The Who album that inspired David Bowie: “He was going to continue where I left off”
Progenitors of raucous, distorted rock and roll, the landscape of British rock music would look very different without the influence of The Who. After honing their craft within the modernist subculture, the band went on to capture the angry voice of Britain’s post-war youth, becoming an iconic sound of the swinging sixties in the process. As the Pete Townshend-fronted band developed, however, their influence became much more profound, particularly after the revolutionary rock opera Tommy.
The 1969 album represented something of a rebirth for The Who. They had built their name and reputation on creating short, sharp, adrenaline-fuelled rock anthems for the younger generation, but inevitably, Townshend and company had to grow up at some point. After all, nobody wants to hear rich men approaching their 30s singing about ‘My Generation’ forever. So, with Tommy, Townshend pushed the band into previously explored avenues of artistic expression, crafting a concept album the likes of which had never been seen before.
Concept albums like Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys or The Beatles’ Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band had challenged the ways in which the album format was viewed, but it was only with the release of Tommy that albums began to feature one overarching narrative. In The Who’s case, this revolved around one figure, Tommy, charting his tumultuous life from birth to his rise as a spiritual leader. Its strong narrative set the tone for the future of The Who and inspired countless other artists in the process.
Seemingly, one such artist who was inspired by Tommy was none other than David Bowie. The Brixton-born songwriter is often famed for his ability to reinvent himself, creating different characters and narrative stories around his various personas. According to Pete Townshend, Bowie was first struck with that idea after hearing The Who perform Tommy live in the flesh.
During a 1995 interview, Townshend shared, “Bowie is somebody who came backstage at the Royal Albert Hall and announced to me that he was going to continue where I left off with Tommy.”
Recounting the tale, the guitarist said, “We played ‘[Tommy’s Holiday Camp]’. It was the day that the Stones played in the (Hyde) park. We played a show with Chuck Berry. We played ‘Tommy’ and Bowie was in the front row standing next to my little brother, who didn’t know who he was then.”
Admittedly, very few people knew who David Bowie was when The Who played at the Royal Albert Hall in 1969. Aside from a run of failed singles, the songwriter had not yet accomplished his dreams of musical greatness. In fact, the London gig was mere days before Bowie released ‘Space Oddity’, the first track to establish the songwriter on a national stage.
As Townshend recalled, “He wasn’t anybody, he was a guy called David Jones … and he came back and he said: ‘That’s what I’m gonna do, I’ve now seen that I can create characters’. He ran away and started doing it.”
The fallout from this backstage meeting may very well have inspired Bowie to set about formulating plans for future characters like Ziggy Stardust, who had a clear narrative to his music and persona – much like Tommy. Of course, Townshend is not entirely to blame for Bowie’s incredible career, but if Tommy helped to sow the seeds that would eventually become Ziggy Stardust, then perhaps we have to thank The Who for more than originally thought.
