Whether you agree with him or not Pete Townshend might be the most publically honest musician of his generation. In a new interview with the New York Times he laid bare his feelings on touring with the Who nowadays, and even drew contrasts with AC/DC when it comes to the band's creative modus operandi.
"I do and I think I will," he said of his desire to make new music. "It feels to me like there’s one thing the Who can do, and that’s a final tour where we play every territory in the world and then crawl off to die. I don’t get much of a buzz from performing with the Who. If I’m really honest, I’ve been touring for the money. My idea of an ordinary lifestyle is pretty elevated."
He also touched upon something he said back in a 1990 interview regarding being pigeonholed by audiences when he made solo music that wasn't received well.
"I’ve been immensely creative and productive throughout that period," he says of the last few decades, "but I haven’t felt the need to put it out. And if I can make it personal, I don’t care whether you like it or not. When White City came out [in 1985] and the sales were so slow, I thought, Screw this. Nobody wanted me as I was — they wanted the old Pete.
"AC/DC made 50 albums, but all their albums were the same," he added. "It wasn’t the way the Who worked. We were an ideas band."
Townshend has no shortage of ideas to draw from and is currently mulling over releasing them and embracing the artist he is now – rather than people's perceptions of the past.
The Who isn’t Daltrey and Townshend onstage at 80, pretending to be young. It’s the four of us in 1964, when we were 18 or 19
"I’ve got about 500 titles I might release online, mostly unfinished stuff," he revealed. "We’re not making Coca-Cola, where every can has to taste the same. And it’s turned out, surprise, surprise, that rock ’n’ roll is really good at dealing with the difficulties of aging. Watching Keith Richards onstage, trying to do what he used to do — it’s disturbing, heart-rending, but also delightful.
"When I was a kid, my dad’s band supported Sarah Vaughan for two weeks. To me, she was really old and not sexy. Time shifts; I’m now older than she was. In every rock documentary, there are bald men who look 100 years old, talking about doing loads of cocaine with David Bowie. What do young people think?
"The Who isn’t Daltrey and Townshend onstage at 80, pretending to be young. It’s the four of us in 1964, when we were 18 or 19. If you want to see the Who myth, wait for the avatar show. It would be good!"
