How watching the Sex Pistols almost landed Pete Townshend in jail
It’s a complicated life being a rock star. You might think that it is an easy existence, one filled with partying and playing music for the masses, but it’s a lot harder than that. People get into music because they are passionate about it, and then, if they become successful, that passion needs to be driven by profit. A musician is no longer a person; they are an asset, which can cause conflicting feelings such as those felt by Pete Townshend in The Who.
The Who has always been an excellent band, and labels didn’t take long to see their potential. A number of major executives tried to latch on to their sound, and the result was that The Who was making a lot of money and persistently climbing the charts to have number one singles. The downside was that their sound became more commercialised, and many of the members felt they had sold out.
This led to a difficult period during The Who’s career, where Pete Townshend spoke publicly about his disdain towards the band on multiple occasions. He said that people liked their music because of “musical sensationalism” as opposed to artistic merit. Even the song ‘Substitute’ was written as a homage to the fact that they were perceived as a substitute for Rolling Stones.
If you ever want to know more about what it was like going through a day in the life of Pete Townshend during this period in The Who, then look no further than the track ‘Who Are You?’. The song is an honest telling about what happens throughout Townshend’s day, which resulted in him seeing the Sex Pistols and nearly getting arrested.
The track begins with Townshend down Denmark Street having a meeting about the royalties to one of his songs. He is referring to this when the track says, “Eleven hours in the Tin Pan”. The Tin Pin refers to Tin Pan Alley, which is also Denmark Street. There were many music publishers and labels here back in the day, so it makes sense that Townshend would have a meeting there.
Afterwards, he headed to a bar to spend his money getting drunk. There, he saw Paul Cook and Steve Jones from the Sex Pistols, which proved to be a humbling experience. The two punk rockers went up to Townshend to pass on their best wishes and let him know they were big fans of The Who. They also thanked Townshend for paving the way to punk.
Though this sounds like a wholesome moment, it was actually one laced with guilt. The Who guitarist felt they had sold out, and the Sex Pistols were the complete antithesis of this feeling. They stood for rebellion and independence, something Townshend wanted, but instead, he had to satisfy the label executives he was answering to.
In his despair, he ended up getting incredibly drunk and falling asleep in a doorway in Soho. A police officer woke him up and, recognising the guitarist, said, “You can go sleep at home tonight [instead of a jail cell] if you can get up and walk away”. Pete allegedly responded with, “Who the fuck are you?”, which brings us nicely to the chorus of the song.
It’s interesting that even during these periods of denial when Pete Townshend didn’t think the band deserved the success they had, he was still able to make the exciting songs that continue to stand out today. This shows his creative talent, even when he felt like his creativity had led him astray.
