Roger Daltrey interviews in 1976
Roger Daltrey-
Superstar Extraordinary
Not so long ago Roger Daltrey, that ruggedly handsome front-line singer with the Who, admitted that he had hearing problems. Which is not surprising, really, when you realize that Daltrey has been singing with the noisy Who for more than seventeen years!
"It is impossible to play with a band like ours for so many years without the high sound levels taking their toll on your ears." said Roger. "In fact, bass player John Entwistle is the only one in the group without hearing problem."
Daltrey has now become a phenomenon in showbusiness. The fights backstage among The Who have now become legendary. Yet, as a group, they are still out on their own as one of the best all round rock outfits in the world. No doubt about that at all.
"There friction between the four of us within the group has always provided its energy," Roger once said. "In a way, it's been a creative driving force."
The fact word ever gets around that we've mellowed to the extent that we never flight, or even disagree, then all those rumours which have been circulating for years about the band breaking up might have some foundation," said Roger, with a wicked twinkle in his eyes.
Roger, at the 'old' age of thirty-two, has become a veteran in the rock business. He's a very complex character, and is the first to admit it.
'In the band, we have all gone through a very serious reassessment period in our lives over the last year or two," he said.
Although still very much associated with The Who, Roger is now a star in his own right. He is an actor of no mean talent, as he demonstrated in the big box-office films Tommy and Lisztmania. And he has also produced several albums as a solo artist away from the group.
"It's difficult to make people realize why I do these albums," said Roger. "It's not a Rod Stewart being a superstar singer away from The Faces sort of scene, as far as I'm concerned. I do it simply to gain more musical experience, because after singing with The Who for so long, there is a danger I could think I know it all, and get very narrow-minded. The fact is that there are lots of different musical styles I like -and I want to try some of them. I don't want to be pinned down to just doing rock."
Roger is a broad cockney character who has never really changed. Clearly, he's refused to change, in spite of his success. He spent his early years after leaving school working in a sheet metal factory. "But I hated work," he admitted, "I used to spend most of my days making guitars for the pop group
"The manager used to say to me, 'Even the back of your head laughs at me.' He was right, too - it did."
His interest in music started when he was still at school. At the age of fourteen he was busking his way along Brighton sea front, and earning 50p (ten shillings, then) an hour.
At twenty he was married, but that marriage didn't last long. "We lived in a@one-roomed council flat in Wandsworth," Roger recalled. "I stuck it for three months before I went back to living in a furniture van which The Who used as transport."
But he was always in love with the aura of showbusiness. "When I'm up on stage, I have the feeling I'm someone else. I don't understand it, and I don't try any more. If I did, it might die on me."
The Who, he recalls, became rock solid together in the middle 60s. "We were so frustrated because all music around was very bad American Top Twenty rubbish, so we decided to make our own.
"The Who has always had a certain magic about it. The different personalities of the four of us has, in some strange way, helped to keep us all together over the years.
"I don't find it hard to have a friendly punch-up within the group and then get together again. One blow in frustration is better than six months brooding.
"I'm sick, however, of all the big deals," said Roger. "I just want to get back to being a band which plays because it enjoys it, doing smaller halls which We've not played for years."
Roger has for some years now turned his back on the chance of going completely solo. "One of the things I have come to terms with," he said, "is that I things I have come to terms with," he said, "is that I am never going to have an incredibly successful solo career while I am a singer with The Who.
"You have to be totally selfish and self committed for a solo career and do things for yourself and no one else. And I am not prepared to ever forget The Who. It's simple as that."
On his solo albums, however, he has already proved that he can go it alone. On his album One Of The Boys he wrote some of the songs himself, and had contributions from a host of top names including Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Andy Fairweather-Low, Hank Marvin, Jimmy McCullough and Steve Gibbons.
When the Who finally split Roger sees his future as an actor. "I'll then go to drama school, and take acting more seriously," he said.
With acting and his film career in mind, Roger bought the film rights to the autography of criminal John Mcvicar. He was determined to play Mcvicar on the screen.
"Reading Mcvicar's book," said Roger, rather profoundly, "I realized how many parallels there were between his life and mine - but my ego was not satisfied by crime, bu by rock'n'roll. There's not a lot of difference really. It's the same thrill of getting away from being an average grey person. 'That's why criminals do what they do."
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