Quote of the Day (Pete Townshend, on the Ultimate Optimism of ‘Tommy’)

“I don’t want it to feel as though I think ‘Tommy’ needs to be treated only seriously. It has lightheartedness and joy. It has the idea that whether you’re an abused child or a healthy child, we prevail ultimately, by turning toward the light. That’s simplistic but it’s also powerful, particularly when set to music.”—Rock ‘n’ roll songwriter and The Who guitarist Pete Townshend, on the upcoming revival of his “rock opera” “Tommy,” quoted by Rob Tannenbaum, “Talking to a New Generation,” The New York Times, Mar. 24, 2024

It will be interesting to see the reviews following “Tommy”’s opening tonight at the Nederlander Theatre. But, however it’s received, the music’s place in rock ‘n’ roll history is secure.

The original LP’s release in 1969 climaxed a decade of increasing ambition and sophistication for rock ‘n’ roll, and pointed the way forward to how the concept album could become, as a November 2020 Spin Magazine article put it, “the first album to successfully blend exceptional storytelling with advanced production.”

Moreover, it was prescient in examining the cult of celebrity, and spiritual striving in an age of cultural fracture.

Quote of the Day (Pete Townshend, on What Rock ‘n’ Roll ‘Failed to Finish’)

“Rock ’n’ roll was a celebration of congregation. A celebration of irresponsibility. But we don’t have the brains to answer the question of what it was that rock ’n’ roll tried to start and has failed to finish. Neither do our journalistic colleagues, no matter how smart they think they are…That postwar vacuum that we tried to fill — we did fill it for a while, but then we realized it was fizzling out. The art proposed the questions without offering solutions. So what the Who are doing at the moment — we’ve made a good album [WHO]. I hope it’ll do O.K. I don’t need it. Nobody needs it. Some of the subjects of the songs are quite deep, but they’re not as brave as ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again,’ which is saying: ‘[Expletive] off. I’m going to solve this problem with my guitar and my singer with long, golden hair and a big [expletive].’”—Rock ‘n’ roll guitarist and singer—songwriter Pete Townshend, quoted in David Marchese, “Talk: The Who’s Pete Townshend Grapples With Rock’s Legacy, and His Own Dark Past,” The New York Times Magazine, Dec. 1, 2019

This quote is interesting in itself, but it’s also a good way for me to touch on, briefly, what I should have mentioned already earlier this year: the 50^th anniversary of the band’s masterful album, Who’s Next.

In this link, blogger Bobby Owsinski— producer/engineer, author and coach—posts about a video of producer/engineer Glyn Johns talking about the recording of that LP.

Quote of the Day (Pete Townshend, on ‘Eccentric’ But ‘Fluid’ Keith Moon)

“Keith was an eccentric player, and seemed to be showing off all the time, pointing his sticks up in the air and leaning over the drums with his face thrust forward as if to be nearer the front of stage. But he was loud and strong. Slowly too we realized that his fluid style hid a real talent for listening and following, rather than just laying down a beat."— Pete Townshend, on how Keith Moon’s 1964 entrance into The Who transformed the band, in Who I Am: A Memoir (2012)

Keith Moon, The Who’s drummer in its prime—and, as more than one account of the band will tell you, its lord of misrule—was born 70 years ago today in Wembley, England. His antics would land on every short list of rock ‘n’ roll excess, and, of course, it all caught up with him at age 32, when he died of an accidental prescription drug overdose.

However, although the wild aspects of Moon’s life hold obvious storytelling appeal (e.g., Rolling Stone’s ranking of “Keith Moon’s 10 Wildest Pranks”), I’m not going to repeat them here. Any college frat-boy can go on a spree like his, but that doesn’t warrant awe or admiration.

Fans think of Moon—no, celebrate him—to this day because of his theatrical, galvanizing performances. Instead of reading about his wildest pranks, try the “Top 10 Keith Moon Who Songs” compiled by Ultimate Classic Rock—from Quadrophenia’s “Bell Boy” to “A Quick One While He’s Away” (from the 1979 documentary The Kids Are Alright).

Quote of the Day (Pete Townshend, on the ‘Hard Ride’ of The Who)

“Prior to Quadrophenia and [manager] Bill Curbishley's arrival, there was such chaos. The price that we all paid was incredibly high, and for me, when I look at touring now, whether it's with the Who or on my own — we had a hard ride. That's why I left the band in '82. When [drummer] Keith [Moon] died, I tried to continue for a while. If you look at images and film of me onstage in 1978 and 1979, I'm f-g angry all the time. I'm stomping about, I'm sneering. I'm playing guitar solos in which I only play one note for 15 minutes. It's punky and it's cynical and it's tough to see.

“I'm in a better place now.”— Pete Townshend, guitarist and songwriter for The Who, quoted in Andy Greene, “Who's Done? Pete Townshend's Ambivalent Farewell,” Rolling Stone, Apr. 23, 2015

Happy 70^th birthday to Pete Townshend, who, by this time, is probably sick of people throwing up to him what must have seemed at the time a throwaway line from “My Generation”: “Hope I die before I get old.”  It’s just the type of stupid thing that one would say or write at age 20. 

Surely, nobody would want to miss, even at a comparatively advanced age, an opportunity to experience love, to make sure children are well-launched in life—and to give lifelong fans one more chance to witness stellar musicianship, as Townshend and Roger Daltrey are doing now in what is being billed as the last major tour of The Who.

Song Lyric of the Day (The Who, on the Joys of “Going Mobile”)

“Out in the woods
Or in the city
It's all the same to me
When I'm driving free, the world's my home
When I'm mobile.”—“Going Mobile,” written and composed by Pete Townshend, performed by The Who from their Who’s Next LP (1971)

Song Lyric of the Day (Pete Townshend, on Old Age)

“I hope I die before I get old.”—“My Generation,” performed by The Who, written by Pete Townshend, from the My Generation LP (1965)

Too late, Pete Townshend. You turn 65 today. You’re now part of what you shuddered at years ago as a rebellious youth.

Well, think of it this way: Despite some infirmities, you’re still very much what might be thought of as an active adult. And old age is better than the alternative.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot--happy birthday!