![]() ![]() ![]() In the early '70s he eschewed the threads of stadium superstardom by sporting white boiler suits and Doc Martens. Too smart and too cynical to trot out the flower-power rhetoric of his peers, Townshend at heart remained a bolshy punk rocker. Although Daltrey had transformed himself from a Carnaby Street "face" into the tousle-headed rock god of the band's performance at Woodstock, Townshend was so incensed when stoned activist Abbie Hoffman interrupted their set at that festival that he clouted him over the head with his guitar, yelling "F*** off my f***ing stage!" At the game-changing Monterey International Pop Festival in June 1967 they offered a pointed British contrast to the California bands Buffalo Springfield (who preceded them) and the Grateful Dead, who followed. Unsurprisingly the Who were wholly at odds with late '60s American vibes of peace and love. "They're a new form of crime," their gay upper-class manager Kit Lambert purred approvingly in March 1966, "armed against the bourgeoisie." In all but name it was punk rock a decade ahead of its time: no wonder the Sex Pistols covered 'Substitute'. His rage and self-loathing spewed out onstage in wheeling arm slashes and what he termed the "auto-destruction" of his guitars, beginning one night in September 1964 at the Railway Tavern in Harrow and Wealdstone. Townshend was Will Self with a Rickenbacker guitar, a misfit icon of choice for every bedroom pop star who didn't look like… well, Roger Daltrey. On 'Substitute' Daltrey snarled that he was "born with a plastic spoon in my mouth". "Ours is a group with built-in hate," Townshend announced from the stage when the Who played a Tuesday night residency at London's Marquee club. Quickly outgrowing their role as de facto house band for London's mod scene, the Who established themselves as poster boys for intelligent delinquency, their songs declarations of war on the middle-aged and middle class. Their explosive shows were built on the kinetic interplay between Entwistle's growling bass lines and the crashing, trebly violence of Townshend's guitar and Moon's manic amphetamine drumming. It was live performance that set The Who apart from rivals at the dawn of their career as West London mod combo the Detours. Today's Super Bowl set – apparently comprising a "mashup" of 'Pinball Wizard', 'Who Are You', 'Baba O'Reilly', 'Won't Get Fooled Again' and the finale to Tommy – gives the duo an opportunity to remind the world that the Stones' "Greatest Rock and Roll Band in the World" crown was merely one Mick Jagger and Keith Richards bestowed on themselves. When Townshend and singer Roger Daltrey – the other surviving original member of the group after the deaths of drummer Keith Moon and bass guitarist John Entwistle – played the post-9/11 Concert for New York City on 20 October 2001, their passionate performance had thousands of traumatized firemen on their feet with tears of rage in their eyes. Many, though, would argue that they were the greatest live band of all time, ahead not only of the Beatles and the Stones but of Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana and pretty much anyone else you'd care to mention. The group have long had to settle for third place in the pantheon of '60s rock giants behind the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. It may even remind the world just how great the Who once were. The entertainment spotlight doesn't burn much brighter. Today, at the ripely Beatle-esque age of 64, Townshend will – in his own words – "carry the flag for the boomer generation" during the half-time show at Super Bowl XLIV in Miami. Life Songs: Telling Your Story Through MusicĪRGUABLY THE MOST famous line The Who's Pete Townshend ever wrote was "Hope I die before I get old" on 1965's angry young anthem 'My Generation'.Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked The World.CNN Soundtracks: Songs that Defined History.Long Strange Trip: The Untold Story of the Grateful Dead.LADAMA: Movement, Music, and Community in South America.Segregation and Integration in Asbury Park.Math and Music: Algebra Featuring Mickey Hart. ![]()
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