Page updated January 1, 2025. This is a highly abridged version of all the things that happened to and around The Who in January. Click for access to the full history.
January 1962
New music releases: "Cry to Me" - Solomon Burke; So Much in Love - The Ray Conniff Singers; Roger Williams' Greatest Hits - Roger Williams; "The Young Ones" - Cliff Richard and The Shadows
On the 15th, Roger Daltrey submits an application for The Detours to audition for the BBC Light Entertainment. The band members are listed as "Solo guitar - Roger Daltrey, Bass guitar - John Empwhistle, Rhythm guitar - Peter James, Rhythm guitar - Roy Ellis, Drums - Harry Wilson, Vocalist - Colin Dawson."
Pete Townshend later notes this month as the one where he successfully auditions for The Detours.
January 1964
New music releases: Meet The Beatles! - The Beatles; Introducing... The Beatles - The Beatles; The Wonderful World of Andy Williams - Andy Williams; The Times They Are A-Changin' - Bob Dylan
On the 3rd, The Detours again get to open for The Rolling Stones at the Glenlyn Ballroom in Forest Hill. Pete, who has incorporated an arm-swinging move he saw Keith Richards perform as his own signature guitar move, apologizes for the appropriation to Richards. Richards says he doesn't know what Pete's talking about as it turns out he was merely limbering up before the show.
January 1965
New music releases: A Love Supreme - John Coltrane; "King of the Road" - Roger Miller; "This Diamond Ring" - Gary Lewis and The Playboys; The Return of Roger Miller - Roger Miller
Early in the month, David Magnus takes a series of photographs of the band to use in promotional advertisements for their first single.
On the 15th, The Who finally get their first record in the U.K. shops as "I Can't Explain" is released on U.S. Decca's U.K. subsidiary Brunswick Records. Derek Johnson reviews it for New Musical Express: "...It's insidious and insistent, with an arresting backing - a blend of Mersey beat and surfing! Keep your eyes on this one..." and Record Mirror declares: "One of the most stylish British groups, pungently presented on a fastish beater with some first-rate vocal ideas. They have a good 'feel' for a song, with a good beat. Might do very well."
On the 29th, The Who begin pushing their fame beyond London, appearing for the first time on Ready, Steady GO! playing "I Can't Explain." To insure a good reception, Kit Lambert packs the audience with The Who's fan club, the 100 Faces and gives everyone Who football scarves to wear.
January 1966
New music releases: Sounds of Silence - Simon & Garfunkel; "The Ballad of the Green Berets" - SSgt. Barry Sadler; "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak for You)" - The Isley Brothers; Doctor Zhivago - Maurice Jarre
On the 5th, Pete Townshend is featured on an episode of the BBC1 television programme A Whole Scene Going. A short documentary narrated by Pete shows his flat and a Who performance at The Witch Doctor Club in St. Leonard's-on-sea from August 4th of the previous year. Pete speaks in a dismissive way about the other members of The Who.
That same tone is extended to the segment after the film where Pete is interviewed by young people in the audience. He talks about how ugly The Who members are, how they are "blocked up" all the time on pills and how he and John recently listened to the backing tracks of a Beatles album and consider them "flippin' lousy" at playing their instruments. Asked if he meant the line in "My Generation," "hope I die before I get old," he answers emphatically "yes!".
The Who are also there to mime to "Out In The Street" and "It's Not True." The entire programme still exists and is used extensively in the 1979 film The Kids Are Alright.
On the 12th, Chris Stamp flies to New York to try to interest NBC-TV's Hullabaloo in the film he shot of The Who on the 1st. They turn it down. He also meets with Sir Edward Lewis to obtain his help in breaking The Who's exclusive contract with Shel Talmy and Brunswick/U.S. Decca. Lewis refuses. Nevertheless, Stamp goes to Atlantic Records and makes a deal to release a Who single on their Atco subsidiary, then telephones co-manager Kit Lambert to tell him to break the Talmy contract and sign The Who to a new label.
Meanwhile, on the very same day, The Who go to IBC studios to record their next single, "Circles" and "Instant Party Mixture." It will be their last time working under the production of Shel Talmy. A last time is also a first time as John records his first horn part for The Who.
Rave magazine puts out its February issue with Roger on the cover. Inside is a lengthy interview conducted by BBC disc jockey Alan Freeman with Pete, Roger and John together. It is one of the best in-depth interviews with the group from this early period. Pete admits that the story of him accidently smashing his guitar on the low ceiling of the Railway Hotel was concocted. What the agree actually happened is, inspired by a lecture from self-destructive artist Gustav Metzger, Pete suggested to the band that they try destroying their instruments onstage. "We tried it out with me slamming the guitar into the amps. Keith pounded his drums into smithereens and hurled them into the audience and the audience threw them back." "I couldn't think of anything to contribute," Roger said modestly. "So, I scratched the speaker column with my fingernail. It made the best row of all." "But it worked out," said Pete. "The last chords were struck, and we put down the guitars and we walked off. They were astounded, and a few laughed at first. Then they began to clap, and that was it."
January 1967
New music releases: The Doors - The Doors; More of The Monkees - The Monkees; "Break On Through (To the Other Side)" - The Doors; "There's a Kind of Hush" - Herman's Hermits
The Who's first show for the year is on the 6th at the Marine Ballroom in Morecambe, all except for Pete who doesn't make it. The Who's management claim it is another car accident on the M1. The truth is that Pete is on his third acid trip and sensing correctly that he is in no shape to drive, instead goes to the UFO Club to see The Pink Floyd. He takes Eric Clapton with him the next night specifically to check out Syd Barrett.
On the 29th, The Who play at the Saville Theatre in London. The opening act is The Koobas followed by The Jimi Hendrix Experience. John Lennon and Paul McCartney watch from Brian Epstein's private box. In their first match up, reviewers say Hendrix's show tops The Who's. Part of this is because Hendrix ends his set by smashing his guitar and amplifiers, leaving The Who with no climax to their set. Pete walks out and says, "Well, we're not going to top that. You lot might as well go home now." The Who's set does have two surprises. John smashes toy robots walking across the stage, and the mini-opera "A Quick One While He's Away" has its live premiere.
January 1968
New music releases: "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" - Otis Redding; The Graduate - Original Soundtrack; "Love is Blue (L'amour est bleu)" - Paul Mauriat and His Orchestra; Lady Soul - Aretha Franklin
On the 4th, The Who head into CBS Studios, London to record Pete's new composition "Faith In Something Bigger." It is the first of Pete's songs inspired by his recent reading of The God-Man, a book about the Indian mystic Meher Baba. The song is intended for the next album but remains unreleased for almost seven years. On the 5th, comes a track that sees vinyl much sooner. John's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," inspired by Keith's erratic personality, is recorded at IBC Studios, London. John later says this song and others he wrote during this period were for a Who children's album planned by manager Kit Lambert.
On the 13th, "Glow Girl" is recorded at IBC Studios. Written during a near-disastrous plane trip during the previous summer's Herman's Hermits tour, the song is intended as The Who's next single. However, as with "Faith In Something Bigger," it will also remain unreleased for the next seven years. Its closing line, "It's a girl, Mrs. Walker, it's a girl," will appear sooner after a sex change.
On the 18th, The Who begin a 36-hour, five-stop flight from London to Sydney, Australia. Arriving horribly jet-lagged at Mascot Airport in Sydney, The Who are immediately herded into a press conference. With Australia's conservative press raising a stink about long-haired foreigners coming to take money out of Australia's depressed economy, reporters pepper the group with hostile questions. The silent, dazed Who can do little to defend themselves before they are shuttled off for another flight to Brisbane. Joining The Who for the tour are The Small Faces (with drummer Kenney Jones) and Paul Jones, ex-member of Manfred Mann and star of the new musical film Privilege.
On the 24th, the tour flies to Essendon Airport in Melbourne, Victoria. A press conference gathers in the VIP lounge. Reporters badger the two groups demanding to know what drugs they had smuggled into the country and what they were high on now. When one reporter gets in Pete's face, Pete punches him.
On the 27th, The Who plays Centennial Hall in Adelaide, South Australia, the last date of the tour on the continent. However, they are not to escape Australia so easily. A 7am flight to Melbourne (after a night of partying) turns nasty when an air hostess, serving drinks to passengers, refuses to serve the groups. When they demand to know why, she reports them to the pilot and by the time they reach Melbourne, there are two lines of police to escort the group off to a VIP lounge. The pilot of their connecting flight to Sydney refuses to take them onboard and the tour ends up on a chartered plane accompanied by two Department of Civil Aviation officers who keep an eye on them all the way to Sydney. From there they fly to Auckland, New Zealand arriving sixteen hours after they left Adelaide.
The next day's Australian press has a field day shouting good riddance to long-haired English rubbish. According to Steve Marriott, as soon as they disembark, Pete grabs a news photographer's camera and smashes it to the ground. Pete quickly announces that he will never set foot in Australia again, a promise he keeps for the next thirty-six years.
At the same time, news breaks in England that Roger's wife Jacqueline is suing him for divorce. Until that time, the public did not know Roger had been married for the last five years or had a four-year old son.
The last show of the tour is at the Town Hall in Wellington on the 31st. After the show, Marriott receives a new, high-powered stereo to replace the one "vandals" had destroyed the day before. By 3am he has it cranked up full blast. Keith drops by to admire the work the hotel has done rebuilding the room, grabs an ashtray and sends it flying through the French windows. Once again, Steve, Keith and Wiggy start shoving the TV set through the window and smashing everything in the room. This time the hotel manager catches them in the act. The three miscreants have to pay 781 New Zealand dollars then and there or go to court. Wiggy responds by picking up an antique chair, throwing it through the window, and announcing "Fuck it, let's make it a grand!"
January 1969
New music releases: Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin; Blood, Sweat & Tears - Blood, Sweat & Tears; "Proud Mary" - Creedence Clearwater Revival; Bayou Country - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Pete helps form the group Thunderclap Newman around Andy Newman, a piano player Pete had idolized in art school, his former chauffeur and roommate John 'Speedy' Keen, and 15-year old Jimmy McCullouch.
Rolling Stone carries the article: "Who finishing rock opera" on the status of "Deaf, Dumb and Blind Boy." Pete mentions that he has hired International Times art director and fellow Meher Baba follower Mike McInnerney to design the album cover and booklet for Tommy.
January 1970
New music releases: Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel; Moondance - Van Morrison; Barbra Streisand's Greatest Hits - Barbra Streisand; "Bridge Over Troubled Water" - Simon & Garfunkel
On the 4th, Keith travels to Hatfield to preside over the opening of a disco at the Cranbourne Rooms adjoining the Red Lion pub. Accompanying him is his wife Kim, his friend and drummer for the Bonzo band "Legs" Larry Smith and Smith's girlfriend, all driven by Keith's chauffeur Neil Boland. A group of skinheads also show up at the disco. After Keith and his friends leave and get in Keith's Bentley, the skinheads attack the car, surrounding it and throwing pennies and stones. Boland gets out, trying to clear a path and is quickly set upon by the crowd. Keith, in a panic, scoots under the wheel to try to get them out of danger and stomps on the gas propelling the car forward while Smith tries to steer from the backseat since Keith cannot drive. The car travels 100 yards down the road to another social club where they stop to get help. When Keith gets out, a van driver tells him someone is under the car. Keith looks. It is Boland, pinned under the car, his head crushed. The next morning is a field day for the tabloid press as they spread the story of the rich, drunken rock star who ran over his chauffeur.
Before the next leg of the European tour, The Who jet back to IBC Studios in London on the 19th to record their first post-Tommy record "The Seeker." Pete plays guitar, piano and produces as Kit Lambert is unavailable due to recent dental surgery. Damon Lyon-Shaw engineers the session.
On the 24th, The Who play Tommy at Der Kunglige Teater in Copenhagen. Due to the bitter cold in Copenhagen on this date, Pete introduces the opera as "Tommy on Ice!" Leading members of the Danish government take the first two rows for themselves but walkout halfway through. Despite the highbrow attention, The Who find no room at the inn as their reservations at the Copenhagen Inn are turned down due to a hotel policy against "long-haired pop groups."
On the 26th, The Who perform at the Stadt Opera House in Cologne, West Germany. German President Heinemann and Chancellor Willie Brandt attend the show. The German government also declares The Who a cultural attraction meaning that their receipts will not be subject to taxation. The Who donate their $2500 salary to the Save the Children Fund. The Who play there again the next night, and then travel to the Deutschland Stadt Opera House in Berlin on the 28th.
January 1971
New music releases: "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" - Creedence Clearwater Revival; Pearl - Janis Joplin; "Proud Mary" - Ike and Tina Turner; "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" - The Temptations
Early in the month, in Sounds, Pete sketches out his idea for Life House. "Well one barrel is fiction in the way Tommy was fiction. It has music, a story, adventures in it. On the other side is the story about man’s search for harmony and the way he does it is through music. Through going into this theatre and setting up certain experiments... In other words, they’re attempting to find a piece of music which reflects the harmony of mankind, allows them to realise that you end up with a piece of music that is representative of the note. If you like, the thread of life. It would be unfair of me to set out looking for that if I didn’t know it was possible to find it... The whole thing is set in the future and yet it could be now, the way we’re going. Society’s completely overpopulated, it’s polluted, it’s on the brink. The most human thing anyone could do is set off the bomb, only nobody can find the switch. So what happens is that like today, at one end you have this fantastically advanced scientific thing and at the other end electricity workers living off thirteen quid and so on. So the two ends have drifted even further apart. You’ve got a lower low and a higher high and as a last resort this theatre is set up as a focus for everyone. In other words, it’s the last hope of humanity. If these people in this theatre can find themselves and balance in the midst of all this chaos then through very futuristic media things – experience suits, holograms and things – everyone else can, they can get above it and lose the illusion all around them. And underneath it all is the fact that in this theatre The Who are actually trying to DO something. Whether we succeed or not is another story. At worst we’ll come out with something like Let It Be. I mean at worst.”"
On the 4th, The Who try out Pete's idea for the Life House project by holding an unadvertised concert at the Young Vic Theatre in London. Passers-by are invited in. Even the local police come in and enjoy the show.
On the 13th, Pete holds a press conference at the Young Vic theatre to announce the Life House project, his long-awaited follow-up to Tommy. "We shall not be giving the usual kind of Who rock show. The audience will be completely involved in the music, which is designed to reflect people's personalities. We shall try to induce mental and spiritual harmony through the medium of rock music...I'll act as a computer and everything will be fed into me and processed, then put back out again. The effect is something that will come from everyone and the aim is that each person will get a better understanding of themselves. It will be the best music we've ever produced."
January 1972
New music releases: "Heart of Gold" - Neil Young; Paul Simon - Paul Simon; Jackson Browne - Jackson Browne; "Down by the Lazy River" - The Osmonds
Rolling Stone names The Who band of the year and awards Who's Next album of the year.
The Who, meanwhile, are off group duty until May, their first long break since they started their road to international success over seven years before. Pete takes off for his first trip to India on the 29th, a bit hungover after celebrating his father's 56th birthday the night before.
January 1973
New records: Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player - Elton John; Aerosmith - Aerosmith; Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ - Bruce Springsteen; "Daniel" - Elton John
On the 3rd, The Who tape an appearance on Russell Harty Plus at London Weekend Television Studios. After The Who mime (with live vocals) their way through their new single "Relay," Pete "accidentally" tips over his speaker stack and the fun begins as Keith and Pete, with some help from Roger and John, quickly take over the interview. Host Harty later says he learned that "if your body should become a battleground, it is better to lie back and enjoy it." Clips from this show help enliven the movie The Kids Are Alright while "Relay" later appears on the Who's Better Who's Best laserdisc and VCD.
On the 13th, Pete drags Eric Clapton back into the limelight with two shows at The Rainbow Theatre in London. Pete had discovered Clapton's heroin addiction the previous August and devises a scheme with Clapton's girlfriend's father, Lord Harlech, to force Clapton to work so he can escape his narcotic-induced seclusion. The concerts are staged as part of the celebration of Britain joining the Common Market. Eric and Pete are joined on stage by Ron Wood, Steve Winwood, Jim Karstein, Jim Capaldi and Rick Grech. Clapton is late but manages to make it through both shows that are recorded by Glyn Johns and later released on the album Eric Clapton's Rainbow Concert.
Roger, having recorded an album for Leo Sayer at the studio he has built on his estate, begins recording his first solo album there. Sayer writes the songs for the album with his partner Dave Courtney.
January 1974
New music releases: Elvis: A Legendary Performer, Vol. 1 - Elvis Presley; Court and Spark - Joni Mitchell; The Way We Were - Barbra Streisand; "Come & Get Your Love" - Redbone
On the 10th, Pete, John and Keith record backing tracks for "I'm Free" and "Pinball Wizard" for Tommy: The Movie. Pete rejects them because "they came out sounding like a cliché."
On the 12th, Kenney Jones is brought in as a replacement for an unavailable Keith Moon in a warm-up jam in preparation for the Tommy soundtrack. Pete and John both find themselves delighted to play with a less erratic, more steady drummer.
January 1976
New music releases: Chronicle, Vol. 1 - Creedence Clearwater Revival; Frampton Comes Alive! - Peter Frampton; Desire - Bob Dylan; "Love Really Hurts Without You" - Billy Ocean
At the beginning of 1976, Keith Moon attempts to go cold turkey on all the booze. The result is that on the 6th, he is admitted unconscious to St. Stephen's Hospital in Earl's Court having gone into seizures. He will suffer from alcoholism-induced seizures for the rest of his life.
On the 9th, "Squeeze Box" backed with "Success Story" is finally released as a single in Europe. It will peak at #10 in the British charts.
January 1977
New music releases: Animals - Pink Floyd; "Rich Girl" - Daryl Hall & John Oates; "Southern Nights" - Glen Campbell; 20 Golden Greats - The Shadows
On the 20th, The Who's lawsuit against ex-managers Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp is settled with negotiations between Pete and Stamp at an office on Poland Street. Pete receives a $1-million settlement of his U.S. copyrights to date and The Who gain rights to all their recordings from "Substitute" on. MCA also agrees to pay for the cost of writing a screenplay for Quadrophenia. During the settlement Pete learns that lawyer Allan Klein permanently owns a piece of his song copyrights as a result of the 1966 settlement with Decca Records. Pete who loathes Klein, is appalled by the news.
After the settlement Pete and Chris Stamp go clubbing at The Speakeasy where they catch some of John Otway's performance. Later that night Paul Cook and Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols stop by. Mistaking them for Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious, Pete huddles with them at their table and tells them The Sex Pistols will have to carry the "rock 'n' roll banner" as The Who are finished. Instead of the snarled response he expects, the two Pistols express their admiration for The Who and declare they don't want them to break up. Pete and the Pistols are snapped by a New Musical Express photographer who has punches thrown at him by a very inebriated Pete. Pete then tears up his million-dollar check, leaves The Speakeasy and passes out in the gutter where a policeman who recognizes him brings him around. The bobby explains that if he can get up and go home, he won't have to arrest him. Pete will later write the events of this night into the first verse of the song "Who Are You."
January 1978
New records: "Mr. Blue Sky" - Electric Light Orchestra; Ten Years of Gold - Kenny Rogers; "Dust in the Wind" - Kansas; Infinity - Journey
On the 5th, the film crew for The Kids Are Alright travel to Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire for two days shooting at John Entwistle's manor house. The shooting turns out to be literal as John blasts some gold record awards (supposedly for Roger's solo albums although John later told Alan McKendree they were unclaimed Connie Francis album awards) with a double-barreled shotgun and a machine gun. Much more material is put in the camera over the two days, but little makes it into the finished film.
Roger takes a small role in his first fiction film not directed by Ken Russell, The Legacy, which begins shooting on the 16th.
January 1979
New music releases: "Don't Stop Me Now" - Queen; "Heart of Glass" - Blondie; Armed Forces - Elvis Costello & The Attractions; We Are Family - Sister Sledge
Early in the month, The Who, now with Kenney Jones on drums and John "Rabbit" Bundrick on keyboards, go into the studio to record new material for the Quadrophenia Soundtrack. Ultimately released are "Get Out And Stay Out" and Pete's 1968 song "Joker James." "Four Faces," a track recorded in 1973 and left unfinished, is completed with Pete, Roger and John layering new material over a previously recorded Keith Moon drum track. One of the more controversial plans made by producer John Entwistle is an attempt to record a "disco" version of "The Real Me." Over three attempts the new Who prove to be congenitally incapable of maximizing this form of R&B and John abandons the idea. One of the takes is later released on the 1994 30 Years Of Maximum R&B box set. Ultimately, John uses the 1973 version of "The Real Me" with a new ending recorded by The Who with Kenney.
An official announcement is made to the press that Kenney is Keith's replacement.
January 1980
New music releases: "Call Me" - Blondie; Permanent Waves - Rush; "Together We Are Beautiful" - Fern Kinney; "Sexy Eyes" - Dr. Hook
On the 8th, Pete attends a Clash concert at Brighton Top Rank. From a book by their road manager Johnny Green, A Riot of Their Own: Day and Night with the Clash: "In the Brighton Top Rank, the dinner-suited manager came to find me. 'There's someone at the door who's not on the guest list.' Pete Townshend was in a bright red jacket, steadying himself on the arms of two women. He came and gave a nod backstage: 'Jam up with you boys later?' 'Yeah, all right.' The band were toweling down before the encore. Townshend went back on stage with them. He came on, fists pumping the air, and I plugged his guitar in. No sound came out. I'd given him one of Mick's old guitars with a duff lead. I wandered off to replace it. I didn't hurry. He wasn't the Clash." After he gets a working guitar, he joins them for "Garageland", "Armagideon Time", "English Civil War" and "Louie Louie."
On the 16th, Variety reports The Who have left their U.S. record label MCA and signed to Warner Brothers Records for $12 million dollars.
Chet Flippo writes a lengthy report on December's Cincinnati tragedy for Rolling Stone . He reveals that various citizens and city officials had warned that something like this was going to happen at Riverfront Coliseum as early as three years before. In another article, promoter Larry Magid calls the tragedy a "symptom of society" that could happen again.
January 1981
New music releases: "In The Air Tonight" - Phil Collins; Paradise Theatre - Styx; Captured - Journey; "Being with You" - Smokey Robinson
On the 25th, The Who open their Face Dances tour at Leicester Granby Hall. This year's set features little of The Who's 60s repertoire with new additions "The Quiet One," "Don't Let Go The Coat," "You Better You Bet," "Another Tricky Day," and "Twist and Shout." Another major difference is inspired by John's girlfriend Maxene who convinces him to go on stage with his natural dark-blond hair undyed. The tour continues at Sheffield City Hall (26th), and two nights at Cornwall Coliseum in St. Austell (30th, 31st).
January 1982
New music releases: "Open Arms" - Journey; "A Country Boy Can Survive" - Hank Williams, Jr.; "Mickey" - Toni Basil; Friends - Shalamar
Shortly after the beginning of the month Pete flies to Dr. Meg Patterson's neuroelectric therapy clinic at Corona del Mar, California to end his addictive use of alcohol, heroin, Ativan and crack cocaine. While there he writes more songs for his upcoming solo album and short stories that will ultimately end up in the Horse's Neck book. As for The Who, Pete contacts Roger back in London and says that as soon as he's clean and sober, he'd like to record another Who album and follow it with one final major tour.
January 1983
New records: "Billie Jean" - Michael Jackson; Pyromania - Def Leppard; "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)" - Journey; "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" - Eurythmics
On the 8th, Billboard reports that producers of The Who's pay-per-view of their Dec. 17, 1982 concert in Toronto were disappointed with ratings. They had hoped to get 30% of households in the United States to pay $10 to $12 each to view the concert live but final figures came closer to 12%. Asked how much The Who netted for the video broadcast, producer Jack Calmes estimated "a good, hefty six figures."
Rolling Stone reports that The Who's 1982 tour was the year's most financially successful, garnering $23 million in 39 shows.
Pete is, in his own words, "desperately attempting to come up with a concept for the projected Who album that year." The idea he eventually devises is called "Siege" and revolves around the idea "that each of us is a soul under siege... I had been inspired by the idea of a soul besieged in a magnificent castle, surrounded by the litter of the ages, the detritus of faded wealth." Having recently picked up painting for the first time since art college, Pete also intends to illustrate the album himself. He demos "Prelude, The Right To Write" and completes the track "Cat Snatch" at Eel Pie Studios, London. Both later appear on Another Scoop. Also recorded is "All Lovers Are Deranged," later released on Scoop 3.
January 1984
New music releases: 1984 - Van Halen; Footloose: Original Soundtrack of the Paramount Motion Picture - Various Artists; "Time After Time" - Cyndi Lauper; "Footloose" - Kenny Loggins
Rolling Stone carries the news of last month's announcement by Pete that he was ending The Who under the headline: "Townshend to Who: drop dead."
January 1985
New music releases: Songs You Know By Heart - Jimmy Buffett; Centerfield - John Fogerty; 40-Hour Week - Alabama; "How Soon Is Now" - The Smiths
On the 5th, Record Mirror interviews John as his cassette course teaching bass has come out. On the breakup of The Who: "We finally split over policy differences. We couldn't agree on anything. I can't see us getting back together. Maybe there'll be a reunion in three years, but certainly not in the near future." And on the death of Keith Moon: "I think everybody knew, including himself, that sooner or later he was going to die."
January 1986
New music releases: Greatest Hits - Alabama; Different Light - The Bangles; "Grandpa (Tell Me 'Bout the Good Old Days)" - The Judds; Tuff Enuff - The Fabulous Thunderbirds
On the 16th, Faber & Faber employee Pete has lunch with the firm's managing director Matthew Evans and proposes the idea of turning Ted Hughes' children's fable The Iron Man into a musical. After the publishing house's success turning another Faber property, T.S. Eliot's Old Possom's Book of Practical Cats into the musical Cats, Evans jumps at the idea and writes the next day to Hughes.
January 1989
New music releases: Skid Row - Skid Row; The Raw and The Cooked - Fine Young Cannibals; Electric Youth - Debbie Gibson; "Paradise City" - Guns N' Roses
Pete flies to New York for the Rolling Stones' induction into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel. While there, he meets with his attorney Ina Meibach who tells him that if he put out a new Who album and toured with them he would generate £14,000 every day. "I couldn't pass up this kind of money."
On the 18th, Pete delivers a speech heralding The Rolling Stones' induction. He advises them not to grow old gracefully. "It wouldn't suit you." He also takes part in the ending jam session.
Backstage, he is repeatedly asked when The Who are going to tour again. According to one source, Bono from U2 corners Pete and says he owes it to fellow band member John Entwistle to go out on the road with The Who to ease John's debt burden. Pete, however, later says it was enduring the flight back home economy class and getting off the plane with an aching back that caused him to decide to become wealthy enough to always fly first class. Whichever of these enticements was the reason, Pete soon changes his mind and agrees to accompany Roger and John on a 25th anniversary Who tour.
Sometime around the above events, Pete pulls in Roger to sing two songs, "Dig" and a cover of Arthur Brown's "Fire" for his new The Iron Man musical CD. John is then brought in to play bass and the two tracks are subsequently listed as being by "The Who," the first studio tracks recorded under that name since the It's Hard album nearly seven years earlier.
January 1990
New music releases: The Best of Van Morrison - Van Morrison; "U Can't Touch This" - MC Hammer; The Very Best of Cat Stevens - Cat Stevens; "Nothing Compares 2 U" - Sinéad O'Connor
On the 17th, The Who are at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York as they are inducted into the Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame by the members of U2. Mandy Moon is also on the stage during the award ceremony representing her father. She points out to the crowd that daddy Keith Moon couldn't be there that night partly because he had been banned from the Waldorf-Astoria. Pete, speaking about rap music, states, "it's not up to us to try to understand it, it's not even up to us to buy it, we just have to get the f*** out of the way." Afterwards they perform "Substitute," "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Pinball Wizard" with Pete on acoustic guitar.
January 1994
New music releases: Kickin' It Up - John Michael Montgomery; Jar of Flies - Alice in Chains; Under the Pink - Tori Amos; "Without You" - Mariah Carey
Pete tries to back out of his promise to perform at Roger's upcoming orchestral rock Carnegie Hall concert. Roger, in Pete's words, "goes ballistic" and Pete quickly backs down. It is the start of what will be one of the roughest years between the two bandmates.
January 1995
New music releases: "Children" - Robert Miles; Balance - Van Halen; Leftism - Leftfield; "Freak Like Me" - Adina Howard
Pete meets a man named Oleg collecting for a charity on the street in Teddington. He says he is collecting money for a new orphanage in Russia to fill the gap between State and criminal facilities. Pete will try to help, but an Internet search for information about Russian children exposes him to the then-vast Internet market for pictures of child sexual abuse. Pete, who had already seen the effects of child sexual abuse on women helped by he and his wife's charity work for Chiswick Women's Aid, vows to do something to bring attention to the issue.
January 1996
New music releases: Time Marches On - Tracy Lawrence; Boys for Pele - Tori Amos; "Spaceman" - Babylon Zoo; "Not Gon' Cry" - Mary J. Blige
On the 21st, The John Entwistle Band begins the "Left For Dead" tour of small venues in North America with a private party at Tramps in New York. On the 24th, John performs some Who songs with the house band on NBC-TV's Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
January 2002
New music releases: Drive - Alan Jackson; "Don't Know Why" - Norah Jones; The Essential Barbra Streisand - Barbra Streisand; "Toxicity" - System of a Down
On the 12th, John Entwistle lands in Los Angeles for his last appearance at the NAMM International Music Market. He performs in a guest spot and later goes out to dinner with friends Joe Walsh and John Alcock. Both notice that John's hearing has severely deteriorated since they last saw him.
On the 16th, Pete posts a long diary message called A Different Bomb about the dangers of child pornography on the Internet. "When you are a child - possibly the victim of a war, maybe just an orphan or foster child - and sexual abuse follows, it could be said that what drops on you is '...a different bomb'. I believe that the internet is a latent bomb factory for the children of the future." After the blowup about his research on this issue in 2003, Pete is forced to stop plans to continue writing what was meant to be a exposé book and this document is all that is ever published.
January 2003
New music releases: "In Da Club" - 50 Cent; "Bring Me to Life" - Evanescence; "Superman" - Eminem; "Get Busy" - Sean Paul
On the 11th, the Daily Mail is the first to publish information from a U.S.-led investigation known as "Operation Ore." A list of names of people who had used their credit cards to access a Internet service that contained, in part, child pornography was given to British police for further investigation. However, very shortly after the list arrives, it is sold to the tabloids. The Mail mentions that on the list is the name of a well-known British rock star.
That afternoon, Pete holds a press conference admitting that he is the rock star, says he is not a paedophile, has been a long-time campaigner against child pornography on the Internet, never downloaded any images, and gives the police full access to investigate the charges. The police seize Pete's computers and he is questioned but not charged with a crime.
A "trial by tabloid" ensues. Pete's statement is simplified and falsified into a claim that he downloaded child pornography for "research," and his guilt is widely assumed. Pete's friends and fans who know that Pete had been discussing the dangers of child pornography on the Internet for the past decade begin a fight to clear his name.
January 2006
New music releases: "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" - Panic! at the Disco; High School Musical - Original Soundtrack; Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not - Arctic Monkeys; "What Hurts the Most" - Rascal Flatts
On the 10th, Pete decides to take the recommendation of the manager of his merchandise website, Nick Goderson, and turns his recently web-published story The Boy Who Heard Music into a mini-opera to comprise the second half of the new Who album Endless Wire. He writes a thirty-minute piece, including his previously debuted "In The Ether", by the 17th.
January 2012
New music releases: Born to Die - Lana Del Rey; "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" - Kelly Clarkson; "Drive By" - Train; "I Won't Give Up" - Jason Mraz
On the 25th, a press release announces that Pete has sold his interest in his entire song catalog to the Spirit Music Group. Pete will work as a consultant with the company "with the specific goal of fostering proactive collaboration between the artist, his management team (Trinifold), his record label (Universal Music Group), the original publisher of his earliest works (TRO) and Spirit's global marketing staff." Spirit CEO Mark Fried says in a later interview that he and Pete spent close to three years throwing ideas back and forth seeking to find a way to increase the number of Pete's songs used in commercials, films and sports programs. Estimates claim Pete was paid $50-$60 million for his song catalog.
January 2013
New music releases: "Demons" - Imagine Dragons; "When I Was Your Man" - Bruno Mars; "Pompeii" - Bastille; "Wagon Wheel" - Darius Rucker
On the 24th, Roger Daltrey joins with Steven Tyler to perform at the Raise Your Voice benefit in Los Angeles. The event is in honor of Dr. Steven Zeitels whose techniques gave new life to both singers' voices.
January 2014
New music releases: "Let It Go" - Idina Menzel; "Rather Be" - Clean Bandit featuring Jess Glynne; "Or Nah" - Ty Dolla $ign featuring Wiz Khalifa and DJ Mustard; "Odio" - Romeo Santos featuring Drake
Pete Townshend talks about his as-yet-unproduced musical Floss in the new issue of Uncut magazine: "The solo album I'm working on at the moment is so dark I'm hoping that when people have finished listening to it they'll kill themselves. It's called FLOSS. It's going to be a very serious, very long opera. I'm pretending to be Sting. There won't be any lutes. No, it's not dark, really. It's just very, very focused and serious. The idea is that we're all terrified. We're living in terror, we're living in anxiety, discomfort and the fear that we have is for the future, the fear for our children's future. We're worried about the planet, we're worried about terrorism, being able to sustain life as we love it, we're afraid we can't guarantee peace. It ends with an interactive art installation. I'm hoping that will last a couple of years. I started working on it in 2008 and I'm hoping a series of songs from it will come out next May or June."
January 2019
New music releases: "7 Rings" - Ariana Grande; "Middle Child" - J. Cole; "Going Bad" - Meek Mill featuring Drake; "A Lot" - 21 Savage featuring J. Cole
On the 11th, Rolling Stone prints a new interview with Pete. Pete reveals that when he was told of a lucrative offer from Live Nation for a 2019 Who tour, he said he would accept under one condition: "I said I was not going to sign any contracts unless we have new material. This has nothing to do with wanting a hit album. It has nothing to do with the fact that the Who need a new album. It’s purely personal. It’s about my pride, my sense of self-worth and self-dignity as a writer." Pete adds that he had some difficulty getting Roger to agree to recording his new songs: "I had to bully him to respond and then it wasn’t the response I wanted. He just blathered for a while and in the end, I really stamped my foot and said, ‘Roger, I don’t care if you really like this stuff. You have to sing it. You’ll like it in 10 years' time.’"
January 2020
New music releases: "Life Is Good" - Future featuring Drake; "The Box" - Roddy Ricch; "Say So" - Doja Cat; "Whats Poppin" - Jack Harlow
The Who's new album Who that had opened at #2 on the Billboard album charts on December 21st, appears for its last week on the charts on the 4th at #194.
On the 14th, Pete is interviewed in Der Spiegel: "Without Keith Moon and John Entwistle, the magic is missing. We are trying to replace them, but it is not the same thing."
In Europe, the copyright on The Who’s 1969 performance in Amsterdam at the Concertgebouw expires. Several different labels issue the performance on vinyl during the year.
On the 16th, The Who are listed as signed acts for the 2020 New Orleans Jazz Fest then scheduled to start April 23rd.
