Re: In it for the money?

[YMEG09A@prodigy.com (MR THOMAS G FARRELL JR)]

-- [ From: Thomas G. Farrell Jr. * EMC.Ver #2.10P ] --

RE:  Pete's Supposed Greed:


> >Both Daltrey and especially PT have been pretty upfront for almost
17 =
> >years now that they are doing what they are doing pretty much for
the =
> >money. When asked why he agreed to do the '89 tour by several
magazines =
> >that I saw, PT repeatedly said that he hated the idea but that =
> >(paraphrasing) "I discussed it with my accountants and they
convinced me> >that if I went on tour America would send me home a very
rich man" =
> >(quote) "and that's a good feeling".

	If you have the SHAKIN' ALL OVER boot, Townshend makes a similar
comment about America - "We feel very strongly about America... we take
a lot of your money home and feel strongly about it.  No, but
seriously..." - just before Young Man Blues, I believe.  That was in
1968.  He was joking then, and I'd suspect he was joking (at least
partly) in the above quotation regarding the 1989 Tour.
	As for Pete's other comments about money, I never saw anything wrong
with his acknowledging the economic dynamics involved in the music
industry.  It's an adult industry, requiring an adult, like Townshend,
with a grasp of the financial issues involved.  Moreover, Townshend
never, at least to my ears, sounds obsessed with money... he just
prefers to make a profit.  Nothing wrong with that.  He's certainly not
bilking anybody, so far as I can tell.  I mean, what's Townshend
supposed to do to prove his sincerity, eat Granola, wear sandals and
live on some Hippie commune with Wavy Gravy?
 	Myself, I'll leave Artistic Vows of Poverty to the infantile, "Hey,
man, money corrupts the integrity of the music.  The music's for the
noble proletariat combating the evil bourgeois" -type artists...
like.... oh, I don't know.... the Grateful Dead, presently the most
heavily merchandised group on Earth, after the Beatles.  I mean, Jerry
Garcia Christmas Cards?!?!?  "Have a Jerry Christmas"!?!?!?  Give me a
break!  As far as I'm concerned (and do remember that this is merely my
humble opinion) those  bubbleheads (the Grateful Dead, Country Joe
MacDonald, et al) can beam their saggin', tie-dyed, anit-capitalist -
but very wealthy - carcasses back up to the Sixties Mothership (read: 
the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Factory) where they belong....
	So, yes, Townshend my talk about money as a motivator, but at least
he's not duplicitous about it like some *other* folks from that
generation....
 	Every good wish--Tom Farrell