Pete diary entry

["Jeff House" <whocasa@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

http://www.petetownshend.co.uk/diary/display.cfm?id=15&zone=diary

14 June 2002
020614 PT diary

Back to Diary Dates
 Rehearsals are going very well. We are working at my recently revived 
Oceanic studios in West London, and using simplified and modernised video 
equipment to tape the sessions. Matt Kent has already managed to post a few 
segments on the www.petetownshend.com website. I put the video rig together 
when I should have been sailing in France for a 12 day break prior to work, 
but I enjoyed fiddling around in the studio almost as much. Matt has been 
directing and cutting the footage, with a video team including my daughter 
Minta as floor manager. The sound is being delivered via my funky old 
Focusite desk manned by Lincoln Fong with the help of Bobby Pridden of 
course.

It's been a good week so far with just two more days to go. On Saturday we 
are performing and taping for our sponsors JBL. It will be like a proper 
show I think. Part of it may appear as our final posting on the website. I 
have to say that we could hardly ask for more appropriate sponsors. We in 
The Who as a band and as individuals have been using JBL products since we 
first bought decent equipment, both on the road and in studios. Now a lot of 
what they make is for use in cars and at home. Their professional products 
are still a big part of my life.

We broke through a great barrier yesterday when we played Roger's lovely new 
song Certified Rose. It is a ballad. He has written a lot of rockers, but 
this is the one I personally loved the most. It reminds me very much of some 
of the more tender songs written by my old friend the late Ronnie Lane of 
The Faces. I look forward to playing it live. Today I hope we can scrub the 
edges of a song I wrote in 95 about Elvis called Good Looking Boy. Wouldn't 
it be great if some future Who album had the comfortable and solid feel of 
Rough Mix?

I am excited about the website going back up right now, we are holding our 
breath on the reintroduction of the chatroom which is unmoderated. It is 
growing very fast indeed. Matt Kent and Andy Neill's book is going on sale 
at such a perfect time too. It's a really good book, I didn't expect it to 
be so colourful and to contain so many good - but unseen - photos. But what 
is most gratifying for us is that our new collection The Who Ultimate 
Collection is exceeding all expectations for initial sales. I thought 
everyone who loved The Who would have consumed it all by now, but this has 
perhaps been partly a measure of loyalty from old and new fans. It is really 
a buzz for us.

At our last show at the Albert Hall earlier this year, while I was 
pretending for a minute to be off my head on drugs I fell over a wobbly 
front stage monitor. I landed in the front rows like a demented Bono and 
tried to continue to play my guitar, with the help of people around me. 
Apparently, I hurt a few people when I fell, happily not seriously. But as I 
decided then to rush around the stage swearing like some lunatic (though I 
was delighted with the incident really) some of those hurt got the 
impression I was really angry in some way. I wasn't. I will stop pretending 
to be drunk from now on I promise. I'm sorry too I didn't hear about what 
happened until well after the event. I really had no idea it has affected 
anyone badly.

I'm tired. I haven't had a proper holiday since last year and it is entirely 
my own fault. But I have had plenty of short breaks. You then see how 
high-class my 'problems' are. One break recently in France saw me working 
with my new sailing crew for a series of races on the Cote d'Azur. A few 
years ago I sold my old classic boat Pazienza because, after nine years of 
restoration, I thought I was over it all. Recently I decided that even if I 
was short of time, I wanted to be a part of the racing scene again.

My racing manager Tim Dewhurst (from Cornwall) is very competitive. He and I 
started a small syndicate in Cornwall over the past three years that raced 
J24s. Four of us Cornwall locals had shares in one of these fast, but quite 
modest racing yachts. There is a large fleet now where we raced in Falmouth 
in Cornwall. We did incredibly well. I expect they're all glad to see the 
back of us. I have a trophy cupboard stuffed to the limit with cups. The new 
boat is bigger, and we are back in the world of expensive and cherished 
massive classic yachts and modern pseudo classics (like mine), racing 
against people with lots of money, and project boats with commercial 
investment behind them. They are determined not to lose in the long run. I'm 
happy to say we - rather my crew, because I was back here rehearsing by the 
time they actually raced - came first in their very first race in my new 
boat Zephyr.

The tour schedule this year is not arduous. I will get plenty of time to 
relax, and time to spend on the water with my friends and family - which is 
my favourite way to settle my head. I look forward to playing this year. My 
brother Simon has done exactly what we asked him to do, extended the scope 
of material we can play and our list is now just about as powerful musically 
as it ever could be. With a couple of brand new songs in the list, not 
pretending to be hits, but rather showing that we are still creative in our 
own unique way, I believe there will be something surprising and special for 
everyone who comes to see us this year.

Salutations

Pete Townshend





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