Talkin' about deGeneration
By John Earls, 20/03/2010
ROCK legends The Who may have to GIVE UP playing some of their best-known hits - because Roger Daltrey is struggling to sing them.
The band have racked up countless sales and awards since their first Top 10 hit I Can't Explain in 1965 - but, 45 years on, Roger admits being the older generation is finally catching up with him and guitarist Pete Townshend.
The Who play a special performance of their classic 1973 album 'Quadrophenia' at London's Royal Albert Hall on March 30 in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust, the charity Roger is a patron of.
And the frontman reckons it might be the last time he ever performs its songs live.
"We're getting to the age now where this might be the last time we're physically able to play these songs," Roger tells
Rated.
"The years are catching up, and some of 'Quadrophenia's' songs I'm not able to sing particularly comfortably.
"My health is as good as I could expect for a man of 66 - but the voice ages a lot quicker than the rest of the body, which is bloody annoying."
Despite such bleak talk, Roger is quick to scoff at any notions that he and Pete are thinking of retirement.
"The Who's songs are still amazing to play," he enthuses. "We should play them all the time that we still can, so long as we can do them well. When me and Pete started out, we looked up to the old blues guys, and we still do.
"BB King is 80 and in a wheelchair, and he's still out there doing it. That's what music should be about - playing your songs while you can. And if people don't like it and think we should stop, tough s***!"
'Endless Wire', The Who's first album for 24 years, was a Top 10 hit in 2006. But Roger admits he doesn't know if he'll ever make a new record with Pete.
With a throaty chuckle, Roger says: "There's nothing planned - as usual! Pete hasn't shown any new songs to me lately, so I really don't know what's next.
"I get incredibly excited when Pete gives me new songs, and he's in really, really good shape. He's still the most original lead guitarist there ever was. But you'd have to ask him about a new album."
If Pete's songwriting has dried up, Roger reveals he might make a record with another rock god guitarist, Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin.
"Jimmy's a good lad," smiles Roger. "I'd love to work with him. I've told him that if he ever needs a singer, I'm there for him. And, you know, I always need a guitarist.
"But I'm in no rush to do anything right now. For the first time, life is starting to make sense. I'm really enjoying life, and looking forward to some time off with my family. It feels like, for once, the telescope is the right way round for me."
That wasn't always the case for Roger, who grew up in a tough neighbourhood of Acton, West London, where he met Pete and bandmates Keith Moon and John Entwistle, who died in 1978 and 2002 respectively.
"Growing up, music was our entire lives," recalls Roger. "That's the case with all the best bands - music rules you over everything else. If me and Pete were 16 now, I think we'd still form a rock band. Kids have more distractions, and for a lot of them music is only a small part of life these days. But even now you get bands whose lives are ruled by music.
"I saw The Horrors recently, and they were astonishing. Like so many British bands, they turn music on its head, make you look it in a new way. So I reckon the 16-year-old me and Pete of 2010 would be doing something like that."
Roger will get to see more talent at the ten days of Royal Albert Hall gigs starting tomorrow, in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust. Acts playing include Arctic Monkeys, Noel Gallagher, JLS, Suede and The Specials.
"I'm really pleased JLS are playing, because it's the first time we've had a pop band play in ten years," says Roger. "I've asked loads of pop acts before, but they're often controlled by managers who aren't as benevolent towards charity as the bands themselves.
"Generally, though, I'm overwhelmed by how much support I get every year for these shows. People think the rock industry is anarchistic chaos, and it's the opposite.
"Rock concerts are run like the army. If we sent roadies into Iraq, it'd be sorted in two days. Those roadies would be onto the partying by now."
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