Pete Townshend Interview

Infamous Rock journalist and internationally acclaimed interviewer Claude Balzac recently sat down for an in depth conversation with the legend Pete Townshend.

Madhouse Magazine: Hi Pete, Good to see you again. Thanks for talking with me today.

Pete Townshend: Are you kidding, I have been dying to do this. I love Madhouse Magazine. I couldn’t wait to talk to you. I can’t believe you interviewed that twat Neil Young before me. Your stories are hysterical. How do you guys come up with this stuff? Keith Moon was a big fan as well. He had quite the sense of humor.

Madhouse: Speak of the devil, Let’s talk about Keith Moon

Townshend: Ok let’s do it. He was a wonderful man but could also be one of the biggest pains in the arse ever. I will recap all of the shite he did to me over the years. First of all, he blew up his drum kit and almost killed me. Then he sewed my head to the carpet one time after I fell asleep drunk. He was fun but exhausting. I am glad he’s gone, but I do miss him.

Madhouse: Did you hear they are doing a Biopic on Keith’s life starring James Corden?

Townshend: Wait a minute, that fat little poof is playing Moon? The talks show host. That chubby little twat couldn’t play Moonies jockstrap. Oh I am calling my lawyer, we will put a stop to this.

Madhouse: A story broke a couple years ago stating that you only pretended to have hearing issues.

Townshend: Yeah it’s true, I have to come clean. I have perfect hearing. I was just pretending to be deaf in order to avoid the never ending complaining by Roger Daltrey. I got the idea after the Smothers Brothers show in 1969 when Keith Moon blew his drum kit up. It was loud but not a big deal so I pretended like it blew out my hearing. I was flailing all over the place, fingering my ear and really hamming it up. I kept the charade going for 50 years. It worked like a charm.

Madhouse: You are infamous for beating people up on stage.

Townshend: [laughs] Yes when I am on stage, I own that b*tch. That is my domain, stay the fook out of my zone. Take Woodstock for example. I am in the zone and this dirty hippie comes running on stage. It turns out to be Abbie Hoffman trying to make some moronic speech that no one wants to hear. I beat the shite out of him with my guitar. He was carried off in a stretcher. Another time we are playing Fillmore East and another guy tries to take the mic. I gave him a flying kick to the balls. It turns out he was an off duty cop trying to tell the audience there was a fire in the back of the theater. [laughs] Then of course, there was the time Prince Charles tried to make a speech t the Policeman’s Other Ball and I kicked Charles right in the giblets too.

Pete Townshend Interview — Pete Townshend Illustration By Paul King Art

Madhouse: Tell the audience about your experiences with LSD.

Townshend: Oh man, the first few times were ok but the final straw was after Monterey Pop. Owsley personally gave us some hits for the plane ride home. Moon popped like 4 of them and me and my wife took a half each. It was so strong that halfway over the Atlantic, I was naked and trying to open the emergency exit to walk on the wing. That was the last time I ever took that.

Madhouse: What do you remember about Monterey.

Townshend: I remember Mama Cass trying to have sex with everyone. That was a whole lotta woman, lovely girl though. Anyway we won the coin toss and Hendrix had to follow us. We smashed the shite out of our equipment like never before. As I am walking off I toss the neck of my guitar to Jimi and say have fun following that. That SOB ends up having sex with his amp and setting his guitar on fire. Man I loved Jimi, he was a wonderful man and I miss him.

Madhouse: Do you have any regrets?

Townshend:[laughs] Oh my gosh yes. I have more regrets than not. My life is full of regrets. I guess one thing I feel bad about is that I agreed to help Eric Clapton steal George Harrison’s wife. Eric convinced me to go with him over to George’s house. I kept George busy talking about Indian religion nonsense and the Baba. Meanwhile Eric was pitching woo in the kitchen with Patti.

Madhouse: So what have you been up to lately?

Townshend: Well we are going out on tour again now that this nonsense is over. I am looking forward to getting out on the road again. I was attacked by a giant rat. That was the highlight of the last few years. The Rat was massive. It was the size of a small pony. I was horrified. At first I thought it was Roger Daltrey in a rat costume playing a prank on me, but then it attacked. It went for my nuts. I smashed it good with my guitar. That was the end of that.

Madhouse: Well it was great to see you again Pete. Take care out there and keep being you.

Townshend: Thank you and god bless you. We need comedy and satire more than ever. You guys at Madhouse keep me laughing. Your magazine kept me sane during my darkest times. You are an international treasure.