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Conference napalm::guitar

Title:GUITARnotes - Where Every Note has Emotion
Notice:Discussion of the finer stringed instruments
Moderator:KDX200::COOPER
Created:Thu Aug 14 1986
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:3280
Total number of notes:61432

3039.0. "'WHO' was this?" by LARVAE::BRIGGS_R () Mon Feb 13 1995 02:36

    
    Well, I had an interesting experience yesterday....
    
    My wife attends our local Catholic church here in Reading UK. Small
    church it is serving a typical urban community. The implication is, of
    course, that I only attend for weddings and funerals. Well, a few weeks
    back she came back and told me there was to be a 'Rock Mass' on the
    12th and, and this was when my ears pricked up, Pete Townsend was
    organising it all! Yes, THE Pete Townsend. Now I'd heard he'd got into
    religion of late and so this seemed plausible. This was all secret. His
    name was not on any of the publicty material.
    
    So, off we go yesterday evening. The church was all decked out with
    light shows, smoke machines, Marshall stacks, strats everywhere. Mmmm,
    could be interesting.
    
    Well, the band came on at the start. I was literally no more than 20'
    from them. There was a young (schoolboy it turned out) on lead guitar,
    similarly aged kids on keyboards, drums and bass. Two 16ish girls on
    vocals. There was a 30 something guy who seemed to be the front man
    (turned out he was a local doctor) and an aging 'hippy' on rhythm and
    vocals. The ageing hippy had long grey hair, short beard, ultra skinny
    and about 5' 6" tall. No Pete Townsend (although he was credited with
    some of the composing rights in the program).
    
    Well, the service kicked off and progressed as you'd expect a mass to.
    I came to the conclusion that it would be probably a bad idea to have
    Pete Townsend on as he'd divert attention from the real purpose of the
    service. I reckoned he'd probably make an appearance at the very end or
    maybe say hello as people filed out. This sounded appropriate to me.
    
    Well, at the end, after a rousing 'hallelujah' type rock thing, the
    priest thanked the band and particularly Steve Allen (the doctor) and
    Pete Townsend. At this point, the ageing hippy takes a bow!! The band
    then launched into a finale, 'Pete Townsend' puts down guitar, rushes
    out to the front and really lets himself go! Dancing up the aisles,
    clapping hands, getting everyone going, holding little kids. I was just
    dumbfounded. And, then, he threw back his head, his hair fell back,
    and, yes, I could see something of Pete Townsend.......I think.
    
    My daughter got his autograph afterwards.
    
    I thought that I must be thick or something. However, a friend who was
    also there (and also a guitarist like me) had been similarly perplexed.
    
    So, WAS this the real Pete Townsend or not? How tall is he? What's he
    look like these days? Has he had a nose op? I'm convinced his nose was less
    prominent than on my album pictures?
    
    This is bugging me the more I think about it.
    
    Richard
    Reading, UK
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3039.1It's either PT or the Con of the Century...VARESE::SACHA::IDC_BSTROh no! NOT Milan Kundera again!Mon Feb 13 1995 05:2510
    Judging by a photo I saw on the cover of the "Guitarist" magazine about
    3 months ago, I daressay Townsend is certainly greying a bit and he was
    sporting a short beard as well.
    
    Nose looked as prominent as ever mind you ;-)
    
    Dom
    
    P.S. That sounds like some mass - the parish priest must be quite a
    character!
3039.2USCTR1::blasta.mro.dec.com::pelkeyLife aint for the SqueamishMon Feb 13 1995 14:409
not that I pretend to be a p.t. fanatic, but as I recall,
he's much taller then 5 foot 6 inches.. (that's about my
height,,,  not that I've ever been standing back to back 
mind-ya, but in the various photo's I've seen, I'd guess
Towsend to be more like 5' 10/11" maybe taller.

and regardless of the length of the locks (which as I recall
he's always kept cropped pretty short.) you couldn't mistake
his face/nose...  and of course that phycotic stare.......
3039.3USCTR1::blasta.mro.dec.com::pelkeyLife aint for the SqueamishMon Feb 13 1995 14:401
and again,,,,  I went to school with a Ted Williams......
3039.4LARVAE::BRIGGS_RTue Feb 14 1995 02:3712
    
    I'll be looking into this more and will report my final conclusion. In
    my experience, seeing show biz people is usually a big let down. Height
    is a classic. Almost every TV/Film personality I've ever seen has
    turned out to be a lot shorter than you imagine. In fact I saw Roger
    Daltrey once (at an airport) and he was decidedly small. You always get
    the impression these people are tall but I guess its just their
    character gives that impression on film/TV. That's why the height of
    this 'Pete Townsend' did not concern me unduly. I too would have said
    he had to be knocking on 6' but then I've never seen him live.
    
    Richard
3039.5Any Details on the Source?MR4DEC::DLABARGETue Feb 14 1995 06:5319
    Richard, thanks for the interesting story.  I play guitar in a Folk
    Choir at the Catholic parish in my home town of Upton, Mass.  I'm
    always interested in finding and introducing new material to our
    otherwise conservative repertoire.  Rock may be a bit over the top for
    our pastor but I'd be curious to learn more.
    
    	Do you know whether the music for this rock Mass has been
    	published and/or recorded?
    
    	Alternatively, can you tell me the name of the church and
    	the pastor?  I'll be on holiday in London during late June
    	and it wouldn't be any trouble at all to make a visit to
    	Reading.
    
    Thanks in advance for any further information.
    
    Denny LaBarge
    MR4DEC::DLABARGE
    
3039.6but again, did he look taller on the screenCOPCLU::SANDGRENKeep it simpleTue Feb 14 1995 07:265
    
    I once ran into Mike Rutherford in an airport, and he was TALL! ;^)
    
    Poul
    
3039.7TOOK::LEVINELance LevineTue Feb 14 1995 08:586
So Richard, was the music any good, and was it appropriate to the setting?

I sang in an "Earth Mass" once, but it wasn't really rock, more like
new-age-jazz-folk :-)

-Lance-
3039.8LARVAE::BRIGGS_RThu Feb 16 1995 02:236
    
    Personally speaking, no. I'm no great church goer but I like the
    traditional approach. Rock is about sex, drugs and rock and roll, not
    religion!
    
    Richard
3039.9LARVAE::BRIGGS_RThu Feb 16 1995 03:1322
    
    Just another snippet on this. I was speaking to a friend who was at the
    event last night. His daughter was involved backstage so they hung
    aroind afterwards waiting for her/ Whilst waiting they got into
    conversation with 'Pete Townsend'. Now, the obviously did't fancy
    asking him straight whether he was THE Pete Townsend but the probed him
    in a subtle sort of way. He was totally evasive (in a nice way). Almost
    like he was living another life. At one point in the conversation my
    friend decided he'd act totally oblivious to he rock scene and so he
    asked him "How long have you been playing the guitar?". To which the
    response was "Well, I was in a rock band once"!!
    
    My friend is largely convinced it is the real PT but that he seems to
    have adopted another persona. Really weird. Either this guy is taking
    advantage of the fact that his name is the same as a celebrity and
    enjoying the overall confusion OR its the real Pete Townsend and he has
    just gone wya-over-the-top weird!!
    
    Richard
    
    This IS a fact. Pete Tonsend (the real oneworked for Faber and Faber, a
    UK book publisher, as an editor from the late 80s!
3039.10Religion vs. Rock & Roll-- In a Steel Cage MatchABACUS::PAGEThu Feb 16 1995 07:3317
    re: .8
    
    >Rock is about sex, drugs and rock and roll, not religion!
    
    
    	I should probably keep out of this... but it seems pretty obvious
    to me that most religion is *obsessed* with sex & drugs & the so-called
    "rock & roll" lifestyle. Religion never misses an opportunity to
    pontificate about the evils of sex & drugs & rock and roll.
    
    And for that matter, some of the best rock & roll has been about
    religion. (XTC's "Dear God", John Lennon's "God", even parts of The
    Who's "Tommy" flips the bird at religion.)
    
    
    Brad
    
3039.11One person's pontification is another's horse puckey...NOVA::ASHOKM::ASHFORTHThu Feb 16 1995 08:546
Brad, you were right in the first place: shoulda stayed out of it.

Your generalizations are basically way off beam, as well as off-topic.
'Nuff said.

Bob
3039.12WHAT'S that?ASDG::FAYFri Feb 17 1995 06:375
    Well one clue, is that the real Pete Townsend is going deaf. If this
    fellow was hard of hearing and was wearing ear plugs while playing
    it might have been him. I saw Pete Townsend at Great Woods last year
    and he was wearing ear plugs, to prevent further hearing loss...
    
3039.13MSBCS::EVANSFri Feb 17 1995 07:235
Those weren't ear plugs - those were hearing aids!  ;-)

Jim

3039.14Hummm...ASDG::FAYFri Feb 17 1995 07:443
    	Yes but were the plugged or "un-plugged"?
    
    	Deb
3039.15MSE1::MULLERFri Feb 17 1995 10:571
Could they have been in-ear monitors?
3039.16naw...ASDG::FAYTue Feb 21 1995 08:472
    In ear monitors would be kinda excotic gear for a small band
    playing a church...wouldn't it?
3039.17no, the other placeMSE1::MULLERTue Feb 21 1995 12:476
re -1

It would be exotic for a church.  

However, you mentioned that you saw the earplugs at Great Woods.  Could
*they* have been in-ear monitors?
3039.18MPGS::MARKEYCalm down: it's only 1s and 0sTue Feb 21 1995 13:237
    The "real" Peter Townshend _always_ uses in-ear monitoring now. It is
    related to his hearing loss, in that what little hearing he has left
    is very directional. Since Townshend is fairly active, any floor
    monitor system would zip in and out from his perspective, depending
    on where he was standing. The in-ear monitors correct for this.
    
    -b
3039.19Elementary my dear Watson...ASDG::FAYThu Feb 23 1995 07:215
    	So all we need to know now is this - was the "Pete Townsend"
    who played at the church, wearing anything in his ears? And then
    we will have solved the mystery :)
    
    	Deb
3039.20LARVAE::BRIGGS_RMon Feb 27 1995 02:4010
    
    Well, current information suggests that this wasn't the real Pete
    Townsend. This was certainly a case of the 'Kings New Clothes'. Somehow
    or other word had got out beforehand that it was the real Pete
    Townsend. So when people turned up no one had the nerve to suggest that
    it wasn't the real Pete Townsend for fear of looking an idiot! As my
    base note suggests I had big doubts but there was a nagging feeling
    that I may be wrong ('cos everyone else said it WAS him!).
    
    Richard