RE: Scott n Nigel n Buck n The Who

["Nigel Morton" <nigel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks to all who remarked about my distaste to a Scott Schrade posting and
also to Scott himself for taking the time to post further after he'd seen my
comments.  Yep, I care when anyone get's into slagging off a creative person
and perhaps I care too much when the person getting dumped on is someone
like Townshend.  I care because he is as fickle as fuck at the best of
times; I care because I'm pretty damn sure that PT, or appointed minions, do
from time to time take a look to see what us "fanatics" are writing about
him and or The Who and if some of the postings are just slagging you off for
not being able to repeat what you did 30+ years ago then all the more reason
NOT to bother this time around.  Personally, I want to hear NEW Who material
be it on an album or live and I'd rather a more encouraging stance were
being projected from this group than, what it seems like, the constant
berating and belittling of PT and or the Who.

Sarcasm certainly has a place in here and in what we do generally but I'm
afraid that I didn't read Scott's posting as being that!  I read it as
someone who was saying...you can't do it and when you've tried in the past
twenty odd years it has been utter wank!  That, too me, isn't encouragement
at all.  It must be pretty fucking tough to sit down to write when you know
whatever you succeed in doing will be held up and compared with something
you did 30 - 40 years ago!  That is what'll happen in the media anyway so
why should we as his and their supporters be starting to do it even before
anything is heard?  Unfortunately this is how we as a society judge people
of their achievements, they're only as good as their last hit!  This is
especially galling, I'm sure, for many, many talented individuals.  How
would any of us like to judged on something we did when we were at school or
when we were first starting out on the road of life?

Townshend strikes me as someone who is more than capable of being too self
critical and I think the last thing that'd help him overcome that is the
knowledge that we're doubting him before he's even really started.  It has
taken me something like 20 years to find more than a couple of decent tracks
on the last two official "new" Who albums - Face Dances and It's Hard.  When
these were released I really felt betrayed by PT and by The Who for
releasing what I considered, then, to be really sub-standard material when
measured against their brilliant previous selections i.e Sell Out; Tommy;
Who's Next'; Quadrophenia etc, etc.  But, now (and in part due to the
passionate views displayed by some on this and other internet Who lists) I
have re-assessed both albums and while I cannot say that I am now of the
opinion that FD and IH are the best things they've released I have now
"discovered" that there's more to them than just a couple of decent tracks.
What PT is writing about on these albums are his experiences at that time of
his life; his reflections on where he was at after living his life to that
point.  Personally, I really look forward to seeing and hearing what he's
going to write about.............9/11; Damilola Taylor; New Labour and spin
doctors; his divorce and subsequent new relationship; parenthood as a 50+
year old; it is anybodies guess.  But, for fucks sake can we please
encourage him NOT to retreat back into his shell?

I've no problem with anyone voicing their opinions and I am not advocating
that the only way to be a true fan is to be unable to criticise.  What I am
saying, perhaps warning against, is that these idols can and do react and I
wouldn't want the remarks of someone here being the excuse then voiced in
days / years to come by the idol(s) for why they never tried to write and
performing something that could replace an element of their own history!  We
would be the ones who lose, not him and not them, as all we'll have is what
we've already got and no more.............  After seeing two of their UK
shows this year I personally believe that there's more "life and spirit"
within the Who at the moment than there has been for the past twenty years!
So, let's not quash that, please.  I don't believe that Townshend assumes
how his art affects us, I believe he knows because he is the one standing on
the stage and can see our reactions as he and they perform their material
for us.  If he can't, then he is denying our responsibility as fans, he is
removing from us our precious memories of what The Who have done to us, as
individuals, since we started listening to them.