Re: Roger Interview is Sweet?? Because

[Joe Lewinski <lewinski@xxxxxxxxxx>]

> At 09:53 PM 12/11/2002 -0800, you wrote:
> Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 13:17:15 -0500
> From: "O'Neal, Kevin W." <Kevin.ONeal@vtmednet.org>
> Subject: Roger Interview is Sweet ??
>
> Ok,
> I understand that the recent Roger Interview that Matt put up on the Who 
> section of Pete's site is actually a video.
> Can someone share with us who can't view this what the content was?
> Why was is "sweet"??
>
> "A little help!"
>
> Kevin in VT
I'm on digest so I don't know if somebody responded to this yet.  But
here it goes.

The interview is in quicktime format [many thanks here - Real media is
such a pain in the ass].

It is a lengthy interview and Roger is very articulate and relaxed.  I've
seen and heard him before and I like that he speaks from the heart,
but sometimes he says things that are cliche followed by an uncomfortable
laugh seemingly because he is unable to elaborate.   Not this time.
He is on

They discussed the release of the Ultimate Collection in the UK and how
he is the only one left to do the publicity.  He did about 2 weeks of 
interviews
and caught himself before he started to complain about interviews :0

Roger will be hosting a special on the History Channel on the Lewis and
Expedition.   He had to eat Buffalo and said he hated it.

On the Ultimate Collection:  The sales are very strong and Roger is pleased
at the quality and that the record companies do this kind of thing so that they
can stay in the public eye and perhaps gain a new audience.  He is also
pleased that they have released a good cross-section of their material that
makes use of the original masters, and makes previous releases [on vinyl and
cassettes and  CDs] sound like you've been listening to the Who through
blankets.   The new sound is amazing.    He is frustrated by the mainstream
press calling these releases as rehashings.

On John:     How he misses John very much and loved him deeply..
and..     " [John] He came into my life as my neighbor,  he became my friend,
and he died as my brother."    He lived every minute in an unconditional
supporter of this band.  The way he went through life is not his [Roger's]
choice.

On the future of The Who:  [This is all paraphrasing most is unquoted
and moves from first, second to third person cause after all it's fucking
4:02 AM ]

He says that Pete will write or say something one day and contradict it the
next day, so he takes what Pete says or writes with a grain of salt.   He is
standing by.

He explained that he feels that it is a shame
that Rock is thought of by the general population as a young person's
game.  When in other musical genres you can write songs about all
aspects and stages of life [adolecance, falling in love,  divorce, getting old
and dying] and it is generally accepted by any and all
performers regardless of age.   In Rock it is much different.   He feels
that nobody is better equipped to write about the insecurities of life
in subtle and compelling ways than Pete Townshend.   The words he
uses was " There are very, very few writers of quality, courage and intellect
that can put it down into music and keep it rock and roll because the problems
are just different.   And the only guy out there can do it for me is Pete 
Townshend. "

Dylan does this in more country or folk and traditional ways.
  "The only guy that can actually do it is Pete.... If John Lennon were 
alive,
he'd do it"

"Maybe Springsteen - and I love you Bruce...."
is one of the only ones as well, but it will be a different way.

The tour:  The shows were the easiest part of the day.   It took away all
of the pain temporarily.   The tour proved to him that the music transcends
the band.   He mentioned that the last leg of the tour sold out after John's
death.

The talked about whether they knew about John's condition before
he died.   The British press reported this.   Roger says that this has been
totally misquotes.   that they knew he had high blood pressure but if
he had an ECG he'd still be alive today.

Future Who:     He hasn't got a plan for the future of the band.
If it were up to him they'd go into a studio and see what comes together.
He'd record everything they've got and see what's good.  If in the end
the stuff that's leftover that we don't select as Who releases and
 [Pete] wants to call it a Pete Townshend release great.    I mean..Who 
cares!"
[ Do I see an album title here?  ]

He was generally encouraged by the song *Good Looking Boy*, I believe
that's what Pete's song was called.   Before John died and they were
rehearsing some new songs, Pete wanted to run through this with the
band even though the lyrics where not finished.   Roger didn't want to
sing it because according to him if he does the lyrics one way they
get fixed in his head and he can't change them to the corrected ones.
So Pete sang it on this occasion [Remember Ox was still alive at this point].

When the lyrics were completed after John's funeral they were going
to run through it again
but Pete had a schedule conflict so there was another rehearsal that
Pete did not attend and Roger did the vocals this time.   He went on about
how he doesn't understand why, but when He sings the songs, something
dramatic changes about them.   He said it's the same song and the same
melody but it is a totally different animal.   It's not magic,  but there's 
something
there that changes it dramatically.   He referred to it as a gift, looked up at
the ceiling and thanked whoever gave it to him.  He did not want to go
into the whys and wherefores about why a Pete vocal is very different
than a Roger vocal [ I could tell him ].

He said that Pete and him are very close now and have been since the
Quadrophenia tour.

He said that he knows that Pete is a different person on and off the stage,
and loves to see his good friend on stage doing things that he obviously
enjoys tremendously.   He's known Pete since he was 15, and he sees
a part of Pete that is alive only on stage.   He said that he [Roger] is 
completely different off stage and when he's on stage that part of him is 
only alive there.

My question is who is the good looking boy?  Roger?  Pete?  Joseph
Townshend?   Certainly not John if Pete saw that picture that BBC news
photo of John that they are using lately.  :(

I really hope I get to hear both versions of these songs before I die [no
immediate plans for this either]

Sorry about the poor excuse for a transcription.  I hope you can get some
enjoyment from it.

Joe in Philly

"Please excuse the crudeness of my model, it's not painted or to scale"
                -  Dr. Emmit Brown - Back to the Future