{"id":316622,"date":"2025-11-30T15:15:09","date_gmt":"2025-11-30T15:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/316622\/"},"modified":"2025-11-30T15:15:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-30T15:15:09","slug":"pete-townshend-names-the-only-two-genuine-classic-rock-bands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/316622\/","title":{"rendered":"Pete Townshend names the only two genuine \u201cclassic rock\u201d bands"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Pete<\/p>\n

(Credits: Far Out \/ YouTube Still)<\/p>\n

Sun 30 November 2025 13:27, UK <\/p>\n

\u201cKeith Moon, God rest his soul, once drove his car through the glass doors of a hotel, driving all the way up to the reception desk, got out and asked for the key to his room,\u201d Pete Townshend<\/a> once recalled.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Given how the genre has unfurled, for many, that caper alone constitutes \u2018classic rock\u2019. Without a note being played, the notion of a luxury automobile casually, comically ram-raiding into a plush establishment just for a pre-gig giggle prompts the assumption that the band you\u2019re dealing with is four white blokes rehashing the blues with pyrotechnics.<\/p>\n

But, of course, that is a glib way to look at something revolutionary, and Townshend was never unaware of the true atavistic spiritual power of the genre. In fact, despite the wild tales that pit his life story, he told the New York Times in 2019, \u201cI\u2019ve always regarded the rock-star phenomenon with immense disdain.\u201d Favouring a more spiritual outlook on music.<\/p>\n

The importance of the art form went beyond mere melodies or moments of hotel madness for the windmilling Townshend, even when he was a kid. \u201cI was the child of the guy who played saxophone in a post-war dance band,\u201d he said. \u201cHe knew what his music was for \u2013 it was for post-war, and it was for dancing with a woman that you might end up marrying. It was about romance, dreams, fantasy\u201d.<\/p>\n

With riots running rampant, presidents being assassinated, and the world looking for direction amid an explosion of pop culture, he set about creating a new type of song. \u201cMusic, even today, is about much more than that. It has a function, which is to help us understand what is going on in the world and to help us understand what is going on inside us, so the purpose and the duty of somebody who makes music is very different to the way it used to be.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Pete<\/a>Pete Townshend performing live with The Who in 1966. (Credits: Bent Rej)<\/p>\n

With a great degree of pride, he proclaims, \u201cAnd I think I was the first to articulate that and try to explain it,\u201d he told Apple Music. Following in the footsteps of his heroes like Bob Dylan, he tried to define the times with rollicking anthems like \u2018My Generation\u2019, bringing something new to the genre without restructuring the tried and tested wheel.<\/p>\n

In his view, only two bands achieved this in a rocking capacity. In those days, it was about realising the swathe of liberation on the horizon, and when he inducted The Rolling Stones into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he claimed that they did that with a sense of energy bordering on the alchemical. \u201cI can\u2019t analyse what I feel about the Stones because I am a really an absolute Stones fan<\/a>, always have been,\u201c he began.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir early shows were just shocking,\u201d he added. \u201cAbsolutely riveting, stunning, moving, and they changed my life completely. The Beatles were fun, no doubt about that. I\u2019m talking about they\u2019re live shows. I\u2019m demeaning them in any way. The Stones were really what made me wake up,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are the only group that I\u2019ve ever really been unashamed about idolising. So much of what I am I got is from you, The Stones. I had no idea most of it was already secondhand (he laughs). No more gags, the Stones are the greatest for me. They epitomise British Rock for me.\u201d They seemingly epitomise classic rock for him, too.<\/p>\n

Keith Richards, the guitarist in Townshend\u2019s favourite band, once said, \u201dI\u2019ve never had a problem with drugs. I\u2019ve had problems with the police.\u201d Pete had a problem with both, and he used that to elicit a point he had about rock. When New York\u2019s WAXQ-FM claimed The Police were a classic rock act, Townshend stepped in to protect the sanctity of the genre: \u201cThey\u2019re now calling The Police \u2018classic rock.\u2019 I don\u2019t think so. The Police are punk. They\u2019re a punk band. They\u2019re not classic rock,\u201d he sneered.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, you\u2019ve got the (Rolling) Stones and The Who. Classic rock \u2013 finished. It\u2019s all over after that\u2026this is just music. It\u2019s not classic anything,\u201d he concluded. As the man who claims to have invented heavy metal, he opines that everything else is just an offshoot of the real McCoy, leaving the glorified kingdom of classic rock a lonely two-horse town, circled by mere pretenders.<\/p>\n

One thing\u2019s for sure, both groups certainly support Townshend\u2019s classic mantra: \u201cRock \u2018n\u2019 Roll might not solve your problems, but it does let you dance all over them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Related Topics<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Credits: Far Out \/ YouTube Still) Sun 30 November 2025 13:27, UK \u201cKeith Moon, God rest his soul,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316623,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341,35038],"class_list":{"0":"post-316622","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-music","12":"tag-pete-townshend"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316622"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316622\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}