Pete Townshend (b. 1945)

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"BBC Radio 4 Interview" — December 26, 2012

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Biography

Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend is an English musician. He is the co-founder, guitarist, keyboardist, second lead vocalist, principal songwriter and de facto leader of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. His aggressive playing style, poetic songwriting techniques and authorship of two rock operas with the Who, as well as other projects, have earned him critical acclaim.

Timeline

The story of Pete Townshend, told in moments.

1964 Event

Co-founded the Who with Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, and Keith Moon. His violent guitar-smashing stage act started by accident when he broke a guitar on a low ceiling.

Was smashing that first guitar really an accident? How did the Who's violence become art? What made Keith Moon the right drummer for your chaos?

1969 Event

Released Tommy, the first major rock opera. Townshend wrote the entire thing. It told the story of a deaf, dumb, and blind boy who becomes a pinball champion.

Where did the idea for a deaf, dumb, and blind pinball champion come from? Did you know Tommy would change rock? Was writing a rock opera pretentious or necessary?

1971 Event

Wrote "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" for the album Who's Next. Both used synthesizers in ways no rock band had tried.

How did you know synthesizers belonged in rock? Did 'Baba O'Riley' feel revolutionary when you wrote it? What was the message behind 'Won't Get Fooled Again'?

1973 Event

Released Quadrophenia, a double rock opera about a mod named Jimmy and his identity crisis in 1960s Brighton. It became a film in 1979.

Was Jimmy in Quadrophenia autobiographical? How much of your own identity crisis went into that record? Why did 1960s Brighton resonate so deeply?

Artifacts (14)

The Who's Tommy: The Musical

Provides a history of Tommy from rock opera to its staging as a Broadway musical.

1993

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Lifehouse

LIFEHOUSE is an apocalyptic journey across the industrial wastes of Britain on the last day of the millennium. Disillusioned ex-TV executive Ray is on a desperate search for his daughter Mary, who has...

1999

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The Who: Maximum R & B

Fusing black American rock with London's mod sixties style, The Who remains a potent force in rock and roll even after almost 40 years. This colourful pictorial, first published in 1982, has been...

2004

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Who I Am: A Memoir

Long acknowledged as one of rock music’s most intelligent and literary performers, Pete Townshend—guitarist, songwriter, singer and founding member of The Who—at last tells his wild story in this...

2012

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Who I Am

Long acknowledged as one of rock music's most intelligent and literary performers, Pete Townshend - guitarist, songwriter, singer and founding member of The Who - at last tells his wild story in this...

2012

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Who I am – en selvbiografi

2012s mest kritikerroste rock’n roll-biografi. Nådeløse og ærlige memoarer fra den ledende låtskriver og gitaristen i The Who. «... den mest selvutleverende, kompromissløse, usminkede, ærlige og...

2012

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Pete Townshend: Who I Am

He is one of the greatest musical talents Britain has ever produced. But even as the principle songwriter and lead guitarist for The Who, it would be unjust to define Pete Townshend's life simply...

2012

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Pete Townshend - Mit liv og The Who

Rockbiografien, som alle har ventet på! Som sangskriver, komponist, guitarist og kreativt kraftcentrum i det legendariske rockband The Who har Pete Townshend haft afgørende betydning for rockmusikken....

2012

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Who I am: Memorias de Pete Townshend

Pete Townshend, leyenda viva del rock y uno de los grandes incendiarios que, desde llamaradas como los Beatles, los Stones, Cream o Pink Floyd, encendieron una tormenta destinada a pulverizar los...

2014

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The Age of Anxiety: A Novel

In his debut novel, rock legend Pete Townshend explores the anxiety of modern life and madness in a story that stretches across two generations of a London family, their lovers, collaborators, and...

2019

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Das Zeitalter der Angst: Ein Kunstroman

Das Romandebüt eines Weltstars Pete Townshend hat mit seiner Band The Who alles erreicht und dabei die Grenzen der Populärmusik ausgedehnt. Der Komponist der ersten bekannten Rockoper Tommy tauschte...

2020

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