Finished Tu 9/6/16
A library book from that very attractive section......
For decades I thought his name was 'Townsend', it ain't.
Had an epiphany in Rolling Meadows Illinois????? Heard the voice of God on a water bed?
I was surprised about how much respect and admiration he had for the other members of the Who.
Pete Butler was 'Dougal' who was Keith Moon's handler. He wrote a great book (that I own) about his life with Moon.
Knew John Entwistle since he was eleven years old. Although they were roughly the same age, Pete always saw John as more of an adult.
"I am the best Keith Moon type drummer in the World"!!!!
His mother and father were involved in Big Band and Swing. Mother a singer and heavy drinker; father a clarinetist and reed man, also alcoholic.
When he was seven, his parents decided to ship him to his maternal grandmother's home. She was losing her mind and they felt that it would be good for Pete and Denny (the grandmother). Really I think that they wanted to get a handle on their deteriorating marriage, but a crazy thing to do. Pete says that the grandmother was cruel and he hints that he might have been sexually abused during that time.
The Grandmother had split from her husband and became a 'kept woman'. This made her daughter (Pete's mother) insecure for the rest of her life.
Townshend is an avid sailor. His house at Twickenham, London is right on the Thames. He can commute to London via the river.
I was taken aback had how big his solo career is and he would have 'been somebody' if there were no Who.
Child pornography issues began when he met a Russian man who was trying to raise money for Soviet orphanages. When Pete tried to locate this guy a few years later, he could not be found. It's possible that this man could have been a front for a human trafficking ring.
Years later, when checking this out on the Internet Pete logged onto a site that dealt with child porn. Although he did not look at the images (he says) the law is written that you are guilty regardless of your intentions. Sounds like you would have better luck in a Salem Witch Court in Massachusetts.
Most authorities believed him and nothing was found on his computers, but this scandal no doubt damaged his reputation.
Loved the book, but the absolute best rock bio must be Keith Richards book, LIFE.
amazon page-
https://www.amazon.com/Who-Am-Memoir-Pete-Townshend/product-reviews/006212725X/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=recent
his page at wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Townshend
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