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THE WHO's PETE TOWNSHEND: 'We Sort Of Invented Heavy Metal'
Blabbermouth ^ | December 21, 2019 | N/A

Posted on 12/21/2019 8:04:34 PM PST by DoodleBob

In a new interview with the Toronto Sun, THE WHO guitarist Pete Townshend said that fans shouldn't be surprised that the band's first new album in 13 years, "Who", bears little resemblance to THE WHO in terms of that classic ferocious rock sound. "It doesn't sound like THE WHO from those early heavy metal years," he explained. "We sort of invented heavy metal with [our first live album] 'Live At Leeds' [1970]. We were copied by so many bands, principally by LED ZEPPELIN — you know, heavy drums, heavy bass, heavy lead guitar and some of those bands, like Jimi Hendrix for example, did it far better than we did. CREAM, with Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker, they came along in '67, same year as Jimi Hendrix, and they kind of stole our mantle in a sense. So people who want to hear that old heavy metal sound, there are plenty of bands that can provide it. So it's not really what we can actually do today. Even if we wanted to, it was never high on my list of wishes."

Townshend told The Pulse Of Radio that THE WHO was among the most versatile bands of its era, and that its musical talent freed him to write material that frequently covered many different genres. "...THE WHO never gave me a clear brief," he explained. "They never said to me, 'We wanna be a comedy act,' but if I gave them comedy songs, they were brilliant at them. They never said to me, 'We wanna be a girl-friendly band,' but if I gave them a love song, they would do it brilliantly. They never said, 'We want to be a heavy metal group' — if I gave them a heavy metal song, they did it brilliantly.

(Excerpt) Read more at blabbermouth.net ...


TOPICS: History; Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: bargain; heavymetal; music; petertownsend; petetownsend; powerchord; thewho
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Comment #61 Removed by Moderator

To: TTFlyer
Black Sabbath invented loud schlock for Seconal addicts.

Nevertheless, they invented the genre. Black Sabbath invented heavy metal. There is no debate here.

62 posted on 12/21/2019 8:42:35 PM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist
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To: TigersEye

Hard to believe Ginger Baker still walks among us..


63 posted on 12/21/2019 8:42:43 PM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: DoodleBob

Innagaddadavida was more heavy metal. So, maybe we should consider Iron Butterfly the originators of heavy metal


64 posted on 12/21/2019 8:43:16 PM PST by Beowulf9
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To: TTFlyer

Beck is amazing


65 posted on 12/21/2019 8:43:49 PM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: mylife

Y Nuevo Ano Felizidad!

thank you very much for putting that ear bleeder in my head..!


66 posted on 12/21/2019 8:44:09 PM PST by smvoice (I WILL NOT WEAR THE RIBBON.)
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To: All

Sound is evolutionary. Whoever we THINK invented something was actually inspired by the guy who did.


67 posted on 12/21/2019 8:44:30 PM PST by mmichaels1970
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To: mylife

Does he? I wonder if he can still make it sound like there are two drummers drumming?


68 posted on 12/21/2019 8:45:08 PM PST by TigersEye (This is the age of the death of reason.)
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To: smvoice
thank you very much for putting that ear bleeder in my head..!

I heard it today...in Walmart. They had the suicide pills under lock and key.

69 posted on 12/21/2019 8:45:10 PM PST by Billthedrill
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To: smvoice

Por Nada, amigo


70 posted on 12/21/2019 8:46:18 PM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: TigersEye

Yup he still lives I think, all the other musicians hate him but he still walks.

Not sure about the drumming.


71 posted on 12/21/2019 8:48:24 PM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: bleach
Steppenwolf wasn't heavy metal. They were just pure, 60s era rock.

"Magic Carpet Ride" doesn't exactly make you want to chug a bottle of Jack's.

72 posted on 12/21/2019 8:48:52 PM PST by Extremely Extreme Extremist
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To: Billthedrill
*😳*!! No joke! I cannot TAKE it. Every hour it's played on every station. It comes on, I immediately switch stations, and there it is, mocking, mocking me. I have Feliz Navidad Rage. I admit it
73 posted on 12/21/2019 8:49:12 PM PST by smvoice (I WILL NOT WEAR THE RIBBON.)
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To: mylife

Oh? Why do other musicians hate him? I never did keep up on stuff like that.


74 posted on 12/21/2019 8:53:00 PM PST by TigersEye (This is the age of the death of reason.)
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To: smvoice

Some one put stairway on the juke box today and I wanted to shoot myself LOL Then The Who came on and I was saved!

What I had played was this...

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=long+john+baldry&view=detail&mid=1307F83724016AC285F51307F83724016AC285F5&FORM=VIRE


75 posted on 12/21/2019 8:53:17 PM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: TigersEye

Ginger was a dick like me!
Notoriously difficult to work with.


76 posted on 12/21/2019 8:54:19 PM PST by mylife (The Roar Of The Masses Could Be Farts)
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To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

They may well have coined the Term. From Born To Be Wild.

I like smoke and lightning
Heavy metal thunder
Racin’ with the wind
And the feelin’ that I’m under


77 posted on 12/21/2019 8:54:52 PM PST by bleach (If I agreed with you, we would both be wrong.)
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To: TigersEye

I blew the speakers in my truck out last year on the way home after dealing with a rude customer on a jobsite-but I was jamming to AC/DC’s Jailbreak at the time-the friend who replaced them for me really got a laugh out of that...

I have a neighbor and co-worker who is my age who listens to that European Death Metal-I may be an old head banger, but that stuff makes DOA sound like a party song-I really can’t get into it at all it...


78 posted on 12/21/2019 8:54:53 PM PST by Texan5 ("You've got to saddle up your boys-you've got to draw a hard line"...)
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To: DoodleBob

When did the Troggs record Wild Thing? I know Hendrix covered it in 67.


79 posted on 12/21/2019 8:58:02 PM PST by John 3_19-21
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To: mylife

LOL. OK, I can relate! :)


80 posted on 12/21/2019 8:59:14 PM PST by TigersEye (This is the age of the death of reason.)
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