Townshend Cleared of Possessing Kid Porn

Associated Press, via Yahoo ^ | 5.7.2003

[NYC GOP Chick]

Townshend Cleared of Possessing Kid Porn

7 minutes ago

LONDON - Pete Townshend (news) was cleared Wednesday of possessing pornographic images of children. But The Who guitarist was warned by police not to access a Web site containing images of child abuse.

Townshend was arrested in January on suspicion of making and possessing indecent images of children. The arrest was part of Operation Ore, an FBI (news - web sites)-led crackdown on Internet child pornography.

After a four-month investigation, London's Metropolitan Police said Wednesday that the rocker "was not in possession of any downloaded child abuse images," but had accessed a site containing such images in 1999.

The musician acknowledged using his credit card to enter a Web site advertising child pornography but said he was doing research for his autobiography.

The title character in Townshend's rock opera "Tommy" — a deaf, dumb and blind pinball wizard — is sexually abused by an uncle, and Townshend said he believed he had been sexually abused as a young boy, while in the care of his mentally ill grandmother.

Police said it was not a defense "to access these images for research or out of curiosity."

As part of the cautioning procedure, Townshend's fingerprints, photograph and a DNA sample will be taken by police, and he will be placed on a national register of sex offenders for five years.

Townshend was one of The Who's four founding members, along with bassist John Entwistle (news), singer Roger Daltrey (news) and drummer Keith Moon (news). Moon died in 1978 and Entwistle died last year.

The group, founded in London in the early 1960s, was part of the first British rock invasion, alongside the Rolling Stones and The Beatles. Their hits included "I Can See for Miles," "Pinball Wizard" and "Won't Get Fooled Again."

[stinkypew]

I understand that it is just a piece in the "grand scheme" of Quadropenia. It still blows.

Did you see the Krustophenia album cover on the Simpsons?

[vollmond]

The Wall, the quinitsential double lp for many rock devotees, borders on trite in my opinion

Amen to that. The Wall did not age well. And it aged very quickly.

I'd have to say that the old Rush albums have aged well, however.

And don't ask me why, but I'm a big fan the double album from Yes - Tales from Topographic Oceans. 4 sides, 4 songs. Yeah, baby!

[drjimmy]

Now I can listen to Slip Kid again without getting nauseous
"Keep away old man, you won't fool me..."

I'm sorta happy to hear the news about Pete. My belief is that he was doing legitimately intended but stupidly acted upon research. I think that his celebrity made it impossible for him to be completely cleared, because the cops would have been accused of letting him get away with something.

As one might gather from my screen name, I consider Quadrophenia the best rock album ever. To those who think it is "dated," they are partly right. Quad isn't dated in a time in history, but a time in life. I think most guys can relate to its themes in their teenage years (and again later, for those like me who went through a second adolescence at the age of 40). Seeing Quad performed by the group (sadly, minus Keith) live on stage a few years ago was a great thrill for me.

[Prince Charles]

I'll bet Pete hopes he Won't Be Fooled Again....

[MassExodus]

Quad isn't dated in a time in history, but a time in life

'Zactly

A time of life that I'm grateful to have made it through, but smile wistfully remembering HER and THEM.

[stinkypew]

I'm glad you folks get enjoyment out of it, even if it is dated. But art is timeless. The melodies in Quadrophenia are too pop-ish, and the lyrics will be for the most part unintelligible in another 30 years.

[Afronaut]

We tried to speak between lines of oration
You could only repeat what we told you.
Your axe belongs to a dying nation,
They don't know that we own you.
You're watching movies trying to find the feelers,
You only see what we show you.
We're the slaves of the phony leaders
Breathe the air we have blown you.

This record came out when I was a junior in High School. I am still depressed! LOL

Glad Pete is cleared. Good enough for me.

[MassExodus]

the lyrics will be for the most part unintelligible in another 30 years

That'll be true when teenagers stop falling for gorgeous babes, dislike rock music and get along with their parents. ; c )

Long Live Rock

[stinkypew]

I don't mean the diction, I mean the content, the references.

[AuH2ORepublican]

"I don't mean the diction, I mean the content, the references."

---

Let's see . . .

"They finally threw me out
My mom got drunk on stout
My dad couldn't stand on two feet
As he lectured about morality"

Yeah, I'm real sure kids in 30 years won't know what Townshend is talking about.

While the "mod scene" hasn't existed for many years (and, in fact, it no longer existed when the songs were written), there is always the need for teenagers to "fit in" to whatever is hip at the time. Quadrophenia analyzes that need better than any other work of art (or psychology textbook, for that matter).

In the early '80s, Rush released a single called "Subdivisions," which also talked about the need to "conform or be cast out." But nobody expressed it as well as Townshend.

[okiesap]

Sadly, rock music as delivered by the likes of The Who IS dead. Hence the endless remastered reissues for the old fans who continue to purchase that with which they are already familiar.

[drjimmy]

And of course there's that terrible "Dancer" song. Who could possibly relate to that song 30 years after it was written, or another 30 years from now?

When a man is running from his boss
Who hold a gun that fires "cost"
And people die from being cold
Or left alone because they're old
And bombs are dropped on fighting cats
And children's dreams are run with rats
If you complain you disappear
Just like the lesbians and queers

No one can love without the grace
Of some unseen and distant face
And you get beaten up by blacks
Who though they worked still got the sack
And when your soul tells you to hide
Your very right to die denied
And in the battle on the streets
You fight computers and receipts
And when a man is trying to change
But only causes further pain
You realize that all along
Something in us going wrong...

You stop dancing.

[MassExodus]

On the dry and dusty road
The nights we spend apart alone
I need to get back home to cool cool rain.
The nights are hot and black as ink
I can't sleep and I lay and I think
Oh God, I need a drink of cool cool rain.

Only a 17 year old separated from his first love by 50 miles of road and dissaproving parents can truly understand this.

Utterly timeless.

[stinkypew]

Its the manner in which it is sung, more than the lyrics. I didn't say the entire thing blows lyrically. There are definitely a few nuggets.

The entire mods v. rockers theme, I submit, will be of no interest whatsoever to the vast majority of listeners in 30 years. They will not even understand what he's talking about.

[MassExodus]

While the "mod scene" hasn't existed for many years

BTW, you'd be amused to learn that there has been a pretty substantial revival of the "mod" scene here in Sommerville (Boston).

Our young art director dresses as a mod and LIVES Quad,
the other day I nearly wiped a kid out in traffic on a refurbished Vespa in his Army surplus jacket.

What goes around ...

[gcruse]

           Money talks, celebrity walks.

[ThreeYearLurker]

My favorite, from the Dirty Jobs..

I am a young man
I ain't done very much,
You men should remember how you used to fight.
Just like a child, I've been seeing only dreams,
I'm all mixed up but I know what's right.

I'm getting put down,
I'm getting pushed round,
I'm being beaten every day.
My life's fading,
But things are changing,
I'm not gonna sit and weep again.

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

It's not only amazing that so many FReepers are Who nuts, but particularly Quadrophenia scholars. I first heard Quadrophenia in 1978, and I was enthralled. Still am. That album connected to me like no other.

The most potent line for me, from "Cut My Hair."

The kids at school have parents that seem so cool/although I don't want to hurt them, mine want me their way.

Perfectly summed up my way of thinking at age 18.

[okiesap]

QUADROPHENIA, like all Who compositions, doesn't tilt right or left of the political spectrum.

[Drew68]

I bet he was looking at pictures of young boys, that's probably why he got off, the gays cut him a break.

IIRC, he was surfing one of those "Russian Lolita" type sites. The ones that allegedly show teenage girls under the age of 18.