Why The Who’s Pete Townshend hated Woodstock
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Does Pete Townshend really hate Roger Daltrey?
The relationship between Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey is hard to explain. On the one hand, they can’t make records in the same room as one another because it would drive the pair insane, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t love either.
Recently speaking to Forbes, Daltrey explained: “Our relationship is a working one, and that’s about as far as it goes. But when we get on stage, there’s a chemistry that’s created. When we’re playing well, it starts to kick in properly. It’s still as wonderful as ever. We never really had a strong relationship off of the stage, though. It’s as simple as that.”
They’ve never been the type to spend a moment more together than necessary and are incredibly different people off-stage. Yet, the alchemy between Townshend and Daltrey creatively makes them perfect bandmates who draw the best out of one another.
Over the decades, Townshend has insulted Daltrey numerous times, and he even once tried to sack the singer. The vocalist had flushed Keith Moon’s drugs down the toilet, and the drummer responded by attacking Daltrey. Townshend sided with Moon, and the frontman was briefly fired from the band.
That incident shows Townshend’s loyalties never lied with Daltrey, and they were opposites in every sense. In 2016, speaking to The Telegraph, the guitarist highlighted the two sharp differences between the pair: “I’m a Remainer; he [Roger Daltrey] is a Brexiteer. I believe in God; he doesn’t.”
While people shouldn’t be defined by their political or religious views, Townshend’s comments show he and Daltrey are polar opposites.
Additionally, in 2014, Townshend spoke about a then-upcoming Who tour and stated, “It seemed like a good idea about six months ago, but I hate performing and The Who and touring.”
There’s one moment in The Who’s set that Townshend particularly hates, which is when they play ‘Sister Disco because “there is a point in which every time we’ve done it where Roger comes over to me, stands next to me and makes some kind of soppy smile, which is supposed to communicate some kind of Everly Brothers relationship we have for the audience, which isn’t actually there.”
He added: “It’s supposed to be an act where I’m supposed to collude like ‘we know each other very well we look like enemies, but we are friends really’ kind of look. Often that will be the moment where I look him in the face and go ‘you fucking wanker’, and he gets angry when I do that.”
If Townshend and Daltrey were close friends, the dynamic between them on-stage would likely be worse off without the friction. The Who converts the hate into raucous energy that fuels their live shows, and it’s been that way since the start. Although Daltrey has been inch-perfectly designed to annoy Townshend and vice-versa, their legacies will forever be intertwined.
