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Rough Boys, Don't Walk Away. I Want to Buy You Leather!
by anna at 07:05 PM on January 14, 2003
Among my fondest memories are of high-octane concerts staged by acts that sadly are now commercialized parodies of themselves, like Aerosmith. I saw Bruce Springsteen and his E Street Band touring behind Born in the USA. Ditto for the Stones and their raucous classic Exile on Main Street (dating myself here.) Even the famously erratic Led Zeppelin pulled themselves together long enough to deliver a tight set. My friends and I wheedled our way backstage @ Little Feat, Grateful Dead and Bad Co. shows. I found bandmembers personable to a man, particularly the late Lowell George.
Not all my memories are so winsome, however. I witnessed Eric Clapton forgoing lead solos in favor of obscure sessions men. Stephen Stills fell off his piano stool in a drunken stupor. At a George Harrison show, rude fans booed sitar player Ravi Shankar off the stage. A gaunt Stevie Nicks made Whitney Houston look vibrant. The Dead spirited my pal's date away for a spirited sesion of debauchery. Three days later she returned looking bedraggled and missing a Frye boot.
Just prior to Jerry Garcia's demise, a group of friends attended a Dead show for old times' sake. Nancy fell ill with a painful kidney ailment. She sought out a quiet place to lay down but wound up in the "cool-down room" instead. Deadhead staffers tried to reassure her and encourage her to "roll with the vibe." Tiring of their hippy-dippy tripe, she snarled, "Look goddammit, I'm not like you freaks. The only drug I'm on is Vicodin. Now leave me the fuck alone."
All those electrifying spectacles paled in comparison to the Who's windmill-strumming, scissor-kicking, microphone-hurling jams. From Keith Moon's frenetic drumming to Roger Daltrey's vocal histrionics, their shows were the stuff of legend. This was long before half the band died of wretched excess and the Who had degenerated into a pathetic caricature of itself.
In its heyday, the Who was the best live act going. Pete Townshend was its heart and soul.
Two of his compositions were said to embody an era. My Generation was widely viewed as a call-to-arms, a precursor to the rebellious Sixties. Just as critics hailed We Don't Get Fooled Again as affirmation of the revolution. Except according to Townshend, they weren't. My Generation was a throwaway inspired by newspaper headlines. We Don't Get Fooled Again ridiculed hippies (There's nothing in the streets looks any different to me.... Let's meet the new boss, same as the old boss.") More prophetic words have seldom been written.
Which is why one could only hope this tawdry business is a big misunderstanding. If it isn't, Townshend's career is finished and his legacy irrevocably tarnished.
Fools often seek to justify criminal behavior. Rape victims brought in on themselves by dressing provocatively. A thief stole to get money for his diabetic mom's insulin. The Menendez brother were justified in blowing their parents' heads off due to childhood abuse. Andrea Yates suffered from post-nasal depression. But pedophiles garner no sympathy. Fellow inmates make them their bitches. Hell, they even despise themselves as well they should.
Say it ain't so, Pete.
comments (16)
Please, once the GEOPOLITICS kick in, the Pete Townsend debacle will forgotten, just like when ROB HALFORD of JUDAS PRIEST came out of the closet. Goodness, ANNA, don't worry, he's the fucking Pinball Wizard, he is and nobody else. 'let my love open the door', che sera sera...
by LOCKHEED at January 14, 2003 9:49 PM
I think kid touching is a little different than homosexual loving, don't you? Innocent until proven guilty and all that, but, seriously, doing research for a book? That is a pretty uncreative excuse from the guy responsible for Tommy. First the principal from Ferris Beuler's Day Off and now Pete, who's next?
by mg at January 14, 2003 11:16 PM
I agree with that MG. But it boils down to Deviant Behavior, and that changes with the Epochs. Kid touching was most apparent during Ancient Rome, as was homosexuality. So, we'll just wait and see, perhaps in our lifetime... these things become commonplace.
by LOCKHEED at January 14, 2003 11:49 PM
Actually no one has accused Pete of touching anyone, it's like pictures. Still, that's twisted. Gaiety isn't, though open displays of it make some rural folks a tad uneasy.
by Anna at January 15, 2003 7:46 AM
This blows. Learning Who songs is one of the reasons I first picked up a guitar. My only question is, if Pete wanted to wage war against pedophiles and child pornography, why didn't he lend his name to one of the countless organizations fighting that battle? I can't recall ever reading, in any music rag, that Pete Townsend was a spokesperson against child pornography. I would think that he would use his considerable influence to educate people on a larger scale. I just hope it was a case of pure stupidity on his part and that he's telling the truth.
by Ezy at January 15, 2003 10:13 AM
I would like to think the reason his excuse is so uncreative is that it's the truth. I'm not a Who fan per se, but I don't wish Pete Townshend ill will. Also, why don't govt. agencies go after the cocksuckers taking the photographs in the first place? What good does it do to bust some dude for yanking his crank to some kid in Underoos? It's an image on a computer screen--the person who put it there is the douche bag in this situation.
by douchenation at January 15, 2003 10:20 PM
Amen douchenation!
by Ezy at January 16, 2003 10:50 AM
I agree, if that were the case. All the reports I read about say that not only had Petey been looking at kiddie porn, but he was also involved (somehow, there were no specifics) in creation and dissemination of it. That changes things a lot, if it is true. I'm a big Who fan too, and this news wont change anything about why I like their music, but it all seems pretty damning for Townshend as a person.
by mg at January 16, 2003 11:01 AM
Me too, though I can't type Douchenation's name without laughing. Problem: Pushers vs. users, who to harass? Which ignores the more basis quandary of how polite society might curtail behavior it considers abhorant when the basic rules of supply and demand dictate that desired goods will always be available.
by Anna at January 16, 2003 7:38 PM
So true Anna. If there were no users then pushers would die out. In this case though, I say go after both and string them all up by their collective balls/tits and let them rot. I don't believe I can think of many things more disgusting to me than stealing a child's innocence in that manner. If Mr. Pete Townsend is involved in this I hope he rots in hell. Sorry so vicious. I just think, what if that was my niece or nephew. Can anyone say vigilante? I can.
by EZY at January 17, 2003 10:25 AM
editors note: someone felt the need to include the entire content of this article (a statement by Pete Townshend about kiddie porn on the web written well before his current problems), rather than just linking it. That person is an idiot. Thank you
by Pete Townshend at January 17, 2003 3:58 PM
Jesus Christ, "Pete" I perused that whole tirade. You talk too much. Maybe you need to assemble the surviving two Who members and embark on yet another Farewell Tour. Fuck you.
by Anna at January 17, 2003 8:33 PM
Anna,
Obviously, you're not a Who fan because then you would know there is only one other Who member besides Townshend.
And, Townshend DID print that on his website a full YEAR before his arrest. He has been active in opposing child porn, even reporting what he found online to Scotland Yard and the IWF, both of whom did NOTHING. Scotland Yard only got involved when they thought they could bust a big-name star.
God bless you Pete. I hope the charges are dropped.
BTW, the news is reporting the police are only finding 19,000 pages of lyrics on his computer and absolutely NO kiddie porn.
by Lara at March 21, 2003 9:13 PM
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