Pete Townshend sat down for a Q&A with author Mark Wilkerson at Third Man Records in London last Thursday 14th November, to celebrate the UK release of Mark’s fabulous new book Hollywood Dream: The Thunderclap Newman Story.
The event was held in a tiny basement of the Soho record store, which hosted a maximum sized crowd of 40. Those in attendance were treated to a special evening of talk about Thunderclap Newman, the eclectic British band that Pete helped form for Track Records. He produced all of their music, including their groundbreaking debut single Something In The Air that went straight to number one in 1969, followed by the release of their only album Hollywood Dream in 1970.
Their conversation covered the personal and working relationships that Pete had with band members Speedy Keen, Andy Newman, and Jimmy McCulloch, and the innovative production work he did with them at his home studio in Twickenham. The time period when this work took place was such an integral one in Pete’s career, and he touched upon many fascinating related topics along the way.
The talk lasted around 40 minutes, after which Pete and Mark signed books for everyone, which were included as part of the price of admission. Such a deal for such a special night!
The intimate gathering included friends and associates of Pete and the band, many who helped Mark with the research for the book, including Who author Richard Barnes, journalist Chris Charlesworth (who posted a nice article on his Just Backdated blog), Track Records promotions manager Vernon Brewer, drummer Mark Brzezicki, and Speedy Keen’s daughter Trish.
Mark Wilkerson also recently did a Zoom chat with Pete about the book, which is now up on youtube!
Hollywood Dream: The Thunderclap Newman Story was released on 1 October in the US, and 14 November in the UK. It’s a wonderfully comprehensive book that any fan of Pete Townshend and Thunderclap Newman would absolutely love, so be sure to get it!
For more information, please visit https://www.thirdmanbooks.com/catalog/hollywooddream
Check out our previous page for the book here.
Many thanks to everyone who contributed photos and videos, and to Mark Wilkerson and Lloyd Fox for their lovely write-ups about the event!
Photo credit: Lloyd Fox
Photo credit: Lloyd Fox
Video credit: Lloyd Fox
Pete and Mark chatted about the book on Zoom.
A few words about the event from author Mark Wilkerson.
Thursday, November 14th marked the U.K. release of my book about Thunderclap Newman. Once we had a launch event date set at Third Man London, I sent the info to Pete, really just as an FYI – I had no expectation that he’d attend... but I knew there was at least perhaps a tiny chance. “I might be able to make it”, was his tantalizing response.
That was around early October. At the end of the month, I received confirmation that Pete would indeed attend. This was on! But still, it wasn’t until yesterday evening when I was sitting in the basement of Third Man in Soho, when we received word that Pete would arrive in about 15 minutes, that I finally realized that this was indeed real.
And what an amazing evening it was. Sitting talking to Pete in the tiny green room before the event was surreal. I told him how I thought I could set up the conversation – talking about the location – in Soho, about a block away from his old flat on the corner of Wardour & Brewer streets – and then we could see where the conversation went from there. Then I told him about who would be among the attendees that evening – Pete’s old friend and Who author Richard Barnes, Track Records promotions manager (and the guy who came up with the idea of using an antique bus, complete with the members of the Who, miniskirt clad models, oh and an actual lion and an actual elephant, to promote the ‘Magic Bus’ single!) Vernon Brewer, former Melody Maker writer and longtime Who associate Chris Charlesworth, drummer Mark Brzezicki (who played on several PT solo projects, and was in the final version of Thunderclap Newman), Speedy Keen’s daughter Trish and her children, and several other associates and friends of those involved in the story.
The tiny basement of Third Man London, designed by Jack White, with the same kind of acoustic tiles they used at Sun Studios, holds 40 people seated, and it was full. Pete and I walked out, I thanked everyone for being there (obviously to see me) and away we went. I didn’t notice until later, looking at the photos, that on stage behind us was a Marshall amp. Quite appropriate I think. Pete was funny, feisty (someone in the audience tried to correct him on his pronunciation of the Scottish town Greenock, and he ended up hearing Pete crack back with something like: “I know a fucking lot more about Greenock than you do!” (after telling the guy that Roger Daltrey knocked out about five guys in the crowd that night in 1965 in Greenock). He talked about his Soho flat in the ‘60s, about recording ‘Something In The Air’ in his home studio in Twickenham, about the guys in the band and his original plans to record them separately for his planned offshoot of the Track label, ‘Talkus’. It all went awry when Tommy came to a head, and the three projects became one: Thunderclap Newman. He talked about how joyous it was, but also how it was criminal that they received no money from Track for their number one hit.
It was a surreal conversation for me. I wasn’t sure how long things had gone, and I couldn’t see the clock on the wall because of glare from the lights, and I was not about to look at my watch in front of Pete. So the planned 20-30 minute talk actually went 40 minutes when it reached what I felt was a natural stopping point. So I wrapped things up and then we went upstairs and sat behind a table to sign books, me signing first, Pete next. At one point, Pete was good-naturedly ribbing me for not leaving him enough room to sign, saying he felt like I had relegated him to the garden shed! It was not only surreal for me to be talking and interacting with Pete for this much time, but also to have basically a parade of those who had provided me with such incredible input for the book pass before us and say hi. An amazing evening. Then, it was all over, and Pete talked with Third Man’s manager for a bit – he’d never been there before. I reached out to shake his hand and say thank you for such incredible support for this book, and he instead gave me a big hug. And off he went.
Richard Barnes and Vernon Brewer were waiting outside when I stepped out, and we went for a beer. I told Barney that I had recently bought the jacket I was wearing – in an effort to make me look a bit more intelligent and ‘authorly’. His response: “I’d get your money back if I were you.” Message received – and I was now back down to earth.
An amazing evening. It’ll be my 55th birthday in a couple of weeks. This is quite the early birthday present. Thank you to Pete, to Third Man, and to all who attended.
Honorable mention and birthday wishes to two Chris’s – former Thunderclap drummer Chris Hunt and longtime MM scribe Chris Welch, both of whom couldn’t attend due to celebrating their respective birthdays.
Photo credit: Valeria Sgarella
Photo credit: Lloyd Fox
Photo credit: Lloyd Fox
Photo credit: Lloyd Fox
Photo credit: Lloyd Fox
Video credit: Valeria Sgarella
Photo credit: Valeria Sgarella
Photo credit: Valeria Sgarella
Review by Lloyd Fox
A few weeks ago, I was directed to Mark Ian Wilkerson's fb page where he mentioned a roll out for his book, HOLLYWOOD DREAM - THE THUNDERCLAP NEWMAN STORY. As a fan of that 1970 album, and the Townshend connection, him being the producer, the 18 quid for the book and a night out in the west end was a bargain.
I found out just a day before, with the hint of a "special guest" there were still quite a few tickets left of the forty that were available. The day of the event, that changed when Pete was the guest.
I arrived at 6 for a 7pm door, and met another prominent Who book author and Mark prior to the event. Went inside, had a glass of wine and went down to a lovely basement equipped with a small platform stage and huge speakers, a few rows of benches and my folding chair about eight feet from the chair that would be P.T.'s.
Pete arrived, took his seat and the interview began. Pete was in great spirits and the interview focused on my personal favourite era from 1967-1970. Pete reminisced about the teenage Jimmy McCulloch and the talented Speedy Keen. A few honest words about their Track Records label and never as an artist, not making a dime. Quite a few f bombs, always as it's Pete.
The interview lasted roughly 45 mins. Afterwards, we all went upstairs where Mark and Pete signed our books.
Of all the recent events with Pete, in which I attended all, this was my favourite.
Thanks to Mark, Pete and Third Man Books, what a fun night.
Photo credit: Lloyd Fox
