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Roger Daltrey: Whats Next?
 
The Who take to the road again. Roger Daltrey tells
why.
 
by Dave Hall

Theyve said goodbye countless times, but sure looks
like the members of the Who are sticking it out
together. Not only are they bringing timeless anthems
like My Generation and Wont Get Fooled Again to
arenas this summer, theyre actually hinting about
recording a new album. Lead singer Roger Daltrey told
VH1 about hitting the road again, confronting middle
age as a rocker, and why sex is important for a good
marriage and a good performance.

VH1: The Whos performance was definitely one of the
highlights of the Concert for New York. Was that why
you decided to tour again?

Roger Daltrey: I felt incredibly humble to be
performing for that audience, but it wasnt the reason
we got back together. The problem I have at my age, as
a singer, is stopping. Voices arent like guitar
strings. You cant change them, so I have to keep
going, keep it in action. I had a meeting with Pete
[Townshend] and said, Look, I cant have another year
off, because there I wont have a voice left at the
end of it. Can we do 20 or 30 gigs somewhere?
Anywhere? Pete very kindly decided to do these gigs
that were doing. It will get me in good condition for
this album I hope we come up with.

VH1: It's been 20 years since the release of Its
Hard. Are you excited to be doing another Who album?

Daltrey: Very excited. Its always frustrated me that
Pete wrote so articulately about the problems of
adolescence, but was dry about middle age. Music
should be about all the facets of your life, because
your emotions change as you get older. For instance,
you learn that anger and negativity turn into
something else. When I got angry as a youngster,
thered be a fistfight. Something would be thrown at a
wall. That doesnt happen any more, though I get just
as passionate. In some ways the problems of middle age
are more interesting. Its very black and white when
youre adolescent. Middle age is much more intricate.

VH1: So are you hoping to write about getting older?

Daltrey: Im not hoping for anything! Im going to
enjoy the process of being with the boys, throwing
stuff around, trying to come up with ideas. Well be
writing stuff, even if theyre only ideas for songs
about how you feel right now.

VH1: You guys are touring. So are the Rolling Stones
and Paul McCartney. Why now?

Daltrey: After 9-11, I had a feeling that people would
want songs again. The whole world is feeling
incredibly insecure. The one beauty about music is
that its universal and a song can really get inside
you. People need songs at the moment. Thats why the
bands that create songs are doing better now than
ever.

VH1: Whats your definition of a rock star?

Daltrey: The definition of a rock star for me was
Elvis Presley, but Im not willing to be the kind of
star that Elvis became. I just wanted to be a rock n
roll singer. I wanted to be a real person. To be a
rock star, you have a huge entourage and bodyguards.
Im not prepared for all that shit. I dont want to
give up that part of my life. Bob Dylans a huge star.
He travels around on his own and stays in bed and
breakfasts. Its amazing! Thats how I would like to
be. I wanted to be a rock star at first, because at
the time rock n roll was breaking the mold. But then
it formed its own mold, and people were copying the
copies of the copies of the copies. I thought, This
is madness. Its not really what its all about. I
always deliberately fight against the current trend.
If leather jackets came in, I bought a tweed suit. I
dont know if anyone ever got it, but thats how I
felt. I dont what a rock star is. Probably a complete
bloody idiot!

VH1: Some say the hardest thing about being a rock
star is maintaining a marriage. Youve had a fairly
successful relationship as far as the rock world is
concerned. How do you keep it together?

Daltrey: My marriage is successful because 1) I was
very lucky in finding the right woman and 2) I was
very honest about who I was and what my job was when I
married her. The only reason to get married is to have
children. She wanted to have children. I thought,
Ill marry you. But you know what job Im in. Dont
ask me to be a good boy, because Im out there in a
rock n roll band, and Im going to be doing it." If
youre honest, you can keep anything together. You
have to fight for it, though. People give up too easy
these days! We also have great sex, which helps.

VH1: Why have the Who endured for so long?

Daltrey: The foremost reason is the fact that weve
got all those wonderful Pete Townshend songs to play.
Theyre timeless. Secondly, we can still deliver it
well. If that starts to wane, we will stop. I often
wonder why it all happened this way. There must be a
big answer, but I havent got it. When is it going to
finish? Who knows? I still think our best work is in
front of us. Ive always felt that. When Pete said,
Its Hard is our final record, in 1982, I thought,
I dont know about that. Ive always felt our best
work could come now.

VH1: Is there a certain sexual charge you feel onstage
singing for people?

Daltrey: Yeah. Its the best drug you can ever have.
It totally takes you over. You feel like you can do
superhuman things. Its incredibly sexual. Ive always
tried to dramatize the lyrics, so I live those words
every night I sing them. If I dont do that, Ive
failed. With Townshends songs, you cant cheat.
Thats why the energy stays up, because the songs are
about subjects that just demand that. If you cant
deliver it, theyll fall as flat as a pancake.

VH1: So maybe that's why youve lasted: Because of the
energy behind the performances and songs.

Daltrey: They are two of the reasons. The other reason
is that we have remained touchable, which was quite
obvious in the 9-11 show, when you looked at the faces
of those firemen. We were them, up there doing it for
them. Everybody wants that. They want to feel, Yeah,
I can do that. Thats how we are.


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-Brian in Atlanta
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