The Who’s Pete Townshend sat down with Daily Beast for a new interview where he explained how he wrote the band’s songs.
While discussing the past and the future of the band, the rocker mentioned how the music business was killing musicians and that he didn’t want to be a part of it:
“I think, really, for me, the question is that I think I made a mistake in 1982 blaming the rock industry for my difficulties. Having lost Keith Moon, and quite a few other friends, like Brian Jones and others, I thought, ‘This business kills people, and I’m not going to be one of their number.’ So, I left The Who. In a sense, I was overlooking the fact that I had my own problems. I went into therapy for three years, but all that did was remind me that I had the problems.”
Townshend also mentioned his ability to create things:
“I’m very good at creating stuff and I’m a polymath and I was very successful as a book publisher, I was very successful as a recording studio owner. I was successful at everything I touched.”
‘Anyone Can Write A The Who Song’
In the same interview, he explained why he thinks writing Who songs isn’t difficult and ‘any c*nt’ can write one:
“But The Who was the one thing that should not have been let go because it was still alive and functioning. We’d just made an album that wasn’t that good, that’s all. We’d made a few other albums that weren’t that good. And there was another album in the air that could’ve been great. I think writing songs for The Who, it’s not difficult. Not if you just want to do what we’ve done before. Dare I say, any c*nt could do it. And many c*nts do do it.”
Will The Who Release A New Album?
Over the years, Townshend didn’t just write songs for his band but did so for other musicians too. He wrote for The Naturals, The Pudding, The Barron Knights, and even David Gilmour. While Townshend might go on and keep writing songs for others, the rocker doesn’t think that another The Who album is possible.
In another interview, the guitarist was asked if he thinks there will be a new album to follow up their 2019 release, ‘Who.’ He said:
“I don’t think there [will be]. If there was a need or a place for a Who album, could I write the songs for it within six weeks? Of course, I f*cking could; it’s a piece of cake. The problem is I don’t think Roger [Daltrey] wants to do it again. For me it would be a joy because I love writing songs, I love writing to a brief, I love having a commission, I love having a deadline and I love the feedback.”
He added:
“I was so pleased that the critical response to the last Who album was so positive. I wasn’t expecting that and I was grateful for it and inspired by it. So where I am at the moment is I’m thinking, well, I might write the songs and then say to Roger, ‘Either you sing on them or I’m gonna put them out as a solo album,’ and Who fans will love me for it.”