January 2007
New music releases: "Glamorous" - Fergie featuring Ludacris; "Don't Matter" - Akon; "Grace Kelly" - Mika; "Paralyzer" - Finger Eleven
On the 6th, Pete writes an open letter to David Lister, Arts columnist for The Independent, who had quoted Pete in a previous article. Pete says rock is "about to throw off some of its testosterone driven defiance" and demand "a new level of intimacy from their audience."
On the 10th, Pete participates in a demo radio version of his partner Rachel Fuller's In The Attic. He performs "No Name, No Face, No Number." Nothing further is heard of the radio version of the show.
On the 21st, Pete repeats his performance of "No Name, No Face, No Number" at a tribute concert for Jim Capaldi at the Roundhouse in London.
On the 23rd, Pete Townshend - The Definitive Collection CD is released. Pete is interviewed on XFM and speaks about playing Glastonbury: "I don't know if we're allowed to say, but let me put it this way, I think they want us to do it, and we want to do it. So we shall see. I this it's about whether or not they'll give me space to park my tent."
On the same day, The Who receive a lifetime achievement award at the South Bank Awards Show at London's Savoy Hotel. Pete and Roger receive their award from ITV chairman Michael Grade.
Also on the 23rd, Tony Furtado releases a cover of "Won't Get Fooled Again" on his CD Thirteen and Joe Goldmark releases his CD Seducing The '60s featuring a country & western cover of "The Kids Are Alright."
On the 24th, Pete reveals on his website that he and Roger had a business meeting prior to the South Bank Awards show and decided on a European tour for May followed by a winter tour of Japan, Australia and Hawaii. He also discusses a recent French author's view that soon all music will be available for downloading for free: "iTunes are getting away with murder, and the French want to stop them. Oh! I warned you all back in 1986 and no one listened."
On the 30th, the group Ruth's Hat releases their CD Nostalgic For Right Now featuring a cover of "I Can't Explain".
February 2007
New music releases: "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" - T-Pain featuring Yung Joc; "Girlfriend" - Avril Lavigne; Life in Cartoon Motion - Mika; "Cupid Shuffle" - Cupid
On the 1st, Roger Daltrey tells Virgin Radio his favorite drink is Kombucha tea.
On the 3rd, Rolling Stone reports that The Who have cancelled a planned South American tour after a Buenos Aires promoter could not provide a sufficient stage.
On the 8th, Pete Townshend and Roger perform a four-song acoustic set in London at a lunchtime press conference to mark the announcement of the band's European tour. Held at the Hospital venue in Covent Garden, the duo perform "Won't Get Fooled Again", "Behind Blue Eyes" "Mike Post Theme" and "Tea & Theater". Commenting on the tour, Pete says, "What holds Roger and I together is the music, and what we realize is that the audience put us there. When they vote us off, we'll go."
On the 9th, the world premiere of the official stage musical of Quadrophenia is performed by students from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama at the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff. Director Tom Critchley, writer Jeff Young and musical director John O'Hara adapted the album under Pete's guidance. The musical contains no dialogue and fleshes out the story by including "Substitute" and "I Can't Explain" in the score.
On the 12th, Pete and his future wife Rachel Fuller release their album Attic Jam exclusively on iTunes. That evening they hold the Launch of Attic Jam The Album Party at the Pigalle Club on the corner of Piccadilly Circus in London. Pete plays "Drowned" and "The Acid Queen". Rachel performs with Jerry Hall. Also performing are Rose Hill Drive and The Kooks.
On the 20th, Southern Culture On The Skids releases their album Countrypolitan Favorites featuring a cover of "Happy Jack".
On the 20th, Pete and Rachel hold an In The Attic show at the 160-seat Joe's Pub in New York's East Village. Pete plays a five-song acoustic set, but the highlight of the night has Pete duetting with Lou Reed on versions of the Velvet Underground classics "I'm Waiting For The Man," "White Light/White Heat" and "Pale Blue Eyes."
The second North American leg of the Endless Wire tour begins on the 23rd with a concert at the Events Center in Reno, Nevada. This is followed by shows at the SaveMart Center in Fresno, California (25th), Long Beach Arena (26th) and the US Airways Arena in Phoenix (28th).
On the 25th, Pete begins blogging selections from his unfinished autobiography Pete Townshend - (who he?). Some parts of it will not make it into the official release Who I Am.
Also on the 25th, Pete is interviewed in the Arizona Republic. He denounces YouTube as "copyright thieves".
March 2007
New music releases: "Umbrella" - Rihanna; "Thnks fr th Mmrs" - Fall Out Boy; Rocket Man: The Definitive Hits - Elton John; "Makes Me Wonder" - Maroon 5
The practically endless Endless Wire tour continues on the 1st at the iPayOne Center in San Diego.
On the 3rd, Pete and his partner Rachel Fuller hold another of their intimate "In The Attic" shows at Hotel Café in Hollywood. Also performing is Tenacious D despite Jack Black having a sore throat, Alexi Murdoch, Joe Purdy, and Ben Harper.
The Who continue to the Sears Center in Chicago on the 5th and the Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on the 6th.
The 8th sees The Who playing at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. A minor political scandal arises from this show when it is revealed that a number of Republican lawmakers, including the widow of Sonny Bono, are charging lobbyists $1500 a ticket to share the experience of a Who show in seats next to them.
The Who continue their own form of influence-peddling with shows at the Borgata Event Center in Atlantic City on the 9th and Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York on the 11th.
On the 13th, Rachel announces on her blog that she and Pete will have their own music festival that summer called "Atticfest". Unfortunately, it does not come to pass. On the same day VH1 Classic begins running a series of public service announcements as part of a "Rock Autism" campaign. Roger Daltrey is featured in one of the spots.
Roger has his own troubles that night at the Ford Amphitheatre in Tampa, Florida, walking offstage unable to sing 13 seconds into the opening song. Pete apologizes saying Roger has a viral infection complicated by severe dehydration. Who shows over the next nine days are cancelled including what was to have been The Who's first live performance in Mexico. The Tampa show later enters the Guinness Book of World Records as the Shortest Ever Concert.
On the 14th, Pete is the keynote speaker at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas. He uses the address to announce the successful completion of The Method, the computer software program Pete imagined in 1970 that would turn fans' personal information into musical sequences. Designed by mathematician and musician Lawrence Ball, the software will present applicants, called "sitters" with a series of questions that will then return a musical phrase that will belong to the sitter. A further press conference is announced for April 25th.
On the 15th, Pete and Rachel hold another Attic Jam concert at La Zona Rosa in Austin. This show features performances from Martha Wainwright, Willy Mason, Mika, Alexi Murdoch and Joe Purdy. Watching from the audience are Peter Buck and Robyn Hitchcock.
On the 16th, Pete walks on during The Fratellis' set at the South by Southwest Festival and joins them, playing along during the rest of their show.
On the 20th, Triggerfinger releases their live CD Faders Up featuring a cover of "Boris The Spider".
Roger feels well enough on the 22nd for The Who tour to resume at the Alltel Arena in Little Rock, Arkansas, followed by the Ford Center in Oklahoma City on the 23rd, a make-up show at the Ford Amphitheatre in Tampa on the 25th and concluding the tour at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida on the 26th.
On the 23rd, the dramatic movie Reign Over Me, starring Adam Sandler and featuring a cover of "Love, Reign O'er Me" by Eddie Vedder as its title song, premieres.
On the 24th, Pete announces on his blog that a planned August return to North America has been cancelled due to concerns about Roger's health.
On the 31, The Who play their last show for the next two-and-a-half months at the Royal Albert Hall in London closing the 2007 series of Teenage Cancer Trust concerts.
April 2007
New music releases: "What I've Done" - Linkin Park; "Back to Black" - Amy Winehouse; "Home" - Daughtry; "505" - Arctic Monkeys
On the 2nd, a video is released on YouTube of a group of British old-age pensioners performing "My Generation". Called "The Zimmers" their lead singer is Alfie Carretta who is 90-years old at the time and who finishes the song by kicking over the drumkit. The YouTube video ends up getting over six million views. The idea came from a BBC documentary filmmaker who wanted to draw attention to his BBC specials on the isolation of the elderly. Profits from a single release go to the charity Age Concern.
On the 25th, Pete Townshend holds a media event at his Oceanic Studios in London to unveil a computer software program that will enable fans to compose personalized music tracks at the click of a button. "You can put data in and get a piece of music out. It's as simple as that." Based on an idea Pete had in 1970 that was the partial basis of his Life House concept, the "Method" software was developed by mathematician/composer Lawrence Ball and software developer Dave Snowdon.
On the 29th, Pete writes a piece on photographer Colin Jones for The Times.
May 2007
New music releases: Good Girl Gone Bad - Rihanna; Minutes to Midnight - Linkin Park; "Bubbly" - Colbie Caillat; "Can't Tell Me Nothing" - Kanye West
On the 1st, Tom Wright's memoir Roadwork: Rock & Roll Turned Inside Out is published giving many details on his involvement with Pete and The Who.
On the 3rd, Roger plays "Mick Keating" in the Season 4 opener, "Once Upon a Time on the Westway", of ITV's The Last Detective. It is Roger's last acting role on camera to date.
On the 11th, Roger attends the launching of Scotland's first hospital unit for teenage cancer sufferers in Glasgow.
On the 16th, The Who launch a tour of Europe at the Atlantico Pavilion in Lisbon, Portugal. When the guitar goes out of tune, Pete throws it at his guitar tech Alan Rogan and then smashes the guitar. It is Pete's last guitar smash to date.
The next night they are at the Sport Palace in Madrid and on the 19th they can be seen at the Bizkaia Arena in Bilbao, Spain.
On the 17th, Willie Nile releases his CD Live at the Turning Point featuring a cover of "Substitute".
Also on the 19th, Roger says in his usual direct way that The Who will not be taking part in a planned Wembley concert to raise awareness of global warming: "Bollocks to that! The last thing the planet needs is another rock concert!" He also declines participation in another planned event, the Concert for Diana. "Not unless [her sons] are real Who fans, which I very much doubt."
The European Who tour comes to England on the 22nd with a show at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, followed by the Hallam FM Arena in Sheffield on the 23rd, and the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle on the 25th.
The other Who dates for the month are the Hull City AFC in Hull on the 26th and the Peel Bay Festival on the Isle of Man on the 30th.
On the 29th, Pete is on his girlfriend Rachel Fuller's webcast In The Attic where he performs an acoustic rendition of "I Can't Reach You".
June 2007
New music releases: "Misery Business" - Paramore; "Love Song" - Sara Bareilles; "The Way I Are" - Timbaland featuring Keri Hilson and D.O.E.; Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus - Miley Cyrus
The Who, or at least Pete and Roger, were to begin the month with an appearance on the BBC TV show Later... with Jools Holland on the 1st, but they postpone it to save Roger's voice for that night's concert at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea. The White Stripes take their place and sign a big sympathy card for Roger.
The Who play one more U.K. date at the Rose Bowl in Southampton on the 2nd, then head over to Rotterdam to play Ahoy on the 5th.
Also on the 5th, Marty Stuart releases his album Compadres featuring a cover of "I Can See For Miles" done bluegrass-style with the Old Crow Medicine Show.
On the 5th, Pete is interviewed about the writing of Endless Wire in Metro International: "Some of them I started in 2002, when John Entwistle was alive, and he always had lots of songs ready. At that time Roger was promising to write songs as well, so I concentrated on trying to produce songs that were arch, dark and extreme - leaving the lighter stuff to John and Roger."
The European Who tour continues on the 6th at the Palais Omnisports de Paris Bercy in Paris followed by the Antwerps Sportpaleis in Antwerp (8th), the Messe Open Air in Fulda, Germany (9th), the Arena di Verona in Verona (11th), the Olympiahalle in Munich (13th), the Völkerschlacht-Denkmal in Leipzig (16th), the Stadtpark in Hamburg (18th) and the König-Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen, Germany (19th).
On the 11th, the compilation album The Who Then and Now is re-released in the U.K. with "Summertime Blues" and "Old Red Wine" removed and "Baba O'Riley" and "It's Not Enough" in their place.
On the 17th, Emma Townshend, Pete's daughter and gardening columnist for the Independent, pens a long remembrance of her childhood with her dad for her newspaper.
On the 23rd, The Who return to the U.K., playing the Knowsley Hall Festival in Liverpool before appearing at the Glastonbury Festival on the 24th. This is followed by two nights at Wembley Arena in London (26th, 27th) then two dates in Ireland at Marley Park, Dublin (29th) and the "Live at the Marquee" Cork Festival in Cork (30th).
July 2007
New music releases: "Stronger" - Kanye West; "Teenagers" - My Chemical Romance; "Fluorescent Adolescent" - Arctic Monkeys; Coco - Colbie Caillat
The Who continue their tour of Scandanavia on the 4th playing at the Quart Festival in Kristiansand, Norway. Two days later they are at the Stockholm Globe Arena (6th), followed by the Roskilde Festival in Roskilde, Denmark (7th) and finishing the tour at the Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland (9th).
On the 13th through the 15th, The Boy Who Heard Music has its stage debut at the Vassar College and New York Stage & Film's 23rd annual Powerhouse Theater Season. Author Pete does not attend.
Highbinder releases their CD Moreneverthanever featuring a cover of "Boris The Spider".
On the 17th, the DVD The Who: Videobiography is released by Classic Rock Legends.
On the 24th, Pistol Valve, a Japanese all girl brass and rock band, release their debut album Tsunamic Girls From Tokyo featuring a cover of "My Generation".
On the 27th, Si Hayden releases his album Steel Roots featuring a instrumental called "Hats Off to Pete Townshend".
On the 30th, The Who: Live in Houston, Texas 1975 is released as a semi-legal DVD in Europe.
On the 31st, The Raspberries release their CD Live on Sunset Strip (Deluxe Version) featuring a cover of "I Can't Explain". A cover of "Substitute" is also available as a download to purchasers.
August 2007
New music releases: High School Musical 2 - Original Soundtrack; "Gimme More" - Britney Spears; "Bleed It Out" - Linkin Park; "Hate That I Love You" - Rihanna
On the 6th, Uruguayan rock band El Testaferro de los pordioseros releases their CD Viven featuring a Spanish-language cover of "I Can't Explain".
On the 14th, Brave Combo releases their CD Polka's Revenge featuring a polka version of "I Can See For Miles".
The Who: Fragments DVD, a retrospective of the 2006 Who tour, is sent out to fans by thewhotour.com. It is directed by Justin Kreutzmann, son of the Grateful Dead's drummer, Bill Kreutzmann.
EQ Magazine has an interview with Pete called "Tracking Townshend" about his pioneering work in home audio recording.
On the 17th, Pete and his girlfriend, musician Rachel Fuller, walk on stage at the end of a packed concert by Martha Wainwright at the Shepherds Bush Empire to the surprise of the audience. Pete and Rachel sit in with Wainwright's band for four songs.
On the 19th, Pete is the subject of Steve McGarry Sunday comic strip "Biographic".
On the 21st, the SXSW Live 2007 DVD is released featuring Pete and Rachel performing "Sunrise".
September 2007
New music releases: Graduation - Kanye West; "Don't Stop the Music" - Rihanna; "Apologize" - Timbaland and OneRepublic; "Kiss Kiss" - Chris Brown featuring T-Pain
On the 5th, The Sun prints an open letter by "Roger Daltrey (still rocking at 63)" about young British stars who seem to be heading towards an early death. "Watching Pete Doherty and indeed Amy Winehouse is very sad...There's a bathroom floor waiting somewhere for him...I don't know how to help Amy. It doesn't help if I tell her I've seen it all before and this is what is going to happen...She can't really want to kill herself, can she?" Winehouse will die of alcohol poisoning less than four years later.
On the 11th, The Ragamuffins of Love featuring Eff Dupp release their CD WISE UP! containing a cover of "It's Not True".
On the 12th, Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who has its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Hollywood Reporter calls it "an enjoyable enough primer" while Variety dubs it "an automatic addition to the boomer fan's DVD shelf."
On the 17th, the Dear Mr. Fantasy DVD is released in the U.K. featuring a live Pete performance of "No Face No Name No Number." The U.S. release is the next day.
On the 22nd, Roger performs at the Teenage Cancer Trust benefit at The Sage Gateshead. Additional performers MC Vic Reeves, Jimmy Nail, John Thompson, Gavin Webster, Ruby Turner, Sean Ruane, Jill Halfpenny, and Melissa Cavanagh. Roger performs "Giving It All Away", "Behind Blue Eyes" and is then joined by Jimmy Nail for "Squeeze Box".
On the 28th, the German guitarist Axel Rudi Pell releases his CD Diamonds Unlocked with a cover of "Won't Get Fooled Again."
October 2007
New music releases: "Low" - Flo Rida featuring T-Pain; "No One" - Alicia Keys; Long Road Out of Eden - The Eagles; Noël - Josh Groban
On the 2nd, the soundtrack for Dan in Real Life is released featuring Sondre Lerche covering "Let My Love Open The Door." On the same day, The Trolleyvox release their 2-CD set Your Secret Safe/Luzerne featuring a cover of "Our Love Was".
On the 6th, The Who perform for a commercial gathering at the International Volkswagen Minibus Meeting in Hanover, Germany.
On the 9th, The Smithereens release the CD Christmas with The Smithereens featuring a cover of "Christmas" from Tommy.
On the 18th, The Deansmen release their CD The Deansmen: A Century Half Full featuring an a cappella cover of "Pinball Wizard".
On the 23rd, Heart releases their CD/DVD Dreamboat Annie Live featuring a cover of "Love, Reign O'er Me."
On the 30th, Roger attends the NY premier of Amazing Journey - The Story of The Who at the Paley Center. Pete cancels at the last minute due to the death of a friend. Roger is a guest on Morning Joe on MSNBC. On the same day, The Marquee Club, London, opens an art exhibit of Richard Evans' photos and art related to The Who.
On the 31st, Roger is a guest on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
November 2007
New music releases: Spirit - Leona Lewis; The Ultimate Hits - Garth Brooks; "Flashing Lights" - Kanye West featuring Dwele; As I Am - Alicia Keys
On the 2nd, Roger is interviewed about the soon to be released Who documentary Amazing Journey - The Story of The Who on The Greg Kihn Morning Show.
On the 3rd, the documentary itself is shown without commercial interruption on VH1.
Pete is also out doing a bit of promo, appearing on The Johnnie Walker Show on BBC Radio 2. He plays "The Real Me."
On the 5th, The Who's official website, TheWho.com, is launched. New members receive as bonus a special 2-CD set of archival live Who recordings View From a Backstage Pass. The CD is mixed by long-time Who soundman Bob Pridden with Sean Witt. Pete and Roger both write messages for the opening although Roger admits "I feel about as useful as a pork chop in a synagogue with all this Internet bollocks."
The evening of the 5th, Pete and Roger attend the London premiere of the film and answer questions from Jeremy Clarkson. Also attending the premiere are Bianca Jagger, Peaches Geldof, Martin Freeman and The Zutons.
On the 6th, Amazing Journey - The Story of The Who DVD is released in U.S. A 3-DVD special edition includes six additional short documentaries about The Who and video of their December 8, 1979 Chicago concert.
On the 7th, PBS airs an interview with Roger on The Tavis Smiley Show.
Roger spends the weekend following the documentary premiere in Las Vegas as part of the 10th Rock 'n Roll Fantasy Camp.
On the 9th, the group 3 Normal Beatles releases their CD We Name It Justice featuring a cover of "My Generation".
On the 13th, The Bridge Collection, Vol 3 is released on iTunes featuring 1998 acoustic performances by Pete of "Drowned" and "Let My Love Open the Door" and The Who in 1999 playing equally acoustic versions of "Boris The Spider" and "Won't Get Fooled Again".
On the 25th, Pete and Roger tape an appearance on Later With Jools Holland. They perform "The Seeker," "Tea and Theatre," "My Generation" and "Baba O'Riley." There is also a sit-down interview. It airs on the 30th.
December 2007
New music releases: "With You" - Chris Brown; "See You Again" - Miley Cyrus; "Untouched" - The Veronicas; "This Is the Life" - Amy MacDonald
On the 3rd, Wild Billy Childish & The Musicians Of The British Empire release their album Christmas 1979 featuring a cover of "A Quick One While He's Away" re-written with Christmas lyrics as "A Quick One (Pete Townsend's Christmas)".
On the 15th, Roger performs at the end of two sets by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra at the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island. He comes on stage to perform "Behind Blue Eyes", "Pinball Wizard" and "See Me Feel Me".
On the 31st, Ringo Starr holds a non-alcoholic-beverage party and charity gig in Surrey to bring in the new year. Fellow musicians and teetotalers Eric Clapton and Pete join him on stage under the band name Totally Abandoned for a loose rendition of classic tunes. Those in the know get in for a £50 donation.