“Wasn’t a good idea”: Why Pete Townsend didn’t collaborate with Todd Rundgren
Collaborations, while usually well-meaning in their intentions, are often disappointing. You only need to listen to David Bowie and Mick Jagger’s ‘Dancing In The Street’ to realise that colliding two musical greats doesn’t always have compelling results. Still, collaborations provide artists with an opportunity to move away from their comfort zone, challenging themselves to achieve entirely new aims. For The Who’s Pete Townshend, there was one artist in particular that he always dreamt of working alongside.
Townshend, as a songwriter, was always at the core of The Who. From the band’s earliest days as young mods rampaging around London, the guitarist seemed to have an innate ability to reflect the times. Songs like ‘My Generation’ were era-defining for the swinging sixties, but Townshend rarely worked in isolation. As far as bands go, The Who were fairly collaborative within their line-up, with each member contributing original songs at various points across their celebrated discography.
In addition to penning a plethora of his own groundbreaking hits, Townshend consistently kept his ear to the ground, paying attention to emerging artists and trends within the music industry. This practice allowed The Who lasting relevance that was not afforded to many of their contemporaries, as they were able to adapt and take on newfound influences as they developed. Townshend’s endless obsession with music also provided the songwriter with a star-studded bucket list of dream collaborations, which has always had the same name at the very top.
By the time Todd Rundgren emerged from obscurity, forming Nazz in 1967, The Who were already a global force for rock and roll. Given that the songwriter started his musical journey during the era of counterculture and psychedelic rock, it is inevitable that Rundgren was influenced somewhat by the songwriting of Pete Townshend and The Who, even if his extensive solo career rarely drew upon the same sounds as the London group.
In turn, Townshend was utterly captivated by Rundgren’s trailblazing tones. Before too long, The Who guitarist was taking cues from the songwriter, so the idea was formed for a collaboration between the two. “For a long time, I wanted to work with Todd Rundgren, and I asked him to produce my solo album, which he agreed to do,” recalled Townshend.
Rundgren was plucked for Townshend’s 1980 solo record Empty Glass. By the standards of the songwriter’s solo material, the record is among his best – far eclipsing the egregious All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes, which arrived two years later. However, the eagle-eyed among you might remember that the 1980 album was actually produced by the experienced Chris Thomas rather than Rundgren.
Admittedly, the album arrived during a pretty prolific time for the songwriter’s solo career, but it seems as though he was not too busy to take on Townshend’s collaborative request. The reason that plans eventually fell through was because The Who guitarist bottled it. “I suddenly realised it probably wasn’t a good idea because we’re so alike in a lot of ways,” he shared.
“I would like to work with him,” the guitarist qualified, continuing, “I think he’s a better guitar player than me and a better singer, but I think what really worried me about the prospect of him producing my solo album was that I’m influenced by him enough as it is. Do you understand? And I like the way I’m influenced by him at the moment.”
As a result, Townshend’s dream collaboration with the Philadelphia songwriter never came to fruition, and production duties were handed over to Chis Thomas. Still, the disappointment over these foiled plans did not stop Townshend from continuing to appreciate the distinctive songwriting and performance style of Todd Rundgren.
