I wanted to be in a band that shared ideas and were in it together.
I live 50 miles from London and we’ve got some of the highest levels of teenage and childhood poverty in the country. It’s disgusting. Just because it’s a rural area, it gets forgotten.
You know, I was a school rebel. Whatever they said do, I didn’t do. I was totally anti-everything.
I hope I die before I get old.
European fisheries are a disaster. The American fisheries are well-kept.
All you could do was to see them. We were backstage when the Beatles were on and you could just about hear a noise. It was just literally screaming.
I know my faults, but I’m comfortable with me.
Every generation of rock musician will understand that we wouldn’t be anywhere without the support of teenagers buying the records.
I call it fan fatigue. I went to see Bob Dylan last year, who I think is absolutely incredible, but he suffers from his audience.
I don’t have any illusions anymore. The illusion that rock ‘n’ roll could change anything – I don’t believe that. I’ve changed.
I had me jaw broken, and so my chin stuck way out. That’s how I became tough – I learned to pick up anything and fight back.
I don’t over-sing anymore, which I used to suffer from terribly because I couldn’t hear myself.
I don’t like Tommy on Broadway at all. I like the music, I’m pleased with Pete’s success but I don’t like what they’ve done to it.
But contrary to what some people seem to think, I was never a bully. I was just a hard man.
I feel there must be an enormous amount of really talented songwriters out there who can’t sing.
I know without our fans and the devotion of our fans we wouldn’t be here. I don’t mean to put them down, but I’m just stating a fact that it is hard to play to people that see you all the time and it takes a lot of fun out of it in some ways.
We weren’t wealthy but we definitely weren’t poor. We were incredibly rich because there was a wonderful community in Shepherd’s Bush, where I grew up. All my friends were into villainy and crime.
The Who would never have been successful without two special people, Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp.
Part of the early Who career was all about knocking people’s confidences out.
There is certainly more in the future now than back in 1964.