4 Songs You May Not Know The Who's Pete Townshend Wrote

Pete Townshend is best known as the primary songwriter and guitarist for the band The Who, which is known for hits like “Baba O’Riley” and “Pinball Wizard” from the rock opera Tommy. Townshend sometimes collaborated with other artists, working with everyone from Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour to longtime friend David Bowie. He also often wrote songs for other artists, and some of these even predate his success in The Who, which isn’t surprising given the fact that he began writing songs as a teen. 

“It Was You” // The Naturals

This tune has the distinction of being Townshend’s earliest recorded song. It was first laid down by the band The Naturals, which consisted of vocalist Ricky Potter, guitarist Doug Ellis, rhythm guitarist Bob O’Neale, bassist Mike Wakelin, and drummer Roy Heather.

“We recorded my first song, ‘It Was You,’ in late 1963 at the home studio of Barry Gray, who wrote music for children’s TV puppet series like ‘Thunderbirds’ and ‘Fireball XL5,’” Townshend recalled in his 2012 memoir, Who I Am. “Dick James, The Beatles’ co-publisher at the time, heard ‘It Was You’ and signed me to his company.”

The song was later recorded and released by the band Chaos and Co., which was a big honor for the young songwriter. “It wasn’t a hit,” Townshend said, “but the fact that it was published at all gave me tremendous confidence.”

Having songs published also gave Townshend a boost in his role in his newly minted band, The Who. “I felt I now had a right to speak up about the band’s musical direction, and even get bossy about it,” Townshend said. “Roger [Daltrey] was definitely in charge, but there was a new tension between us. We were both really keen to make it and had our own ideas about how to do so. Still, we developed a grudging respect for one another that would last a lifetime.”

"Join My Gang" // Oscar 

Townshend also penned this hit for Oscar, the artist name of Paul Oscar Beuselinck, who went by Paul Nicholas in his acting career. Oscar released “Join My Gang” as one of his first singles with Reaction Records, which had released “Substitute” by The Who as its first single the year prior.

Oscar later went on to star in the London version of the musical Jesus Christ Superstar, among other shows. In 1977, he returned to music with the hit track “Heaven On The 7th Floor.” “Join My Gang,” meanwhile, was never recorded by The Who, and remains a rather obscure part of Townshend’s discography.

“Love on the Air” and “All Lovers Are Deranged” // David Gilmour

Townshend and Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour shared a mutual admiration for each other’s work. The pair also collaborated a number of times, and Townshend wrote two songs for Gilmour’s second album, About Face, penning the lyrics for both the day after Gilmour asked him for his help. One was the track “Love On the Air,” and the other was the more experimental “All Lovers Are Deranged.” 

Gilmour later assisted Townshend by co-writing and playing on the song “White City Fighting,” from Townshend’s album White City: A Novel. Ultimately, while the collaboration was fruitful, it wasn’t effortless.

“I mean, I loved working with David Gilmour on my White City album and we co-wrote some songs together, but that was an uneasy collaboration,” Townshend reflected in an interview with Spain’s RockFM in which he spoke about his difficulties with collaborating. “I actually made it clear I'm not a natural collaborator,” the musician said.

Read More: