It's Hard/Siege/Pete

[Jacksonjim@aol.com]

Bernd,  re:

>>>I'm certainly not the best Whostorian around here, but it seems to me like
Pete was only thinking about retiring from the good old loud four-piece Who
[circa IT'S HARD], whereas Roger didn't like much of the songs Pete came up
with because he was still dreaming of the ever-lasting style of the good old
loud four-piece Who.  I think that this contrast - with many of the fans
being on Roger's side - finally marked the end of the creative phase of The
Who.<<<

At the time of IT'S HARD and the tour that went with it, Roger was thinking
of shutting the Who down as a road band because he felt that it was the road
that sent Pete into his drug haze of the early 80s (I hold that there were
several factors that did this, but that's for another post).  Roger's
motivation was perhaps his least selfish in his entire Who career (and I
don't paint Roger as a bad guy since, he's just whining too much)--get the
Who off the road and Townshend will stay clean and alive.  Townshend had
wanted to "retire" the old four-piece Who back after Moonie died (I said
something about this several days ago), but he couldn't fully get it done,
most likely because Roger was unwilling to do so.  By the end of the IH tour,
the Who were no longer a touring band.  Townshend went away to work on the
next Who album as part of their Warner Bros. contract (SIEGE).  I guess he
hit a writer's block and decided he couldn't write for the Who anymore.  Not
only did this mean the end of the Who's creativity, but it meant their end,
period.  I don't think the fans had anything to do with it.  Does Pete pay
attention to what his audience wants? It doesn't seem like it (someone
correct me if I'm wrong and show me where Pete has demonstrated this
concern).

>>>Since then, Pete has followed different paths - the old introspective one
with Chinese Eyes and Psychoderelict as well as a purely descriptive one with
White City and Iron Man.  He tends now towards greater projects - new
presentations
of Tommy, Quadrophenia, perhaps Lifehouse.<<<

I think it's inappropriate to stick CHINESE EYES in with this list since it
was written when there was a Who.  But since the Who's end, Pete has pursued
conceptual albums only.  He's tried some new ideas--WHITE CITY, IRON MAN,
PSYCHOD.  But as many have noted on this list, most of his "greater projects"
are all OLD ideas.  Notice the irony--after ditching the Who he's gone back
to ideas he developed when he was in the Who.  

>>>But I'd really like to see him write some more of these unpretentious
songs in the It's Hard style...  Maybe
I'm just nosy about what The Who would have sounded like if they had
continued to work creatively together :-).<<<

Oh, I think all of us are a little curious about what SIEGE would have
sounded like, or what an 80s Who might have done.  I don't think Jones would
have stuck around anyway--I think Roger would have pressed harder for his
dismissal.  I have to wonder if the Who had simply run its course, that it
was destined to burn out like it did because of its dominant
personalities--Moon and Townshend.  I would like to see Pete return to a more
typical solo album, but I think he's too busy right now and for the next
several years to do that.  I think he realizes he's at the peak of his clout
for staging larger scale productions of his old ideas, so he's got to do it
now before his appeal wanes.

Jim