Laureate
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
Ted Hughes
Ted Hughes
Edward James Hughes OM , more commonly known as Ted Hughes, was an English poet and children's writer. Critics routinely rank him as one of the best poets of his generation. Hughes was British Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death.Hughes was married to American poet Sylvia Plath, from 1956 until...
. His friendship with Hughes led to Townshend’s musical interpretation of Hughes's children's story, The Iron Man, six years later, as The Iron Man: The Musical by Pete Townshend, released in 1989.
Townshend has written several scripts spanning the breadth of his career, including numerous drafts of his elusive Lifehouse project, the last of which, co-written with radio playwright Jeff Young, was published in 1999. In 1978, Townshend wrote a script for Fish Shop, a play commissioned but not completed by London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
, and in mid-1984 he wrote a script for White City: A Novel
White City: A Novel
White City: A Novel is a solo concept album by Pete Townshend of The Who, released in 1985 on Atco.The title refers to a story that accompanies the album, and which takes place in a low-income housing estate in the West London area of White City, near where Townshend grew up...
which led to a short film.
In 1989, Townshend began work on a novel entitled Ray High & The Glass Household, a draft of which was later submitted to his editor. While the original novel remains unpublished, elements from this story were used in Townshend’s 1993 solo album Psychoderelict
Psychoderelict
Psychoderelict is a concept album written, produced and engineered by Pete Townshend. Some characters and issues presented in this work were continued in Townshend's later opus The Boy Who Heard Music, first presented on The Who's album Endless Wire and then adapted as a rock musical.This is...
.
In 1993, Townshend authored another book, The Who's Tommy
The Who's Tommy
The Who's Tommy is a rock musical by Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff based on The Who's 1969 double album rock opera Tommy, also by Pete Townshend, with additional material by John Entwistle, Keith Moon and Sonny Boy Williamson.-Productions:...
, a chronicle of the development of the award-winning Broadway version of his rock opera.
The opening of his personal website and his commerce site Eelpie.com, both in 2000, gave Townshend another outlet for literary work. Several of Townshend’s essays have been posted online, including "Meher Baba—The Silent Master: My Own Silence" in 2001, and "A Different Bomb", an indictment of the child pornography
Child pornography
Child pornography refers to images or films and, in some cases, writings depicting sexually explicit activities involving a child...
industry, the following year.
Townshend’s most recent literary contribution is The Boy Who Heard Music
The Boy Who Heard Music
The Boy Who Heard Music is a rock opus that began life as an Internet novella written by musician and songwriter Pete Townshend. Townshend wrote in the foreword to the novella that he typically sketches out his opera in this way to lay out the plots and storylines, but in this case he published the...
, a novella which began a chapter-a-week online posting in September 2005. It is now available to read at his website. Like Psychoderelict this is yet another extrapolation of Lifehouse and Ray High & The Glass Household.
Townshend signed a deal with Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company
Little, Brown and Company is a publishing house established by Charles Coffin Little and his partner, James Brown. Since 2006 it has been a constituent unit of Hachette Book Group USA.-19th century:...
publishing in 1997 to write his autobiography. Reportedly half-complete and titled Pete Townshend: Who He? this is a work in progress. Townshend's creative vagaries and conceptual machinations have been chronicled by Larry David Smith in his book The Minstrel's Dilemma (Praeger 1999).
Religion
Townshend showed no predilection for religious belief in the first years of The Who's career. By the beginning of 1968, however, Townshend had begun to explore spiritual ideas. In January 1968, The Who recorded his song "Faith in Something Bigger" (Odds & Sods). Townshend's art school friend Mike McInnerney gave him a copy of C. B. PurdomCharles Purdom
Charles Benjamin Purdom, usually credited as C. B. Purdom , was a British author, drama critic, economist and editor of an English periodical called Everyman. Everyman covered books, drama, music and travel and featured articles by renowned authors such as Ivor Brown, Arthur Machen, G. K....
's book The God-Man, introducing him to the writings of the Indian "perfect master" Meher Baba
Meher Baba
Meher Baba , , born Merwan Sheriar Irani, was an Indian mystic and spiritual master who declared publicly in 1954 that he was the Avatar of the age....
, who blended elements of Vedantic, Sufi, and Mystic
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
schools.
Townshend swiftly absorbed all of Baba's writings that he could find; by April 1968, he announced himself Baba's disciple. At about this time, Townshend, who had been searching the past two years for a basis for a rock opera, created a story inspired by the teachings of Baba and other Indian spiritualists that would ultimately become Tommy
Tommy (rock opera)
Tommy is the fourth album by English rock band The Who, released by Track Records and Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Decca Records/MCA in the United States. A double album telling a loose story about a "deaf, dumb and blind boy" who becomes the leader of a messianic movement, Tommy was...
.
Tommy
Tommy (rock opera)
Tommy is the fourth album by English rock band The Who, released by Track Records and Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Decca Records/MCA in the United States. A double album telling a loose story about a "deaf, dumb and blind boy" who becomes the leader of a messianic movement, Tommy was...
did more than revitalise The Who's career (which was moderately successful at this point but had reached a plateau); it also marked a renewal of Townshend's songwriting and his spiritual studies infused most of his work from Tommy forward, including the unfinished Who project Lifehouse. The Who song "Baba O'Riley
Baba O'Riley
"Baba O'Riley" is a song written by Pete Townshend for the English rock band The Who. Roger Daltrey sings most of the song, with Pete Townshend singing the middle eight: "Don't cry/don't raise your eye/it's only teenaged wasteland"...
", written for Lifehouse and eventually appearing on the album Who's Next
Who's Next
Who's Next is the fifth studio album by English rock band The Who, released in August 1971. The album has origins in a rock opera conceived by Pete Townshend called Lifehouse. The ambitious, complex project did not come to fruition at the time and instead, many of the songs written for the project...
, was named for Meher Baba and minimalist
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
composer Terry Riley
Terry Riley
Terrence Mitchell Riley, is an American composer intrinsically associated with the minimalist school of Western classical music and was a pioneer of the movement...
. His newfound passion was not shared by his bandmates, whose attitude was tolerant, but who were unwilling to become the spokesmen for a particular religion. Few of the thousands of fans who packed stadiums across Europe and the U.S. to see The Who noticed the religious message in the songs: that "Bargain" and the middle section of "Behind Blue Eyes
Behind Blue Eyes
"Behind Blue Eyes" is the title of a song by English rock band The Who. It was released in November 1971 as the second single from their fifth album Who's Next and was written by Pete Townshend originally for his Lifehouse project...
" from Who's Next
Who's Next
Who's Next is the fifth studio album by English rock band The Who, released in August 1971. The album has origins in a rock opera conceived by Pete Townshend called Lifehouse. The ambitious, complex project did not come to fruition at the time and instead, many of the songs written for the project...
and "Listening To You" from Tommy were all originally written as prayers, that "Drowned" from Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by English rock band The Who. Released on 19 October 1973 by Track and Polydor in the UK, and Track and MCA in the US, it is a double album, and the group's second rock opera...
and "Don't Let Go The Coat
Beloved God Prayer
Beloved God is the common name of a prayer created by Meher Baba on August 25, 1959. Meher Baba was fond of the prayer, and encouraged his followers to repeat it....
" from Face Dances
Face Dances
Face Dances is the ninth album by English rock band The Who. It was originally released in 1981 in the US on Warner Bros. Records and in the UK on Polydor Records...
were based on Baba's sayings, that the "who are you, who, who, who, who" chorus from the song "Who Are You" was based on Sufi chants, or that "Let My Love Open The Door" was not a message from a lover but from God.
In interviews Townshend was more open about his beliefs, penning an article on Baba for Rolling Stone in 1970 and stating that following Baba's teachings, he was opposed to the use of all psychedelic drug
Psychedelic drug
A psychedelic substance is a psychoactive drug whose primary action is to alter cognition and perception. Psychedelics are part of a wider class of psychoactive drugs known as hallucinogens, a class that also includes related substances such as dissociatives and deliriants...
s, making him one of the first rock stars with counterculture
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
credibility to turn against their use.
His stardom quickly made him the world's most notable follower of Baba. Having missed out on meeting his guru with Baba's death 31 January 1969 (work on Tommy kept him from making the pilgrimage), Townshend made several trips to visit Baba's tomb in India as well as becoming a frequent visitor to the Meher Baba Spiritual Center
Meher Spiritual Center
The Meher Spiritual Center is a spiritual retreat nestled in a pine forest along the Atlantic Ocean between Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and adjacent to Briarcliffe Acres...
in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Myrtle Beach is a coastal city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is situated on the center of a large and continuous stretch of beach known as the Grand Strand in northeastern South Carolina. It is considered to be a major tourist destination in the...
. At home he recorded and released his most overtly spiritual songs on records assembled, pressed and sold by Baba organisations. When these records became widely bootlegged, Townshend put together a selection of the tracks for release as the solo album Who Came First
Who Came First
Who Came First is the first major-label solo album by Pete Townshend, released in 1972 on Track Records in the UK and Track/Decca in the US. It includes demos from the aborted concept album Lifehouse, part of which became Who's Next...
. One of the songs from that album, "Parvardigar
O Parvardigar
O Parvardigar is the common name of a prayer composed by Meher Baba, sometimes called the Master's Prayer or the Universal Prayer. It is also a song on an album by Pete Townshend....
", a Baba prayer set to music by Townshend, would gradually be accepted as a hymn by the Baba movement. In 1976 he opened the Oceanic Centre in London, using it as a haven for English Baba followers and Americans making a pilgrimage to Baba's tomb in Meherabad
Meherabad
Meherabad was originally an ashram established by Meher Baba near Arangaon Village, India in 1923 about south of Ahmednagar. It is now the site of Meher Baba's samadhi as well as facilities and accommodations for pilgrims...
, India as well as a place for small concerts (one such in 1979 was released on CD in 2001 as Pete Townshend & Raphael Rudd—The Oceanic Concerts
The Oceanic Concerts
The Oceanic Concerts is a collaboration album with Pete Townshend and Raphael Rudd that was first publicly released in 2001.Townshend sings a selection of Who standards as Raphael Rudd accompanies him on harp. Raphael Rudd, a harpist and pianist, had been a member of the band Renaissance between...
) and a repository for films made of Baba.
Townshend became a lower-profile member after 1982, having felt that his former addictions to cocaine and heroin made him a poor candidate for spokesman. Nevertheless, his discipleship continues to the current day.
Personal life
Townshend met Karen Astley (born 12 June 1947, daughter of composer Ted AstleyTed Astley
Edwin Astley was a British composer, occasionally credited as Ted Astley. His best known works are British television themes and scores, most notably the theme to The Saint...
and sister of record producer Jon Astley
Jon Astley
Jon Astley is a British record producer who also recorded and released two albums as a singer-songwriter in the late 1980s. His most commercially successful song was "Jane's Getting Serious", later popularized by a Heinz ketchup television commercial starring a pre-Friends cast member Matt...
), while in art school and married her in 1968. The couple separated in 1994 and divorced in 2009. They have three children: Emma
Emma Townshend
Emma Townshend is an English writer, journalist, musician and lecturer, and the elder daughter of The Who's Pete Townshend. She has taught courses since being a postgraduate at Cambridge in 1994, most recently for the Department of Continuing Education in Oxford.Townshend also appears as a regular...
(b. 1969), who is a singer/songwriter, Aminta (b. 1971), and Joseph (b. 1990). Townshend currently lives with his long-time partner, musician Rachel Fuller
Rachel Fuller
Rachel Fuller is a British musician. She is a successful independent pop music artist, a composer and occasional collaborator with rock musician and partner to Pete Townshend.-Early life:...
, in The Wick
The Wick
The Wick is a house in Richmond, Greater London, located at the corner of Nightingale Lane and Richmond Hill in Surrey. The house was at one time owned by actor Sir John Mills who used it as his family home for many years. Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones bought the house from Mills...
, Richmond, England. He also owns a house in Churt, Surrey, England, and in 2010 purchased a lease on the historic National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
property Ashdown House
Ashdown House, Oxfordshire
Ashdown House is a 17th century country house in the civil parish of Ashbury in the English county of Oxfordshire. Until 1974 the house was in the county of Berkshire, and the nearby village of Lambourn remains in that county....
in Oxfordshire. According to The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
Rich List
Sunday Times Rich List
The Sunday Times Rich List is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families in the United Kingdom, updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday newspaper The Sunday Times since 1989...
his assets are worth £40 million as of 2009.
Townshend has two younger brothers by nearly a generation, Paul Townshend (b. 1958) and Simon Townshend
Simon Townshend
Simon Townshend is a British guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is the younger brother of The Who's Pete Townshend, and is most associated with The Who and the various side projects of its original members, despite many other musical ventures in his career....
, (b. 10 October 1960). Simon is a guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist. Simon initially has had a career as a solo artist, and has performed with other bands, but began to record with The Who in the studio as early as their work on the film version of Tommy, and began to play with Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle on their solo efforts. By 1996, Simon joined The Who on their Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by English rock band The Who. Released on 19 October 1973 by Track and Polydor in the UK, and Track and MCA in the US, it is a double album, and the group's second rock opera...
support tour for two years as a backup guitarist and singer. He also returned again after the death of Entwistle as a part of their touring band. Paul played the voice of his brother, Pete, in The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode, "A Tale of Two Springfields
A Tale of Two Springfields
"A Tale of Two Springfields" is the second episode from season twelve of the animated TV series The Simpsons and is the 250th episode of the series overall in both broadcast and production order. The episode originally premiered November 5, 2000 on Fox Broadcasting Company.The episode was written...
" as Pete was unavailable.
Charity work
Pete Townshend has woven a long history of involvement with various charities and other philanthropic efforts throughout his career, both as a solo artist and with The Who. His first solo concert, for example, was a 1974 benefit show which was organised to raise funds for the Camden Square Community Play Center.The earliest public example of Townshend’s involvement with charitable causes was in 1968, when Townshend donated the use of his former Wardour Street apartment to the Meher Baba Association. The following year, the association was moved to another Townshend-owned apartment, the Eccleston Square former residence of wife Karen. Townshend sat on a committee which oversaw the operation and finances of the centre. "The committee sees to it that it is open a couple of days a week, and keeps the bills paid and the library full," he wrote in a 1970 Rolling Stone article.
In 1969 and 1972 Townshend produced two limited-release albums, Happy Birthday and I Am, for the London-based Baba association. This led to 1972’s Who Came First, a more widespread release, 15 percent of the revenue of which went to the Baba association. A further limited release, With Love, was released in 1976. A limited-edition boxed set of all three limited releases on CD, Avatar, was released in 2000, with all profits going to the Avatar Meher Baba Trust
Avatar Meher Baba Trust
The Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust is a Charitable trust created by Meher Baba in 1959 to fulfill after his death various directives given by him. Bhau Kalchuri is currently its chairman.- History and charter :...
in India, which provided funds to a dispensary, school, hospital and pilgrimage centre.
In July 1976, Townshend opened Meher Baba Oceanic, a London activity centre for Baba followers which featured film dubbing and editing facilities, a cinema and a recording studio. In addition, the centre served as a regular meeting place for Baba followers. Townshend offered very economical (reportedly £1 per night) lodging for American followers who needed an overnight stay on their pilgrimages to India. "For a few years, I had toyed with the idea of opening a London house dedicated to Meher Baba," he wrote in a 1977 Rolling Stone article. "In the eight years I had followed him, I had donated only coppers to foundations set up around the world to carry out the Master’s wishes and decided it was about time I put myself on the line. The Who had set up a strong charitable trust of its own which appeased, to an extent, the feeling I had that Meher Baba would rather have seen me give to the poor than to the establishment of yet another so-called 'spiritual center'." Townshend also embarked on a project dedicated to the collection, restoration and maintenance of Meher Baba-related films. The project was known as MEFA, or Meher Baba European Film Archive.
Children's charities
Townshend has been an active champion of children’s charities. The debut of Pete Townshend’s stage version of TommyTommy (rock opera)
Tommy is the fourth album by English rock band The Who, released by Track Records and Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Decca Records/MCA in the United States. A double album telling a loose story about a "deaf, dumb and blind boy" who becomes the leader of a messianic movement, Tommy was...
took place at San Diego’s La Jolla Playhouse in July 1992. The show was earmarked as a benefit for the London-based Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Foundation, an organisation which helps children with autism
Autism
Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. These signs all begin before a child is three years old. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their...
and mental retardation
Mental retardation
Mental retardation is a generalized disorder appearing before adulthood, characterized by significantly impaired cognitive functioning and deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors...
.
Townshend performed at a 1995 benefit organised by Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
at Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
's Paramount Theatre, for The Children’s Health Fund. The following year, Townshend performed at a benefit for the annual Bridge School Benefit
Bridge School Benefit
The Bridge School Benefit is an annual non-profit charity concert held in Mountain View, California, every October at the Shoreline Amphitheatre. The concerts are all organized by musician Neil Young and his wife, Pegi....
, a California facility for children with severe speech and physical impairments with concerts organised by Neil
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
and Pegi Young. In 1997, Townshend established a relationship with Maryville Academy
Maryville Academy
The Maryville Academy is a Roman Catholic institution for the treatment of physically, sexually, and emotional abused children, located in Des Plaines, Illinois. Founded in 1883, it operated under the leadership of Father John P...
, a Chicago area children’s charity. Between 1997 and 2002, Townshend played five benefit shows for Maryville Academy, raising at least $1,600,000. His 1998 album A Benefit for Maryville Academy
A Benefit for Maryville Academy
- Performers :Disc 1*Pete Townshend: vocals, electric and acoustic guitars*Jon Carin: keyboards, drum tracks, sequencer, vocals*Peter Hope-Evans: mouth organ, Jew's harp*Jody Linscott: Conservatoire de Paris...
was made to support their activities and proceeds from the sales of his release were donated to them.
As a member of The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
, Pete Townshend has also performed a series of concerts, beginning in 2000, benefiting the Teenage Cancer Trust
Teenage Cancer Trust
Teenage Cancer Trust is a charity that focuses on the needs of teenagers and young adults with cancer, leukaemia, Hodgkin’s and related diseases by providing specialist teenage units in NHS hospitals. The units are dedicated areas for teenage patients, who are involved in their concept and creation...
in the UK, raising several million pounds. In 2005, Townshend performed at New York’s Gotham Hall for Samsung’s Four Seasons of Hope, an annual children's charity fundraiser, and donated a smashed guitar to the Pediatric Epilepsy Project.
On November 4, 2011, Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend launched the Daltrey/Townshend Teen and Young Adult Cancer Program at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
The Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center is a hospital located on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California....
in Los Angeles, to be funded by The Who's charity Who Cares. The launch, followed on November 5 by a fund-raising event, was also attended by Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
and Dave Grohl
Dave Grohl
David Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures...
.
Drug rehabilitation
Townshend has also advocated for drug rehabilitationDrug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...
. In a 1985 radio interview, he said:
The "large clinic" Townshend was referring to was a plan he and drug rehabilitation experimenter Meg Patterson had devised to open a drug treatment facility in London; however, the plan failed to come to fruition. Two early 1979 concerts by The Who raised £20,000 for Patterson’s Pharmakon Clinic in Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
.
Further examples of Townshend’s drug rehabilitation activism took place in the form of a 1984 benefit concert
Benefit concert
A benefit concert or charity concert is a concert, show or gala featuring musicians, comedians, or other performers that is held for a charitable purpose, often directed at a specific and immediate humanitarian crisis. Such events raise both funds and public awareness to address the cause at...
, an article he wrote a few days later for Britain’s Mail On Sunday urging better care for the nation’s growing number of drug addicts, and the formation of a charitable organisation, Double-O Charities, to raise funds for the causes he’d recently championed. Townshend also personally sold fund-raising anti-heroin T-shirts at a series of UK Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
concerts, and reportedly financed a trip for former Clash
The Clash
The Clash were an English punk rock band that formed in 1976 as part of the original wave of British punk. Along with punk, their music incorporated elements of reggae, ska, dub, funk, rap, dance, and rockabilly...
drummer Topper Headon
Topper Headon
Headon was extensively interviewed for the Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten documentary film about the late Clash frontman. He related his experiences during this period, how he became addicted to heroin and how there were problems before his dismissal...
to undergo drug rehabilitation treatment. Townshend's 1985–86 band, Deep End, played two benefits at Brixton Academy in 1985 for Double-O Charities.
Amnesty International
In 1979, Townshend donated his services to the human rightsHuman rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
organisation Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
when he performed three songs for its benefit show The Secret Policeman's Ball
The Secret Policeman's Ball (1979)
The Secret Policeman's Ball took place over four consecutive nights in London in June 1979. It was a successor to the 1976 show A Poke In The Eye and the 1977 show The Mermaid Frolics.The show was directed by Monty Python alumnus John Cleese and producers Martin Lewis and Peter Walker...
– performances that were released on record and seen in the film of the show. Townshend's acoustic performances of three of his songs ("Pinball Wizard
Pinball Wizard
"Pinball Wizard" is a song written by Pete Townshend and performed by the English rock band The Who, and featured on their 1969 rock opera album Tommy. The original recording was released as a single in 1969 and reached No. 4 in the UK charts and No. 19 on the U.S...
", "Drowned", and "Won't Get Fooled Again
Won't Get Fooled Again
"Won't Get Fooled Again" is a song by the rock band The Who which was written by Pete Townshend The original version of the song appears as the final track on the album Who's Next...
") were subsequently cited as having been the forerunner and inspiration for the "unplugged
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
" phenomenon in the 1990s. Townshend had been invited to perform for Amnesty by Martin Lewis, the producer of The Secret Policeman's Ball
The Secret Policeman's Ball (1979)
The Secret Policeman's Ball took place over four consecutive nights in London in June 1979. It was a successor to the 1976 show A Poke In The Eye and the 1977 show The Mermaid Frolics.The show was directed by Monty Python alumnus John Cleese and producers Martin Lewis and Peter Walker...
who stated later that Townshend's participation had been the key to his securing the subsequent participation for Amnesty (in the 1981 sequel show) of Sting, Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
, Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck
Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...
, Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
and Bob Geldof
Bob Geldof
Robert Frederick Zenon "Bob" Geldof, KBE is an Irish singer, songwriter, author, occasional actor and political activist. He rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats in the late 1970s and early 1980s alongside the punk rock movement. The band had hits with his...
. Other performers inspired to support Amnesty International in future Secret Policeman's Ball
The Secret Policeman's Ball (1979)
The Secret Policeman's Ball took place over four consecutive nights in London in June 1979. It was a successor to the 1976 show A Poke In The Eye and the 1977 show The Mermaid Frolics.The show was directed by Monty Python alumnus John Cleese and producers Martin Lewis and Peter Walker...
shows and other benefits because of Townshend's early commitment to the organisation include Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
, Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
, David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
and U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
singer Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
who in 1986 told Rolling Stone magazine: "I saw The Secret Policeman's Ball and it became a part of me. It sowed a seed...."
Miscellaneous efforts
Highlights of Pete Townshend’s other public charitable efforts include the following:- A 1972 Tommy performance which raised nearly £10,000 for the Stars Organization for Spastics charity.
- A 1979 Rock Against Racism benefit concert, organised to raise money to pay the legal costs of those arrested in a London area anti-racism demonstration. Townshend helped organise the show, topped the bill, and supplied the event lighting and equipment.
- A 1981 Rock Against Unemployment benefit concert, part of the People’s March For Jobs campaign.
- A 1982 Prince’s Trust Gala Benefit performance.
- Performing with The Who at the 1985 Live AidLive AidLive Aid was a dual-venue concert that was held on 13 July 1985. The event was organized by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise funds for relief of the ongoing Ethiopian famine. Billed as the "global jukebox", the event was held simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, United Kingdom ...
concert. - Involvement in fundraising supportive of Nelson MandelaNelson MandelaNelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
's African National CongressAfrican National CongressThe African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
. - Performing in a 1986 Royal Albert HallRoyal Albert HallThe Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
benefit show for the victims of a Colombian Volcano disaster which killed over 25,000 people. - A 2001 benefit show for San Diego's La Jolla PlayhouseLa Jolla PlayhouseLa Jolla Playhouse is a not-for-profit, professional theatre-in-residence on the campus of the University of California, San Diego. -Background:...
which raised approximately $100,000. - Performing in Rock the Dock, a 1998 benefit for striking Liverpool dock workers.
- Organizing an online auction in 2000 to raise funds for OxfamOxfamOxfam is an international confederation of 15 organizations working in 98 countries worldwide to find lasting solutions to poverty and related injustice around the world. In all Oxfam’s actions, the ultimate goal is to enable people to exercise their rights and manage their own lives...
's emergency services to help those affected by floods in MozambiqueMozambiqueMozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
and a combination of drought and food shortages in Ethiopia. Among the auctioned items were a selection of gold and platinum awards, letters from celebrities such as Eric ClaptonEric ClaptonEric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
and Paul McCartneyPaul McCartneySir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, and musical instruments (including a smashed RickenbackerRickenbackerRickenbacker International Corporation, also known as Rickenbacker, is an electric and bass guitar manufacturer based in Santa Ana, California...
guitar and the guitar on which Townshend composed the Who classic "Behind Blue Eyes"). The centerpiece of the auction, however, was a 1957 Fender StratocasterFender StratocasterThe Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
which was given to Townshend as a gift by Eric ClaptonEric ClaptonEric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
after Townshend had helped arrange Clapton’s 1973 recovery from his own heroin addiction, and comeback show at the RainbowRainbow Bar and GrillThe Rainbow Bar and Grill is a bar and restaurant on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California, United States adjacent to the border of Beverly Hills, California. Its address is 9015 Sunset Boulevard....
. The guitar was ultimately purchased by Pete Townshend, Mick JaggerMick JaggerSir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
and David BowieDavid BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, and presented to British Prime Minister Tony BlairTony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
. - Performing with The Who at the 2001 all-star The Concert for New York CityThe Concert for New York CityThe Concert for New York City was a benefit concert, featuring many famous musicians, that took place on October 20, 2001 at Madison Square Garden in New York City in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks...
at Madison Square Garden, honouring policemen and emergency personnel killed in the 11 September attacks. - Performing at the Royal Albert HallRoyal Albert HallThe Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
in a 2004 Ronnie LaneRonnie LaneRonald Frederick "Ronnie" Lane was an English musician, songwriter, and producer who is best known as the bass guitarist and founding member of two prominent English rock and roll bands; the Small Faces where he was nicknamed "Plonk", – and, after losing the band's frontman, Faces, with two new...
tribute show which served as a fundraiser for both Lane’s family and multiple sclerosisMultiple sclerosisMultiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
research. - Performing with The Who at the 2005 Live 8Live 8Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 Conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland from 6–8 July 2005; they also coincided with the 20th anniversary of Live Aid...
concert. - In 1998, Townshend was named in a list of the biggest private financial donors to the UK Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
. He refused to let Michael MooreMichael MooreMichael Francis Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko also place in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries...
use "Won't Get Fooled AgainWon't Get Fooled Again"Won't Get Fooled Again" is a song by the rock band The Who which was written by Pete Townshend The original version of the song appears as the final track on the album Who's Next...
" in Fahrenheit 9/11Fahrenheit 9/11Fahrenheit 9/11 is a 2004 documentary film by American filmmaker and political commentator Michael Moore. The film takes a critical look at the presidency of George W. Bush, the War on Terror, and its coverage in the news media...
, saying that he watched Bowling for ColumbineBowling for ColumbineBowling for Columbine is a 2002 documentary film written, directed, produced, and narrated by Michael Moore. The film explores what Michael Moore suggests are the causes for the Columbine High School massacre and other acts of violence with guns...
and was not convinced. - Performing with The Who in Detroit in 2008, donating all profits to Focus: HOPEFocus: HOPEFocus: HOPE is a Detroit-based, non-denominational, non-profit organization whose aim is to overcome racism and poverty by providing education and training for underrepresented minorities and others...
and Gleaners Community Food BankFood bankA food bank or foodbank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes mostly donated food to a wide variety of agencies that in turn feed the hungry. The largest sources of food are for-profit growers, manufacturers, distributors and retailers who in the normal course of business have...
.
Operation Ore investigation and police caution
Townshend was cautionedPolice caution
A police caution is a formal alternative to prosecution in minor cases, administered by the police and other law enforcement agencies in England and Wales, and in Hong Kong...
by the British police in 2003 as part of Operation Ore
Operation Ore
Operation Ore was a British police operation that commenced in 1999 following information received from US law enforcement, which was intended to prosecute thousands of users of a website reportedly featuring child pornography...
. Following a news leak
News leak
A news leak is a disclosure of embargoed information in advance of its official release, or the unsanctioned release of confidential information.-Types of news leaks:...
that Townshend was among the subjects of the investigation, he publicly stated that on one occasion he had used a credit card to access a website advertising child pornography. Townshend, who had posted essays on his personal website in 2002 as part of his campaign against the widespread availability of child pornography on the internet, said that he had entered the site for research purposes and had not downloaded any images. A four-month police investigation, including forensic examination of all of his computers, established that Townshend was not in possession of any illegal downloaded images. Instead of pressing charges, the police elected to caution him, stating, "It is not a defence to access these images for research or out of curiosity." In a statement issued by his lawyer, Townshend said, "I accept that I was wrong to access this site, and that by doing so, I broke the law, and I have accepted the caution that the police have given me."
Guest appearances
- "Because You're YoungBecause You're Young"Because You're Young" is a song written by David Bowie in 1980 for the album Scary Monsters . The song features The Who's Pete Townshend on guitar.-Other releases:...
" with David BowieDavid BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
on Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)Scary Monsters is an album by David Bowie, released in September 1980 by RCA Records. It was Bowie's final studio album for the label and his first following the so-called Berlin Trilogy of Low, "Heroes" and Lodger . Though considered significant in artistic terms, the trilogy had proved less...
(1980) - Acoustic guitar on "Ball and ChainBall and Chain (Elton John song)"Ball and Chain" is a song by Elton John with lyrics by Gary Osborne. It is the third track on his 1982 album "Jump Up!" and was released as a single in the United States in September that year. It features Pete Townshend of The Who on acoustic guitar....
" with Elton JohnElton JohnSir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
on Jump Up!Jump Up!Jump Up! is the 16th studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1982 on Rocket Records except in the US and Canada, where it was released on Geffen Records. It features such songs as "Empty Garden ", a tribute to John Lennon...
(1982) - "Lonely at the Top" and "Hard Women" with Mick JaggerMick JaggerSir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
on She's the BossShe's the BossShe's the Boss is the solo album debut by The Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger released in 1985. When the Stones signed with CBS Records in 1983, one of the options available to them was for individual projects, and Jagger—ready to spread his wings after recording exclusively with the famous...
(1985) - Guitar on "Town of PlentyTown of Plenty"Town of Plenty" is an Elton John song from the album Reg Strikes Back, and was released in 1988. The song was the first album track to be heard after Elton's throat surgery. Pete Townshend plays acoustic guitar on the track, while Davey Johnstone plays electric. Among the backing vocalists...
" with Elton JohnElton JohnSir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
on Reg Strikes BackReg Strikes BackReg Strikes Back is the twenty-first studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1988. It was his self-proclaimed comeback album, and his own way of fighting back against bad press. The "Reg" in Reg Strikes Back refers to Elton John's birth name, Reginald Kenneth Dwight. This...
(1988) - Acoustic guitar with Prefab SproutPrefab SproutPrefab Sprout are an alternative English pop rock band from Witton Gilbert, County Durham, England who rose to fame during the 1980s. Eight of their albums have reached the Top 40 in the UK Albums Chart, and one of their singles, "The King of Rock 'n' Roll", peaked at number seven in the UK...
on "Hey Manhattan!" on From Langley Park to MemphisFrom Langley Park to MemphisFrom Langley Park to Memphis is the third album by English pop band Prefab Sprout, and was released in March 1988.The title is taken from a lyric to the song, "The Venus of the Soup Kitchen", and refers to the village of Langley Park, County Durham in England, and the city of Memphis, Tennessee in...
(1988) - "Substitute" with The Ramones on Acid EatersAcid EatersAcid Eaters is the thirteenth studio album by the American punk band The Ramones.Recorded in 1993 , towards the end of the Ramones' career, the album is often set apart from other Ramones releases in that it is entirely composed of covers...
(1993) - "Joy" and "Gun" with Mick JaggerMick JaggerSir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and a founding member of The Rolling Stones....
on Goddess in the DoorwayGoddess in the DoorwayGoddess in the Doorway is the fourth solo album by Mick Jagger, released in 2001. The most recent offering from Jagger as a solo artist, it marked his first release with Virgin Records, whom he has been contracted with as a member of The Rolling Stones since 1991.Following 1993's Wandering Spirit...
(2001) - "Slow BurnSlow Burn (song)"Slow Burn" is a song written by David Bowie for the album Heathen in 2002. The recording features Pete Townshend on guitar. In June 2002 it was released as a single...
" with David BowieDavid BowieDavid Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
on Heathen (2002)
In 1968 Townshend helped assemble a band called Thunderclap Newman
Thunderclap Newman
Thunderclap Newman were a British one-hit wonder band that Pete Townshend of The Who and Kit Lambert had formed circa December 1968 - January 1969 in a bid to showcase the talents of John "Speedy" Keen, Andy "Thunderclap" Newman and Jimmy McCulloch....
consisting of three musicians he knew. Pianist Andy Newman (an old art school friend), drummer John "Speedy" Keen (who had written "Armenia City in the Sky" for The Who to record for their 1967 album The Who Sell Out
The Who Sell Out
-Track listing:All songs written by Pete Townshend except where noted. The between song jingles apparently have no official titles and are not listed anywhere on the original album packaging, though they are listed in the inner booklet of the 1995 remaster.Side one...
) and teenage guitarist Jimmy McCulloch
Jimmy McCulloch
James 'Jimmy' McCulloch was a Scottish musician and songwriter, born in Dumbarton and raised in Clydebank and Cumbernauld, Scotland, who was best known for playing lead guitar in Paul McCartney's Wings from 1974 to 1977...
(later to join Wings
Wings (band)
Wings were a British-American rock group formed in 1971 by Paul McCartney, Denny Laine and Linda McCartney that remained active until 1981....
). Townshend produced the band and played bass on their recordings under the tongue-in-cheek pseudonym "Bijou Drains". Their first recording was the single "Something in the Air
Something In The Air (song)
"Something in the Air" is a song recorded by Thunderclap Newman, a band created by Pete Townshend for The Who's former roadie John 'Speedy' Keen who wrote and sang the song, from their only album Hollywood Dream. It was a UK #1 single for three weeks in July 1969...
", which became a number one hit in the UK and a substantial hit elsewhere in the world. This was the only number one hit in the UK that Townshend performed on (The Who had none.) Following this success, Townshend produced their sole album, Hollywood Dream.
Townshend also produced "Fire" by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown in 1968 that was No. 1 in the UK and No. 2 in the US.
In 1971, Townshend, along with Keith Moon
Keith Moon
Keith John Moon was an English musician, best known for being the drummer of the English rock group The Who. He gained acclaim for his exuberant and innovative drumming style, and notoriety for his eccentric and often self-destructive behaviour, earning him the nickname "Moon the Loon". Moon...
and Ronnie Lane
Ronnie Lane
Ronald Frederick "Ronnie" Lane was an English musician, songwriter, and producer who is best known as the bass guitarist and founding member of two prominent English rock and roll bands; the Small Faces where he was nicknamed "Plonk", – and, after losing the band's frontman, Faces, with two new...
, backed Mike Heron
Mike Heron
Mike Heron is a Scottish singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work in the Incredible String Band in the 1960s and 1970s.-Career:...
(of the Incredible String Band
Incredible String Band
The Incredible String Band were a psychedelic folk band formed in Scotland in 1966. The band built a considerable following, especially within British counterculture, before splitting up in 1974...
) on one song "Warm Heart Pastry" from Heron's first solo LP, Smiling Men with Bad Reputations
Smiling Men with Bad Reputations
Smiling Men with Bad Reputations is the 1971 solo debut release by Mike Heron of the Incredible String Band.Here Heron was prone to generate odd, atmospheric melodies, some of which were drawn from Celtic and Eastern sources. "Spirit Beautiful" is a fine example in which Heron creates an Indian...
. On the album notes, they are listed as "Tommy and the Bijoux". Also present on the track was John Cale
John Cale
John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
on viola.
In 1984, Townshend contributed lyrics to two songs ("Love on The Air" and "All Lovers are Deranged") on David Gilmour
David Gilmour
David Jon Gilmour, CBE, D.M. is an English rock musician and multi-instrumentalist who is best known as the guitarist, one of the lead singers and main songwriters in the progressive rock band Pink Floyd. In addition to his work with Pink Floyd, Gilmour has worked as a producer for a variety of...
's solo album About Face
About Face (album)
About Face is the second solo album by the Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, released in March 1984. The album was co-produced by Bob Ezrin and David Gilmour. Two songs, "All Lovers Are Deranged", and the more radio-friendly "Love on the Air" were co-written by Gilmour, who composed the music,...
.
For albums Townshend composed as a member of The Who, see their entry. Not included are albums by other artists on which Townshend played as a session musician. Through much of 2005, Pete Townshend recorded and performed alongside his partner Rachel Fuller
Rachel Fuller
Rachel Fuller is a British musician. She is a successful independent pop music artist, a composer and occasional collaborator with rock musician and partner to Pete Townshend.-Early life:...
, a classically trained pianist and singer-songwriter.
In 2006, Townshend opened a website for implementation of The Lifehouse Method
The Lifehouse Method
The Lifehouse Method was an Internet site where applicants could sit for an electronic musical portrait made up from data they enter into the website. This website was the result of a collaboration between The Who's principal songwriter and composer Pete Townshend, composer Lawrence Ball and...
based on his 1971 Lifehouse concept. This website was in collaboration with composer Lawrence Ball
Lawrence Ball
Lawrence Ball is an English musician and composer who currently lives in North London. He produces multi-media compositions, performs in concert, and also works as a private tutor in mathematics, music theory and physics....
and software developer David Snowden. Applicants at the website could input data to compose a musical "portrait" which the musical team could then develop into larger compositions for a planned concert or series of concerts.
Awards
- BRIT AwardsBrit AwardsThe Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
1983 – Life Achievement Award - Tony AwardTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
1993 – Best Original ScoreTony Award for Best Original ScoreThe Tony Award for Best Original Score is the Tony Award given to the composers and lyricists of the best original score written for a musical in that year. The score consists of music and lyrics...
(music & lyrics) – The Who's TommyThe Who's TommyThe Who's Tommy is a rock musical by Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff based on The Who's 1969 double album rock opera Tommy, also by Pete Townshend, with additional material by John Entwistle, Keith Moon and Sonny Boy Williamson.-Productions:...
(tie) - Grammy Awards 1993 – Best Musical Show Album (as composer and lyricist of The Who's TommyThe Who's TommyThe Who's Tommy is a rock musical by Pete Townshend and Des McAnuff based on The Who's 1969 double album rock opera Tommy, also by Pete Townshend, with additional material by John Entwistle, Keith Moon and Sonny Boy Williamson.-Productions:...
) - Kennedy Center HonorsKennedy Center HonorsThe Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. The Honors have been presented annually since 1978 in Washington, D.C., during gala weekend-long events which culminate in a performance for—and...
2008 - Honarary doctorate from University of West London, 2010
- Classic Album Award for Quadrophenia from The Classic Rock Roll Of Honour at The Roundhouse, November 9, 2011, London, England
Further reading
- Horses Neck by Pete Townshend Mariner Books 1985, new edition, (21 May 1998) ISBN 0-395-90559-1 ISBN 978-0-395-90559-3
- The Who: Maximum R&B by Pete Townshend and Richard Barnes Plexus Publishing; 5th edition (27 September 2004) ISBN 0-85965-351-X ISBN 978-0-85965-351-0
- Pete Townshend: A Minstrel's Dilemma by Larry David Smith Praeger Publishers (30 March 1999) ISBN 0-275-96472-8, ISBN 978-0-275-96472-6
- Who Are You: The Life Of Pete Townshend by Mark Ian Wilkerson Omnibus Press; 1st edition (30 November 2008) ISBN 1-84772-243-1 ISBN 978-1-84772-243-0
External links
- The Who's official web site
- Pete Townshend's commercial Eelpie web site
- In Love With Meher Baba (Townshend's 1970 Rolling StoneRolling StoneRolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
article) - video of Townshend's 1996 Fillmore West performance of his song "O Parvardigar"
- Cliff and Pete Townshend play jazz, Parkinson show, 1981
- Townshend smashes a guitar, 1989