Roger interview in Friday's New York Post

[Brian Cady <cadyb@home.com>]

Available online at:
http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/7065.htm

DALTREY'S JOYFUL VOICE
 
By DAN AQUILANTE 

ALONG with the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, The Who completed the
great trinity of British rock.The band first appealed to the Mods, a
youth culture reaction to grungy Rockers who reveled in motorcycles and
old-time rock 'n' roll. 
The well-behaved Mods dressed foppishly, held jobs and gobbled drugs. 
Each member of The Who had a distinctive personality as a stylistic
innovator. There was Pete Townshend, an angry young man with a gift for
writing pleasant pop ditties who soon matured into the composer of
"Tommy" and "Quadrophenia." 
His frenetic blur-guitar rhythms have been likened to electric flamenco.
The late Keith Moon (who died in '78 from a drug overdose) developed the
rolling thunder drum style that is still very much a part of rock. 
Bassist John Entwistle transformed the traditional role of the bass from
rhythm into the unexplored realm of melody from the bottom up. 
Roger Daltrey completed the band. He was and remains, at 56, the voice
of The Who, the man who interprets the music of Pete Townshend with
operatic majesty and macho swagger. 
In an exclusive interview with The Post before The Who concerts at the
PNC Bank Arts Center tomorrow and Jones Beach next Saturday, Daltrey
talked about smash hits, smashed guitars and trashed hotel rooms. 
Daltrey's promising one hell of a show. "The band is in its best format
- bass, drums, keyboard and Pete playing electric guitar, the way only
he can play it," he says. "It's raw. It's exciting." 

Post: "My Generation," which you first sang in 1965, remains one of the
most popular Who songs. What was behind your singing it with a stutter? 

Daltrey: In those days, the Mods used to take an amphetamine called
Purple Hearts. And when they were speeding on these things, it would
make them stutter. So I did the stutter in recognition of that ... also,
I do have a bit of a stutter myself, so it was also quite a natural
thing for me to do. 

Post: You are no longer an angst-ridden youth. Is it difficult to sing
the same songs? 

Daltrey: That's one of the interesting things about Townshend's writing
- the songs were never just for kids. They do address problems of
adolescents, but they were written with such courage and honesty they
have the power to affect all ages. I never cease finding new emotions to
sing these songs with. It is always a new journey every time I go into
one of his songs. 

Post: As The Who's voice, what task was hardest to master? 

Daltrey: Basically, finding a proper voice to sing Townshend's songs.
When we started, we were doing Chicago blues. I just didn't know how to
sing this new, incredible material being presented to me. Really, it
took me five years to find that voice. 

Post: Is that voice better or worse for the years? 

Daltrey: Hopefully, it's getting better. I've done light operas,
children's theater, all different kinds of things outside of rock 'n'
roll. I take some projects on just to sing, because if you stop singing,
the voice disappears on you. 

Post: Why was a live double disc of your latest album, "The Blues to the
Bush," released on the Internet? 

Daltrey: It is another market, and I think bands - even The Who - need
all the help they can get, because it is really difficult to be noticed
out there. 

Post: What about all The Who music being used in commercials? 

Daltrey: To me, this is another way for people to hear our music. If you
hear "My Generation" set to a car commercial, I expect you'll buy the
record before you buy the car. In the end, you'll probably remember the
music, and not the brand of car. 

Post: After Johnny Depp smashed up a hotel room in 1994, you said, "On a
scale of one to 10, I give him a two because it took him so bloody long.
The Who could have done the job in a minute." 

Could you guys really smash a hotel room in a minute? 

Daltrey: Keith Moon was responsible for redecorating all of the
Ritz-Carlton. Unlike what you might have read, hotel managers loved
Keith Moon. 

Post: Why? 

Daltrey: Previous to the band arriving, the manager would decide which
suite he'd like redecorated. Then they give that suite to Mr. Moon, who
would promptly and totally destroy it. Then he'd pay for the damage in
cash, the manager would pocket the money and then contact the insurers.
Hotels always welcomed The Who with open arms. 

Post: Did it take you by surprise when Townshend smashed his first
guitar on stage? 

Daltrey: It took us all by surprise. We were playing in a cellar club
with a very low ceiling, on a stage made of beer crates. 

Pete was playing his guitar, holding it parallel to his body, striking
across the strings, and suddenly he hit the head of the guitar on the
ceiling and it accidentally snapped the top of the [guitar's] neck off.
The guitar was completely useless. He went into a complete rage and the
crowd was dumb struck. They stared with open mouths at us. 

The more Pete smashed the guitar, the more they cheered. It was
incredible, not only the act of smashing it, but the noises the guitar
made as he destroyed it. It was like an animal being sacrificed. It was
extraordinary. And it all started as a complete accident that became a
rock tradition. 

Post: A couple of years ago, Eddie Vedder sang with Pete Townshend. How
do you rate him? 

Daltrey: Eddie Vedder is brilliant, he's a phenomenally great singer and
I think he interprets Pete as well as I do - if not better. 

Post: You really feel that way? 

Daltrey: I never liked the sound of my voice. 
 
        -Brian in Atlanta
         The Who This Month!
         http://members.home.net/cadyb/who.htm