Pete Townshend is releasing his complete catalog of solo studio albums in a new 8-CD box set collection!
The set features Pete’s wonderful solo work that came out between 1972 and 1993: Who Came First, Rough Mix (with Ronnie Lane), Empty Glass, All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes, White City (A Novel), The Iron Man, and Psychoderelict (with original dialog and music only versions).
These records are such a joy to listen to, and stand up as a strong body of work on their own that is separate from the work Pete did with The Who. So many of the songs are introspective, spiritual and deeply personal, and really needed to be sung in Pete’s own voice. Some of his best work is included on his solo albums.
Pete Townshend commented, “I find it impossible to see the two careers as two separate careers. When you’re holding a pen, you can only write one letter at a time. I have always written first for myself. Not as an artist but for play, for fun, for joy, for self-expression. For therapy? In a way, of course. These solo songs are therefore not Who exclusions or out-takes, they are part of a story that may well have been very different had I not made some poor decisions in the early ’80s. I have stories to tell about every song, and one day I may write a book that tells of that journey, but I’m probably happier spending my time today writing new music rather than explaining how the old stuff came about”.
This is the first time Pete’s studio albums have been brought together in a box set, and will be welcome news to fans who would like to get his solo work on CD, as they have been out of print for years. The last time most of his albums were released in this format was in 2006 by Hip-O Records, which included loads of great bonus tracks. Pete also released a Deluxe 45th Anniversary Edition of Who Came First in 2018.
The new box set presents his albums with their original track listing (no additional bonus tracks), which have all been newly remastered by Jon Astley. The package also includes a 28-page booklet with a foreword written by Pete Townshend, liner notes by Who archivist Matt Kent, and rare photos and memorabilia.
This collection is a nice follow up to the Pete Townshend – Live In Concert 1985-2001 CD box set and the vinyl half speed masters of Pete’s solo albums that came out last year.
Pete Townshend: The Studio Albums will be released by Universal Music on 28 March 2025, and can be pre-ordered now!
DISC ONE – WHO CAME FIRST
Who Came First was Townshend’s debut solo record, first released in 1972. The album collected tracks from Pete’s private pressings of his tributes to Meher Baba Happy Birthday and I Am and demos from the unrealised concept album Life House, part of which became The Who’s classic Who’s Next album. The cover photo of Townshend taken by Graham Hughes (who also shot the cover of The Who’s Quadrophenia) features Pete standing on eggs and is a reference to the philosophical dilemma “Who came first? The chicken or the egg?.”
For more information, check out the Who Came First history page.
Tracklist:
Pure and Easy
Evolution
Forever’s No Time At All
Let’s See Action
Time Is Passing
There’s a Heartache Following Me
Sheraton Gibson
Content
Parvardigar
DISC TWO – ROUGH MIX (PETE TOWNSHEND / RONNIE LANE)
Rough Mix was initially released in September 1977 while The Who were on hiatus. It was a collaboration with Small Faces bassist the late Ronnie Lane and features contributions from Who bassist John Entwistle, Eric Clapton, and Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts, amongst others. The orchestral arrangements for the track ‘Street in the City’ were provided by Townshend’s then father-in-law, noted British film and television theme composer Edwin Astley.
For more information, check out the Rough Mix history page.
Tracklist:
My Baby Gives It Away
Nowhere To Run
Rough Mix
Annie
Keep Me Turning
Catmelody
April Fool
Street In The City
Heart To Hang Onto
Till The Rivers Run Dry
DISC THREE – EMPTY GLASS
Empty Glass, produced by Chris Thomas (Roxy Music, Sex Pistols, Pretenders, Wings), was Pete’s next solo release, appearing in April 1980. The songs predominantly deal with issues Townshend was struggling with at the time, including alcohol, drugs, and the death of Keith Moon, The Who’s former drummer. The second single from the album ‘Let My Love Open the Door’ was a US Top Ten hit, propelling the album to #5 on the US Billboard chart, and the first single ‘Rough Boys’, which was dedicated to Pete’s children and The Sex Pistols, was a UK top 40 hit. The album was well received at the time, with some critics even referring to it as a Who album that never was.
For more information, check out the Empty Glass history page.
Tracklist:
Rough Boys
I Am An Animal
And I Moved
Let my Love Open The Door
Jools And Jim
Keep On Working
Cat’s In The Cupboard
A Little Is Enough
Empty Glass
Gonna Get Ya
DISC FOUR – ALL THE BEST COWBOYS HAVE CHINESE EYES
All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes, released in June 1982, was Pete’s next solo release and contained two singles’ Uniforms (Corp d’Esprit)’ and ‘Face Dances (Pt 2), as well as ‘Somebody Saved Me’ a song The Who had recorded for their 1981 album Face Dances, which didn’t appear until 1997. The track ‘The Sea Refuses No River’ has since been singled out as one of Townshend’s most underrated songs. Chris Thomas once again produced the album, featuring Simon Philips on drums and Jody Linscott on percussion, who would later perform with The Who. Promo videos were made for seven tracks from the album (‘Prelude’, ‘Face Dances Pt 2’, ‘Communication’ ‘Uniforms’, ‘Stardom In Acton’, ‘Exquisitely Bored’ and an alternate version of ‘Slit Skirts’) by renowned photographers Davies & Starr (Chalkie Davies and his then-wife Carol Starr) and released on VHS. Pete didn’t get to play the album live as three months after its release, The Who’s It’s Hard appeared, and the band undertook their farewell tour.
For more information, check out the All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes history page.
Tracklist:
Stop Hurting People
The Sea Refuses No River
Prelude
Face Dances Part Two
Exquisitely Bored
Communication
Stardom In Acton
Uniforms
North Country Girl
Somebody Saved Me
Slit Skirts
DISC FIVE – WHITE CITY (A NOVEL)
White City (A Novel) was released in the autumn of 1985. As the title suggests, the album tells a story of cultural conflict, racial tension and youthful hopes and dreams in the White City, London housing estate in the 1960s, not far from where Pete grew up. White City (A Novel) was again produced by Chris Thomas and features guest appearances by David Gilmour, Clem Burke, John ‘Rabbit’ Bundrick, Pete’s daughter Emma Townshend and a young Justine Frischmann, who would later form the Brit-Pop band Elastica. As with his previous album, Pete filmed several videos but this time compiled them into a long-form video, White City (The Music Movie) featuring the singles’ Face the Face’ and ‘Give Blood’, directed by Richard Lowenstein, who had worked extensively with INXS.
For more information, check out the White City history page.
Tracklist:
Give Blood
Brilliant Blues
Face The Face
Hiding Out
Secondhand Love
Crashing By Design
I Am Secure
White City Fighting
Come To Mama
DISC SIX – THE IRON MAN: THE MUSICAL BY PETE TOWNSHEND
The Iron Man: The Musical by Pete Townshend from 1989 is an adaptation of Ted Hughes‘ famous short story, The Iron Man. The album was produced and mainly composed and performed by Townshend but also features performances from Roger Daltrey, legendary bluesman John Lee Hooker and the astonishing Nina Simone. The three then-surviving original members of The Who (Daltrey, John Entwistle, and Townshend) perform two songs, ‘Dig’ and a cover of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown’s ‘Fire’. A stage version was mounted at The Young Vic Theatre in 1993, where 20 years earlier, The Who had debuted songs for Life House/Who’s Next, which led to a movie version in 1999 for which Pete received an executive producer credit.
For more information, check out the Iron Man history page.
Tracklist:
Pete Townshend With Deborah Conway – I Won’t Run Anymore
John Lee Hooker – Over the Top
Simon Townshend – Man Machines
The Who – Dig
Pete Townshend – A Friend Is a Friend
John Lee Hooker – I Eat Heavy Metal
Pete Townshend With Deborah Conway and Chyna – All Shall Be Well
Pete Townshend – Was There Life
Nina Simone – Fast Food
Pete Townshend – A Fool Says…
The Who – Fire
Chyna With Pete Townshend and Nicola Emmanuel – New Life / Reprise
DISC SEVEN and EIGHT – PSYCHODERELICT
Psychoderelict, released in 1993, is Pete’s last solo album to date. Structured like a radio play with dialogue, it follows Ray High, a reclusive 60s rock star who resurfaced in Townshend’s novella The Boy Who Heard Music and in the mini rock opera Wire & Glass, the centrepiece of The Who’s Endless Wire album. The album is presented both with and without the dialogue of the original release.
For more information, check out the Psychoderelict history page.
Tracklist:
English Boy
Meher Baba M3
Let’s Get Pretentious
Meher Baba M4 (Signal Box)
Early Morning Dreams
I Want That Thing
Dialogue Introduction To ‘Outlive The Dinosaur’
Outlive The Dinosaur
Flame (Demo)
Now And Then
I Am Afraid
Don’t Try To Make Me Real
Dialogue Introduction To ‘Predictable’
Predictable
Flame
Meher Baba M5 (Vivaldi)
Fake It
Dialogue Introduction To ‘Now And Then (Reprise)’
Now And Then (Reprise)
Baba O’Riley (Demo)
English Boy (Reprise)
Tracklist (Music Only):
English Boy
Meher Baba M3
Let’s Get Pretentious
Meher Baba M4
Early Morning Dreams
I Want That Thing
Outlive The Dinosaur
Now And Then
I Am Afraid
Don’t Try To Make Me Real
Predictable
Flame
Vivaldi – Meher Baba M5
Fake It
English Boy (Reprise)
