Sunday, September 30, 2007

"We were never friends!" (m-my t-t-translation....)

(fresh as a daisy!)



Wir waren niemals Freunde!

Nov. 3, 2006

Stern
Online






Surviving members of The Who: Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend


It's been 24 years since there's been a new album by the legendary rock band The Who, a band that used to destroy their instruments onstage and who created a new yardstick with their rock opera, Tommy. In this Stern interview, Pete Townshend sums up his life.

Mr. Townshend, who's your favorite musical artist these days?
Joni Mitchell, her album Travellogue, that's the record with the orchestra songs.

Why do you think it was easier in the 60s to become a rock star?
There were no rules, apart from those of our parents. We were unknowns, but we had our dreams. We lived in a denial caused by the trauma of war that our parents had suffered through. We borrowed the blues, classical music, country, western, 50s pop, and created our own style of music. It wasn't so much about being young, as it was about separating ourselves from the views of our parents.

What's been the high point in your life?
Completing my book, The Boy Who Heard Music. That led to my composing the music for the album, Wire and Glass (EP, published July 2006 as a teaser for the forthcoming Who album). As soon as I finished the book, I knew that I'd found something that would inspire me for a second life with The Who. It wasn't necessarily something that I'd wanted, but it was clear to me that this was a second chance.

And your low point?
The death of John Entwistle (bassist for the Who, died 2002). And the death of two adults who had been sexually abused in their childhood. I wanted to help them, in that I wanted to pay for their therapy.

Is there a song you wish you'd written?
"Three Steps to Heaven" by Eddie Cochran. If I had to choose just one song, then it would be, "People are All the Same" by The Sugababes.

Does it bother you that your audience doesn't want to hear anything but old classic Who songs?
That's not true! They listen to everything as long we play the classics too. But for 24 years we didn't have any new songs. Now we play 8 or 9 new songs at our shows, and people are happy.

You're 61 years old. What would you still like to do?
Write my autobiography -- hopefully before I turn 64, so that I can publish it when I'm 65. Other than that, I'd like to expand my knowledge of German. And have all the important sailing certificates (?) under my belt. I'm an experienced seeman, but my qualifications are modest. And I'd like to be a granddad one day.

If you could have given yourself some advice 20 years ago, how would it have sounded?
You're doing everything great, Pete! Don't worry about anything. Twenty years ago I had just released my solo album, White City. Aside from that, I was working on writing the stage musical, Iron Man, by Ted Hughes. I worked on many different things which were all fun for me. But in spite of all this, I was still somehow unfulfilled. It had to do with needing to bring my therapy to an end. When I finally completed it, I was satisfied. I still sometimes go for therapy, when I feel the need for it.

Are you and Roger Daltrey still friends -- or more like business partners?
We were never friends! But we've been creative partners for many years. Today we're closer than ever before, because we only have each other. (Who drummer K.M died in 1978, bassist John Entwistle in 2002)

How will people remember The Who 50 years from now?
People will remember My Generation. The way we destroyed guitars and hotel rooms. But our music will also be remembered seriously. We had social relevance. But we weren't responsible for this, our audience was.


Interview: Hannes Roß / translated by Lucy D.


Sidebar: The Who's last studio album "It's Hard" appeared in 1982. It was an appropriate name for the album, which came at the end of the career of a legendary but uninspired rockband. This new album, Endless Wire (released Nov. 3, 2006) hints once again at their great success.

15 comments:

ROB said...

What happened here? There was like 14 comments a couple hours ago and now there's none. I'm confused...

Rob

Lucy said...

The rat was eliminated. :-)

So we're starting fresh.

ROB said...

So Pete didn't really visit us? Bummer, I hoped he had. I didn't think it sounded like him though. Pete seems unlikely to leave such a short uninteresting type of message. His message would be more lengthy and entertaining.

As for the translated interview from Stern magazine or whatever, I don't speak German at all (thanks to our great WWII veterans), but I think "stern" means "star" in German doesn't it? If so, maybe it was meant to stir up controversy in saying Pete and Roger aren't/weren't close friends. Especially if it's anything like our "Star" magazine here in the states.

Maybe that's news in Germany but I think we here all know they've been getting along this way for years. It seemed a harmless interview to me. Nothing shocking to me. Regardless, thanks for the translation. Any interview with Pete is worth reading as far as I'm concerned.

Sidney said...

A rat? I thought about it again last night and thought to myself Pete has a blog so why would he then go and create ANOTHER blog for just one comment. I agree with Rob there was nothing derogatory about that interview AT ALL. Stern is also quite a good magazine. I use it a lot for visual references in research for film. Pete would have gone directly to Stern for defamation not to us. Anyway Thanks Lucy for translating it. I had a good read.

Dave from Pennsylvania said...

I'm confused...is the site (http://petewho.thewho.com/)a phony blog or Pete's new blog?

Lucy...how did you get the facts on the rat?

PDBT said...

Some people (PT Impersonators) have too much time on their hands, I guess.

Anyway, Lucy, Wonderful translation. I know you probably mentioned it in the past and I forgot but how is it that you have come to know German? Through being taught in the family or through personal study/school???


Very kewel
now go on Rachel's blog on the Forum and put up a photo of your Britanys, girl. I am waiting for you, dog lover!

-Lin

BlackVelvetLace said...

A fake Pete came here and claimed a magazine defamed him?

::Totally confused now::

~Lace~

Lucy said...

Lin, my mom's German. Yes, Star, Rob. Thanks for your thoughts on Stern, sidney. I actually haven't seen a physical copy in years, so couldn't entirely remember the distinction between it, and say, Spiegel (very serious but glossy news magazine).

And Dave and Lace: What happened was, a fake Pete was spawned on Pete's real site. The fake Pete directed everyone over to a fake (but twin-like) blog. Then posted here, looking real. It became two issues... a real confusion.

Anyway let's not talk any more about the im-poster. (pun)

On with the article! Yes, it's a nice one. :-) I enjoyed translating it. Except I'm not sure about that word in the paragraph about sailing. (certificate)

- Lucy.

Tink said...

Verflucht!

wish i'd paid attention when my grandparents spoke German.

Hm. Wish I could remember what I wrote last round. ha!

Here's the hilarious babelfish translation for that particular sailing area:

"And all important sail lights in the bag have. I am an experienced sailor, but my qualification is modest. And I would like to become a daily Grandpa."

lol

Until the imposter deleted that comment, I thought it was quite fun. After that, we really looked nuts. lol But, Lucy, I know you were worried about Pete being offended in some way. I know he's a sensitive man, but I wouldn't worry so much. I'm fairly confident he'd let you know in some real way.

You really did a fine job translating. After reading the Babelfish translation, I *especially* honor your work. Wow.

Lucy said...

"all important sail lights!" LOL

"daily Grandpa!"

ROFLMAO

I used to enjoy putting whole runs of text into a translator (pick a language) and then translate it all back to English. Kept me amused for ...possibly hours!

Verflucht! (haven't thought of that word in a long time!) (Good, tink! it's a start)

I like Pete's desire to further his knowledge of German. :-) Such a cool guy. Always was. Always will be.

Lucy said...

P.S. The hardest thing about translating German is those false cognates. Oh, an idioms are a killer!

BlackVelvetLace said...

Thanks again Lucy, I finally *get it*. I wish Pete had come to visit us, Rachel too, but alas.. ::sighs::

Beautiful job on the translation BTW. I'm impressed you can speak German. The best I can do is American Sign Language :P

~Lace~

PDBT said...

Tink said:

Verflucht!


watch you mouth. girl!

-Lin

Tink said...

Lace ... ASL can be tough! I was learning it when the O.T./S.T. folk were trying to teach autie son. I was marginally competent at some whole signs, but never mastered the alphabet/spelling.

My hat is off to you!!!!

::::tips hat:::::curtsies :o)

Tink said...

oh LIN .. p.s.

The word verification when I responded to your post?

damew.

ROFLMAO