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Re: White City



Kevin:
          
>- First of all, I *love* this album.  I think it's as good or better than 
>Empty Glass and Chinese Eyes in many ways.  And far superior to Iron Man 
>and Psychoderelict.  There.  I said it.
          
          I would tend to agree with its superiority over IM and 
          P-DERELICT. But, hey, at least Pete was trying.  I think 
          Pete's at his best when he's creating a story rather than 
          writing commentary.  EG and ...CE will always be Pete faves 
          of mine because of their context with my life in the early 
          80s as I was discovering the Who, and I appreciate them both 
          so much more now that I'm close to the age Pete was at when 
          he wrote them.  SLIT SKIRTS is so true (perhaps one of my 
          all-time favorite Pete songs, with or w/o the Who). I have 
          WC on vinyl, but my turntable's been out of commission for 
          quite some time, so I don't listen much to it, but I 
          remember that I liked most of the music on the record. 
>- What's the story behind White City (the place)?  Is it a London slum?  

I believe it's a post-war housing project...yeah, a slum.  It is an actual 
place in London. Our British contingent can certainly inform us on this 
one.

          
>- I happen to think that this would have made a *killer* post-Moon Who 
>album, as good as Empty Glass and better than Chinese Eyes.  

What makes you think that if the Who had done it, it would have been better 
than the other post-Moon Who albums?  I am convinced that by the end of 
1980 that Pete didn't give a shit about writing for the Who anymore--EG was 
a hit and it finally confirmed what Pete had been searching for all 
along--he could be popular on his own. I just don't think Pete can write or 
make Who records anymore.  He simply can't give himself enough to them; he 
simply doesn't want to anymore.  His material is better without the Who 
nowadays.  I would like to see Pete continue working with Entwistle cos 
John can make any rock music sound better--why he's not in a major band 
amazes me.  I don't think Pete can write for Roger-as-Who-vocalist anymore 
("After the Fire" is not really a Who song, IMHO, even though I've read 
that the band was slated to perform it at Live Aid, but couldn't tolerate 
each other enough to do proper rehearsals for it).
          

          
>- "I Am Secure" sounds to me like a sequel to "I'm One" from Quad.  Sort 
>of checking back in with Jimmy after he's 35, married and has a couple 
>squirrely teens of his own.  Especially in the last two lines of the song. 
 
          
          Interesting thought.  Sad to see that things haven't gotten 
          any better for Jimmy.
          
--Jim