Pete's diary 3 June 2006 - Saturday Night's All Right

[Imonecmw at aol.com]

A few people who know how to get email to me have reached out offering help.  
I didn't mean to cry wolf - I have been so upbeat for so long. I am still  
upbeat, and looking forward to the shows. Nick Goderson who I wrote about  
yesterday is in fact well on his way to recovery, and yesterday I met with my  
financial team and we put some measures in place that will ensure the company  
runs smoothly while he gets well. This is something I should have done sooner. I  
was an hour late for rehearsal as a result. 
The second day of rehearsal was better for me, I was very tired on day one. A 
 last minute family commitment for Roger has meant he pulled out of today's  
rehearsal so we cancelled - maybe he got a weather forecast (this has been the 
 most stunning day in the South of England). 
My partner Rachel and I are both having to struggle through complex business  
problems and personal stuff too - friends who are falling by the wayside that 
we  cannot help (because we are busy), really tricky staff problems and a 
building  sense of awe, frustration and excitement as the tour approaches. I 
don't usually  get so wound up about performing, but this is the first time for 24 
years that  I've produced a record just prior to the tour and I'm reminded 
how chaotic it  can make the whole business feel. So many events all coming 
together at almost  the same moment. 
Both Rachel and I walk into the coming year with new music - she has an EP of 
 five wonderful songs (one we wrote together) coming out mid June, and the 
Who  have their own EP-single coming out around the same time. This is always a 
tense  moment: will people like it? Will it get radio or TV? Will the reviews 
be OK or  snide? Should we give a f**k? But it's great to have new music to 
sell on CD,  carry, talk about, play live and offer for download. 
I have had a very cool idea for how to launch our new record using the web.  
If we can pull it off it will entirely change the way the music industry  
operates. As I said in my article in the Music Week Who tribute a few weeks ago  - 
it is a cunning plan. If you are a Russian or Chinese internet music seller,  
or a bootlegger, and you are refusing to pay a share of what you charge your  
customers to the artists who made the music - my cunning plan will ruin your  
year.