Music Connection 1994

Think of the Who, and it's easy to conjure up images of the four distinct personalities that formed this legendary British rock powerhouse ; the manic looniness of late hyperkinetic drummer Keith Moon; witty guitarist Peter Townshend and his trademark flying leaps and windmill guitar flailing; solemn bassist John Entwistle, content to stand in the shadows, valianitly holding the music together; and muscular lead singer Roger Daltrey, with his following curly locks and booming voice, twirling his microphone like a lariat.

More than a band, they were a family-brothers in arms just as ready to war with one another as they were to extol one another's virtures.

And like any band or family, the Who ? both in the good and the troubled times ? has had a bellwether, a Rock Of Gibraltar on which to lean. That someone is Roger Daltrey.

Now 50 and looking and sounding terrific, Daltrey has been the catalyst behind one of this year's most interesting projects and tours. He's assembled an ambitious tribute to his former bandmate and favorite songwriter, Pete Townshend . Thus far, Daltrey's idea has spawned two spld-out Carnegie Hall dates in February, a successful pay-per-view special of the new York performance in Feburuary, a live concert tour complete with full orchestra (a spin-off of his Big Apple extravaganzas, which comes to the Southland on October 15th at Greek Theatre ) and a recently released live concert collection of Carnegie Hall dates, entitled Roger Daltrey - A Celebration - The Music Of Pete
Townshend & the Who, on Continuum Records. Throw in the fabulous four-CD box set, The Who: thirty Years Of Maximum R&B, hot off the presses from MCA Records (see Local Notes) and the celebrated theatrical version of The Who's Tommy (currently playing the Universal Amphitheatre through August 21st) - and the Who seems to be hotter than ever.

And, along with their millions of fans, that's just fine with Daltrey. "It'S an immense feeling of achievement," begins the gregarious Daltrey during a phone interview from Denver where he's rehearsing his band for the upcoming tour dates. "It reaffirms to me that my belief in the Who's music was right. It shows that we weren't mad after all; I've always believed that our songs were timeless.
Obviously a younger generation of people - who are probably better
educated than we were - can get into these songs and have them speak
to them in the same way they spoke to the generation that heard them
for the first time."

On his current tour，Daltrey is taking great pride in reinterpreting Who classic songs an experience that's been a learning process for him as well as a new listening experience for fans.
"It's been exciting to keep finding new ways to express Who music and then expose people to it. I'm lucky that our music lends itself to different interpretations. The way Townshend writes is not a standard kind of rock structure; it lends itself to this symphonic treatment very well."

The use of a full orchestra has its touches of irony as Roger admits to having been" a bit snobbish about orchestras. I wasn't sure about their place in rock music. But over the course of time, rock seems to be re-inventing itself almost weekly. Sometimes when a rock band uses an orchestra the results can border on being very cabaret. I realize that fine line with the Who's music. But I'm not producing elevator music on this tour. People should try to be open-minded about this venture. The music still retains all the bollocks that the Who's had, plus the orchestra enhances the music's drama."

When asked if he feels the presence of Who ghosts onstage， Daltrey laughs. "Actually, I've got Pete's brother Simon on guitar. He looks so much like Pete, it's uncanny. And John Entwistle will be playing some dates on the tour. I could've used the Who name on this tour; l have Pete's blessing. However, I won't do that because it's not the Who.

"But perhaps the scariest aspect is that I have Ringo's son, Zak, on drums. He was taught to play by Keith Moon. When I look at him onstage, it's like looking at a young Moon." Roger pauses to let the image sink in and then lets loose a roaring laugh." It's horrifying! I just hope he won't smash up hotels on the road. We don't have the budget l had in the Who."

The subject of the Who is close to Daltrey's heart, even though the band is officially defunct. "I'd love to see the band get back together. "I still feel we have better work to do. But I'm just taking it a day at a time. Pete just isn't interested in doing it right now. But tomorrow, who knows? I hear rumors that he might appear at some of
the shows on this tour, which pleases me very much."

In addition to being the Who's biggest fan, Daltrey is also the band's harshest critic. He calls the group's earliest performances" mostly crap" and says they got by live during that early period by "feeding off the energy of the audience - they were very important to us ? and giving that energy back to them." He also was adamantly opposed to the release of 1982's, It's Hard, calling it "unworthy of release except for 'Eminence Front.' I never wanted that record out."

It's obvious that Daltrey's love affair with the Who has been and will be a lifelong one, even though Roger takes a stance of modesty when asked if he has been the prime motivator behind keeping the band's legacy alive, "If anything," laughs Daltrey, "I was the pusher in the band, the one who tried to keep things moving. That was my role. The band did need that, and it needed it more and more the bigger the Who got. But we all had our roles in the Who. That's what made us great-although Pete seems to forget that from time to time."

Ah, Pete. Outside of the Kinks' Davies brothers，no rock partnership has been so well-documented as the always tenuous relationship between Daltrey and Townshend.
Tales of backstage fisticuffs between the two and long periods of not speaking to one another were offset by Daltrey's concern and help during Townshend's early Eighties drug problems.

"No question, it's a strange relationship.
People outside the band just see it as Pete and me fighting. But they don't understand that the fighting between us was the spark for our creativity. What is any artist without opposition? We've never really been chums, but there is a deep love there. If he were ever in trouble, I'd be the first one by his side. We don't need to see or speak to one another. We do fight a lot, we do disagree on a hell of a lot. But what we do have in common outweighs all of that.

"But, at the same time，Pete has been very cold-hearted. There was a time, after Kenney Jones [who replaced the late Keith Moon] had been in the band awhile, when l thought Kenney's playing had gone downhill and l didn't want him in the band I was always against bringing in a new drummer anyway after Keith died because l felt that we could have experimented musically. As soon as we replaced Keith，we were back
trying to be what we'd been instead of going in different directions.

"I had terrible fights with Pete over that. Kenney was a good drummer and a nice guy，but nowhere near the drummer for the Who.
His wasn't the right style. But no one would listen to me. I used to go home in tears over that. It came to a point where l told Pete that either Kenney goes or I go. Pete looked at me square in the eye and said, 'I guess that's no choice at all,' basically telling me I could leave the band. I was devastated. We patched things up, but it was me who had to swallow my pride and go back to Pete. He'd never apologize
for anything if there was a fight. I've had to eat a lot of shit over the years to help keep it all together. But I'm tough; in fact, I've transferred the emotion of the ups and downs with the band into my singing."

When it comes to assessing his uniquely powerful and emotive singing style, Daltrey replies, "I don't know whether I'm a good singer or a bad singer. But I do think I'm an original."

Regarding the new Who box set, Roger says he "absolutely loves it," even though he really played no part in assembling the set. "I didn't want a re-release of the old stuff that people have got 300 times over. My interest was in doing something for the fans. We wanted to put a package that was totally unique to the Who. Those that worked on it did just that. Thank God the band had the good sense to stay out of it, or
we'd still be quibbling over which version of 'Substitute' to use and there'd be no package at all," laughs Daltrey.

The candid singer also pulls no punches when it comes to discussing the theatrical version of the Who's land mark Tommy. "I'm pleased with the success of the stage play, but that version is not really my cup of tea. I wish it were a bid more rock& roll than it is.
Unfortunately, Pete's made changes in it that's diluted it's impact.
It's too sanitized for our politically correct times.
There's nothing in this version where Tommy goes to see the Acid Queen or gets back with his family as if nothing happened. I cannot accept that. I still think it would have been successful if done the rock& roll way.

"But Pete can't seem to acknowledge that it was four people in the band that developed Tommy. It was very difficult record to make, too.
I just can't understand why his ego gets so out of control. I haven't asked him about this yet, but we are talking ? for now anyway," chuckles Daltrey.

Summing up his 30nyears as frontman for the world's most ferocious rock & roll band, Daltrey pauses for a long instant before answering.
" I don't like to sit at home and think about the past, although I certainly acknowledge and revel in my past. I've got lots of great music in me yet. To put a capper on my career at this point… what would it be?"

Daltrey pauses again and one can just picture the gleam in his eye as he peels off another round of hearty laughter. "how about," he roars, "us against the fucking world?"

Even Pete Townshend would have to agree with that.