"Who I Am" is the memoir by legendary guitarist Pete Townshend of The Who and covers all the territory you could possibly want to read about and then some.
Media have been introducing the revelations in this memoir as " SHOCKING" . We are talking about Pete Townshend peeps, this ain't no memoir by Kate Middleton...
I don't agree that any of the headline topics Townshend discusses in his memoir are particularly shocking as we have heard them all before in some form or another.
Yes, Mick Jagger is the only man Townshend has ever "seriously" wanted to fuck. Take a ticket Pete. Who hasn't wanted to fuck Mick Jagger at some stage during Jaggers past....I emphasise "his past" and would also like to put a date range on that ..lets say 1962 - 1972...
Among other apparently shocking truths revealed are the first time Townshend met Keith Moon...shocking or interesting? From what I have read it doesn't reveal anything we didn't already know about Moon's personality and propensity to engage in any number of hysterical, witty or dangerous scenarios with a cheeky grin and a madman’s verve.
Of course Townshend also gives time to his ill fated crusade to prove that British banks helped channel profits from paedophiles to illegal child pornography rings. The poor man copped a brutal media battering and reveals that " If I had a gun I would have shot myself. It really did feel like a lynching." No bloody wonder!
The full memoir tracks the life of Townshend from the formation of The Who in 1962 through to their performance at Woodstock in 1969. These are the golden years and you will find much more of interest than the " shocking revelations" being shopped around by the media. Pete Townshend is one of the most inspiring and influential musicians of all time and continues to make intelligent commentary on the state of the music industry and has inspired popular culture for half a century. Purchase this book knowing that you have the privilege of being inside his head for a few hours, not for the " shocking " reveals, that at
the end of the day aren't that shocking at all.
"Who I Am" will be available in Australia via Harper Collins on October 9th.
