The Pete Townshend project Roger Daltrey called “vacuous”
If The Who’s Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey sang from the same hymn sheet throughout their lifelong partnership, they would have likely never hit the heights they achieved. Friction isn’t necessarily a negative attribute to have within a band; in some cases, it can spur them to create their best work.
Townshend and Daltrey are the musical Yin and Yang in many regards, but when they bring their powerful skills together, they create wondrous art of the highest calibre, cementing their place as British musical legends. Frequently, they have been on different pages on a degree of subjects, namely regarding material by The Who.
While Townshend is the band’s primary songwriter and the captain of the ship, his creations needed Daltrey’s electric vocal range to bring them to life. Furthermore, the frontman’s enigmatic stage presence was a vital reason they became one of their generation’s most successful live bands and excelled in that environment.
At the peak of their powers, The Who were unafraid to break new ground and adventure upon the untapped terrain. The most prominent example of this personality trait is Tommy, released in 1969. This album pioneered the rock opera format and has continued to live on as a stage opera over 50 years after its inception.
In 2024, Townshend brought Tommy back to Broadway for a new run after first with the assistance of the director, Des McAnuff, who was also involved in the original production during the 1990s. The first show received rave reviews, won awards, and allowed the album’s themes to be explored in a new direction.
While the movie generally tackles the same subject matter as the album and film, which starred Daltrey in the titular role, there are various differences. These subtle changes didn’t sit right with The Who frontman, who believes they took the magic away from the initial creation, which is a project he understandably feels protective about.
In 2011, Daltrey celebrated the legacy of Tommy in his own way by touring the album extensively and playing it in full, which The Who never did. At the time, Daltrey spoke to The Telegraph and claimed the brilliance of the rock opera is due to the many possible interpretations, noting, “It can mean whatever you want it to mean”.
He also claimed: “I use the characters in it as metaphors for parts of the human condition, so it’s a kind of story of the human spirit.”
On the contrary, Daltrey was less than complimentary about the Broadway incarnation of Tommy, which he didn’t contribute to, stating, “I think it completely missed the point. I personally found it vacuous. I did tell Pete what I thought, but he just said, ‘F— you.’ [Daltrey subsides into roars of laughter.] But he won a Tony award, so what do I know?”
As Daltrey noted himself, Tommy won Townshend a Tony Award. While the stage version wasn’t to his taste, it’s another example of the versatility of the original album, which can flexibly be used as a canvas for a whole iteration of powerful tales regarding human existence.
Furthermore, the return to Broadway 30 years after opening its doors in New York speaks volumes about the reputation of the stage version of Tommy. Additionally, its renaissance illustrates the story’s relevancy in 2024 despite the many decades that have passed.
