In June of 1982, Pete Townshend released his solo album, All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes; in September, The Who released It’s Hard, which was then followed by their first farewell tour. And while these projects are touched upon in this interview with Lisa Robinson, this is not a chat geared towards promoting either of them. Instead, Townshend talks more introspectively about his career and what rock and roll has meant to him. Recorded at a transitional time in his career, there are great psychological insights into the music, lifestyle, and demise of The Who, and Townshend’s place at the center of it all.

00:00 – Dying laughing 00:30 – Current status of The Who / sensing the end 01:35 – Not being able to “afford” being in the band 02:58 – Appreciation for the dodgy aspects of rock and roll 03:30 – Dangers presented by the corporate aspect of record making 05:18 – Practical dangers of performances 06:12 – Rock stars vs. movie stars / being oneself 06:58 – The Who creating danger in order to keep it interesting 08:13 – Rock and roll as defiance against real-world dangers 10:49 – The resiliency of rock and roll / knowing what to do with their crazy people 14:04 – Hypocrisy of punk musicians / the stage as a place of privilege 15:12 – The irony of the Clash, the Sex Pistols, and the Jam disliking each other 15:40 – Mutual feelings between the early British Invasion bands / not a huge fan of the Beatles 16:26 – A big fan of the Rolling Stones and the Kinks 17:04 – The Jann Wenner interview 17:44 – His life not measuring up to his childhood dreams 18:30 – A girl who fell in love with David Sylvian (thanks to the record company) 21:18 – Some dreams came true but bitterness remained 22:15 – Problems as the source of introspective songs 23:45 – Enjoying happiness, but prepared for sadness 24:25 – Intuition about the world’s desire to set off a bomb / cause of pacifism 25:40 – The Who’s violent image as an expression of impotence 27:35 – The implicit contract between artist and fan 28:35 – Problems with alcohol / Keith not being an alcoholic 30:45 – Stopping drinking as an alternative to sickness and exercise 31:44 – The original intentions for All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes 32:36 – Putting a group together for the new album 33:15 – Writing differently for solo work vs. work for The Who 34:03 – Thoughts on “Communication” 35:30 – Thoughts on “Somebody Save Me” 37:41 – Thoughts on “Uniforms (Corp d’Espirit)”