Killing two birds with one stone, Pete Townshend has announced that he is developing a new musical, the songs from which will provide the material for a forthcoming Who album. The musical, titled Floss, features songs that “are interspersed with surround-sound ’soundscapes’ featuring complex sound effects and musical montages,” according to Townshend. The musical’s plot revolves around Walter, a “pub-rock” musician who hits the big time when one of his songs is featured in a car commercial. Flush with cash, Walter becomes a “house husband” and his wife, Floss, takes up horseback riding; after a 15 year hiatus, however, “he finds that what he hears and what he composes evoke the ecologically rooted, apocalyptic mindset of his generation. Shaken by this and torn by personal difficulties, he and Floss become estranged,” according to Townshend.

In regards to the album, Townshend revealed that it will be designed as a “son et lumière piece” to be debuted in 2011. He is in talks with producers in New York and hopes to release some of the musical’s more “conventional” songs on a Who album sometime next year.

It seems the East Coast-West Coast rivalry is being dug up again, which we’re sure Biggie and Tupac would be amused at. It’s 40 years ago this August that the legendary Woodstock festival took place, which saw electric performances by Santana, Janis Joplin, The Grateful Dead, The Who, CSNY, and Jimi Hendrix among others. Now, though, the celebration of four decades of influential music is being disputed by San Francisco and New York companies, who are arguing who owns the rights to the name “Woodstock.”
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You can’t rock as hard when you’re unplugged, so that’s probably why Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend don’t do it that often — but they will be performing a rare acoustic gig to benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust at Arsenal Football Club’s annual charity ball in two weeks.
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Notes From Middle America is contributor Danny R. Phillips’ monthly column. You can read past installments here.
 
I have to ask.  What happened to rock? Has it become passé or uncool for a band to struggle, tour, play shows night after night to build a fan base without the help of excessive internet buzz or douche bags in the “hip” magazines who supposedly have their fingers on the pulse of the American youth culture? If a band has to work hard to get what they have, is that far less important than the mandatory polo shirts they wear on stage?
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Written by Danny R. Phillips

Metallica, the bay-area giants that legitimized “thrash metal” with albums like Kill ‘Em All, Master of Puppets, …And Justice For All and “The Black Album” were welcomed into the hallowed confines of The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on April 4, 2009.
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