Pete Townshend
Birthday: 19 May 1945, London, England, UK
Birth Name: Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend
Height: 183 cm
Born in Chiswick, London just ten days after the German surrender in 1945, Townshend grows up in a typical middle-class home. His parents, Cliff and Betty Townshend, are both musicians, and as a child ...Show More
Was I amused by the idea of "Rough Boys" as a "coming out" song? I've never hidden my sexual liberal Show more
Was I amused by the idea of "Rough Boys" as a "coming out" song? I've never hidden my sexual liberalism and I may even have played along sometimes, to the extent that there's an irony in inviting a snotty punk in a leather jacket and a dog collar to kiss you because you've mistaken them for The Village People. But the first time I saw that kind of punk outfit was probably in the aggressive early gay clubs of New York. If I was in those clubs it would be with gay friends, usually with a girl in tow. I got knobbled a few times in gay situations and have never regretted it. I'm heterosexual but I've never really made a big deal out of it. I'm not Jack Nicholson. He won't even hug another man. Hide
I felt that The Who had ended because we'd lost touch with our original Shepherd's Bush audience. We Show more
I felt that The Who had ended because we'd lost touch with our original Shepherd's Bush audience. We were making good tracks--like "Eminence Front" on "It's Hard" and "You Better You Bet" on "Face Dances"--but they were more to do with the decadence of the rock world than our old crowd. Hide
[on his devotion to charity work] I needed to give back, give back, give back. I felt guilty about m Show more
[on his devotion to charity work] I needed to give back, give back, give back. I felt guilty about my success. I felt uncomfortable about how easily I had been delivered this extraordinary life that I had. I have to admit that at 66 years old, of all the things I have achieved in my life, I am most proud of the work I have done - mostly behind the scenes - to help establish and run innovative systems of rehabilitation and support for what society tends to see as its human failures. Hide
[1979, at the Cannes Film Festival in 1979] We're on the brink of something new. It will be similar Show more
[1979, at the Cannes Film Festival in 1979] We're on the brink of something new. It will be similar to the invention of the American musical in the '30s. There will be a conceptualized, musical-video product and everyone's waiting for the first "Sergeant Pepper", if you like, on video-disc. The contemporary musical form is about to be discovered. Hide
The bad part about growing older is I'm going bald. The good part is my nose seems to be getting sho Show more
The bad part about growing older is I'm going bald. The good part is my nose seems to be getting shorter. Hide
The Kinks were much more quintessentially English. I always think that Ray Davies should one day be Show more
The Kinks were much more quintessentially English. I always think that Ray Davies should one day be Poet Laureate. He invented a new kind of poetry and a new kind of language for Pop writing that influenced me from the very, very, very beginning. Hide
Years ago I admitted to managing to save my marriage by the occasional use of pornography on the roa Show more
Years ago I admitted to managing to save my marriage by the occasional use of pornography on the road, particularly if I was feeling emotionally vulnerable. Pornography would be a way of surviving on the oil rig of the rock'n'roll world. Hide
David Bowie had heard a lot of my demos and was very encouraging. He loved the William S. Burroughs Show more
David Bowie had heard a lot of my demos and was very encouraging. He loved the William S. Burroughs 'cut-up' techniques and liked the fact I was using words for words' sake. Hide
[about Lynyrd Skynyrd, who were opening for The Who on a tour in the early '70s] They're really quit Show more
[about Lynyrd Skynyrd, who were opening for The Who on a tour in the early '70s] They're really quite good, aren't they? Hide
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) has done a lot of damage to the image of swinging Show more
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997) has done a lot of damage to the image of swinging London, parodying what had already been parodied by lazy American newsreels over the years...It was a vital rebellion. Everything was turned on its head. Girls looked like boys, boys wore eyeliner and danced alone or in pairs like girls. Today we are facing something of the same kind of upheaval. Hide
"The Who By Numbers" is high on [Roger Daltrey's] list of best-ever [The Who] records. He was a real Show more
"The Who By Numbers" is high on [Roger Daltrey's] list of best-ever [The Who] records. He was a real editor on it. I delivered 35 demos and he chose the tracks we'd include. Hide
There's a sense of being in front of a bunch of fans who really want to see you fight on stage, or s Show more
There's a sense of being in front of a bunch of fans who really want to see you fight on stage, or scowl at each other, or die. They want to be there when you die. I don't like fans really. But that's because they're my employer--I don't like the boss. I feel much happier about the record company giving me a load of money to piss away rather than someone coming up to me in the street saying, "I saw you in blah, blah, blah and you were really great--when are you going to do another tour?" Of course, without them I wouldn't exist. Hide
It was very interesting to hear the Rolling Stone review of The Who show at Barclays in Brooklyn. Th Show more
It was very interesting to hear the Rolling Stone review of The Who show at Barclays in Brooklyn. The review said "Quadrophenia" was terrific done Roger Daltrey's way, freed from Townshend's overthinking. What made it sting a little is that I know that it's true. I do overthink. Hide
"Who's Next" is a great record, but it's a compromise. It could have been greater if people's attent Show more
"Who's Next" is a great record, but it's a compromise. It could have been greater if people's attention span was longer and if vinyl allowed more time. Hide
[1966 interview in "Melody Maker" magazine] Keith Moon used to be lots of fun. Unfortunately, he's t Show more
[1966 interview in "Melody Maker" magazine] Keith Moon used to be lots of fun. Unfortunately, he's turning into a little old man. He used to be young and unaffected by pop music, but now he is obsessed with money. Hide
[11/20/75 in Houston, Texas, just before The Who's US tour] I've stopped drinking and I haven't lost Show more
[11/20/75 in Houston, Texas, just before The Who's US tour] I've stopped drinking and I haven't lost my nerve on stage, not yet. Keith Moon has started smashing up his hotel rooms again, which is always a good sign. Hide
[on "All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes"] This LP is close to a masterpiece by my own terms. Yes Show more
[on "All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes"] This LP is close to a masterpiece by my own terms. Yes, some critics accused me of being self-indulgent. This is the moment you realise you've become a genius when a mere critic calls you self-indulgent or pretentious. The fact that critics found it self-indulgent made me realise that they couldn't believe I could write a song about anyone but myself. Many of my harshest critics are wonderful writers themselves, but many of them really do think they can read the inside from looking at the outside. The difference between an artist and a journalist is that an artist deals in truth, whereas journalists deal in facts and opinions. If my process appears indulgent it might simply be because I take the most embarrassing risks. Hide
It's not the fact that I WAS brilliant, I AM brilliant.
It's not the fact that I WAS brilliant, I AM brilliant.
When it came to do "Street In The City" I was keen to do some orchestral work with my father-in-law, Show more
When it came to do "Street In The City" I was keen to do some orchestral work with my father-in-law, Edwin Astley. He'd semi-retired from doing TV themes and I thought he was a genius. I grew up listening to George Gershwin and Cole Porter, as did so many other post-war kids. So it has to have had some influence. Edwin went on to orchestrate quite a few songs for me. Hide
[c. 1966] Keith Moon is not interested in jazz and won't ever be a jazz drummer because he's more in Show more
[c. 1966] Keith Moon is not interested in jazz and won't ever be a jazz drummer because he's more interested in looking good and being screamed at. Hide
[in 1968, about his rock opera "Tommy"] It's a very complex thing, and I don't know if I'm getting i Show more
[in 1968, about his rock opera "Tommy"] It's a very complex thing, and I don't know if I'm getting it across. Hide
[on his song "Who Are You" being used as a TV theme] I can afford to sit on my haunches and watch [C Show more
[on his song "Who Are You" being used as a TV theme] I can afford to sit on my haunches and watch [CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000)] and every time it goes on I go "Ka-ching!". Hide
I always thought that The Who would be very brief, and that I would shut it down after a while and s Show more
I always thought that The Who would be very brief, and that I would shut it down after a while and sit in my apartment in Soho, making kinetic sculptures. I'd say I've been in stasis for quite a long time--and the word means either perpetual motion or perpetual stillness. I've been whirling on the spot for quite a long time. The thing about The Who for me--and this is sad in a way--is the amount of control I've had to have, keeping the creative process close to my chest, making sure the other guys in the band felt they were part of the process, but they really weren't. Hide
[on Bob Dylan] He is a rambling kind of guy. He's his own man, slightly more grounded than I am, as Show more
[on Bob Dylan] He is a rambling kind of guy. He's his own man, slightly more grounded than I am, as far as staying in his own space. He's quite a good friend, actually. We've got a lot in common. Hide
One of our problems was UK tax at 90 per cent. We became a machine working only to keep our roadies Show more
One of our problems was UK tax at 90 per cent. We became a machine working only to keep our roadies alive. They formed their own company and became more successful than we were - they had better tax breaks at that time. Hide
There was always great friendship between me and Ronnie [Ronnie Lane]. And this went further in that Show more
There was always great friendship between me and Ronnie [Ronnie Lane]. And this went further in that we liked exactly the same music. Ronnie had become disenchanted with his lot in The Faces, with Rod Stewart, and had left to go solo. He hit money trouble almost straight away, and needed my help to get a record deal. Hide
[2008] There's this idea of learning to play just like Jimi Hendrix, it's still around in all these Show more
[2008] There's this idea of learning to play just like Jimi Hendrix, it's still around in all these guitar magazines with their transcriptions, and I just think, "Why?". There are different kinds of guitar players. There are those who want to play the songs exactly like the record, and then they're happy. And there's others like me who want to know how the songs are made, the structure, the chords. Hide
Pete Townshend's FILMOGRAPHY
as Actor (63)
Pete Townshend'S roles
Pete Townshend
