Please read my Conditions!
My only method of cleaning is a soft brush and cloth and some Audio Advisor product. That requires to listening to the LP with my turntable & needle... (which cost more money these days) and collecting the dust from the grooves. If a stubborn noise erupts I will then look under a light and microscope. It is quite time consuming. So I may miss a thing or two sometimes on my listings, like overlook a defect or to overgrade; but it is not intentional! I will always be here to help resolve the issue! I am a one man show , while taking care of an elder... That being said... Please play record a few times if I mentioned I have cleaned it and do not use another product until u do so! The enzymes work at eating the debris and play gets better, each time, usually much better If after a few plays you could try cleaning again with your product if stubborn static persists... All I ask is my buyers realize these points and be rest assured I offer a refund policy,  but I would prefer you email me so we can work something out first, I may have a back up copy... I have been collecting records since my 20's... Its has been a passion and a part-time hobby, I hope you love and enjoy music as much as I do, and selling is another way to get to know other people with a like minded interest as I. I offer a refund policy, so please give me the opportunity to make good if there is a problem with a transaction. I reserve the right to cancel a transaction after the sale If I find a missed defect on your behalf. Feel free to compare prices elsewhere you will find I am very reasonable. Don't waste your time if the seller does not listen to the lps, I have return 100's because of defects. Also please be aware I am A human being, and I do make mistakes! So be gentle and straight forward if you having any issues, I do not like having debates, I would rather listen to my music!  Happy Hunting!


Jackets ~ vg+ ~ ex may have very small crease marks on spine and some corner dings... Records ~ vg+ ~ ex just the slights fine hairline and paper trailings, not going to be too specfic I bought these brand new during the period, I will clean if you like.
Early life and education

Townshend was born in , west London at the Chiswick Hospital, Netheravon Road. He came from a musical family: his father, , was a professional alto saxophonist in the 's dance band  and his mother, Betty (née Dennis), was a singer with the  and Les Douglass Orchestras. The Townshends had a volatile marriage, as both drank heavily and possessed fiery tempers. Cliff Townshend was often away from his family touring with his band while Betty carried on affairs with other men. The two split when Townshend was a toddler and he was sent to live with his maternal grandmother Emma Dennis, whom Pete later described as "clinically insane". The two-year separation ended when Cliff and Betty purchased a house together on Woodgrange Avenue in middle-class , and the young Pete was happily reunited with his parents. His neighbourhood was one-third Polish, and a devout Jewish family upstairs shared their housing with them and cooking with them—many of his father's closest friends were Jewish.

Townshend says he did not have many friends growing up, so he spent much of his boyhood reading adventure novels like  and . He enjoyed his family's frequent excursions to the seaside and the . It was on one of these trips in the summer of 1956 that he repeatedly watched the 1956 film , sparking his fascination with American . Not long thereafter, he went to see  perform in London, Townshend's first concert. At the time, he did not see himself pursuing a career as a professional musician; instead, he wanted to become a journalist.

Upon passing the  exam, Townshend was enrolled at . At Acton County, he was frequently bullied because he had a large nose, an experience that profoundly affected him. His grandmother Emma purchased his first guitar for Christmas in 1956, an inexpensive Spanish model. Though his father taught him a couple of chords, Townshend was largely self-taught on the instrument and never learned to read music. Townshend and school friend  formed a short-lived  group, the Confederates, featuring Townshend on banjo and Entwistle on horns. The Confederates played gigs at the Congo Club, a youth club run by the Acton Congregational Church, and covered , , and . However, both became influenced by the increasing popularity of , with Townshend particularly admiring 's debut single, "". Townshend left the Confederates after getting into a fight with the group's drummer, Chris Sherwin, and purchased a "reasonably good Czechoslovakian guitar" at his mother's antique shop.

Townshend's brothers Paul and  were born in 1957 and 1960, respectively. Lacking the requisite test scores to attend university, Pete was faced with the decision of art school, music school, or getting a job. He ultimately chose to study  at , enrolling in 1961. At Ealing, Townshend studied alongside future  guitarist . Notable artists and designers gave lectures at the college such as  pioneer . Townshend dropped out in 1964 to focus on music full-time.

Musical career 1961–1964: the Detours

In late 1961, Entwistle joined the Detours, a / band, led by Roger Daltrey. The new bass player then suggested Townshend join as an additional guitarist. In the early days of the Detours, the band's repertoire consisted of instrumentals by  and , as well as pop and trad jazz covers. Their lineup coalesced around  on lead guitar, Townshend on rhythm guitar, Entwistle on bass,  on drums and Colin Dawson as vocalist. Daltrey was considered the leader of the group and, according to Townshend, "ran things the way he wanted them." Dawson quit in 1962 after arguing too much with Daltrey, who subsequently moved to lead vocalist. As a result, Townshend, with Entwistle's encouragement, became the sole guitarist. Through Townshend's mother, the group obtained a management contract with local promoter Robert Druce, who started booking the band as a support act for bands including , , , and  and the Pirates. In 1963, Townshend's father arranged an amateur recording of "It Was You", the first song his son ever wrote. The Detours became aware of a group of the same name in February 1964, forcing them to change their name. Townshend's roommate  came up with "The Who", and Daltrey decided it was the best choice.

1964–1982: The Who
Townshend (with Moon, rear right) backstage before a gig at  in  on 12 April 1967

Not long after the name change, drummer  was replaced by , who had been drumming semi-professionally with the Beachcombers for several years. The band was soon taken on by a  publicist named  who convinced them to change their name to the High Numbers to give the band more of a mod feel. After bringing out one failed single ("I'm the Face/Zoot Suit"), they dropped Meaden and were signed on by two new managers,  and , who had paired up with the intention of finding new talent and creating a documentary about them. The band anguished over a name that all felt represented the band best, and dropped the High Numbers name, reverting to the Who. In June 1964, during a performance at the Railway Tavern, Townshend accidentally broke the top of his guitar on the low ceiling and proceeded to destroy the entire instrument. The on-stage destruction of instruments soon became a regular part of the Who's live shows.

With the assistance of Lambert, the Who caught the ear of American record producer , who had the band signed to a record contract. Townshend wrote a song, "", as a deliberate sound-alike of , another group Talmy produced. Released as a single in January 1965, "I Can't Explain" was the Who's first hit, reaching number eight on the British charts. A follow-up single (""), credited to both Townshend and Daltrey, also reached the top 10 in the UK. However, it was the release of the Who's third single, "", in November that, according to Who biographer Mark Wilkerson, "cemented their reputation as a hard-nosed band who reflected the feelings of thousands of pissed-off adolescents at the time." The Townshend-penned single reached number two on the UK charts, becoming the Who's biggest hit. The song and its famous line "I hope I die before I get old" was "very much about trying to find a place in society", Townshend stated in an interview with .

To capitalise on their recent single success, the Who's debut album  (The Who Sings My Generation in the US) was released in late 1965, containing original material written by Townshend and several  covers that Daltrey favoured. Townshend continued to write several successful singles for the band, including "", "", "", and "". Lambert encouraged Townshend to write longer pieces of music for the next album, which became "". The album was subsequently titled  and reached No. 4 in the charts upon its release in December 1966. In their stage shows, Townshend developed a  in which he would  in a style reminiscent of the vanes of a windmill. He developed this style after watching  guitarist  warm up before a show.

Townshend's "windmill" technique

The Who commenced their first US tour on 22 March 1967. Townshend took to trashing his hotel suites, though not to the extent of his bandmate Moon. He also began experimenting with , though stopped taking the drug after receiving a potent hit after the  on 18 June. Released in December, their next album was —a  based on pirate radio, which had been instrumental in raising the Who's popularity. It included several humorous jingles and mock commercials between songs, and the Who's biggest US single, "". Despite the success of "", which reached No. 9 on the American charts, Townshend was surprised it was not a smash hit, as he considered it the best song he had written up to that point.

By 1968, Townshend became interested in the teachings of . He began to develop a musical piece about a deaf, dumb, and blind boy who would experience sensations musically. The piece would explore the tenets of Baba's philosophy. The result was the  , released on 23 May 1969 to critical and commercial success.  praised the album, saying its "sheer power, invention and brilliance of performance outstrips anything which has ever come out of a recording studio." In support of Tommy, the Who launched a tour that included a memorable appearance at the  on 17 August. While the Who were playing,  leader  jumped the stage to complain about the arrest of . Townshend promptly knocked him offstage with his guitar, shouting, "Fuck off my fucking stage!"

In 1970, the Who released , which several music critics cite as the best live album of all time. Townshend began writing material for another rock opera. Dubbed , it was designed to be a multi-media project that symbolised the relationship between a musician and his audience. The rest of the band were confused by its convoluted plot and simply wanted another album. Townshend began to feel alienated, and the project was abandoned after he suffered a nervous breakdown. Much of the material intended for Lifehouse was released as a traditional studio album, . It became a commercial smash, reaching number one in the UK, and spawned two successful hit singles, "" and "", that featured pioneering use of the synthesizer. "Baba O'Riley" in particular was written as Townshend's ode to his two heroes at the time, Meher Baba and composer .

Townshend performing in Hamburg, Germany in August 1972

Townshend began writing songs for another rock opera in 1973. He decided it would explore the mod subculture and its clashes with  in the early 1960s in the UK. Entitled , it was the only Who album written entirely by Townshend, and he produced the album as well due to the souring of relations with Lambert. It was released in November, and became their highest charting cross-Atlantic success, reaching No. 2 in the UK and US.  reviewer  called it "prime cut Who" and "the most rewarding musical experience of the year." On tour, the band played the album along to pre-recorded backing tapes, causing much friction. The tapes malfunctioned during a performance in Newcastle, prompting Townshend to drag soundman  onstage, scream at him and kick over all the amplifiers, partially destroying the malfunctioning tapes. On 14 April 1974, Townshend played his first solo concert, a benefit to raise funds for a London community centre.

A  was directed by , and starred  in the title role,  as his mother,  as his step-father, with cameos by , ,  and other rock notables; the film premiered on 18 March 1975. Townshend was nominated for an Academy Award for scoring and adapting the music in the film.  came out in November of that year and peaked at No. 7 in the UK and 8 in the US. It featured introspective songs, often with a negative slant. The album spawned one hit single, "", that was written after Townshend learned how to play the accordion. After a 1976 tour, Townshend took a year-long break from the band to focus on spending time with his family.

The Who continues despite the deaths of two of the original members ( in 1978 and  in 2002). The band is regarded by many rock critics as one of the best live bands from the 1960s to the 2000s. The Who continues to perform critically acclaimed sets into the 21st century, including highly regarded performances at  in 2001, the 2004 ,  in 2005 and the 2007 .

Townshend remained the primary songwriter and leader of the group, writing over 100 songs which appeared on the band's eleven studio albums. Among his creations is the rock opera, . Townshend revisited album-length storytelling throughout his career and remains associated with the rock opera form. Many studio recordings also feature Townshend on piano or keyboards, though keyboard-heavy tracks increasingly featured guest artists in the studio, such as ,  or .

Townshend is one of the key figures in the development of feedback in rock guitar. When asked who first used feedback,  guitarist  said:

Pete Townshend was definitely the first. But not being that good a guitarist, he used to just sort of crash chords and let the guitar feedback. He didn't get into twiddling with the dials on the amplifier until much later. He's overrated in England, but at the same time you find a lot of people like  and  getting credit for things he started. Townshend was the first to break his guitar, and he was the first to do a lot of things. He's very good at his chord scene, too.

Similarly, when  was asked about the development of guitar feedback, he said:

I don't know who really did feedback first; it just sort of happened. I don't think anybody consciously nicked it from anybody else. It was just going on. But Pete Townshend obviously was the one, through the music of his group, who made the use of feedback more his style, and so it's related to him. Whereas the other players like Jeff Beck and myself were playing more single note things than chords.

Many rock guitarists have cited Townshend as an influence, among them ,   and .

1972–present: solo career

In addition to his work with the Who, Townshend has been sporadically active as a solo recording artist. Between 1969 and 1971 Townshend, along with other devotees to , recorded a trio of albums devoted to his teachings: , , and . In response to bootlegging of these, he compiled his personal highlights (and "Evolution", a collaboration with ), and released his first major-label solo title, 1972's . It was a moderate success and featured demos of Who songs as well as a showcase of his acoustic guitar talents. He collaborated with ' bassist and fellow Meher Baba devotee  on a duet album (1977's ). In 1979 Townshend produced and performed guitar on the novelty single "Peppermint Lump" by Angie on , featuring 11-year-old Angela Porter on lead vocals.

Townshend made several solo appearances during the 1970s, two of which were captured on record: 's Rainbow Concert in January 1973 (which Townshend organized to revive Clapton's career after the latter's heroin addiction), and the -sponsored Concerts for the People of Kampuchea in December 1979. The commercially available video of the Kampuchea concert shows the two rock icons duelling and clowning through  mega-band versions of "Lucille", "Let It Be" and the "Rockestra Theme"; Townshend closes the proceedings with a characteristic split-legged leap.

Townshend's solo breakthrough, following the death of Who drummer , was the 1980 release , which included a top-10 single, "" and "". This release was followed in 1982 by , which included the popular radio track "". While not a huge commercial success, noted music critic Timothy Duggan listed it as "Townshend's most honest and introspective work since Quadrophenia." Through the rest of the 1980s and early 1990s Townshend would again experiment with the  and related formats, releasing several story-based albums including  (1985),  (1989), and  (1993). Townshend also got the chance to play with his hero  for 's "" sessions, along with other rock musicians such as ,  and .

Townshend in concert, 2008

Townshend has also recorded several concert albums, including one featuring a  he assembled called , with David Gilmour on guitar, who performed just three concerts and a television show session for , to raise money for his Double-O charity, supporting drug addicts. In 1993 he and  wrote and directed the Broadway adaptation of the Who album , as well as a less successful  based on his solo album The Iron Man, based upon the book by . McAnuff and Townshend later co-produced the animated film , also based on the Hughes story.

A production described as a Townshend rock opera and titled  debuted as part of 's Powerhouse Summer Theater program in July 2007.

On 2 September 2017 in , Townshend embarked with fellow singer and musician , tenor  and an orchestra on a short (5-date) "Classic Quadrophenia" US tour which ended on 16 September 2017 in , California.

1996–present: latest Who work

From the mid-1990s through the present, Townshend has participated in a series of tours with the surviving members of the Who, including a 2002 tour that continued despite Entwistle's death.

In February 2006, a major world tour by the Who was announced to promote their first new album since 1982. Townshend published a semi-autobiographical story  as a serial on a blog beginning in September 2005. The blog closed in October 2006, as noted on Townshend's website. It is now owned by a different user and does not relate to Townshend's work in any way. On 25 February 2006, he announced the issue of a mini-opera inspired by the novella for June 2006. In October 2006 the Who released their first album in 24 years, .

The Who performed at the  half-time show on 7 February 2010, playing a medley of songs that included "Pinball Wizard", "", "Baba O'Riley", "" and "Won't Get Fooled Again". In 2012, the Who announced they would tour the rock opera Quadrophenia.

The Who were the final performers at the  in London, performing a medley of "Baba O'Riley", "See Me, Feel Me" and "My Generation".

On 22 March 2018, Townshend stated that a new  album should feature original songs by  as well as him. That album, simply titled , was released on 6 December 2019. It was the band's second album as a duo, and their first in thirteen years.

Unfinished work

The Age of Anxiety, formerly Floss The Musical, is the name given to a work-in-progress by Townshend. The musical has been a work in progress at least since 2009 with an original estimated release of 2011. On 24 January 2012 Townshend sold the rights to all of his back catalog and much of his future work including Floss The Musical if it is ever completed. He summarized the work in an interview with  published February 2010. In a 2015 interview Townshend stated that the work was intended to be an art installation. In March 2019 it was announced that a work entitled The Age of Anxiety would be published as a novel, with an opera to follow.

Musical influences

Townshend was born ten days after   in the  and grew up in the shadow of reconstruction in and around London. According to Townshend, postwar trauma was the driving force behind the rock music revolution in the UK. "Trauma is passed from generation to generation", he said, "I've unwittingly inherited what my father experienced." Townshend notes that growing up in this period produced the narrative that runs through his music of a boy lost in the stresses and pressures of postwar life. In his autobiography, he wrote:

I wasn't trying to play beautiful music. I was confronting my audience with the awful, visceral sound of what we all knew was the single absolute of our frail existence—one day an aeroplane would carry the bomb that would destroy us all in a flash. It could happen at any time.

Although he grew up in a household with jazz musicians, Townshend absorbed many of his ideas about performance and rock music themes during art school. Townshend's roommate at Ealing Art College, Tom Wright, had a large record collection, and Townshend listened to and became influenced by R&B and rock & roll artists like , , , , , and . He was also strongly influenced by cellist , who often damaged his cello during performances, along with , pioneer of . In light of these influences, guitar smashing became not just an expression of youthful angst, but also a means of conveying ideas through musical performance. "We advanced a new concept", he writes. "Destruction is art when set to music."

Empty Glass: A1Rough Boys Arranged By [Horns] –  Written-By –  Arranged By [Horns] –  Written-By –  3:59A2I Am An Animal Written-By –  Written-By –  3:46A3And I Moved Written-By –  Written-By –  3:22A4Let My Love Open The Door Written-By –  Written-By –  2:42A5Jools And Jim Written-By –  Written-By –  2:35B1Keep On Working Written-By –  Written-By –  3:22B2Cat's In The Cupboard Written-By –  Written-By –  3:32B3A Little Is Enough Written-By –  Written-By –  4:39B4Empty Glass Written-By –  Written-By –  5:20B5Gonna Get Ya Written-By –  Written-By –  6:22

White City (A Novel):
A1Give Blood5:44A2Brilliant Blues3:06A3Face The Face5:51A4Hiding Out3:00A5Secondhand Love4:12B1Crashing By Design3:14B2I Am Secure4:00B3White City Fighting4:40B4Come To Mama4:40