The Who |
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Tue. June 04.2002 5:34 PM EDT |
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Roger Daltrey: What's Next?The Who take to the road again. Roger Daltrey tells why. by Dave Hall |
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Roger Daltrey ( ) |
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They’ve said goodbye countless times, but sure looks like the members of the Who are sticking it out together. Not only are they bringing timeless anthems like “My Generation” and “Won’t Get Fooled Again” to arenas this summer, they’re actually
VH1: The Who’s performance was definitely one of the highlights of the Concert for New York. Was that why you decided to tour again? Roger Daltrey: I felt incredibly humble to be performing for that audience, but it wasn’t the reason we got back together. The problem I have at my age, as a singer, is stopping. Voices aren’t like guitar strings. You can’t change them, so I have to keep going, keep it in action. I had a meeting with Pete [Townshend] and said, “Look, I can’t have another year off, because there I won’t have a voice left at the end of it. Can we do 20 or 30 gigs somewhere? Anywhere?” Pete very kindly decided to do these gigs that we’re doing. It will get me in good condition for this album I hope we come up with. VH1: It's been 20 years since the release of It’s Hard. Are you excited to be doing another Who album? Daltrey: Very excited. It’s always frustrated me that Pete wrote so articulately about the problems of adolescence, but was dry about middle age. Music should be about all the facets of your life, because your emotions change as you get older. For instance, you learn that anger and negativity turn into something else. When I got angry as a youngster, there’d be a fistfight. Something would be thrown at a wall. That doesn’t happen any more, though I get just as passionate. In some ways the problems of middle age are more interesting. It’s very black and white when you’re adolescent. Middle age is much more intricate. VH1: So are you hoping to write about getting older? Daltrey: I’m not hoping for anything! I’m going to enjoy the process of being with the boys, throwing stuff around, trying to come up with ideas. We’ll be writing stuff, even if they’re only ideas for songs about how you feel right now. VH1: You guys are touring. So are the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney. Why now? Daltrey: After 9-11, I had a feeling that people would want songs again. The whole world is feeling incredibly insecure. The one beauty about music is that it’s universal and a song can really get inside you. People need songs at the moment. That’s why the bands that create songs are doing better now than ever. VH1: What’s your definition of a rock star? Daltrey: The definition of a rock star for me was Elvis Presley, but I’m not willing to be the kind of star that Elvis became. I just wanted to be a rock ‘n’ roll singer. I wanted to be a real person. To be a rock star, you have a huge entourage and bodyguards. I’m not prepared for all that shit. I don’t want to give up that part of my life. Bob Dylan’s a huge star. He travels around on his own and stays in bed and breakfasts. It’s amazing! That’s how I would like to be. I wanted to be a rock star at first, because at the time rock ‘n’ roll was breaking the mold. But then it formed its own mold, and people were copying the copies of the copies of the copies. I thought, “This is madness. It’s not really what it’s all about.” I always deliberately fight against the current trend. If leather jackets came in, I bought a tweed suit. I don’t know if anyone ever got it, but that’s how I felt. I don’t what a rock star is. Probably a complete bloody idiot! VH1: Some say the hardest thing about being a rock star is maintaining a marriage. You’ve had a fairly successful relationship as far as the rock world is concerned. How do you keep it together? Daltrey: My marriage is successful because 1) I was very lucky in finding the right woman and 2) I was very honest about who I was and what my job was when I married her. The only reason to get married is to have children. She wanted to have children. I thought, “I’ll marry you. But you know what job I’m in. Don’t ask me to be a good boy, because I’m out there in a rock ‘n’ roll band, and I’m going to be doing it." If you’re honest, you can keep anything together. You have to fight for it, though. People give up too easy these days! We also have great sex, which helps. VH1: Why have the Who endured for so long? Daltrey: The foremost reason is the fact that we’ve got all those wonderful Pete Townshend songs to play. They’re timeless. Secondly, we can still deliver it well. If that starts to wane, we will stop. I often wonder why it all happened this way. There must be a big answer, but I haven’t got it. When is it going to finish? Who knows? I still think our best work is in front of us. I’ve always felt that. When Pete said, “It’s Hard is our final record,” in 1982, I thought, “I don’t know about that.” I’ve always felt our best work could come now. VH1: Is there a certain sexual charge you feel onstage singing for people? Daltrey: Yeah. It’s the best drug you can ever have. It totally takes you over. You feel like you can do superhuman things. It’s incredibly sexual. I’ve always tried to dramatize the lyrics, so I live those words every night I sing them. If I don’t do that, I’ve failed. With Townshend’s songs, you can’t cheat. That’s why the energy stays up, because the songs are about subjects that just demand that. If you can’t deliver it, they’ll fall as flat as a pancake. VH1: So maybe that's why you’ve lasted: Because of the energy behind the performances and songs. Daltrey: They are two of the reasons. The other reason is that we have remained touchable, which was quite obvious in the 9-11 show, when you looked at the faces of those firemen. We were them, up there doing it for them. Everybody wants that. They want to feel, “Yeah, I can do that.” That’s how we are. |
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