Pete Townshend names his favourite punk record
Pete Townshend has his own unique connection to the Sex Pistols. In the age where The Who were nearly condemned as rock and roll dinosaurs, their ferocious energy and aggressive style kept them safe. In fact, whether they were vocal about it or not, most punk acts took inspiration from the mod greats, with tracks like ‘I Can See For Miles’ and their live take on ‘Summertime Blues’ being clear predecessors to the punk genre. Townshend wasn’t quite The Godfather of punk… but he was close.
During one inspired night out in London, Townshend befriended Steve Jones and Paul Cook, the guitarist and drummer, respectively, for spearhead punk act the Sex Pistols. Things quickly spiraled out of control for Townshend, who was three sheets to the wind by the time the trio left the pub. At some point, Townshend wandered off and wound up in the drunk tank, an experience that would eventually lead to the writing of ‘Who Are You’.
Townshend remained a fan of punk even as The Who were struggling with the shifting musical landscape. When asked about his favourite punk album, Townshend told the King Biscuit Flower Hour radio broadcast in 1979 that the answer was easy: Never Mind The Bollocks, Here’s The Sex Pistols.
“My favourite album of the period (of Punk) was the Sex Pistols album, which was produced by Chris Thomas, Never Mind The Bollocks. I think ‘Pretty Vacant’, that track ‘we’re so pretty…we’re so pretty, vacant…’, I think is like a modern ‘My Generation’ (The Who song), really,” Townshend explained.
“It’s not as obvious as ‘My Generation’. But it’s the same kind of thing,” he claimed. “But the amazing thing was that the concerts were so hectic, so violent. Particularly in the first six months of the thing, with bands like The Clash, The Vibrators and Sex Pistols. I mean the Sex Pistols couldn’t actually play in public. It was that bad, they had to play unannounced concerts.”
“Consequently, there is very, very few people who ever saw them appear,” Townshend said. “I never saw them appear. But I saw several other bands. I used to go to clubs and stand and get insulted. Just stand there and just endure these snotty little kids saying ‘boring old fart!’ (laughs).”
“Three extraordinary artists like The Sex Pistols, The Clash and Elvis Costello under the banner of Punk is really an indication of how categories fail,” Townshend told Time in 1995. “What was actually happening at the time was the need for another tidal wave. I suppose that everybody wanted one band to do it like it happened to The Beatles. It turned out not to be one band but a lot of bands.”
“The Sex Pistols were obviously the most significant because they were the first and because (Malcolm) McLaren was organizing them and allowing their anarchy. He gave them the space to play, the space to be anarchic. But also because I think Paul Cook and Steve Jones in the band are great Rock and Roll players. They say they couldn’t play, but they actually could play very, very well. John Lydon is a fucking star! You know, he is a star! He is just one of the world stars. You see him and you know: ‘He is going to be famous.’”
Check out ‘Pretty Vacant’ down below.
