Pete Townshend, the legendary guitarist and songwriter for The Who, is one of the most decorated rock stars alive. He’s been inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame, received Kennedy Center Honors, and lifetime-achievement awards from both the Brit Awards and the Grammys. Pete's iconic power chord-guitar style and early use of synthesizers established him as a musical innovator in the '60s and '70s.
After a string of chart-topping singles in the early '60s, Pete set to work writing the first-ever rock opera, a project that became the double album Tommy*. Tommy *is widely recognized as The Who’s breakout record, and is considered a masterpiece by many critics.
Following its release, Pete started writing songs and a script for a sci-fi epic called Life House*. After that project was scrapped, the songs wound up on different releases from the band over the next decade including their 1971 classic, Who’s Next*.
Last month The Who released an epic box set called Who's Next/Life House *that contains 155 tracks, 89 of which are unreleased. The set also includes a graphic novel, unheard demos, complete live concerts, posters and collectable pins.
On today’s episode Justin Richmond talks to Pete Townshend about how some of the ill-fated effects of technology that he predicted on Life House* have come to pass. Pete also explains why he decided to target a specifically male audience when writing music for The Who. And he gives an unexpected take on the Grateful Dead and San Francisco’s music scene in the '60s.
You can hear a playlist of some of our favorite Pete Townshend songs HERE).
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