Which song by The Who was written by Pete Townshend’s brother?
It can’t be easy being a young lad and seeing your older brother jet off to spread rock ‘n’ roll around the world while you face up to a career in accounting or, at best, the dole. You want what is best for your family, but your sibling being hailed as a global icon and being paid lofty sums to propagate sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll is a tricky one to stomach. Thankfully, Pete Townshend was never the type to laud this over others.
Growing up in London, Pete was always surrounded by music. His father played saxophone in local dance bands, and his mother was a singer in several orchestras. While he wanted to create music that hit upon a deeper meaning, there was no doubt that he wanted to create music nevertheless. You could say that it was in the family bloodline.
But, he got a headstart on his brother Simon, who was 15 years his junior. When Simon was born in 1960, Pete was already fascinated by the revolutionary new music coming over from America thanks, in part, to seeing the film Rock Around the Clock. In fact, he was only a year away from entering the hip art scene of the era and studying graphic design alongside Ronnie Wood at Ealing College.
He was nervous about the venture all the same. Pete claims he was savagely bullied in his childhood and didn’t have many friends. So, when he flew the nest, he remained a bit of a home bird. Even when he became a musician of international disrepute, he remained close to his family. In due course, his brother Simon would even join him on the road, becoming a touring member with The Who.
It all began for the music-mad Simon – not a bad fascination to have when your brother is popping home with tales of having just chatted with Jimi Hendrix – in 1975, when, at the age of 14, he appeared in the film Tommy as a member of the choir. A year earlier, he had written his first song, ‘When I’m a Man’, a statement of his ambition. Nine years later, he made good on this promise to make a living from music when he released his debut solo album.
A second soon followed in 1985 before he decided to ply his trade as a touring musician and set up his own record label. In 1994, he even hit the road as part of Roger Daltrey’s solo shows. They struck up a friendship of sorts, and he started floating around the ranks of The Who in various capacities. He became a full touring member of the famed group in 2002, but he kept his songwriting efforts to himself.
What song did Simon Townshend write for The Who?
That all changed when he found himself almost inadvertently writing a track primed for Daltrey’s distinct vocals. Suddenly, he couldn’t top writing in this mode. “Originally I wanted Roger and I to collaborate on something and sent him 25 songs,” he told Mojo. “I didn’t hear anything back from him, which was really hard. Then I played him a song I thought would be great for The Who – with harmonica and a big guitar riff – and they weren’t impressed.”
Perhaps the issue was that he was trying too hard to make the songs the sort that would fit right in with their oeuvre. Eventually, it would be his most personal and unique that they would accept. ‘Break the News’ features on The Who’s 2019 album, imaginatively titled, Who. It is a heartwrenching tale that captures the ageing ails of the band.
As Simon explained to Uncut: “I came up with the idea when I was going to see the doctor about something, and I wondered what it would be like if you had to come home and break really bad news. So this song is very upbeat and happy, but basically saying, ‘I’ll always be the one to break the news. But only if it’s good news. if it’s bad, I’ll just keep quiet!'” It’s the sort of soulful juxtaposition that The Who have always thrived on.
