Re: Pete Interview in Q Magazine/Rolling Stone Picture

["andrew wiechman" <Jovar1701v@email.msn.com>]

That interview was quite interesting.  It's refreshing to hear Pete stick up
for Roger when the interviewer took a cheap shot at him.  But it was sad
when Pete said if he could write some songs that would fit RD's voice there
would be a new album.  Why can't he get back into the mode he was in when he
wrote "After the Fire".  Of course writing passionate classics is not that
easy i suppose.
In the new issue of RollingStone There is a picture of Pete sitting with
Mick Jagger and David Bowie at Bowies after-gig Party at Londons Astoria.
Its quite a sight to see these 3 giants sitting side by side. Pete is
looking a bit confused and looks like he's thinking to himself  " I bet I
forgot to turn off the burner"
drew w
----- Original Message -----
From: Scott Schrade <schrade@akrobiz.com>
To: THE WHO <TheWho@igtc.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2000 6:29 PM
Subject: Pete Interview in Q Magazine


> Hey, Who-Freaks !  The following is a neat Pete interview which appeared
in the Jan. 2000 issue
> of Britain's Q Magazine.  All questions were sent in by readers.  Enjoy !
>
> Introduction :
>
> A few months ago, Pete Townshend wrote a letter to the magazine Private
Eye complaining
> about the non-appearance of its rock star cartoon Celeb.  The absence was
galling to Town-
> shend since the prominent nose of the Gary Bloke character is clearly
modelled on his own.
> The Private Eye connection, however, goes even further, to embrace the
title of the 54-year-
> old Townshend's forthcoming autobiography :  Who He?
>
> "I've written about 250,000 words & I've taken a break for a while," he
divulges over coffee in
> a hotel close to his Richmond home.  "I've done the difficult part, which
was my childhhod, &
> I'm up to the art-school years..."
>
> December 5 sees the Radio 3 premier of Townshend's 29 year-old project
Lifehouse, several
> songs from which were included on The Who's 1971 album Who's Next.
Written between
> Tommy & Quadrophenia, Lifehouse anticipates the digital revolution & culmi
nates in a vast
> musical event on the last day of the millenium.  Abook & two CD box sets
will follow the radio
> premiere.
>
> At Townshend's behest, meanwhile, The Who have recently reassembled to
play four shows in
> America, including two acoustic performances for Neil Young's charity The
Bridge.  Townshend,
> Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle are weighing up their options for 2000, but
a new album does seem
> a possibility.  "Can The Who still be relevant to young people?" Townshend
considers.  "Of course
> not.  One of the great things about being 54 years-old is that I don't
have to apologize to anybody -
> whether they're rock journalists or rock fans or fans of The Who - who
might feel that I've had pre-
> tentious moments, or that maybe I'm a bit too big for my boots, or who
think that if you delve deeply
> into my work that it's all a con.  The fact of the matter is, I'm fucking
brilliant.  Not was brilliant.  Am
> brilliant."
>
> And with that in mind, on we go.
>
>
> HAS LIFEHOUSE CHANGED A LOT FROM THE ORIGINAL IDEAS OF 1970-71?
>
> No, it hasn't really.  What I had in 1971 was a very, very big idea based
on rather thin narrative.
> When I went to the BBC (to discuss the 1999 premiere), I had a thin
narrative without any big idea.
> And so what actually happened was we turned the thin narrative into
something more substantial.
> So it's changed inasmuch as the story now has sufficient weight to live
with the musc - which is
> some of the most impressive that I've ever come up with in my career.
>
> HOW ON EARTH CAN YOU HANDLE WORKING WITH THAT WANKER ROGER DALTREY?
>
> I think Roger's been really ill-served.  Roger did an American Express ad
where he holds up a trout,
> & nobody in this country is ever going to let him forget it.  To me, Roger
Daltrey is not a wanker.  He's
> the guy who, when I was literally a wanker - wanking four or five times a
day at school - Roger Daltrey,
> who was shagging everything that moved, walked up to me in the corridor &
said, Want to be in my band?
> He made me who I am.  I owe him a lot & I love him.  And if the wanker who
called him a wanker was in
> the room, I'd have great difficulty with that.
>
> DID THE QUEEN MOTHER REALLY HAVE YOUR CAR TOWED AWAY IN THE 60'S?
>
> Yep, & I was quite upset.  Even though I was young & smashing guitars, I
still loved the Queen Mother.
> Fucking stopped though.  It was in 1964.  My manager Kit Lambert felt that
I was unduly held down by
> my art-school friends, so he moved me into Chesham Place, the road between
Clarence House & Buck-
> ingham Palace.  I had this Packard hearse parked outside my house.  One
day I came back & it was gone.
> It turned out that she's had it moved, because her husband had been buried
in a similar vehicle & it re-
> minded her of him.  When I went to collect it, they wanted 250 quid.  I'd
only paid 30 for it in the first place.
>
> RECENTLY YOU HELPED PUT UP A BLUE PLAQUE TO COMMEMORATE JIMI HENDRIX'S
LONDON
> ABODE.  BUT ISN'T IT TRUE YOU WERE INITIALLY SUSPICIOUS OF HIM IN 1967?
>
> No.  I was completely unaware of what he was about.  I met him in a
studio.  All he had was his guitar & a
> little road amp, & Chas Chandler brought him to talk to me about
amplifiers.  He looked scruffy & unassuming.
> I thought, I must help this poor - I'm going to get politically incorrect
now - badly dressed idiot negro, because
> he's obviously going to die of starvation.  I told him I've been using
Marshalls, but that I felt that a new amp
> called Sound City was better.  He turned to Chas & said, We'll have one of
each.  Then I went to see him play
> & I fucking wish I'd kept my mouth shut.
>
> HOW DO YOU FEEL NOW WHEN YOU HEAR THE LINE "HOPE I DIE BEFORE I GET OLD"?
>
> I suppose I'd expect that question.  So is the inference suppose to be
that I'm old?  If I'm perceived to be old,
> fine.
>
> WHAT WAS YOUR DAILY INTAKE AT THE HEIGHT OF YOUR BOOZING?  AND WHY BRANDY?
>
> I know there were occasions when I drank three bottles of brandy a day.  I
had lunch with a friend recently
> who used to drive me, & he told me he used to buy five.  So I don't know
what happened to the other two.
> Keith Moon got me started on it.  He was a real Remy Martin connoisseur.
Actually, he was a Coke con-
> noisseur.  He used to say he could tell the difference between Coke, Diet
Coke or Pepsi when a dash of it
> was dropped in a big tumbler of Remy Martin.  And he could.
>
> I HEARD THAT IN THE WHO'S EQUIPMENT TRASHING DAYS, YOU USED TO RENT
INSTRUMENTS
> UNDER AN ASSUMED NAME, TRASH THEM ON STAGE & GET THE HELL OUT OF TOWN.  IS
THIS
> TRUE?
>
> (Incedulous) Get the hell out of town?  I mean, would we get away with
that?  "We got the hell out of town !"
> Sounds like a bunch of cowboys....We're the fucking Who.  You can find us.
We're in the telephone dir-
> ectory.
>
> IN 1968 THE AUSTRALIAN SENATOR JOHN GORTON SENT YOU A TELEGRAM REQUESTING
THE
> WHO NEVER SET FOOT IN AUSTRALIA AGAIN.  WHAT WAS YOUR REPLY?
>
> I suppose my reply was to never go back to Australia again.  What was
actually more insulting was that the
> telegram said we couldn't go back.  We've never seen a copy of it, but I
know someone who says he's got
> it.  They also created an extraordinary taxation event for us as well,
which meant that they took all our money.
> It was terribly humiliating & I've never really quite recovered from it, I
must say.
>
> YOU CLOBBERED KEITH MOON AT LEAST ONCE.  YOU CLOCKED ROGER DALTREY & CAME
OFF
> SECOND BEST.  EVER HAD CAUSE TO BIFF JOHN ENTWISTLE?
>
> No.  In fact, the time Roger biffed me, John was holding him very tightly
& he couldn't get away, & I said to
> John, Let him go & let's get it over with.  And John let him go.
>
> HOW DO YOU COPE WITH TINNITUS & MOST PEOPLE'S IGNORANCE OF THE CONDITION?
>
> I've had some treatment for it.  I found a homeopathic practitioner who
has really helpled reduce it tremend-
> ously.  And if anybody's seriously interested, they can contact me on my
Web site & I'll pass on her name.
>
> DID YOU EVER COMTEMPLATE FOLLOWING OTHER '60'S ICONS CILLA BLACK & TOM
JONES BY
> HAVING A NOSE JOB?
>
> No.  The only time I really cared about my nose was when I was 12 or 13 &
people at school started to talk
> about it.  But I never got a nickname.  When people talked about my nose,
they did so with great affection.
> Ian McLagan used to call me Big-Nosed Cunt.  But I used to call him
Short-Arsed Git.  The thing about the
> size of my nose, it's been greatly exaggerated.  I was set up by
(co-manager) Chris Stamp for the "ugly" pic-
> ture on the cover of The Observer.  Big fish-eye lens.  "Perhaps you'd
come & sit in front, Pete?"  I sat there,
> & my expression in that picture is supremely sad.  But once they put me in
the middle, I was recognized as
> the most important member of the band.  Rightly so.
>
> WHO DO YOU LOOK LIKE WHEN YOU LOOK INTO THE BACK OF A SPOON?
>
> Well I get compared a lot to a small town vicar.  But I always think I
look like a rabbi.
>
> WHAT IS WRONG WITH BEING A BELL BOY?
>
> Nothing.  Somebody has to do it.  I should imagine that most bell boys do
hope that they would end up as a
> concierge, though.
>
> DO YOU STILL BELIEVE IN THE TEACHINGS OF MEHER BABA?
>
> He didn't do teachings as such.  He did discourses which were published.
I've never lived any part of my life
> under Meher Baba's direct guidance.  He died pretty much as soon as I
discovered his writing.  I still read
> Meher Baba & I still believe he is an authentic spiritual master.
Currently, my connection with him is that I look
> after & fund archival film work.
>
> YOU & KEITH MOON BOUGHT HOVERCRAFTS IN THE EARLY '70'S.  HIS ENDED UP ON A
RAILWAY
>
> TRACK.  WHAT ABOUT YOURS?
>
> I brought mine back to give to my two brothers on Christmas day.  Paul was
10, I think, & Simon was 8.  Paul
> got on it, rode off the lawn into the Thames, hit about 80, turned around,
came back & smashed it into a tree.
>
> YOU'RE ONSTAGE AT THE TACOMA DOME, WASHINGTON IN 1989.  YOUR ARM ROTATES
FOR THE
> WINDMILL.  THE TREMOLO GOES THROUGH YOUR HAND.  WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
>
> Well, I picked up the guitar & held it from the tremolo so that everybody
could see what had happened.  Then
> I pulled it out & blood started to pump out.  And then it fucking hurt.  I
ran off stage & ended up having oxygen,
> so I don't remember much after that.  It went through my hand, missing all
the nerves & tendons.  It just so hap-
> pened that in Tacoma there's this brilliant microsurgeon who irrigated it
with saline solution for an hour & a half.
> Next day, it was healed.
>
> IN THE PUNK ERA, THE WHO WERE DISMISSED AS DINOSAURS.  WE'RE YOU ANGRY AT
BEING
> LUMPED IN WITH YES & PINK FLOYD, OR DID YOU SEE IT AS A JUSTIFIED
REACTION?
>
> It was justified.  The Who were guiltier than Yes or Pink Floyd in a way,
because we knew what we were doing.
> The Who started the stadium concert experience in '71 or '72.  That's
where the dinosaur-ism came in.  It was
> this lumbering machine that used to go into stadiums, & there was all this
significance about whether or not they'd
> got the right bottle of wine backstage.  Somewhere a long the line,
something happened to get it right.  And what
> happened was punk.
>
> WHAT'S THE BEST BOOK YOU PUBLISHED AS AN EDITOR AT FABER?
>
> More Dark Than Shark by Brian Eno & Russell Mills.  Russell Mills did
illustrations of some of Eno's notebooks,
> which are hilarious.
>
> WHEN YOU GAVE YOUR SPEECH TO THE YOUNG CONSERVATIVES ABOUT HEROIN IN THE
MID-'80'S,
> DID YOU BY ANY CHANCE MEET A YOUNG WILLIAM HAGUE?
>
> No.  I met Norman Fowler & the young John Patten - he was a junior
minister for health.
>
> WHAT MADE YOU COME OFF DRUGS?
>
> I just had to.  I mean, I only got on drugs because I tried to stop
drinking.  My drug journey was really quite un-
> rock'n'roll.  At the end of 1978, somebody introduced me to cocaine.  Like
most people, I didn't actually like it
> very much, but what it did was enable me to drink even more (laughs).  By
the end of 1981, I had a real health
> problem.  I did a recording session with Elton John in Paris, & came back
& went straight to the pub at London
> airport.  I had a pint of Guinness & a large brandy chaser.  And I turned
round to my driver & said, You know,
> it's not fucking working - everybody in here looks like they're
hobgoblins.  My driver said to me, Pete, it's Hall-
> oween night.  I thought, I've got to stop.
>
> HAVE YOU EVER COME CLOSER TO DEATH THAN THE TIME PHIL LYNOTT DRUGGED YOU
UP IN
> A LONDON NIGHTCLUB?
>
> I think that might be stretching it a bit !  I don't know that it was Phil
Lynott (laughs).  I think Phil & I went down
> to do some coke, but there were 5 or 6 other people there.  That's as
close to death as I've ever come - apart
> from being on Concorde when the engine blew up.  I understand it wasn't a
near-death incident at all, but it
> certainly felt like it to Elton John.  When we got down on the ground, I
said to him, It must have been horrible
> for you - some woman up in your cabin was screaming her head off.  He
said, That was me, darling.
>
> LOOKING BACK ON YOUR CAREER WITH THE WHO, WHICH SONG DO WISH YOU HAD NEVER
RE-
> CORDED?
>
> Squeeze Box.  I loved my demo of it, but I find it excrutiating listening
to Roger singing it.
>
> DID YOU CONSIDER QUITTING THE WHO FOLOWING KEITH MOON'S DEATH?
>
> I had quit.  I quit before Keith died.  The band was finished in 1976 as
far as I was concerned.  I wanted to give
> it all up, open a Meher Baba centre & make a film of Lifehouse.  But what
happened was Roger & I started
> writing, we then made Who Are You & Keith came back from Malibu.  I rented
him Harry Nilsson's flat, where
> Mama Cass had died....And six weeks later, Keith died there.
>
> When Keith died, I did a weird turn-around.  I felt the drive to carry on.
I summoned Roger to my studio & said,
> Listen, we've got to go on.  He was shocked - he said, Look, you're not
physically very well - but he agreed &
> we decided to bring in Kenny Jones to replace Keith.  And then, of course,
a couple of albums later, I found
> myself back in the place that I was at before.  I'd thought that the
problem I had with The Who was that Keith
> Moon was falling apart.  It wasn't.  The problem was that I couldn't write
for Roger's voice anymore.  You know,
> if I could sit down & write 6 good songs for Roger Daltrey's voice, there
would be a new WHO album.
>
> (end)
>
>
>
>
>