Pete Townshend is famous for his artistic guitar-playing style but he is also infamous for not letting his negative thoughts back. Pete Townshend is known for having an aggressive persona and he doesn’t care what the world thinks about his opinion, and that’s when he named the two bands that he hated.
Townshend plays a prominent role in getting The Who into the mainstream. He was a songwriter, vocalist, and even the guitarist of the band. He’s an important part of the Rock and Roll community, so his words really matter to everyone except him. Let’s take a moment to see the bands that he hated in the 80s.
The Two Bands That Pete Townshend Hated
Ten Years After
In an interview with Sound International in 1981 when they started the record of “Faces Dances” Pete Townshend talked about a few musicians and even stated the band that he hated doing that period.
Townshend stated that he wasn’t a fan of ‘Ten Years After’, the group that is well known for releasing hits such as “I’d Love To Change The World” and “Let The Sky Fall”. Although he was friends with the band members, he didn’t love their music and stated that they were as bad as, “that backwards-tape Chinese guitar playing”, he said.
He added, “I used to listen to people like Kenny Burrell and Wes Montgomery. And Chet Atkins, clear thinkers. I hated Les Paul. I’ve never liked flash playing really. I don’t mind flash performers, I don’t mind showmanship, or guitar circus.”
The history of Ten Years After takes us back to in 1966 when the group was formed. They made music for 10 years and got disbanded in 1975. In 1983 they reunited again and have remained active since 1988.
Only two original members of the band still remain to this day, Chick Churchill (Keyboards) and Ric Lee (Drums). Other original members such as Leo Lyons who was a bassist left the group in 2014 and the frontman and guitarist of the band, Alvin Lee left in 2003 and died at the age of 68 in 2013.
Deep Purple
During the same interview, Pete Townshend also stated that Deep Purple was another band that he hated in the 80s. He said that he used to hate when people approached him and told him that The Who and Deep Purple were their favorite bands.
“Just after Woodstock, The Who had a big revival of interest in Tommy. A lot of people used to come and see us. In Britain it was, ‘You are our favorite group with Deep Purple.’ I used to go, ‘Huh?’ And over here it used to be, ‘You are our favorite group with Ten Years After.’ And both groups I hate!” he said.
Pete added, “I admit that all the people in the bands are very good friends of mine. But I hated their music. It was very hard to live with in a way that we were being lumped in with these very heavy metal bands.”
“I think it was because Ritchie Blackmore used to sort of bash his guitar on his head. (Also) smoke a cigarette through his teeth and play a mouth organ back to front. And of course with The Who it was smashing up, pyrotechnics.”
Pete gave his opinion on Deep Purple after 4 years of their disbandment. The group reunited again in 1984 and released “Perfect Strangers.”