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![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/mcbride6.jpg)
The end of humanity, but in an optimistic way
Ian Gillan was a guest on the Songwriting For Songwriters podcast, talking about, naturally, his songwriting process, both within the band and as a solo artist. He also mentioned that the new Deep Purple album is due out some time in June.
Well, it’s very interesting on this one. I can’t give you too much at this stage, but it’s basically very optimistic. Let’s say there’s a general theme. It’s a fairly loose conceptual idea of the end of humanity, but not as grim as it sounds. In fact, it’s very optimistic. It’s about the metamorphosis of humanity into a metaphysical state, our next incarnation. It’s a bit too early to be doing interviews about this. I don’t mean time of day. I mean, it’s not gonna be out until June, so I don’t want to give too much away.
Here’s the whole thing for your listening pleasure (it’s audio only):
…And the song that Big Ian wishes he could have written is:
Thanks to Blabbermouth for the info and quote.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Gillan recorded Trying to Get to You sometime in the 70s and it appeared on For Gillan Fans Only: https://youtu.be/pX4m8FUi-x4?si=vs8anNVBdUpTuuUe
January 30th, 2026 at 20:34Such wanton cruelty 😱, to sully and desecrate this thread featuring yet another interview for Karin’s ever-growing Ian Gillan hagiography
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/jesuschristsuperstar/images/5/5d/IanGillanJCSPromoAd.jpeg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/250?cb=20220217184013
with a vid BY THAT BUTTERTENØR, how dare you?! 😂
But you forgot that Ian mentioned That’s All Right too!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZe_8u-rGWE
Also immortalized by the Wolverhamptoners here …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Id_m8rrD6Y
**************************************************************
Ian’s perceptive deliberations about the songwriting process are very insightful. Compliments to the interviewers very empathetic questions too.
January 31st, 2026 at 04:38Even his speaking voice is something else!
I love the way Purple are making music! Organised and thought through 😊
Am I the only one who would like to be the proverbial fly on the wall during those ‘jam-sessions’?
I dig he mentions Bob Dylan as a poet, while he himself is indeed a poet 😊
And woah! He mention he didn’t like Frank Sinatra, because it’s “normal for youngsters to vandalise the parent generation’s values, to make room for yourself!”I love that 😃
“You need to be excited to excite others” – so very true!
They certainly never were slaves of fashion, music wise! I am so very very happy they never went down the disco road, and now with Simon McB in the band, they are back to the rock-roots.
And I really liked Steve Morse, but for me Purple are rock’n’roll, through and through 😍
An interesting interview, and ohhh man how I look forward to the new album with my all time heroes, Deep Purple 🤩💜
January 31st, 2026 at 07:54I remember this ..living truth
If Hendrix is not your favorite guitarist ?, then he is probably your favorite guitarist’s favorite guitarist ( Oh yeah)
I would add this
If Elvis is not your favorite singer…then he is probably your favorite rock singer’s favorite singer (OOOO yeah)
I appreciate .. Bon,,Brain,Axl
but
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOGkmoijhYI
but The King …….is The King (+Richard Strauss and instrumentalists fromAC/DC of course !!!!! that The King from Belfast is fantastic.
January 31st, 2026 at 11:32Long Live Rock ‘n’ Roll !
@2
To be honest Uwe, I don’t know what you mean…😁
Too many difficult words for a danish peasant without any legal education 😆
But – to comment on Ian’s marvellous interview and yours well ditto comment:
I agree admin on these fine pages linked to Elvis, BUT I also remember vividly how Ian himself acknowledged that a younger generation dismiss the older generation’s taste, to make room for themselves. And that is what I am doing!
Both Ian and my mum apparently liked EP, and I am in my own right not to!
Instead I will link to these fine gentlemen:
January 31st, 2026 at 14:39https://youtu.be/c_ukuYnDu0Y?si=Qds6i4bQeTaKsIRA
We wonder if gig Ian has ever covered the proverbial ‘Sinatra’ (and a myriad of others) classic………….. “I did it myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy waaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Karin @ 3- you would be bored at a jam session. After all the stardom fanfare wears off and Ian shows you bits and pieces of his ‘Esoteric hogwash’ (not my words) lyrics, you could very well leave there thinking, ‘what the effing hell was all the about. It all sounded like ‘mumbo jumbo’ to me”. Cheers.
January 31st, 2026 at 17:21Not Ian, but Glenn has:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPToiCutXQs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqH7VwpSwBo
January 31st, 2026 at 17:52@6
MacGregor! Don’t you know me at all??
– oh wait, you don’t 😄
Let me tell you something very private about me:
(Pssst – are you listening? ☺️)
I would love to sit, completely silent, looking with starry eyes at my hero, sipping very carefully my coffee, and just soaking up the atmosphere, take notes in my little black book, and just feeling like the luckiest person in the world!
IN THE WORLD MacGregor 😃
And when the first day is done, even if he hasn’t made a hit yet, I will return the next day 🤩
You know why?
Because it is Ian Gillan! The very best singer in the multiverse! The very best lyricist at the same place! And I could never get bored being in the presence of such talent 💜
There you have it!
January 31st, 2026 at 19:12Talking of Danish dames, or even ‘peasants’, we are about to have our very own Taswegian ‘Queen’ hit her homeland and she is bringing her hubby with her. I need to have a quick chat with Mary if possible, as long as my knees don’t give in when curtsying to her. I have to warn her of a certain ‘lady of the north’ in her own (adopted) country. The warning will be to NEVER EVER mention two or even four words to this lady if she was ever to meet her, Deep Purple and or Ian Gillan. Queen Mary would never be she again, especially her ears and her mind.
https://pulsetasmania.com.au/news/queen-mary-of-denmark-to-return-to-tasmania-for-historic-royal-visit/
January 31st, 2026 at 20:56Great interview with Ian, lots of little songwriter tricks, but the best part is that at 80 Ian has mastered his quick thinking and refined language.
February 1st, 2026 at 00:22His mind is very trained and fit as if he were much younger!
Also interesting is Ian’s point about the dawn of digital recording in the 1980s, where he says engineers didn’t know how to handle sound with those new technologies.
February 1st, 2026 at 10:39It would have been nice to ask him which album in particular he was referring to, but I imagine that the bad mix of Born Again is what is most engraved in his memory…
Great interview pushing Ian G into the more technical or not so technical methods of singing and song writing. The Pavarotti story doesn’t need much extracting though.;)
February 1st, 2026 at 11:21@11: If he was thinking about BA he is wrong. That album was recorded analog by an engineer who had been with Sabbath from the 70’s. If you are to believe Iommi, it was Gullan who destroyed the speakers in the studio, speaking of people who can’t handle technology. 🙂 I find that story weird though. Someone in the room, the engineers if noone else, should have noticed that. Unless they were drunk/stoned out of their minds.
February 1st, 2026 at 11:50Claiming that Born Again sounds digital is like saying KISS wear too little makeup.
Besides, Svante and I know that the production of BA as it is qualifies as both sacred and unholy – no mean feat!
February 1st, 2026 at 12:12The Gillan albums he would be talking about. Future Shock as Uwe has stated many times is a very trebly recording and on these box set cd’s I purchased a little while ago, I find Glory Road not that good either. As I haven’t owned those on vinyl for almost four decades, I cannot remember what the vinyl sounded like. Born Again could be added to that sound fiasco as it was poorly handled in so many ways……….an album not standing the test of time too well either in my eyes…….unprofessional indeed. Let’s all get obliterated and carry on like teenagers………..Bill Ward went back to the booze because of the other three band members attitude………………..Born Again, more like Buried Again. Cheers.
February 1st, 2026 at 12:59#13 Svante:
I believe then that BigIan’s reasoning was generalized based on his experience between the 70s analog ones, much simpler from the musician’s point of view, the 80s with the transition to digital for mastering and then also for mixing, the 90s with the arrival of Adat for recording and the first programs like Logic, Cubase (which sound engineers will surely have used for Naked Thunder & Toolbox, and which drove me crazy due to the synchronization with continuous software errors in the small recording studio in Milan where I worked), and then the total simplification that has occurred in the last 20 years with recording studio hardware that can keep up with what sound engineers want to do via software.
Having worked in a recording studio, the thing that always drove me crazy is that the point of view of the singer and the musician is radically different from that of the sound engineer, musicians can never truly understand how complex it is to treat the mix in the right way and at the same time their production according to their tastes.
I certainly understand why Roger lost his hair being a producer and sometimes even an engineer!
Having a musician in the band who knows how to produce can be as useful as it can be a huge pain in the ass for the sound engineer!
The latest biopic about the Boss gives a good idea of what he wanted and what the sound engineer was trying to achieve. Then, obviously, there’s a psychological balance between the artist’s vision and the record company’s requests… but in the middle is the sound engineer who has to translate everything using the technology at his disposal, and I can assure you it’s hell, both in a small studio and in a large one with famous, high-budget productions.
I mean, it’s clearly not as alienating as working in a factory, it’s certainly stimulating and creative, but the sound engineer is under stress because he has to transform purely technical/mathematical/physical things into something that then sounds artistic, creative and exciting for the musician, for the manager, for the record company and for the fans.
This clearly doesn’t apply to “modern” rap, trap, and hip hop music, where they work on samples and feature artists who can’t sing or play, but are simply disposable commercial phenomena for the ignorant masses.
February 1st, 2026 at 13:30Didn’t Tony Iommi change his amp rig at the BA time? Went to Mesa Boogie possibly, from a distant memory of mine. There’s a drop in his quality of sound on BA to my ears, very noticeable instantly it was in 1983. Just one of a few things that went awry. A different producer too, from Martin Birch to Robin Black. Different Cognac perhaps and or Peruvian snow? Different studio. It keeps on keeping on. Different lead singer, he he he, oh dear oh dear………….that malevolent mischief maker wearing his hippy garb………….where was all your leather attire Ian? He let the other guys down there big time. Not that I can blame him at all, all that leather, it just doesn’t ‘cut’ it does it? It looked like the Sab guys were about to audition for Judas Priest. Vanity, what vanity? Where is our resident fashion expert when we need him. Uwe, where are you? Cheers.
February 1st, 2026 at 20:38“Born Again, more like Buried Again …”
LOL, good one, Tassie Boy!
February 1st, 2026 at 20:45I love this
(about his influences) 💜
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7NXt9K3B4g
February 2nd, 2026 at 06:11New album in June, these old folks don’t sleep.😁
February 2nd, 2026 at 13:06“The Gillan albums he would be talking about. Future Shock as Uwe has stated many times is a very trebly recording and on these box set cd’s I purchased a little while ago, I find Glory Road not that good either. As I haven’t owned those on vinyl for almost four decades, I cannot remember what the vinyl sounded like.”
I think Ian’s very own Kingsway Recorders studio (formerly De Lane Lea) simply wasn’t really state of the art even at the time (no mega-successful band that could afford any studio ever recorded there in either the late 70s or early 80s) – at the same time, Ian needed to see his studio regularly booked to ensure cashflow and likely shunned the expense of going to a top notch studio with GILLAN. So simple economics were behind it. Of course, the rough and ready sound of the GILLAN albums had its punkish appeal, but excellent recordings they were not. Bernie Torme, GILLAN’s enfant terrible, has said in later interviews that even at the time he questioned the wisdom of always recording at Kingsway (not a very spacious environment as you would imagine with an inner-city studio whose origins go back to 1947, the still jurassic age of recording), but Ian would have none of it. John McCoy wasn’t a particular fan of the studio either, much of it was makeshift.
Studio equipment outdates really quickly – two to three years can be a long time -, you have to be on your toes constantly re new developments and be able to invest accordingly.
Last I heard, Kingsway Recorders (now renamed De Lane Lea again, but at different premises to where it formerly was) is not used for rock and pop music recordings anymore but for film and TV post-production. Ironically, that is also how it started out in 1947 where it was involved in dubbing French films into English.
February 2nd, 2026 at 17:04#21
Kingsway Recorders in Holborn, London, a studio with an incredible reputation. Home of classic tracks like “Albatross” and Oh Well, Jimi Hendrix and “House of the Rising Sun” by The Animals
February 3rd, 2026 at 17:07Uwe, do you know what..about the relationship between Gillan and Martin Birch..only big Ian did not have the cooperation of all important members of DP.
I’m not saying that Martin’s student Paul Watkins was a bad producer, he worked with a variety of musicians from Leo Sayer to reggae artists, but Martin was a name for success in hard rock in those years (1979-1982 Whitesnake, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Blue Öyster Cult, MSG..)
De Lane Lea/Kingsway was no doubt a notable studio in the 60s and early 70s, but not anymore in the late 70s and 80s, it had been overtaken by other English and international studios by then.
I have no idea why Ian never recorded with Martin Birch again after WDWTWA, but the reasons might not have been entirely musical. Martin Birch was the go-to-producer for Rainbow (Dio era) and WS (up to and including the condom album Slide It On or whatever it was called). Ian also never asked his friend Roger to produce him again after the IGB debut (AOP was released while both were again in Purple), Roger of course followed Martin B as the Rainbow house producer. Anyway, my point being: Perhaps Ian just wanted to differentiate himself from the rest of the pack, wary of a formatted “Purple/Rainbow/Whitesnake“ production sound. Not sure whether Martin B would have during the existence of GILLAN still worked at Kingsway either, he was used to studios like Musicland and the Chateau by then, several notches above in technology and market image.
February 4th, 2026 at 13:29Maybe, just maybe that is what Ian Gillan wanted. Sick of messing about and come out swinging. That ‘garage’ band sound and to hell with everything else. He was very frustrated after the IGB escapade. Same with Blackmore, realising very quickly the debut ‘solo’ album and band wasn’t going to cut it at all. Get other musicians and start slamming at the gates, that drawbridge needs to come down and quickly and once we are inside, create merry havoc. Too impatient, both acts in that aspect. Meanwhile back at the ranch a young Coverdale was nice and slowly beginning to ‘slide it in’ ever so gently. Apologies for that image, blame Uwe. He has always been an influence on my choice of words at times. Cheers.
February 4th, 2026 at 16:29Yes, I think that both GILLAN’s and Rainbow Rising’s raw sounds were results of choice. Ian wanted to sound as un-IGB as possible, reasserting himself ans a rocker, and Blackmore was keen to leave comparisons to Deep Purple behind. Also at the time, the Punk Tsunami had washed new production values to the shores, sounding raw was deemed as being authentic, current and still relevant.
But over time, the raw production of the GILLAN albums became confining for penetrating wider markets (as did the original Rainbow sound).. There is something to be said for well-recorded and -sounding music, you know, especially as the 80s dawned. Ritchie saw that because Roger’s productions of the last four Rainbow studio albums were much smoother and glossier than the Dio-era ones with still Martin Birch at the production helm.
February 5th, 2026 at 11:30The Paice Ashton and Lord dvd has arrived and wonderful it is. That extra Lifespan documentary is a treasure. I have noticed that listed online separately to the live concert, but never clicked on the link as I just presumed it was some typical slapped together style documentary of the band and the album. A nice surprise that is with sublime filming of the band members rehearsing and also Martin Birch at the desk amongst others. Also the live footage from another concert(s). Tony Ashton looks a lot more comfortable in that. To be expected though as it isn’t being officially filmed for the BBC tv show. I can imagine that increased Tony’ anxiety levels a fair bit on that day. Cheers.
February 9th, 2026 at 20:28@26 A true gem it is indeed. Almost 50 ywars on I still mourn the fact that PAL did not continue. On the other hand we would not have seen the best WS of all times …. And DC wasn’t to join what could have bden CLAP in his words. Though he might have fit in….and maybe he’d still have a voice today if he would have joined them.
February 10th, 2026 at 07:24Ah…daytime dreams…off to work now.
Someone put what seems like the whole 31-minute-documentary (Is it, Herr MacGregor, I’ve only ever seen bits and pieces of it?) up on YouTube two years ago:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9ZVeMGE6d0
Calling it ‘Lifespan’ was certainly ironic given that by the time of its official release PAL was no more. I agree that it would have been interesting to see the band continue, maybe giving Bernie Marsden a more prominent role as a second lead singer. That Tony Ashton wasn’t really cut from the cloth to front a band in larger halls, much less the arenas and stadiums Purple had been accustomed to, I think Jon and Little Ian could and should have seen that a whole lot earlier. Still, calling it a day without ever doing an extensive tour as an opening act in the US for a band attracting a similar (= non-Deep Purple) audience strikes me as somewhat a knee-jerk panic reaction. But the upkeep of the band (with its many members: core group + horn section + background chicks) which was apparently self-financed at least in part was eating into Jon’s and Paicey’s personal assets.
I remember the already announced dates in Germany being all of the sudden pulled – I was planning to see them at Offenbach Stadthalle.
https://www.postertreasures.com/images/product_images/popup_images/paiceash76t.jpg
Here’s some blurb from earMusic on the band history from around the time of the 2019 re-release:
https://www.earmusic.com/news/the-story-of-malice-in-wonderland-paice-ashton-lord/
February 10th, 2026 at 13:52Vicar Phil from the parish of Aston 😇 chimes in atoning for his sins as a youth when he was still too young to really “get” PAL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_4K83QcHwY
I liked PAL immediately, but then I had been schooled on Blood, Sweat & Tears (for some reason their albums were more easily available in Kinshasa in the mid 70s than those of most other Western bands) and PAL wasn’t too far off from that Canadian-US band. With a frontman like David Clayton-Thomas. PAL’s prospects might have looked very differently:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWhGw3QYoj8
I wish that album would be remixed in a state of the art way, not that the initial mix and production was in any lacking, it’s a great-sounding album, a pristine Musicland production. But I’d bring out the horn section a lot more.
February 10th, 2026 at 14:19Vicar Phil from the parish of Aston 😇 chimes in atoning for his sins as a youth when he was still too young to really “get” PAL:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_4K83QcHwY
I liked PAL immediately, but then I had been schooled on Blood, Sweat & Tears (for some reason their albums were more easily available in Kinshasa in the mid 70s than those of most other Western bands) and PAL wasn’t too far off from that Canadian-US band. With a frontman like David Clayton-Thomas, PAL’s prospects might have looked very differently:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWhGw3QYoj8
I wish that album would be remixed in a state of the art way, not that the initial mix and production was in any lacking, it’s a great-sounding album, a pristine Musicland production. But I’d bring out the horn section a lot more.
February 10th, 2026 at 14:54Paicey’s drumming with PAL was incredible – he really peaked around that time.
And Paul Martinez’ bass playing and cool demeanor was fucking awesome. Stylistically he had much in common with Tom Hamilton of Aerosmith who is an underrated player as well.
February 11th, 2026 at 01:57According to the PAL Live in concert dvd notes from an interview with Jon Lord, about 100, 000 pounds was put into the project. Selected European dates were planned, Copenhagen, four in Germany, Switzerland, Holland and France and posters were printed but eventually all gigs were pulled due to a lack of financial support. The five UK dates were the only concerts honoured following the filmed BBC concert. The additional live filmed songs after the doco ends seem to be from the final concert at the Rainbow Theatre show in London. Apparently Tony Ashton fell off the stage and broke his leg, or so they say. The show went on. The documentary itself is twenty six minutes in length while the extra live songs total is about 23 minutes. So yes Uwe, that is the doco and as the dvd notes say, “it arguably remains the best behind the scenes film of any Deep Purple related album”. The cd I purchased recently, the 2019 re- release has the extra tracks on it from the not finished second album. Steamroller Blues and the Ballad of Mr Giver are both on the BBC dvd concert, the others I am unfamiliar with and I need to listen to them a little more. The cd booklet is very informative on everything that went on, which that link you sent is an edited take on it by the look of it. The original title of the doco was ‘Palpitation’. I am over the moon owning this dvd as it is rare, plus the re-release on cd after owning the vinyl for a few decades. I am enjoying it much more these days than I did back in the 80’s and 90’s. Cheers.
February 11th, 2026 at 10:57@ 31- Ian Paice was, at that mid to later 70’s time grand indeed and at the peak of his creativity and prowess and then…………………Whitesnake. Here is that comment about his lack of many things in his playing in the late 70’s and into the early 1980’s. Early in this interview under the ‘ Secret to Relaxation heading’ he briefly mentions the ‘too hard’ approach that had ‘infected’ his playing. Do we include Ian’s stint with poor ole Gary Moore with that, don’t go there Uwe. Paice also talks about the ‘curse’ of the click track. Cheers.
https://www.moderndrummer.com/article/deep-purples-ian-paice/
February 11th, 2026 at 22:25Uwe may be relieved if not pleased that I have ordered the IGB box set. Do I need any more of the leather lunged screamer in my ears? Evidently so it seems, better get those studio albums while they are available. Also a live release or two of course. I might make an appointment with my hearing specialist, just in case I need to ‘tune’ my ears for the imminent arrival of what is rather good value, all things considered. Cheers.
February 12th, 2026 at 00:43Cutest thing in the Lifespan movie is Little Ian smooching with Jacky at 19:44. Proof that even drummers can get some (if the rest of the band is distracted that is).
Looking at those live snippets: There was nothing lightweight about PAL as a live proposition, they were tight and forceful. Calling it a day after just four live gigs was perhaps a trifle premature, one wonders what would have happened had they stuck to their guns and maybe gotten in someone like Jess Roden
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vQ1nLbz620
to be their lead singer for the second album. Tony could have still sung a couple of songs and played keyboards (as well as write songs), but it would have taken weight of his shoulders having to front the band.
PS: Bernie Marsden’s Starz T-shirt … Such a great band, he must have seen them while touring with Babe Ruth in the States I think …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIAS9mygJi8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSLLyp5I7Ng
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFkbZym5930
Starz were role models for Bon Jovi and in my humble opinion you can hear that very well though their music preceded Bon Jovi’s a good ten years.
February 12th, 2026 at 01:10@ 35- ha ha ha, the ‘tonsil’ searching couple, Ian Paice and his missus, who it looks like instigated that moment to be truthful. I had a comment typed up here, but I felt guilty because it wasn’t about the music. Oh well, at least our other ‘double entendre expert’ here Uwe had the courage to mention that rather romantic (or lustful) moment, just in case anyone else missed it or even cared at all. Drummers a very sensitive individuals, they need TLC, just like anybody else, even bass guitarists. Cheers.
February 12th, 2026 at 08:19@ 35 – Money was a big issue there Uwe, and lots of it by the sound of it. One hundred grand and counting back then was a lot of cash. How far to pursue a failed commercial venture hanging around Jon and Ian’s neck. Those second album songs are pretty ordinary, well some of them are, a few we are aware of that are good. I am surprised they went back into the studio so quickly to be honest. No doubt a record contract may have been that reason. Anyway it is one of those stellar ‘one off’ albums and band lineups that didn’t last very long. There have been a few over time from certain artists. It just didn’t sell, not surprising in that aspect with all things considered in the music business at that time. The brass section is what I never enjoyed in the band, I don’t in most ensembles, it isn’t something a lot of people have in their record collections. It has its moments but that ‘big band’ thing is something a lot of people don’t like. Tony’s vocal at times is also a put off for many. Some of us get use to it over time. The songs are good on the debut album, quite strong many of them. Was it that ‘first’ album thing, so many new fresh ideas and then they suddenly hit the brick wall, creatively speaking. At least they did it and they all enjoyed it. Cheers.
February 12th, 2026 at 09:07That‘s a lovely and very insightful interview in Modern Drummer there, vielen lieben Dank, Tassie Boy!
Good thing that you ordered yourself the IGB set, that is probably not going to be available for long and will not be printed in huge quantities, of all the DP split-off groups, IGB is likely – together with Glenn‘s occasional pure funk excursions – the most “acquired taste” one.
February 12th, 2026 at 12:26Talking of Ian Paice, there is no mention of any other drummers names that may have auditioned for The Who in 1979, in Pete Townshend’s autobiography. Apparently Phil Collins contacted Townshend and really wanted the gig. Townshend wanted Kenney Jones from the outset, no other options were available as he did the proverbial ‘my way or the highway’ thing. What is it with electric guitarists, all the moody toy throwing tantrums and everything else that seems to go with the job description. For the record, Daltrey never wanted Jones, not the style of drumming for The Who was his take on it and it still was after one album and the completion of the following tour. I was hoping Ian may have been mentioned in some way. Not to worry. Cheers
February 14th, 2026 at 06:27@39
“What is it with electric guitarists, all the moody toy throwing tantrums and everything else that seems to go with the job description.”
Well, in Pete’s case, Keith Moon summed it up best: “…Artsy-Fartsy, he is”. implying that Pete is an artistic\autistic prima donna.
February 14th, 2026 at 08:57Entwistle didn’t want Jones either – nor did Kenny think that Entwistle was “really a bassist”, they were worlds apart.
Townshend made the decision based on people he knew and was comfortable with from the 60s London circuit where The Small Faces had been perceived as mod peers of The Who. DP were never in that scene. And Townshend’s disdain for “stadium rock acts” such as Led Zep is notorious – he thought The Who were something better even though they did the same stadium trek in the US. Not an easy man at the best of times.
February 14th, 2026 at 17:59Townshend wanted a metronome, his words and yes someone he knew very well. I do think Entwistle most probably would have been ‘over the Moon’ too, no pun intended. Both Daltrey and Entwistle just wanted a drummer with a little more flair than Jones, hence Zak Starkey later on. I get that, The Who with Kenney wasn’t actually setting the world on fire according to some. Townshend had moved into the new era of pop rock music by then, his solo work is a fine example of that, late 70’s and early 80’s. I like some of the Who songs on those two albums Kenney was involved with. A fine drummer and nice chap. Cheers.
February 14th, 2026 at 19:14The Who were always a vehicle for Pete’s songwriting, but they were also a rock band with instrumental brawn and clout (no one would have bought The Who’s albums just for his guitar playing and specifically his solos). Come the end of the 70s, Townshend started chipping away at the latter, replacing first the idiosyncratic Moon with a traditional drummer and then having a long line of hired-hand bassists step in for the late JAE, none of which shared his “I’m the lead bassist” approach. What Townshend missed was that, yes, his songwriting was key to the sound of The Who, but so was the execution of these songs by the original line-up. Like Blackmore with DP, he didn’t really see what a gem he had in his original band. It’s a folly may main writers and frontmen share – add Sting to the list.
February 17th, 2026 at 19:51It is a fine line indeed. What I did notice in reading Townshend’s autobiography was the amount of pressure he was under to produce the goods. Record companies, managers, contracts, timelines and his own hard line approach to his own work. Plus he was, as the other sole songwriters who also have to come up with the goods are also, the one who has the final say in most cases. He did regret not letting the others have more of a say at times, especially commenting on that after Entwistle’s death. Hindsight again. Having no other songwriters can possibly be a drawback at times, but at the same time, do the sole songwriters really want another writer getting in their way. Ian Anderson has been commenting recently about that. He finds it a ghastly proposition, having to collaborate with anybody else in composition. Townshend, Sting, Paul Simon and even Roger Waters in certain aspects and a few others no doubt would probably be the same. Zappa of course is definitely another. The temperamental ‘eccentric’ songwriter or composer. They are out there on the edge of the periphery in many aspects, but they did deliver in most cases. Townshend was also writing songs for his solo releases at the same time in many situations with The Who. Plus he was tired of having to keep the time live on stage. So letting the bass and drums do that much more was a relief and necessity for him in later lineups. Roger Daltrey talked about the difficulty he had with other drummers, particularly Jones. That Daltrey always fitted in with Moon, the phrasing and timing etc. Other drummers didn’t have that feel, as expected how could they. Starkey brought back that sort looser vibe for Roger in a live setting. That old chemistry thing again with certain band members. Some work out well, many others do not. Cheers.
February 17th, 2026 at 21:23Good point here. Townshend may not have realised the big part the others played in the overall sensation that The Who were to many. Same goes for Ritchie who never reached the levels of DP again with his own band. And many people including yours truely think that it wasn’t DC alone that made WS so special. The hair line up may have sold millions – but the Lord-Marsden-Moody-Murray-Paice line up still gets sung the praises on every fanside I checked to this day. Another rather striking example: Sir Mick who thought he’s the centerpiece of the Stones and could easily make it on his own. We know the results … despite paying Jeff Beck and who not to get that thing off the ground.
February 18th, 2026 at 11:56Keith Moon took the 1970’s with him, symbolically speaking. That shift from the avant-garde to a much straighter approach to songwriting or I should probably say albums. Everything changed from the later 70’s into the 1980’s. Townshend just transferred that ‘concept’ album approach over to his solo career. Commencing a little with White City, then further with The Iron Man and into the 90’s with Psychoderelict. Townshend always composed shorter songs, like so many others did. The progressive rock bands also evolved, record companies definitely did and many others things did as well. Rainbow and the IGB changed too along with Whitesnake and look at what happened to the PAL band project. As that saying goes ‘history never repeats’. Cheers.
February 18th, 2026 at 17:08