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Random Notes

Q&A

PETE TOWNSHEND

‘WE’RE DEALING IN MYTHOLOGY NOW’

The co-founder and guitarist of the Who talks about six decades with the band — and whether this really is their final tour

By ANDY GREENE

The Who practically invented the concept of the rock & roll farewell tour back in 1982 when they hit the road for what they claimed was the final time. Seven years later, they practically invented the concept of the “forget that whole farewell thing” tour when they reformed for a lucrative run of stadium shows. They’ve been active the past 30 years, but now, they’re kicking off a second farewell tour — and this time around, they mean it.

The tour is just one project that band co-founder and guitarist Pete Townshend, 80, has in the works. He’s also releasing a seven-disc box set that chronicles his solo career, working with young bands the Wild Things and Bookshop, and writing new songs. “I’ve got maybe 10 years left as a creative,” he says. “So I’m doing all kinds of interesting things. I’m trying to keep myself fueled up.”

John Entwistle made his first solo record in 1971, Roger Daltrey in 1973, and Keith Moon in 1975. You didn’t do a proper one until 1980. Why were you the last?

Because I was writing the songs for the fuckin’ Who, that’s why!

A lot of people heard “Rough Boys” and felt it was you basically coming out of the closet.

I think it was that, in a sense. What’s misconstrued is the fact that I was ever in the closet. I had had a few gay experiences and just decided really that it wasn’t for me. But there was certainly a period when I was a young man hanging out with [Who managers] Chris Stamp and Kit Lambert. I looked back and I realized I wanted to be gay, but for all the wrong reasons. Not because of a love, a physical love for men, but because it was cool. Because it was illegal. Because it was dangerous.

“Slit Skirts” starts with “I was just 34 years old and I was still wandering in a haze.” Did you feel old at 34?

I think everybody does. You think 30 is going to be difficult, and I think it is. But I think that the years leading up to 30 are terrible for people, because you expect a doorway to come down and it doesn’t. The thing that I was going through at the time was punk.… I was pissed off about two things: One, that I was too old to be a part of it, but two, the fact that they stole my fuckin’ idea!

It’s true.

The Who was supposed to self-combust within six months. Instead of self-combusting honorably and getting out of the fuckin’ way, we went on and on and on. Performing like fuckin’ monkeys, smashing guitars, and swinging microphones, and doing the Keith Moon routine. And what happened with punk was that they took my original manifesto and put it in practice.

In the new liner notes to the box set, you wrote, “I handed the stadium stage to Queen and U2, and of course to Bruce Springsteen … but we should have been a part of that post-punk legacy act resurgence that those acts enjoyed.” Can you elaborate on that?

The Who invented stadium rock. We gave it away. Our timing was terrible. When we did Live Aid, we could barely fuckin’ play. Queen were in the middle of a tour, walked out there, and turned it into an advert for themselves.

I never really appreciated what Queen was about, to be honest. I liked ABBA, but I didn’t really connect it with the lighthearted pop diversity of Queen’s catalog. I’m a huge fan of Bruce, and a big fan of U2, and very happy to see the way that they took the stadium mantle.

But with songs like “Won’t Get Fooled Again” and “Baba O’Riley,” I fuckin’ nailed it. There’s no question. And I gave that instrument away. But it would be wrong to say that I regret it because I don’t.

In the Nineties, it felt like the Who were often mentioned in the same breath as the Beatles, the Stones, and Led Zeppelin. It seems young people aren’t as aware of your work as they used to be. Do you care?

I think they may not be, and no, I don’t really care that much. I think because we’re dealing in mythology now, which has actually been fed by social media and by streaming. It’s a vacuous world. The Stones don’t help themselves do they, really? I think they’ve made so many really interesting albums, which they’ve, in a sense, disowned.

My favorite Stones album is still Aftermath. Brian Jones was still alive and kicking and had ideas. A bit hippie dumb, but it was interesting. The Beatles just didn’t last long enough. And the same thing happened with the Beach Boys. Once the Beach Boys had done Pet Sounds, you could have a conversation with Brian Wilson. I wonder whether kids who think that Jimmy page is the best guitar player in the world have heard Pet Sounds. Not that it’s got anything to do with guitar playing, but it’s where the myths begin and end.

The Who are launching a tour later this year. Might you do a show that’s less focused on the big hits?

We’d love to. One of the reasons we don’t play a lot of the tracks we’d like to play is because they’re fuckin’ difficult. That said, I think there’s an argument for playing the songs that the audience want, because a lot of them are coming to see you because they think they may never have a chance to see you. And although they may not be 100 percent invested in the mythology of the Who, they do know that the Who are important, and they may never see them again.

ERIK TANNER/“THE NEW YORK TIMES”/REDUX

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