大象传媒

by Bob Stanley

I'd put him in the top three or four of our singer songwriters...

Brian Matthew on Pete Townshend

All groups who go on to become famous have to start off as obscure, and DJs can easily slip up on banana skins – Tony Blackburn is probably sick of being reminded of the time he introduced Duran Duran's first hit Planet Earth, misprouncing their name as if they were from County Durham. When Brian Matthew first met The Who, it turns out, he introduced their guitarist rather formally as Peter Townshend, possibly confusing him with the RAF Group Captain remembered for his romance with Princess Margaret, or maybe with the esteemed sociologist who set up the Child Poverty Action Group.

“Peter Townshend? Did I really?” chuckles Brian over a cuppa. “I can't believe I said that, because I've always thought of him as 'Pete'! A supreme talent. And lucky, to an extent, because he was always supported by his musician father, and he appreciated that fact. But also his mother... he was lucky in his family connections, lucky in that they helped him enormously. He was always excellent to work with, and wrote some jolly good songs. I'd put him in the top three or four of our singer songwriters. And just so easy to get on with.”

This does seem quite surprising, given the Who's riotous reputation. Were the group quite professional when it came to Saturday Club sessions? “Yes, they were. I don't think that reputation was deserved. But, like the Stones, any group that picked up that kind of cache used to milk it for all it was worth, because it got them a lot of publicity! And the discussions and arguments that went on were probably in most cases ill deserved... I think perhaps a bit less so with the Stones, who could be professionally very disagreeable. And,” he laughs, “I think they remain that way. But I never found any kind of trouble at all, they were just very good – musically, totally efficient.”