December 9, 2012
TOUR DIARY – December 9th, 2012
The Clown who plays Ukelele.
It occurs to me that Roger’s first TCA ‘ambassador’ Sarah Sterner, who tells a funny story about being entertained by a clown playing ukelele when she was recovering from cancer treatment, might not be so funny for the clown in question. She did not sneer at this clown. She used him as an example to make a distinction between what little kids enjoy in hospital, and what teenagers prefer.
I have repeated the story a few times, playing it for laughs. Then I suddenly remembered that once or twice in my life I have portrayed myself as that very clown, pounding stages.
The volunteer, dressing up and going to paediatric wards to entertain children, does so out of love and duty, and I must be careful to make very sure here that I do not sneer at what this clown, who volunteers to entertain and nurture young people in hospital, is doing. It is a high calling.
Roger’s pitch is that Sarah says she needed something different, more grown up, more TEENAGED. Sarah agrees, so we must accept their mission.
A young woman recovering from cancer might prefer the clown to go in without the costume, dressed in his street clothes, with a guitar rather than a ukelele, reveal himself as a bit of handsome dude, gaze in her eyes, and sing her some of his coolest love songs……..Sarah is certainly beautiful enough to merit the music.
You know what I mean. But if you’re a little kid, a clown with uke is very cool. If you’re a teenager God only knows what you’ll think is cool.
- Pete Townshend. December 9th, 2012
For www.thewho.com
53 Responses to TOUR DIARY – December 9th, 2012
I was wondering if you could possibly play Don’t Let go the Coat in Louisville, Ky. on 1/16. We are driving from St. Louis to Louisville to see you. Sort of bucket list request, if it is not possible I understand.
Thanks
So proud to be a fan. Your upcoming show to benefit Teen Cancer care and research and Sloan Kettering Hospital which has and continues to aid so many will be a great night. My reverence for you just grows. I believe you get it, we just try to be better everyday sometimes we falter and stumble and take steps backward but more often then not we move forward sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. This upcoming concert, the teenage cancer concerts in Britain , the Sandy benefit, the 911 show, and I’m sure the many things we don’t know about that are not in the public are great moments. I can’t wait to see you on 2/28, just keep doin’ good (I can’t help my New Yorkese and vernacular), I will to. As always play what you feel.
Thank you Mr. Townsend for including the Glens Falls Civic Center in your memoir. The Civic Cetner is about ten minutes from my house. My sister got some boot leg pictures of Roger Daltry on her night stand. I also saw the Quadrophina show, the last a Knickerbocker Arena and a show in July 1998 in Montreal with my wife. Ironically we saw Pearl Jam a year later at the Molson Centre and sat in the same row of seats! Thank you for sharing some of your insights from your therapy; in particular delusions and negativie projections and the note to Karen about the sad face of the six or seven year old who still surfaces on a man of 67. This helped me talk to my father over our Post traumatic hic up over the holidays. We had a good heart talk about letting the past go. This is a good first step for me in letting go of some of the pain that haunts me from my past. THANKS!
Sincerly John Peter Etu
Dear Pete, I have almost finished reading your autobiography and I must say it is one of the best I have ever read, if not the best, and I am a prolific reader! It is so candid and I have had a hard time putting it down. However, I have just finished writing a book of my own so I had to put yours aside to concentrate on my own writing at times. My story is a biography of my uncle, a World War II Spitfire pilot who came to Arizona (where I now live)and trained to fly Spitfires and Typhoons. While here he met a girl and fell in love. He wrote to her throughout the war and she saved all his love letters and gave them to me. They are wonderful letters and my uncle also took many, many photographs so my book is heavily illustrated. I won’t bore you with more, suffice to say that I hope you will read it one day. Incidentally, I grew up in Wimbledon (born in 1943) so your music was, and still is, an integral part of my life. I was a rocker but don’t hold that against me!! Looking forward to the last couple of chapters of your book but will be sad to get to the end as I have enjoyed it so much. Cheers. Catherine Harris (E.C.)
I hope Pete you will find satisfaction that my 16 year old daughter thinks you are the coolest guy on earth and has little use for most of the music of her own generation. Not that I talked her into it, I just played her Baba O Riley one night and next thing I knew, she was listening to all the Who and Townshend solo music she could get her hands on. I am a musician myself and I have had a very very special place in my heart for all your music throughout my life. We are planning to attend the Columbus Ohio show, flying there from Austin Texas (dont know why you guys couldnt play here, but whatever..)Looking very forward to bringing myself and my daughter to hear Quadrophenia live! We can hardly wait!