Who I Am: A Memoir (55 page)

Skydell, Barbara, 398, 400

Sly and the Family Stone, 177, 179

Small Faces, 138, 140, 191, 310, 471

‘Smash the Mirror’, 269

Smile
, 127

Smiley Smile
, 144

Smith, Alan, 372

Smith, Jimmy, 56, 57

Smith, Tony, 378

‘Smokestack Lightning’, 3

Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The
, 129, 135, 289

‘Someone’s Coming’, 130

‘Something in the Air’, 176

‘Song is Over, The’, 215

Sonic Seasonings
, 246

‘Sound City’, 103

Sounds Incorporated, 263

South Bank Show
, 373

South Pacific
, 26

Space Dragon, 388, 390, 397

Spandau Ballet, 339

Specials, 339

Spitting Image
, 132

Spooky Tooth, 263

Springfield, Dusty, 73

Springsteen, Bruce, 281, 298, 316, 340, 351, 430

Springtime for Hitler
, 305

Spritzler, Florence (Floss), 500

Squadronaires, 10, 11–12, 15, 22, 29, 181

‘Squeeze Box’, 276

Stainton, Chris, 351

Stamp, Chris, 72–73, 75–78, 79, 82, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 91, 92, 93, 94, 96, 98, 100, 103, 117, 130, 132, 136, 151, 157, 161, 175, 187, 191, 206–7, 210, 212, 214, 220, 225, 228, 252
n
, 253–54, 259–60, 262, 275–76, 279, 293, 300, 301, 349, 408

Stanley, Owsley, 120, 121

Stanley, Richard, 144, 145, 198, 202, 341

Stanshall, Vivian, 344

Stardust
, 263, 281

‘Star Eyes’, 10

Starkey, Zak, 344, 450, 451

Starlight
, 370

Starlight Express
, 369

Starr, Ringo, 304, 344

Status Quo, 339

Stein, Jeff, 304, 305–6

Stella
, 471, 495

Stevens, Cat, 112
n

Stevens, Guy, 70, 94–95

Stewart, Dave, 381

Stewart, Rod, 93, 226, 292, 432

Stigwood, Robert ‘Stiggy’, 93, 103, 117, 260, 262, 263–64, 277

Stilgoe, Richard, 370

‘Still Life’, 380

Stills, Stephen, 225

Sting, 382, 489

Stipe, Michael, 450

Stockhausen, Karlheinz, 85

‘Stop Hurting People’, 351

Stoppard, Tom, 369, 433

Story of Tommy, The
(Barnes and Townshend), 302

Stranger in a Strange Land
(Heinlein), 127

Streeting, Ruth (char.), 422, 428

‘Street in the City’, 296

Strick, Joseph, 222, 259

Strikebound
, 374

Strummer, Joe, 316

Stuart (friend), 42

‘Stuttering Blues’, 85

‘Substitute’, 92, 93

Sumlin, Hubert, 57

‘Summertime Blues’, 126, 130

Sun
, 469

Sunday Times
, 364

‘Sunrise’, 132

‘Surfing USA’, 129

Susie (Lane’s girlfriend), 138

‘Sweet Sound’, 365

Sylvester, Sam, 275–76, 300–301, 437, 445

‘Sympathy for the Devil’, 191

Szymczyk, Bill, 333, 345

Talmy, Shel, 75–76, 88, 93–94, 97, 98, 220

Tarbuck, Jimmy, 302

‘Tattoo’, 129, 130

Taylor, Derek, 118, 119

Taylor, Elizabeth, 299

Taylor, James, 348, 476

Taylor, Mick, 176

‘Teddy Bear’s Picnic, The’, 25

‘Teenage Wasteland’, 215

‘Tengo Tango’, 112, 117

Terry, Sonny, 56

Thacker, David, 424, 432–33

That’ll Be the Day
, 263

‘That’s All Right Mama’, 380

‘That’s Alright Mama’, 36

Then and Now
, 477

Thomas, Chris, 318, 319, 325, 352, 354, 396

Thomas, Jeremy, 324–25

Three Stooges, The, 13

Thunderbirds
, 58

Thunderclap Newman, 176, 201, 254, 471

‘Time is Passing’, 215

Tom (great-uncle), 15

Tommy
, 138, 142, 144, 146–50, 152, 156–67, 169–71, 173–76, 180–82, 184, 186–88, 192–93, 195, 198, 202–3, 207–8, 214, 217, 222, 224–26, 231, 233–34, 237–38, 241, 250, 251, 253, 257–58, 259–61, 263–69, 271–73, 275–76, 280, 282, 307, 310, 347, 348, 358, 372, 390–91, 403–5, 416–19, 421, 422–24, 425, 427, 429, 434, 437–40, 442–43, 447–49, 455, 462, 475, 491

Tommy (char.), 424

‘Too Late the Hero’, 403

‘Too Much’, 215

Torch, Sidney, 26

‘Touring Inside US’, 129

Townshend, Clifford Blandford, 4–5, 6–10, 11, 12, 15, 20–22, 24, 25, 28–29, 30, 32–33, 35, 37–38, 39, 40, 41, 48, 74, 84, 102, 108, 144, 181, 221, 232–33, 240, 270–71, 289, 294, 319, 321, 352, 354, 366, 379, 382, 383, 384, 386, 398, 452

Townshend, Dorothy ‘Dot’, 7, 33, 232

Townshend, Emma, 165, 167, 175, 177, 222, 231, 238, 280, 343, 362, 384, 387, 392, 401–2, 424, 440, 462, 488

Townshend, Horace ‘Horry’, 7, 33

Townshend, Jack, 7–8, 232, 379, 385, 464–65

Townshend, Janie, 248

Townshend, Joseph, 406, 410, 412, 417, 425–26, 431, 432, 435, 437–39, 440–41, 443, 451–53, 456–57, 458, 462, 474

Townshend, Karen Astley, 82, 88, 93, 95, 98, 99, 105–7, 110, 116–18, 120, 121–22, 129, 133, 136, 137, 138, 141, 143–44, 145–46, 149, 160, 165, 167, 168, 170, 173–75, 177, 192–93, 200, 208–9, 213, 222, 224, 225, 231, 234, 238, 240, 248, 258, 266, 280, 294–95, 296, 303, 310–11, 313–14, 315–16, 321, 326, 328–29, 333, 343, 350, 353, 355–57, 361, 365–66, 368, 372, 375, 376–78, 384, 392–94, 396, 398, 399–402, 404, 406, 409–10, 412, 413, 415, 417, 423–26, 428, 431, 435, 437–39, 440, 445–46, 447, 451–53, 456, 458, 459–60, 463, 469, 506

Townshend, Minta, 200, 221, 222, 231, 238, 280, 343, 344, 362–63, 366, 384, 393, 398, 400–402, 424, 440, 462

Townshend, Mrs Clifford Blandford, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 18–19, 20, 21–28, 30, 32, 36–37, 40, 41, 43, 51, 65, 66, 102, 132, 145, 232, 240, 294, 352, 354, 383, 384–86, 404, 452, 465

Townshend, Paul, 24, 36, 40, 144, 248, 385, 418

Townshend, Simon, 40, 144, 176, 177, 248, 351, 365, 385, 418, 494

Towser (spaniel puppy), 146, 200

‘Tracks of My Tears’, 92

Traffic, 111, 129, 243, 267

‘Tragedy’, 463

Traveling Wilburys
, 476

Tremeloes, 129

Trident, 60

Trilby (great-aunt), 33–34, 292, 388, 441, 495

‘Trilby’s Piano’, 495, 497

Trisha (nanny), 231, 234

Troggs, 148

Tubular Bells
, 382

Turner, Tina, 263, 269, 277

U2, 316, 382

Ultravox, 339

Ulysses
, 222

‘Unchained Melody’, 29

Uncle Ernie (char.), 159–60

Val (fan), 506

Val (Karen’s friend), 122

Valentino, Rudy, 88

Vanilla Fudge, 134

van Zandt, Little Stevie, 351

Vaughan, Frankie, 23

Vedder, Eddie, 431, 463, 469

Vickers, Cathy, 318, 321

Vickers, Jacqueline, 318–19, 321–22, 324, 328, 344

Vickers, Mike, 317, 318–19, 321

Vickers, Sue, 317, 318–19, 321

Visage, 339

‘Vivienne’, 354

von Strunckel, Shelley, 439

‘Voodoo Chile’, 108

Wadleigh, Michael, 180, 182, 183

Wagner, Richard, 85

Wah!
, 362

Wainwright, Martha, 494

Waiting Children, The
, 460

Walker, Patrick, 439

Walker Brothers, 91

‘Walkin’ ’, 380

Wall, Brian, 49

Wall, Max, 385–86

Wall, The
, 326

Walsh, Joe, 199, 201, 255, 348, 397

Walter, Little, 56

Walter-Lax, Annette, 273

Walton, Sir William, 133

Waring, Judi, 268
n
, 365

Waters, Roger, 106, 326–27, 433, 496

Wattis, Nigel, 373

Watts, Charlie, 153, 296, 310

Webber, Andrew Lloyd, 369

Weinstein, Bob, 377

Weinstein, Harvey, 377

‘Welcome’, 144

Welles, Orson, 131

Wenner, Jann, 148–49, 162, 167, 202, 394, 408, 427

Wesker, Arnold, 83

West, Carinthia, 304

West, Keith, 164

Westbrook, Darren, 471

Wexler, Jerry, 347

‘When the Saints Go Marching In’, 39

Whiskey, Nancy, 38

‘Whiskey Man’, 100

White City
, 374–78, 381

White Knight Syndrome, The
(Lamia), 486
n

Whiteson, Adrian, 448

Who, The, 2, 3, 7, 52, 60, 64, 66, 68, 70, 72–74, 76–77, 79–80, 84, 87–89, 91–94, 96–101, 103, 105, 107, 110, 112–14, 117–20, 123–26, 129, 131–36, 137, 140, 144–45, 146, 147, 149, 151, 152, 154, 155, 160–61, 162, 164, 166, 169, 173–77, 181–83, 186, 188, 191–95, 201–2, 204, 206, 209,

Who, The (
cont.
)

213–15, 220–24, 228–30, 232, 235–36, 239–41, 244–48, 250, 252, 255, 258, 261–62, 265, 267, 272–74, 275–78, 280, 285, 287, 293, 297–99, 302–6, 309–11, 312–13, 315–16, 320, 329, 335, 339–46, 350–53, 357–59, 361, 365–68, 372–74, 378, 382–83, 391, 395–402, 406–7, 408, 415–16, 424, 427–30, 436, 439, 443, 445, 450, 452, 456, 463, 464, 468, 470, 472, 474–78, 480–81, 494, 496–98, 505–6

Who Are You
, 305, 307, 309, 343, 397

‘Who Are You’, 226, 325, 437

Who by Numbers, The
, 279, 288, 294, 343

‘Who Exhibition’, 307

Who Sell Out, The
, 132, 135, 136, 144

Who’s Next
, 222, 224, 247, 255, 450

Wickham, Vicky, 79

‘Wild Horses’, 476

Wild One, The
, 51

‘Wild Thing’, 148

Wilkins, Helen ‘Spike’, 361, 390, 462, 471

Williams, Robin, 349

Williamson, Sonny Boy, Jr, 85, 158

Wilson, Brian, 125, 127, 144, 167

Wilson, Harry, 47, 48

Wilson, Pete, 42

Wiltshire, Billy, 9

Winterland
, 462

Winwood, Stevie, 111, 243, 244, 404, 450

‘Wired to the Moon’, 453

Wistle (Yorkshire terrier), 496

Withers, Bill, 239

Witness
, 450

Wodehouse, P. G., 271

Wolf, Howlin’, 57

Wolff, John ‘Wiggy’, 140, 147, 178, 223, 227, 246–48, 250, 252, 284, 330–31, 458

Womack, Bobby, 449

Wonder, Stevie, 89, 91, 264, 379

Wong, Dr, 288, 289

‘Won’t Get Fooled Again’, 215, 221, 306, 341, 376

Wood, Jessie, 352

Wood, Krissy, 244, 352–53

Wood, Ronnie, 243–44, 277, 352, 434, 446, 449–50, 472

Woods, Donald, 368, 376

Wright, Rick, 496

Wright, Tom, 56, 58–59, 65, 126, 148, 169, 199

Wylie, Pete, 362

Wyman, Bill, 153, 308

Yardbirds, 60

Yetnikoff, Walter, 311

‘You Are You’, 302

‘You Better You Bet’, 343–45

Youel, Jo, 494

Young, Jeff, 467

Young, Neil, 430

‘Young Man Blues’, 85, 158, 188

Young Rascals, 114

‘You Really Got Me’, 75

‘Your Kiss Is an Echo’, 380

‘You Stand By Me’, 497

Zappa, Frank, 125

Zazel (Karen’s friend), 122–23

Ziggy Stardust, 231

‘Zoot Suit’, 70

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book has taken me such a long time to write. There are so many people to thank, and to acknowledge not only for their encouragement, but also for their friendship. I’m not very good at friendship, not very sociable, and this is a chance for me to reach out to some of the important people in my life, especially those who have had some part to play in the book. If you are not mentioned, and you think you should be, let me know. I always like to be reminded who my friends really are.

Firstly I want to thank my agent, Ed Victor: he’s stayed with me through several major hiccups, and been a joy to work with. I also feel grateful to my publisher in the UK, Carole Tonkinson, and her entire team, including the intrepid Simon Gerratt who coordinated everything at HarperCollins UK. Their enthusiasm and support from the very beginning has kept me going when the empty pages taunted me. Jonathan Burnham, my US publisher, has been forthright and meticulous, keeping me alert to the fact that he and I both want this book to entertain, but also to convince. My US editor David Hirshey, and his associate editor Barry Harbaugh, have enjoyed some great brainstorming sessions that reminded me of my own days as an editor. Working with words on the page sometimes leads to fine conversation – words leading to more words. My first editor when I started was Robert McCrum, and I am still grateful to my publisher Michael Pietsch of Little, Brown for believing in me back in 1995, but also for permitting me to give up two years on when I found it too hard.

My personal assistant, Nicola Joss, has been invaluable to me on this project, creating a chronological boxed archive for me that I have been able to access on a whim. My long-time friend and aide-de-camp Paul Bonnick has also been essential, helping organise storage systems, shelving, moving weighty collateral back and forth – indeed many of my staff have put in hundreds of hours helping me with this book in the past year, but like Ed Victor, Nicola and Paul have stayed with me working or waiting for seventeen years.

My first webmaster, Matt Kent, came to the rescue to gather, date and credit photographs, and there is no one better qualified – his own photographs are wonderful and he is a guardian of Who history.

Martin Noble, yet another cherished new Jewish buddy for me, has been my hands-on editor here in the UK, and has connected wonderfully with us all. He is to me now like an angel, leading a seventh cavalry to rescue me from the complexities that arise when you try to cut 1,000 pages down to 500. He has worked like a demon, eighteen hours a day sometimes. I fear for his health, and for his marriage – but if his wife loves him as much as I do today he should get the right kind of chicken soup. If not, I will make it for him. Martin, let’s get that photograph together.

Roger Daltrey has been lovingly concerned about this book, wanting most of all to protect me from myself and my big mouth. I hope he doesn’t mind me giving my side of the Who story. He is one of the most important men in my life, and obviously the most important in my career. One day I hope he will write his own story. Meanwhile he has to sing the stories I write for him. No one does it better.

Another beloved and vitally important man in my life is our surviving manager, Chris Stamp, seriously ill at the time of writing. He doesn’t get perfect press from me about the early days in this book, but in the past twenty-five years, away from The Who’s affairs, we have been fellow music publishers and loving friends, and Chris is a shining and spiritual man. He is now a psychodrama therapist. I’ve learned by watching Chris learn. He calls these confusing days of getting older ‘The Gravy’.

My lawyer John Cohen deserves more than a mention here; so much more than a legal guide, he is a friend and ally, and has been a mentor and protector.

In preparing this book I have needed time and space, the toughest currencies to generate, something my accountant and dear friend Richard Rosenberg has helped me achieve. In Nick Goderson’s painful absence he has made the impossible seem possible. Indeed, the book is done, so he pulled it off.

My manager Bill Curbishley is a major protagonist in this book, and his friendship and loyalty to me and Roger is precious and valued in a way that simply cannot be quantified, but every time we work together we try to quantify it! I can’t imagine my career, or my life, without him. His ex-wife Jackie, who managed me as a solo artist, now lives happily in the Bahamas. Bill’s partner Robert Rosenberg is less well known outside music business circles, but is another vitally important man in my life. With their support and that of their team I have found time to complete this book.

Friends have come and gone. Jimpy, the last time I heard from him, was still alive and kicking, being a grandfather a long time before I made it. Barney is good, living with Nikki (my son Joseph’s ex-infant school teacher), and we were reunited recently with Irish Jack Lyons to confer on all things Mod for the
Quadrophenia
documentary recently on BBC TV. Lisa Marsh is married with children and did indeed publish a book (about Calvin Klein), and is still a working journalist in the fashion industry. Louise Reay also has several beautiful daughters. She still rides horses. Jackie Vickers is married to Reg Meuross, and lives in Somerset. Reg is a talented folk musician, and I am a great fan. They have two wonderful children. I have three godchildren: Benedict, Bob Pridden’s son, who is in real estate in Yorkshire; Claire Forlani (the Hollywood actress), married to the actor Dougray Scott; and Claire’s brother Christian, who is an adventurer.

Chris Chappel and Helen Wilkins are in my story but have also been vital to me in my career and were great partygoers with me. Carrie Cooke and Paul Curran work with me now creatively, and they have been important pillars in getting this book moving, and will assist in keeping it in the marketplace.

I want to thank the two major music producers in my life, Chris Thomas and Glyn Johns.

Bob Pridden, The Who’s soundman since 1967, has been my strongest supporter, through thick and thin, on the road, in the studio and all my wildest experiments. He’s been the best-behaved member of our travelling asylum – always a gentleman, mostly with his trousers on.

Alan Rogan has been with me as guitar technician and stalwart friend and aide-de-camp since 1975. No one has done more to help advance me as a guitarist; he has brought me many wonderful instruments I never thought I needed, and now cannot live without.

Mike Shaw recovered from his car crash. He managed to get some use of his hands, and was one of the idiots who worked at Track Records in its Jimi Hendrix heyday. Later he was involved in many special projects for The Who and other artists associated with Track. He now lives facing the wild Cornish sea in St Austell.

Two people who might be surprised to hear this from me are the Lords Matthew Evans, my old boss at Faber & Faber, and Melvyn Bragg, who commissioned me to write my first real play (sadly never filmed). Both have recently helped me to believe I could do this book, and make it work at more than one level.

I want to thank my doctor, Adrian Whiteson. As of now I am in good health, but he has been more than a doctor to me; he has been a friend and guide in my charity work, steering me (and Roger too) in one of the greatest challenges we have ever faced together, to help him fight the battle against cancer, especially in its most unfair manifestation, when it hits young people.

My two brothers, Paul and Simon, have growing families. Paul and his wife Sandy have Jessie and Jacob. Simon and Janie have Ben (recently married), Josh and Hannah. They both still live at the Townshend family home in Ealing. Paul is a fastidious painter and decorator; that’s where his artistic temperament has taken him. Simon is a musician, with a solo career, and tours with The Who.

Aunt Trilby died many years ago. She was my creative angel.

My wonderfully tempestuous mother Betty died last year. We were all around her bedside. Somehow, as she breathed her last few breaths, we all wondered how she would manage to continue to create havoc from the other side. Some of my nephews and neices are certain she is still dropping coins onto their shoes, something she did when they were infants. Pennies from heaven.

My ex-wife Karen’s sister Virginia Astley is still making music, and also working on a book about the river Thames at the moment. Her daughter Florence is also a musician, playing classical piano and harp.

Karen’s two brothers are still close to me. Gareth is a serious sailor, as is his older brother Jon, who has worked closely with The Who since 1976. We have all sailed together on some great adventures.

Karen’s mother Hazel, who taught me how to properly spend Sunday in the English countryside, still lives in Goring-on-Thames where
Quadrophenia
was mixed while the river glistened. Karen’s late father Edwin Astley – Ted to us, and a wonderful composer – is remembered here so fondly; he took me seriously as a composer.

My daughter Emma lives in Ealing, and now writes a gardening column for the
Independent on Sunday
magazine. She has published a book about Darwin’s dogs, but doesn’t do music professionally any more. She presented me with my only grandchild so far, Kester, who is now two, and thankfully very keen on boats. I have an excuse to paraphrase a line from
Jaws
: ‘We need a bigger boat.’ Her partner William is a graphic designer who works in publishing. Aminta, still a fine linguist, no longer works on feature films, but is still involved in media, at the moment for a growing internet events company. She lives in Shepherd’s Bush, Who stamping ground. My son Joseph is at Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design and I’m glad to say I see a lot of him. He is full of the most exciting ideas and works really hard with them. He lives near Kennington Oval.

This leads me to my greatest supporters and allies – my fans and those fans of The Who. Thank you for giving me a day job, and not sacking me when I didn’t show up for work. You’ve been the best boss a man could ever have.

To those who are gone, Kit Lambert, Keith Moon, John Entwistle, Ronnie Lane, Brian Jones, David Platz, Keith Grant, Ahmet Ertegun, Ken Russell, Bill Graham, Nick Goderson, Denny, Trilby, Horry, Dot, Mum, Dad, Uncle Jack, Jenny, Robin, Delia DeLeon, Ivy Duce, Meher Baba, Adi K. Irani and the guy who stole my $50,000, I can’t wait to catch up with you wherever you are.

Finally I must acknowledge my partner Rachel Fuller. We’ve been together for fifteen years, and she is one intuitive romantic hunch that came right for me. Beautiful, funny, sexy, talented and completely nuts, Rachel has enriched these years that Chris Stamp calls ‘The Gravy’ to such an extent that I am sometimes described by cynics determined to mix metaphors as looking like the cat who got the cream. She plays Chopin like Chopin, and sings like Baez to my Dylan. Rachel and I have written songs together, so she broke my hex there. We don’t have children, and it is too late for me now, but Rachel has made up for it with seven dogs – Flash, Wistle, Spud, Harry, Barney, Cracker and Skrapovski (a Russian Yorkshire terrier who lives in Cannes).