Quadrophenia: Can You See the Real Me? Page #5

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"Let's hear what it sounds like,"

and all of us in the control room,

our ears and noses started to bleed.

I have a ruptured eardrum

to this day, because of it.

We measured it.

It was louder than standing

by the four engines of Concorde

at full throttle.

It was 140 decibels,

and one guitar blast...

just projectile bleeding!

As well as the studio falling apart,

Townshend was in danger

of losing his long-term creative

ally and producer.

By the start of Quadrophenia,

Townshend was still

under the illusion that Kit Lambert

was going to be around to help him.

Kit Lambert and Chris Stone,

their co-managers,

got into heroin and stuff.

So, they were kind of not

looking after business,

or so Roger thought, because Roger

found out that all the money

hadn't been accounted for,

and there was some money missing.

That was a really sad period,

actually.

Kit wanted to be

THE producer, as such.

Kit Lambert, who had supposed to

have been co-producing with me,

had stopped coming.

I took him out, and in the end

I got so angry with Kit

over his behaviour, that I started

to threaten him physically,

and funnily enough, Roger came out,

and calmed me down,

and got Kit Lambert away,

and then we never really

worked together again.

And daddy was long gone.

Townshend was on his own.

It was pretty difficult, I didn't

realise the extent of their drug use.

And I didn't realise

just how much destructive behaviour

was going on.

And I guess that Pete felt

incredible pressure.

The local community were

really good to us.

They loved having the Who there,

and that was in the days when

the power station was working.

You know, we had kids from the

estate used to come in

and sit down in the front,

sometimes.

5.15 was one of the songs

that they let us listen to,

which was exciting.

Roger would say things like,

"Girls, would you buy this song?"

We would say yes or no.

"Do you think it would get

to number one?"

The band now that haven't had

a single out for two years.

They've taken a track off

their forthcoming LP,

Quadrophenia, I think it's called,

and it's 5.15, and it's the Who!

The thing about 5.15

was that it was a sound check riff.

We were just getting

the sound together,

and then we moved on to another

song, but we were just riffing away.

Why should I care?

Why should I care...?

This song is built around this

riff coming up.

And then the horns complement that.

If I go back and play you

what John plays,

you can hear that he plays

an emulation of the guitar.

He's playing my guitar part

for me...

With the droning, which

I always had in the background.

Girls of fifteen

Sexually knowing

The ushers are sniffing

Eau de Cologne-ing...

And the ushers are sniffing,

eau de Cologne-ing,

was a reference to the young girls

at the Beatles concert in Blackpool.

The whole of Blackpool...

this Blackpool theatre

smelt of urine. I mean,

it was just beyond belief.

Every single girl in the audience

must have pissed themselves

in excitement, and they were

sprinkling eau de Cologne

on all the seats, because it was

apparently what you do,

was you sprinkle eau de Cologne.

Girls of fifteen

Sexually knowing

The ushers are sniffing

Eau de Cologne-ing

The seats are seductive

Celibate sitting

Pretty girls digging

Prettier women

Magically bored

On a quiet street corner

Free frustration

In our minds and our toes

Quiet storm water

M-M-My generation

Uppers and downers

Either way, blood flows...

Jimmy's fallen out of love

with his idols,

he's been thrown out of his home.

The scooter's been crashed.

Right, now what you do? This

is the going off into the wilderness,

cos actually what he's doing,

he's going off in search of Xanadu.

..lnside, outside

Leave me alone...

'He's going back to find the thing

that makes sense to him,

'you know, being on the beach,

being down in Brighton,

'being part of the whole

mod culture thing.'

..Out of my brain

on the 5.15...

'And he's going off in search

of something

'that he already knows is gone.

'That, I think,

is why that song is so powerful,

'because it's the sense that

something has all ready been lost.'

He goes back to Brighton,

but there's that lovely idea

that Townshend captures,

a very English idea of going

to a seaside town after the

fair's left. You're off season.

But, actually, there's

a strange beauty in it,

and the beauty is that he feels

calm by the sea and the sand,

because everything else

has passed away.

Here by the sea and sand

Nothing ever goes as planned

I just couldn't face going home

It was just a drag on my own...

Jimmy is drawn to -

and this is the reason

why he is not the same

as everyone else...

is that he goes and talks to the sea.

The image of him looking out

at something much bigger

than all of this.

Brighton, the mod culture thing,

is happening behind here,

on the promenade, on the pier,

but actually what he's doing

is looking out at the vast

expanse of the sea,

and the sea is speaking to him.

Let me flow into the ocean

Let me get back to the sea

Let me be stormy

and let me be calm

Let the tide in

and set me free...

That was a song written about the

spiritual journey.

..I want to drown...

It's about,

"Let me get back to the sea.

"Let me get back to the ocean,"

meaning, "Let me get back to God,"

which is brought on by

walking on the beach, by the sea.

There's nobody there but him,

he's on his own.

..Let me flow into the ocean

Let me get back to the sea

Let me be stormy

and let me be calm

Let the tide in, rush over me

You know, I want to drown, drown

Drown, drown, drown

I want to drown, drown

Drown, drown, drown

I want to drown, drown

Drown, drown, drown...

It's interesting that out of

that calm and peace

comes the story's whole turning

point, where Jimmy meets up

with this key figure from his past,

the leader of the mods,

the Ace Face.

The idea is that Jimmy goes back

and he finds this character,

the Ace Face, who he really,

really idolised,

but in fact, the guy who was

smashing in the hotel doors with him

just recently is now working

as a bellboy.

The beach is a place where

a man can feel

He's the only soul

in the world that's real...

Jimmy sees his hero in the harsh

midday sun being nobody.

..Well, I see a face coming

through the haze

I remember him from

those crazy days...

And if this person, who was

so exalted, who was so perfect,

that he idolised, is nothing,

then Jimmy has nothing,

he is nothing.

..Riding up in front of

a hundred faces

I don't suppose

you would remember me

But I used to follow

you back in '63...

Jimmy's rank disillusion

at the idea that the person

he idolised is a f***ing bellboy.

..I've got a good job

And I'm newly born

You should see me

dressed up in my uniform

I work in hotel

All gilt and flash

Remember the gaff where

the doors we smashed?

Bell boy

I got to get running now...

It was quite difficult working

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