Who is joseph townshend?

["Gandalf the White" <gandalf_w@xxxxxxx>]

Who`s Joseph Townshend, Joe?
Just curious.
Helen.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joe Lewinski" <lewinski@icanon.com>
To: <TheWho@igtc.com>
Sent: Thursday, December 12, 2002 12:56 PM
Subject: Re: Roger Interview is Sweet?? Because


> > 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