Updated Sep. 10, 2024


January 1990 New music releases: The Best of Van Morrison - Van Morrison; The Very Best of Cat Stevens - Cat Stevens; "Nothing Compares 2 U" - Sinéad O'Connor; Stick It To Ya - Slaughter On the 6th, Billboard reports on Amusement Business magazine's tally of the top 20 concert takes of 1989. Of those concert takes, The Rolling Stones have 12 entries while The Who only have four. On the 17th, The Who are at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York as they are inducted into the Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame by the members of U2. Mandy Moon is also on the stage during the award ceremony representing her father. She points out to the crowd that daddy Keith Moon couldn't be there that night partly because he had been banned from the Waldorf-Astoria. Pete, speaking about rap music, states, "it's not up to us to try to understand it, it's not even up to us to buy it, we just have to get the f** out of the way." Afterwards they perform "Substitute," "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Pinball Wizard" with Pete on acoustic guitar. Rolling Stone* reports that Roger is working on the films Father Jim, Buddy's Song and a Keith bio-pic. On the 28th, BBC2's music programme Rapido airs a feature on John Lee Hooker who is accompanied by Pete.
February 1990 New music releases: Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em - MC Hammer; Shake Your Money Maker - The Black Crowes; Damn Yankees - Damn Yankees; Here in the Real World - Alan Jackson On the 2nd, Menahem Golan's film version of the Brecht-Weill musical The Threepenny Opera, retitled Mack the Knife and featuring Roger singing the title song, is released in the U.S. On the 5th, the RIAA certifies The Who Live featuring Tommy video as having reached the platinum level of sales which is 100,000 units for videos. On the 10th, Billboard reports on the growing CD cutout market. One they mention is Pete's solo album The Iron Man that is already in the cutout bin eight months after release. Rolling Stone magazine publishes their year-end readers' survey. The Who's 1989 tour places #2 for both Best Tour and Worst Tour, #3 for Comeback of the Year and #2 for Most Unwelcome Comeback. John is #2 for Best Bass Player. On the 24th, an all-star tribute to Roy Orbison is held at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. Pete sends his regards via a videotaped message. On the 26th, Pete publicly backs a £500,000 appeal to fund a new science, art and technology block for a girls' school.
March 1990 New music releases: Only Yesterday - The Carpenters; Pretty Woman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Various Artists; Poison - Bell Biv Devoe; I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got - Sinéad O'Connor On the 10th, The Who appear together on ITV television's Aspel & Co. miming to newly recorded studio versions of "Join Together" and "I Can See For Miles." When asked what he has been doing with himself, Pete answers that he still works at Faber & Faber. Pete, Roger and John will not perform together live as The Who for over six years. On the 20th, the Who's Better, Who's Best video is certified gold by the RIAA. On the 24th in the U.K. and the 31st in the U.S., The Who release a three-album/two-CD souvenir of their 1989 tour called Join Together. Half is a live version of Tommy, the other half is Who and solo Pete hits. Also released in Europe is a single pulled from the boxset of "Join Together" backed with "I Can See For Miles" and "Behind Blue Eyes" (with "Christmas" added for an EP). Reviews in the music press can best be described as merciless. The U.K. LP peaks at #59 while in the U.S. it spends two weeks in the charts topping out at #188. The same week as the release of Join Together, John is interviewed at length (and shows off his new computer).
April 1990 New music releases: Johnny Gill - Johnny Gill; Behind the Mask - Fleetwood Mac; Fear of a Black Planet - Public Enemy; "Love Without End, Amen" - George Strait On the 1st, Pete writes a letter to Who manager Bill Curbishley stating: "I want to take this opportunity to say that I will remember 1989 as one of the happiest of my life and career. There are lots of factors, but the most important element was the friendship I felt enhanced every aspect of the tour: front of the stage, in the band, in the management team, in the crew, and in the audiences...Good luck in 1990." On the 3rd, TVAM Good Morning Britain airs part one of an interview with The Who. They are on promoting the recent release of the Join Together album. Part two airs the next day and part three the day after that. On the 21st, Billboard reports on how what is considered "classic rock" has solidified into the same 500-700 songs and efforts by radio stations to increase that number have failed. The article's title is "'Won't Get Fooled' Has Not Burned Out... Yet".
May 1990 New music releases: Wilson Phillips - Wilson Phillips; I'm Breathless - Madonna; Greatest Hits - The Bangles; Reflections of Passion - Yanni On the 9th, it is reported that Pete has invested £150,000 in a scheme to ferry commuters down the Thames. Photo: Eric Robert On the 10th, Roger is an attendee at the Cannes Film Festival promoting his film Buddy's Song. During the month, Tommy is released by Mobile Fidelity Soundlab as a gold CD. It contains the first CD release of "Eyesight To The Blind" with the alternate vocal previously found on the 1972 Track Records release. On the 19th, Billboard reports on the top music moneymakers in the U.K. based on gross income for 1988-1989 as per Forbes magazine. They are #1 Pink Floyd at $56m, #2 The Rolling Stones at $55m, #3 George Michael at $47m, #4 U2 at $33m and #5 The Who at $32m.
June 1990 New music releases: Mariah Carey - Mariah Carey; Step by Step - New Kids on the Block; Flesh & Blood - Poison; I'll Give All My Love to You - Keith Sweat On the 5th, it is reported that Pete has turned down £2 million from Coca-Cola to use "My Generation" as part of their "Generation after Generation" ad campaign. The Who had previously recorded adverts for Coca-Cola in 1967. Pete is interviewed in this month's issue of Musician. He disassociates himself from the recently released Join Together boxset: "I didn't pick the title, cover or collection of songs, and I wouldn't be hurt if a Who fan told me they weren't going to buy it." He also says he is responsible for The Who not extending their 25th Anniversary Tour to Australia and Japan and that Atlantic Records wants his next solo album to be a "formula" album: "I could create a lot of red faces by asking what the formula is."
July 1990 New music releases: We Are In Love - Harry Connick, Jr.; Cowboys from Hell - Pantera; Beverley Craven - Beverley Craven; Compositions - Anita Baker The soundtrack to Arachnophobia is released featuring a cover of "Boris The Spider" by The Pleasure Thieves. On the 17th, Pete takes part in a Showtime program called Coast To Coast hosted by Herbie Hancock and taped at the Fridge Club in Brixton. Pete, Hancock and Pat Metheny perform "I Put A Spell On You" and "Magic Bus" and with Simply Red, "It's Only Love." It is cablecast by Showtime starting October 22nd. On the 26th, Roger wins a $272,000 settlement after suing the Home Farm for killing up to half a million fish at his trout farm in East Sussex.
August 1990 New music releases: No Fences - Garth Brooks; Empire - Queensrÿche; Extreme II: Pornograffitti - Extreme; Facelift - Alice in Chains On the 2nd, John Entwistle reunites with Rat Race Choir, the band he toured with in 1987, for a show at World Stage in Hillcrest, New York. The Accused release their album Grinning Like an Undertaker featuring a cover of "Boris the Spider". On the 27th, Westwood One syndicated radio show BBC Classic Tracks plays The Who's 1965 BBC recording of "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere". Over the next four years they will run more selections, providing the source for The Who BBC sessions bootlegs.
September 1990 New music releases: "Thunderstruck" - AC/DC; Led Zeppelin box set - Led Zeppelin; To the Extreme - Vanilla Ice; The Razor's Edge - AC/DC John heads off to Japan to play bass as part of a group called "Best." The rest of the group is Keith Emerson on keyboards, Joe Walsh and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter on guitars, Simon Phillips on drums, Rick Lingstone lead vocals, and Hamish, Angus and Fergus Richardson backing vocals. One of John's contributions to the song line-up is a medley of "Boris The Spider" and "Theme from Jaws." They perform at Yoyogi No.1 Gymnasium in Tokyo on the 23rd, Yokohama Arena on the 26th and Koshien Stadium on the 30th. The Yokohama show is broadcast on local television and later released on DVD. This is the first time any member of The Who performs in Japan. The group plays a few dates the next month in Hawaii before calling it quits due to Joe Walsh having "personal problems".
October 1990 New music releases: The Very Best of Elton John - Elton John; The Rhythm of the Saints - Paul Simon; Remasters - Led Zeppelin; Unchained Melody - The Best of the Righteous Brothers - The Righteous Brothers The Junk Monkeys release their CD Five Star Fling with a cover of "A Quick One While He's Away." On the 18th, Pete performs part of his musical The Iron Man on German TV. The next day he does the same for Danish TV. On the 24th, John attends the after-party for Billy Idol's performance at the Los Angeles Forum, held at the Hollywood Tropicana on Western Avenue.
November 1990 New music releases: The Immaculate Collection - Madonna; Carreras Domingo Pavarotti in Concert - The Three Tenors; Serious Hits... Live! - Phil Collins; I'm Your Baby Tonight - Whitney Houston At the beginning of the month, a press release is issued about details included in the newly-published book of interviews Rock Lives by Timothy White. One of those details contains some out-of-context remarks Pete made about the song "Rough Boys" that seem to imply that he is gay. The press grabs this misperception and runs with it, with headlines such as "My Gay Secret," "Out of The Closet," and "I Am Woman". Pete refuses to contradict the reports. Recalling the "scandal" three years later he says, "I don't want to let it be known that it is in any sense an important part of my self-image to be thought of as a breeder. I don't want to deny bisexuality as if I were being accused of child molestation or murder, as if it were some crime or something to be ashamed of, because that would be cruel to people who are gay". He finally officially denies being gay in 1999. Around this time the California punk band Green Day releases their EP Sweet Children featuring a cover of "My Generation". The Sun reports that The Sweeney actor Dennis Waterman has put up his £500,000 mansion to make the movie "Father Jim" co-starring Roger Daltrey. It is then scheduled for release the following March. On the 19th, Roger appears in the TNT cable-movie Forgotten Prisoners: The Amnesty Files. Roger plays "Howard" in a story about the work of the organization Amnesty International.
December 1990 New music releases: MCMXC A.D. - Enigma; Gonna Make You Sweat - C+C Music Factory; The Simpsons Sing the Blues - The Simpsons; "All the Man That I Need" - Whitney Houston On the 11th, Pete records a early demo of "Outlive The Dinosaur" on a cassette machine. During the month he also records other demos, including "I Am Afraid," for a future solo album, then a "rock"-oriented non-concept album. At the same time he is writing a novella called Ray High and the Glass Household. Both the demos and the novella will later merge to become the album Psychoderelict in 1993. Both the above demos will be later released on Scoop 3. He also records "Flying Boy" written for his son Joseph that is later released on his website. On the 13th, a Japanese TV station airs a live performance of Michael Hedges at The Bottom Line in New York. Hedges performs a cover of "Eminence Front."
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January 1990

New music releases: The Best of Van Morrison - Van Morrison; The Very Best of Cat Stevens - Cat Stevens; "Nothing Compares 2 U" - Sinéad O'Connor; Stick It To Ya - Slaughter

On the 6th, Billboard reports on Amusement Business magazine's tally of the top 20 concert takes of 1989. Of those concert takes, The Rolling Stones have 12 entries while The Who only have four.

On the 17th, The Who are at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York as they are inducted into the Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame by the members of U2. Mandy Moon is also on the stage during the award ceremony representing her father. She points out to the crowd that daddy Keith Moon couldn't be there that night partly because he had been banned from the Waldorf-Astoria. Pete, speaking about rap music, states, "it's not up to us to try to understand it, it's not even up to us to buy it, we just have to get the f*** out of the way." Afterwards they perform "Substitute," "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "Pinball Wizard" with Pete on acoustic guitar.

Rolling Stone reports that Roger is working on the films Father Jim, Buddy's Song and a Keith bio-pic.

On the 28th, BBC2's music programme Rapido airs a feature on John Lee Hooker who is accompanied by Pete.

February 1990

New music releases: Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em - MC Hammer; Shake Your Money Maker - The Black Crowes; Damn Yankees - Damn Yankees; Here in the Real World - Alan Jackson

On the 2nd, Menahem Golan's film version of the Brecht-Weill musical The Threepenny Opera, retitled Mack the Knife and featuring Roger singing the title song, is released in the U.S.

On the 5th, the RIAA certifies The Who Live featuring Tommy video as having reached the platinum level of sales which is 100,000 units for videos.

On the 10th, Billboard reports on the growing CD cutout market. One they mention is Pete's solo album The Iron Man that is already in the cutout bin eight months after release.

Rolling Stone magazine publishes their year-end readers' survey. The Who's 1989 tour places #2 for both Best Tour and Worst Tour, #3 for Comeback of the Year and #2 for Most Unwelcome Comeback. John is #2 for Best Bass Player.

On the 24th, an all-star tribute to Roy Orbison is held at the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. Pete sends his regards via a videotaped message.

On the 26th, Pete publicly backs a £500,000 appeal to fund a new science, art and technology block for a girls' school.

March 1990

New music releases: Only Yesterday - The Carpenters; Pretty Woman: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Various Artists; Poison - Bell Biv Devoe; I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got - Sinéad O'Connor

On the 10th, The Who appear together on ITV television's Aspel & Co. miming to newly recorded studio versions of "Join Together" and "I Can See For Miles." When asked what he has been doing with himself, Pete answers that he still works at Faber & Faber. Pete, Roger and John will not perform together live as The Who for over six years.

On the 20th, the Who's Better, Who's Best video is certified gold by the RIAA.

On the 24th in the U.K. and the 31st in the U.S., The Who release a three-album/two-CD souvenir of their 1989 tour called Join Together. Half is a live version of Tommy, the other half is Who and solo Pete hits. Also released in Europe is a single pulled from the boxset of "Join Together" backed with "I Can See For Miles" and "Behind Blue Eyes" (with "Christmas" added for an EP). Reviews in the music press can best be described as merciless. The U.K. LP peaks at #59 while in the U.S. it spends two weeks in the charts topping out at #188.

The same week as the release of Join Together, John is interviewed at length (and shows off his new computer).

April 1990

New music releases: Johnny Gill - Johnny Gill; Behind the Mask - Fleetwood Mac; Fear of a Black Planet - Public Enemy; "Love Without End, Amen" - George Strait

On the 1st, Pete writes a letter to Who manager Bill Curbishley stating: "I want to take this opportunity to say that I will remember 1989 as one of the happiest of my life and career. There are lots of factors, but the most important element was the friendship I felt enhanced every aspect of the tour: front of the stage, in the band, in the management team, in the crew, and in the audiences...Good luck in 1990."

On the 3rd, TVAM Good Morning Britain airs part one of an interview with The Who. They are on promoting the recent release of the Join Together album. Part two airs the next day and part three the day after that.

On the 21st, Billboard reports on how what is considered "classic rock" has solidified into the same 500-700 songs and efforts by radio stations to increase that number have failed. The article's title is "'Won't Get Fooled' Has Not Burned Out... Yet".

May 1990

New music releases: Wilson Phillips - Wilson Phillips; I'm Breathless - Madonna; Greatest Hits - The Bangles; Reflections of Passion - Yanni

On the 9th, it is reported that Pete has invested £150,000 in a scheme to ferry commuters down the Thames.

Daltrey Chesney Cannes — Photo: Eric Robert

On the 10th, Roger is an attendee at the Cannes Film Festival promoting his film Buddy's Song.

During the month, Tommy is released by Mobile Fidelity Soundlab as a gold CD. It contains the first CD release of "Eyesight To The Blind" with the alternate vocal previously found on the 1972 Track Records release.

On the 19th, Billboard reports on the top music moneymakers in the U.K. based on gross income for 1988-1989 as per Forbes magazine. They are #1 Pink Floyd at $56m, #2 The Rolling Stones at $55m, #3 George Michael at $47m, #4 U2 at $33m and #5 The Who at $32m.

June 1990

New music releases: Mariah Carey - Mariah Carey; Step by Step - New Kids on the Block; Flesh & Blood - Poison; I'll Give All My Love to You - Keith Sweat

On the 5th, it is reported that Pete has turned down £2 million from Coca-Cola to use "My Generation" as part of their "Generation after Generation" ad campaign. The Who had previously recorded adverts for Coca-Cola in 1967.

Pete is interviewed in this month's issue of Musician. He disassociates himself from the recently released Join Together boxset: "I didn't pick the title, cover or collection of songs, and I wouldn't be hurt if a Who fan told me they weren't going to buy it." He also says he is responsible for The Who not extending their 25th Anniversary Tour to Australia and Japan and that Atlantic Records wants his next solo album to be a "formula" album: "I could create a lot of red faces by asking what the formula is."

July 1990

New music releases: We Are In Love - Harry Connick, Jr.; Cowboys from Hell - Pantera; Beverley Craven - Beverley Craven; Compositions - Anita Baker

The soundtrack to Arachnophobia is released featuring a cover of "Boris The Spider" by The Pleasure Thieves.

On the 17th, Pete takes part in a Showtime program called Coast To Coast hosted by Herbie Hancock and taped at the Fridge Club in Brixton. Pete, Hancock and Pat Metheny perform "I Put A Spell On You" and "Magic Bus" and with Simply Red, "It's Only Love." It is cablecast by Showtime starting October 22nd.

On the 26th, Roger wins a $272,000 settlement after suing the Home Farm for killing up to half a million fish at his trout farm in East Sussex.

August 1990

New music releases: No Fences - Garth Brooks; Empire - Queensrÿche; Extreme II: Pornograffitti - Extreme; Facelift - Alice in Chains

On the 2nd, John Entwistle reunites with Rat Race Choir, the band he toured with in 1987, for a show at World Stage in Hillcrest, New York.

The Accused release their album Grinning Like an Undertaker featuring a cover of "Boris the Spider".

On the 27th, Westwood One syndicated radio show BBC Classic Tracks plays The Who's 1965 BBC recording of "Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere". Over the next four years they will run more selections, providing the source for The Who BBC sessions bootlegs.

September 1990

New music releases: "Thunderstruck" - AC/DC; Led Zeppelin box set - Led Zeppelin; To the Extreme - Vanilla Ice; The Razor's Edge - AC/DC

John heads off to Japan to play bass as part of a group called "Best." The rest of the group is Keith Emerson on keyboards, Joe Walsh and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter on guitars, Simon Phillips on drums, Rick Lingstone lead vocals, and Hamish, Angus and Fergus Richardson backing vocals. One of John's contributions to the song line-up is a medley of "Boris The Spider" and "Theme from Jaws." They perform at Yoyogi No.1 Gymnasium in Tokyo on the 23rd, Yokohama Arena on the 26th and Koshien Stadium on the 30th. The Yokohama show is broadcast on local television and later released on DVD. This is the first time any member of The Who performs in Japan. The group plays a few dates the next month in Hawaii before calling it quits due to Joe Walsh having "personal problems".

October 1990

New music releases: The Very Best of Elton John - Elton John; The Rhythm of the Saints - Paul Simon; Remasters - Led Zeppelin; Unchained Melody - The Best of the Righteous Brothers - The Righteous Brothers

The Junk Monkeys release their CD Five Star Fling with a cover of "A Quick One While He's Away."

On the 18th, Pete performs part of his musical The Iron Man on German TV. The next day he does the same for Danish TV.

On the 24th, John attends the after-party for Billy Idol's performance at the Los Angeles Forum, held at the Hollywood Tropicana on Western Avenue.

November 1990

New music releases: The Immaculate Collection - Madonna; Carreras Domingo Pavarotti in Concert - The Three Tenors; Serious Hits... Live! - Phil Collins; I'm Your Baby Tonight - Whitney Houston

At the beginning of the month, a press release is issued about details included in the newly-published book of interviews Rock Lives by Timothy White. One of those details contains some out-of-context remarks Pete made about the song "Rough Boys" that seem to imply that he is gay. The press grabs this misperception and runs with it, with headlines such as "My Gay Secret," "Out of The Closet," and "I Am Woman". Pete refuses to contradict the reports. Recalling the "scandal" three years later he says, "I don't want to let it be known that it is in any sense an important part of my self-image to be thought of as a breeder. I don't want to deny bisexuality as if I were being accused of child molestation or murder, as if it were some crime or something to be ashamed of, because that would be cruel to people who are gay". He finally officially denies being gay in 1999.

Around this time the California punk band Green Day releases their EP Sweet Children featuring a cover of "My Generation".

The Sun reports that The Sweeney actor Dennis Waterman has put up his £500,000 mansion to make the movie "Father Jim" co-starring Roger Daltrey. It is then scheduled for release the following March.

On the 19th, Roger appears in the TNT cable-movie Forgotten Prisoners: The Amnesty Files. Roger plays "Howard" in a story about the work of the organization Amnesty International.

December 1990

New music releases: MCMXC A.D. - Enigma; Gonna Make You Sweat - C+C Music Factory; The Simpsons Sing the Blues - The Simpsons; "All the Man That I Need" - Whitney Houston

On the 11th, Pete records a early demo of "Outlive The Dinosaur" on a cassette machine. During the month he also records other demos, including "I Am Afraid," for a future solo album, then a "rock"-oriented non-concept album. At the same time he is writing a novella called Ray High and the Glass Household. Both the demos and the novella will later merge to become the album Psychoderelict in 1993. Both the above demos will be later released on Scoop 3. He also records "Flying Boy" written for his son Joseph that is later released on his website.

On the 13th, a Japanese TV station airs a live performance of Michael Hedges at The Bottom Line in New York. Hedges performs a cover of "Eminence Front."