Dave Grohl on the coolest rock star of all time: “One of the most badass figures in rock history”
The coolness of any rock star tends to be slightly overlooked when people are putting together their first bands. Anyone can try to work on a guitar lick repeatedly in their bedroom until it starts sounding catchy, but it’s also about the swagger once you get onstage that makes people want to come back for more every time they listen to it. While Dave Grohl made his way to the top by being one of the relatable men in rock and roll, he admitted that there’s a certain aura of coolness dripping out of Pete Townshend.
When looking at where Grohl came from, it’s no surprise that he would have cited someone from The Who as a primary influence. Grohl was already a wild presence behind the drumkit in Nirvana, and that kind of manic energy he captured on some of their classic songs was halfway between Keith Moon and John Bonham.
That was just the muscle of The Who, and Townshend was the beating heart of the group. As opposed to writing something that he thought would be a surefire hit, Townshend liked the idea of taking the audience with him as he tried to figure out his own state of mind. Some people could come to their shows just to have a good time, but maybe if they focused hard enough, they might find the meaning of life along the way.
More than anything, Townshend was the first to do away with the typical love songs that every band needed to get onto the charts. While The Beatles had opened the door for making songs that didn’t rely on saying ‘I love you’ in every single verse, Townshend never even bothered half the time, usually writing grand declarations like on ‘My Generation’ or entire stories throughout Tommy.
Even without all the great music, Grohl thought that Townshend had the most swagger of any rock star of his time. When talking to Melody Maker about who he considered the coolest rock star ever, Grohl replied, “Probably Pete Townshend. I’d say so. Either him or Paul Weller. Those two muthafuckers are pretty cool. Pete Townshend is just one of the coolest, most bad-ass rock’n’roll figures of all time. He still is.”
Though Grohl does make a good case for Weller being up there in terms of what a rock star should look and act like, chances are he got most of what he knew by listening to Townshend when he was growing up. Despite not even being the lead singer of the group, just the silhouette of Townshend doing his trademark windmill strum is as recognisable to any music fan as Muhammed Ali’s triumph over Sonny Liston is to sports fans.
Being cool isn’t just about looking the part all the time. It’s about what you do when you’re in that position, and considering how loud and abrasive Townshend dared to go with The Who, the rest of the world seemed to respond in kind. Even when all rock bands of their ilk were being called out for being soft in the late 1970s, The Who were still one of the few bands that the punks gave a pass to.
Grohl probably doesn’t want to write the same sweeping rock operas that Townshend was working on, but that’s hardly a problem. Because out of all the great strides that Townshend made for rock and roll, one of his most important lessons is to be yourself whenever you’re tackling what you feel in your heart.
