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Friday A.M. WHO thoughts



Marty Secero writes:

> 4) Susan Whiting's views on the various interpretations of the WHO's music,
> past, present and future, is brilliant. In fact, I can honestly say that
> Susan's views pretty much reflect the overall consensus of MOST WHO fans. The
> frustrating aspect of being a WHO/PT fan is that, for the most part, we are
> fans of a body of musical work that is 30 years old now!!! And while Pete has
> continued to release solo albums, they are put out with much less frequency
> now. It's strange to say this, but I feel in a way that Pete's muse may have
> left him permanently. That's not a put-down of his recent solo work---I
> personally feel that "PsychoDerelict" was, in many ways, his best solo album
> EVER.

- SNIP -

> It's a fact that songwriters and performers need perspective on where
> they've been in order to see where they're going next. But Pete Townshend is a
> songwriter/performer who is obsessed with his past to the point that it eats
> up the time that he could spend on NEW music. And that's a shame.

I have to disagree with one point, though.

I think that PsychoDerelict was a prime example of an artist who has run out
of musical ideas.  He still wants to set new directions, take chances with
his music, and be on the cutting edge (as demonstrated by the attempt at
something new on each of his last 3 albums), but he's mostly just dabbling
with new formats for presenting the music.  The music itself on
PsychoDerelict is boring (I NEVER thought I'd say that about Pete Townshend).
There isn't ONE great tune on that album.  Early Morining Dreams is OK, as
are a couple of others.  But it doesn't hold up musically even with Iron Man,
and pales in comparison with something like Empty Glass.

I liked it better when it was done in the context of the story on the PPV (I
found the CD version a little hard to listen to, though), but presented in
that way the music is secondary to the story.

It may be that Pete's obsession with his past is cutting into his time to
write current music.  But it may also be that he just doesn't write that
proficiently any more, and he sees his time better (and more profitably)
spent on the older body of work.  I hope I'm wrong, and I hope he has
another Empty Glass or two in him.  But I've been really frustrated by his
last 2 efforts.

> "Never spend your guitar and your pen" - wise words that Pete himself should
> reconsider.



Dave Elliott