Pete Townshend - Empty Glass

The future had arrived in 1980 and it was dragging the dinosaurs into the light. Suddenly Pete Townshend was standing in the open, looking around like he meant to be there. Perhaps he did. I mean, as a kid I wasn't unaware of who he was. Who he was. Ha, that's good one. I kill myself. Bottom line though, he was old. Woodstock old.

That was old.

So it was weird to hear and see so much of Pete Townshend at the beginning of the '80s when there were new sounds and new artists that were demanding attention. Okay, when I say so much, it wasn't as much as you'd think but the songs that were generating what seemed like constant rotation was probably over in the space of a couple of months. As a teenager time and physics don't work as closely as they do when you get older. Time is malleable, and those summer months where I first heard "Let My Love Open the Door" were magical times. Full of late nights by the lake, sleeping in a cabin, working in the bush with my best friend and trying to figure out how to open beer bottles without an opener. In reality I probably only heard the song a few times on the radio, but it was so good that the anticipation of wanting to hear it more than another song by Air Supply.

The song that really felt like Pete was making a case for relevance in the new decade was "Rough Boys" a song that got me in the feels much like when I first saw the movie Warriors. When after a really shitty night the DJ on radio comes on and says, "It turns out that the early reports were wrong, all wrong. Now for that group out there that had such a hard time getting home, sorry about that. I guess the only thing we can do is play you a song." the needle drops and the opening chord salvo to "In the City" by Joe Walsh plays and I got goose bumps.

It was also one of the first songs where I remember seeing the video on the late night concert TV shows. At first it was irritating as I wanted to see Pete perform not stand around in a smokey pool hall miming the words.

Over the years these two songs rightly became classics. Well, I assume they're classics. Nah, they're classics. CLASSICS!

You'd think I had the album back in the day based on all the glowing silliness above ... and you'd be wrong. I loved hearing the songs when they were on the radio, but I didn't really want the album. If I was to spend money it would be on Styx or April Wine. Yeah.

I found the record on sale when my favourite shop decided to have a sale of epic proportions and price everything, EVERYTHING in the store at $2. It was insane I probably still have close to a hundred albums to properly listen to. It took me a couple of hours to go through the store ... but I did. This was among the treasures, and it's finally getting a spin (actually it's been about three so far) as I work away in the basement.

Setting aside the two stellar pieces on the record, the album is decent. Bordering on really really good. It was a solo album, but at this stage in The Who's career it certainly seemed like Pete was holding on to his best work for himself. There was an urgency to many of the songs, and it seemed like Pete wanted to leverage his own past that seemed to be the template for some of the punk rebelliousness. The problem was that Pete was old, mid thirties at this point and out of touch. It slays me to read that now knowing that he was still in reality just a young man and as full of piss and vinegar as his younger counterparts.

Then there are the credits, I'm still like a little kid who can't get enough. I love reading them as much as I ever did. In some ways it's a lot more fun now as I know so much more than I did when I was a teenager. To see names like Kenny Jones and Simon Phillips on drums gives me a little thrill. Heck Tony Butler played bass on most of the tracks, and a few years later he'd be in Big Country. Dang, how cool is that?

It's enjoyable, it really is. The sad part is it'll never really have a chance to get under my skin. That ship sailed over forty years ago. My enjoyment now comes from equal parts nostalgia and appreciating the songs for the craft behind them. I suppose that's my way of saying they were kind of forgettable and didn't stay with me when they were done. I'm not saying there aren't some really solid songs, the whole album is enjoyable. I have become partial to "A Little is Enough" and the title track. These among others stood out after a few plays.

Still, there were those two jewels, and my goodness they are crowning jewels and on their own make this album something special. I still find it interesting that Pete dedicated "Rough Boys" to The Sex Pistols. An honour I assume they couldn't not have given two shits about at the time. 

I never (never say never, I don't have it yet) picked up his '82 follow up, but I would pick others as they came out. Each album always had something that stood out. He knew enough to never let the listener leave with An Empty Glass.