Pete interview in Sunday's New York Post

["Brian Cady" <cadyb@home.com>]

Here's some good Pete on Lifehouse, the Internet and bootlegging.

TOWNSHEND TELLS ALL ON LOST WHO ALBUM
By DAN AQUILANTE

There are a few little mysteries in rock 'n' roll, and one of the most
curious is Pete Townshend's "Lifehouse" - an album recorded in 1970, then
abandoned, then released last month.
Townshend, 55, The Who's big-nosed, guitar-smashing songsmith, created the
record as a follow-up to his rock opera "Tommy," but ditched it because he
didn't think fans would get it.
The reason? It dealt with Townshend's vision of what he was calling the
grid - an electronic system of home-based communication that linked users
across the globe but relegated them to indoor living.
What we now know as the Web was at the time a far-out, futuristic concept,
and "Lifehouse" was the first response to its consequences.
It's an album in which a hacker hero breaks into the grid and entices people
to leave their homes for a rock concert at a theater called the Lifehouse.
"I saw it all coming," Townshend says, then denies being a visionary. "I
mustn't take credit for it. In college in the 1960s, I took a course in
cybernetic theory taught by Roy Ascot. It was he who gave me my grip on what
the future was."
Townshend, who appeared with his band mates at the PNC Bank Arts Center last
night and will be at the Jones Beach Theater Saturday, spoke with The Post
exclusively about the history of the album, which was finally released -
ironically enough - on the Web.
He said he wanted to put out the record now because "people understand
virtual reality, the Internet and being linked to each other through a grid.
We can now start to reflect on the spiritual consequences of living our
lives as 100 percent couch potatoes.
"The conclusion hasn't been decided. Will people stop reaching out? Will
they stop congregating?"
The grid in "Lifehouse" is akin to an evil empire, yet these days Townshend
doesn't view the Internet as being dastardly.
"I love the Internet because it is a place to share," he says. "On my Web
site, I share my process with those who are interested. I am an art school
boy, and sharing process is part of how I work.
"I do love talking about what I do. In concert, some find it irritating as
hell. All they want is for me to stop talking and pick up the guitar and
play. That's why the Internet is so good for me. I can talk."
"Tommy" was turned into a film and a Broadway musical. Could "Lifehouse"
make a similar transition?
"I have to say 'Lifehouse' doesn't lend itself to the stage," says
Townshend. "It really needs to be a movie because the final scene is a giant
rock concert, and to make it feel real, you need thousands of people."
Though "Lifehouse" wasn't released originally, many of its songs - including
"Won't Get Fooled Again," "Baba O'Riley," "Who Are You" and "Behind Blue
Eyes" - eventually were featured on the band's classic album "Who's Next."
Still, Townshend says there is some music on "Lifehouse" that is unknown to
the public.
"Hopefully, there are songs that will be completely new, but a lot of the
fans will have heard most of the stuff because I've been so heavily
bootlegged in this area."
Townshend is one of the few rockers who avidly supports bootlegging.
"I'd like to see it proliferate unchecked," he says. "If we don't, we may
allow something wonderful to be nipped in the bud."
Isn't he angered by lost sales?
"As an artist, what I think is important is that people listen to your work,
and if you are properly rewarded for it, that's the bonus."

        -Brian in Atlanta
         The Who This Month!
        http://members.home.net/cadyb/who.htm