{"id":8032,"date":"2026-11-06T14:18:35","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T14:18:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=8032"},"modified":"2026-11-06T14:18:35","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T14:18:35","slug":"shindig-issue-181-pete-townshend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=8032","title":{"rendered":"Shindig! Issue #181 \u2013 Pete Townshend"},"content":{"rendered":"

PETE TOWNSHEND tells MARK WILKERSON about how working with a band of misfits during the pressure-packed Tommy<\/em>years gave him immense satisfaction, a #1 hit and validation that his home studio sounded \u201cfucking amazing\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t think for a second that it was going to work”<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

As 1968 progressed, it became increasingly unlikely that Townshend would have any time to work individually with his collection of musical misfits. In September, The Who began recording Townshend\u2019s magnum opus Tommy<\/em> at IBC Studios. He was still writing it. In between studio sessions, the cash-strapped group continued to perform live. Meanwhile, Karen was pregnant with their first child. Something had to give. \u201cKit Lambert, The Who\u2019s manager, said, \u2018Pete, you\u2019re not going to be able to do this, you haven\u2019t got the time, so put them all together\u2019,\u201d Pete told this writer, \u201cand the only ones I could get my hands on were Jimmy, Speedy and Andy. And I didn\u2019t think for a second that it was going to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

The unlikely trio first met in Townshend\u2019s home in late \u201968. The three had essentially nothing in common \u2013 backgrounds, personalities, interests \u2013 nothing. \u201cBut when they started to play,\u201d says Townshend, \u201cit was just extraordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSomething magical happened from the very first second,\u201d Speedy Keen told Andy Childs for ZigZag<\/em> in July \u201975. Townshend recently used the same adjective when asked about this first meeting. \u201cI just remember them playing together in my studio. It was sort of magical.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fledgling band\u2019s individual incongruities somehow meshed into a cohesive whole. \u201cThe amazing thing about the way they work in the studio is that they\u2019ve all definitely got completely different states of mind, but it\u2019s a kind of a catalytic thing,\u201d Townshend said on \u201970 promo interview album A Special Record From Pete Townshend And Thunderclap Newman<\/em>. \u201cThey each give way to one another as a concession to playing with the other \u2013 practically 90% of their own musical personality.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Perhaps the intimate setting helped. The control room had been set up in a narrow space that was intended as a bathroom, and the studio was in an adjacent room. \u201cThe room was tiny,\u201d Pete remembers. The drum kit faced the fireplace in this room, and the upright piano was squeezed into the control room amidst a mass of wires, tape boxes and recording equipment. And the guitarist? \u201cJimmy, I put in a broom cupboard,\u201d Townshend says with a laugh, adding that he at least put some glass in the cupboard door. \u201cIt had an air fan in it, but you couldn\u2019t run it of course because you would hear it on the recording,\u201d he added. \u201cHe seemed quite happy in the cupboard!\u201d<\/p>\n

Keen\u2019s familiarity with the room and his chatty, social manner helped too. \u201cI hadn\u2019t made any music in the studio that had ever been released,\u201d says Townshend, \u201cbut I had done all my demos in there, and Speedy had heard all those demos, and he had played drums on a couple of my demos as well, so he knew the room. And he was an exceptionally gifted social musician. So it felt to me like Speedy was the one that was really running the sessions. I was playing the bass while I was engineering, so I was really preoccupied with the sound.\u201d<\/p>\n

After some additional sessions at IBC Studios (using leftover time from The Who\u2019s Tommy<\/em> sessions), the group\u2019s first single was complete. The Beatles\u2019 release of \u2018Revolution\u2019 in August \u201968 necessitated a name change. \u2018Something In The Air\u2019 was born.<\/p>\n