OTHER TECH

ON QUADROPHENIA

If the failure of my Lifehouse idea back in 1971 ultimately led to Quadrophenia, then I'm happy because I think I'll never surpass it. Quadrophenia is an iconic piece that works on the basis of how I define a great rock song: It must speak for those who listen to it, not for those who play it. And Quadrophenia is music, it's angry music, it never lets up, it's full of energy. But it's also simply a story of a kid who has a bad day. It rains, and he goes and sits on a rock. And he contemplates the present and the future, and he decides to do something that he's never done before: He prays. That's the end of the story.... Just before I came to America for this leg of the Who tour, I went to see a theatrical production of Quadrophenia at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. And it was amazing. So it may go on.

ON PUNK VS. YES

The Sex Pistols created a group that was so outside the norm of what was possible that they had only one fan, and she was called Siouxsie, and she formed a band called Siouxsie and the Banshees.... But what punk did was that it triggered something, it vented something that was building up and needed venting. There was nothing wrong with the Electric Light Orchestra. There was nothing wrong with Yes. I heard a Yes track when I was shopping for clothes the other day, and I thought [bemused], "What an interesting blend of folk and rock. What new band is that?" And somebody said, "It's f---ing Yes." And it sounded today like it was okay. But I remember in the punk days, it would be like, oh my God, that's not valid anymore.

ON THE CONCERT FOR NEW YORK CITY

When we came to New York to do the 9/11 concert, so much of the audience was in uniform - paramedics, fire people, police people, their families. There was such a sense of ceremony, almost a military feeling. And they were crying. As soon as we played "Who Are You" and went "Who the f--- are you?," it was like a dam had burst.... The buildings had come down on them. They had to go and tidy up. They were the people who had been through the real stuff. And we were proud to have these tools to give them to release everything. James Taylor also touched them deeply, but what we did was provide a vent. And that's what our brand of rock music was designed to do - and still does very well, only in certain circumstances. I would like to think that we never need our music to do that ever again. Ever again.

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