Psychoderelict
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''Psychoderelict'' is a
concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...
written, produced and engineered by
Pete Townshend Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend (; born 19 May 1945) is an English musician. He is co-founder, leader, guitarist, second lead vocalist and principal songwriter of the Who, one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s and 1970s. Townsh ...
. Some characters and issues presented in this work were continued in Townshend's later opus ''
The Boy Who Heard Music ''The Boy Who Heard Music'' is a rock opus that began life as an Internet novella written by musician and songwriter Pete Townshend. Townshend wrote in the foreword to the novella that he typically sketches out his opera in this way to lay out ...
'', first presented on
The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
's album '' Endless Wire'' and then adapted as a rock musical. ''Psychoderelict'' is Townshend's sixth and most recent solo album to date.


History

Released in 1993, ''Psychoderelict'' is a
rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...
conceived by Townshend in 1991 as the follow-up to '' The Iron Man'', but despite having recorded several demos, a bicycle accident in September 1991 forced him to delay work on the album until his wrist was able to heal properly. It is structured more like a radio play than the more "traditional" rock operas Townshend had recorded both with
The Who The Who are an English rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup consisted of lead singer Roger Daltrey, guitarist and singer Pete Townshend, bass guitarist and singer John Entwistle, and drummer Keith Moon. They are considered ...
(''
Tommy Tommy may refer to: People * Tommy (given name) * Tommy Atkins, or just Tommy, a slang term for a common soldier in the British Army Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tommy'' (1931 film), a Soviet drama film * ''Tommy'' (1975 fil ...
'', ''
Quadrophenia ''Quadrophenia'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Who, released as a double album on 26 October 1973 by Track Records. It is the group's third rock opera, the two previous being the "mini-opera" song "A Quick One, Whil ...
'' and the unreleased ''Lifehouse'' album) and as a solo artist (''
White City White City may refer to: Places Australia * White City, Perth, an amusement park on the Perth foreshore * White City railway station, a former railway station * White City Stadium (Sydney), a tennis centre in Sydney * White City FC, a football clu ...
'' and ''The Iron Man''). The album's central character is Ray High (real name Raymond Highsmith), a '60s rock star who has dwindled and turned into an alcoholic recluse. Ray's manager, Rastus Knight, worried at the rocker's dwindling bank account, attempts unsuccessfully to talk him into recording new material. Rastus complains about it to radio pop-music reporter Ruth Streeting, an outspoken critic of Ray's. Ruth says she has an idea to "fire him up" and Rastus offers her a cut of the profits if she can do it. Ruth sends Ray a letter posing as a 15-year-old girl named Rosalind Nathan, who dreams of being a star. She includes in her letter an erotic Polaroid of herself lying naked on her mother's grave when she was 12. Ray responds to her immediately, calling the photograph "stunning" and telling her that they both "share complicated problems." He offers to help her if she will keep it a secret. He and "Rosalind" exchange several letters, where Ray opens his heart about his insecurity, his life's past tragedies, and his insights into the relationships between the performers, the public, and the press. He sends her a tape of "Flame," a song he wrote for his secret "Gridlife" project. In his last letter he talks about Ruth Streeting, calling her "symbolic of the entire establishment" and saying "her disgust is the greatest motivator of the artist in me." He confesses that he has fallen in love with her. Ruth, now sleeping with Rastus, laughs about it while being spanked. Ruth publishes the photograph in her "porno pen-pal story," calling Ray a slime ball who took advantage of a young fan's innocence to solicit the photograph and "test out his weird theories." The resulting controversy drives the re-release of Ray's records to huge sales. Rastus is delighted. "Rosalind's" version of "Flame," off of her new Ruth Streeting-produced album, becomes a huge hit. Ruth promotes Rosalind as a "brilliant songwriter" while keeping the real writer of the song a secret, even from Rastus. Ruth receives her cut of the profits, and Rastus is in seventh heaven, once again rolling in money. Ray, upset about Ruth's exposé, confronts them both. Ruth accuses Ray of "manipulating" Rosalind. Rastus says it all worked out for the best, they're back in calculator country. Ray insists that he was helping Rosalind deal with a problem. Ruth insists Rosalind never had a problem and all Ray did was "help her become a fucking star." In a meeting with Ruth at a bar, Raymond springs the surprise that he has known all along that Ruth and Rosalind are one and the same. It is heavily implied that Ruth fakes being attracted to Ray so that she can manoeuvre him into writing new material. Ruth, littering her language with endearments, is now producing the "Gridlife" album, which contains a sample of the Who's famous "Baba O'Riley." At the end of the play, Ray says that "Gridlife" was a vision, not a fiction, and that the apocalypse it foresaw is near. He wonders what happened to peace, love, and "all that hippie shit."


Commentary

The album is a critical, perhaps satirical look at Townshend's own life: the dedication of his music to
Meher Baba Meher Baba (born Merwan Sheriar Irani; 25 February 1894  – 31 January 1969) was an Indian spiritual master who said he was the Avatar, or God in human form, of the age. A major spiritual figure of the 20th century, he had a following of ...
's teachings, and his Lifehouse project, which closely resembles the ''Gridlife'' project on which the Ray High character is working. The album also makes use of Townshend's earlier song "Who Are You" which is sampled on the track "Meher Baba M4 (Signal Box)". Only one single proper was released from the album: "English Boy", both non-dialogue and dialogue versions, was released with a variety of B-sides and non-album songs, including "Psycho Montage" (a collection of dialogue from the album) and "Electronic Wizardry" (written and recorded in 1970 as a potential track for The Who's unreleased ''Lifehouse'' album), as well as demos for "Flame" and "Early Morning Dreams". "Don't Try to Make Me Real", "Outlive the Dinosaur" and "Now and Then" were all issued to radio stations with dialogue excised. A previously unreleased track, "Uneasy Street", was later released on the 1996 Pete Townshend compilation ''The Best of Pete Townshend: Coolwalkingsmoothtalkingstraightsmokingfirestoking''. After slow sales of the initial dialogue intense release, a "music only" version was issued, though sales and reviews were still disappointing. Fan reception was divided: some felt that Townshend's ideas were too pretentious even for him, while others have embraced it as the first worthy concept since ''
Quadrophenia ''Quadrophenia'' is the sixth studio album by the English rock band the Who, released as a double album on 26 October 1973 by Track Records. It is the group's third rock opera, the two previous being the "mini-opera" song "A Quick One, Whil ...
''. To date, it remains the final Pete Townshend solo album of all-original material, although further compilations have surfaced. The Ray High character would resurface in 2005 as the central character in ''
The Boy Who Heard Music ''The Boy Who Heard Music'' is a rock opus that began life as an Internet novella written by musician and songwriter Pete Townshend. Townshend wrote in the foreword to the novella that he typically sketches out his opera in this way to lay out ...
'', a novella written by Townshend for his Web site; and again the following year in Townshend's mini rock opera adaptation of that story, '' Wire & Glass''. That mini-opera would become the centrepiece of The Who's comeback album '' Endless Wire''.


Meher Baba instrumentals

There are four instrumental tracks which originated from Townshend's 1970–1971 synthesizer demos for The Who's album ''
Who's Next ''Who's Next'' is the fifth studio album by English rock band the Who. It developed from the aborted '' Lifehouse'' project, a multi-media rock opera conceived by the group's guitarist Pete Townshend as a follow-up to the band's 1969 album '' ...
''. Some of these experiments were released as "Baba O'Riley" that year and as "Who Are You" in 1978. On ''Psychoderelict'', the Meher Baba instrumentals appear in this order: *"Meher Baba M3": features a hypnotic synthesizer backing that may have been created specifically for this album. During this song, Ray High can be heard on a tape machine, listening through songs he had demoed as early as 1970 (an obvious allusion to Townshend trawling through his archives for ''Psychoderelict''). *"Meher Baba M4 (Signal Box)": a heavier track that sounds similar to "
Who Are You ''Who Are You'' is the eighth studio album by English rock band the Who, released on 18 August 1978 by Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and MCA Records in the United States. Although the album received mixed reviews from critics, it was a ...
", though this song undoubtedly features overdubs recorded by the musicians Townshend employed for ''Psychoderelict''. *"Meher Baba M5 (Vivaldi)": an upbeat arrangement which draws its inspiration from classical composer Vivaldi. *"Baba O'Riley (demo)": a demo recording of the classic Who track, this time with the "Irish jig" finale that would later feature a violin solo.


Track listing

All tracks written by Pete Townshend, unless otherwise stated.


Bonus tracks from the 2006 Hip-O Records reissue


Personnel

Credited as Psychoderelict family: * Jeremy Allom *
Jon Astley Jon Astley is a British record producer who has also recorded and released two albums as a singer-songwriter in the late 1980s. His most commercially successful song was "Jane's Getting Serious", later popularized by a Heinz ketchup television ...
* Richard Barnes * Paul Bonnick *
Ian Broudie Ian Zachary Broudie (born 4 August 1958) is an English musician and singer-songwriter from Liverpool. After emerging from the post-punk scene in Liverpool in the late 1970s as a member of Big in Japan, Broudie went on to produce albums (somet ...
*
Mark Brzezicki Mark Michael Brzezicki ( , ; born 21 June 1957) is an English musician, best known as the drummer for the Scottish rock band Big Country. He has also played with the Cult, Ultravox, From the Jam, Procol Harum, Rick Astley, the Crazy World of A ...
*
John "Rabbit" Bundrick John Douglas "Rabbit" Bundrick (born November 21, 1948 in Houston, Texas) is an American–English rock keyboardist. He is best known for his work with The Who and associations with others including Eric Burdon, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Roge ...
* Chyna * Allan Corduner * Bruce Davies * Barry Diament Audio * Julie Duff of Anne Henderson Casting * Andrew Eccles * Nick Goderson * Linal Haft * Deirdre Harrison * Nicky Brown * Steve Hill * Peter Hope-Evans * Icon Communications * Nicola Joss * Kick Horns * Roger Knapp * John Labanowski * Jamie Lane * Dee Lewis * Gavin Lewis *
Jody Linscott Jody Linscott is an American session musician and percussionist who resides in England and maintains an extended discography. She has two daughters Kachina Dechert and Coco Linscott and has written two children's books which were published by D ...
*
Jaz Lochrie Jaz Lochrie (born 18 April 1970) is a Scottish bass guitarist born in Paisley, Scotland, UK. Career Lochrie has played variously in his career live or recording with Pete Townshend, Bad Company, Slash, Paul Rodgers, Roger Daltrey, Joe Satrian ...
* Andy Macpherson * Billy Nicholls * Michael Nicholls *
Tessa Niles Tessa Margaret Niles ( ''née'' Webb; born 27 January 1961 in Ilford, Essex) is an English singer, best known as a backing singer for a wide variety of contemporary artists. She began her professional singing career in 1979. Early life and ca ...
*
Phil Palmer Philip John Palmer (born 9 September 1952) is a rock sideman and session guitarist who has toured, recorded, and worked with numerous artists. He is best known for his work with Eric Clapton and Dire Straits. Biography Palmer grew up in nort ...
* Josh Phillips-Gorse * Bob Pridden * Jan Ravens * Simon Rogers * Adam Seymour * Paul Stevens * Paul Townshend *
Simon Townshend Simon Townshend (; born 10 October 1960) is a British guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is the younger brother of the Who's guitarist Pete Townshend, and is most associated with The Who and the various side projects of its original members ...
* Nigel Walker * Cleveland Watkiss * Suzy Webb * Lee Whitlock * Paul "Tubbs" Williams * Ian Wilson


Live in New York featuring Psychoderelict

A performance from Townshend's first
North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...
solo tour was broadcast live from the theatre of the
Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...
in New York in August 1993. The concert was in three parts: an opening session of eight songs, a complete performance of ''Psychoderelict'' and an encore of a further five songs. The performance was featured by
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
''
Great Performances ''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise theatrical performances such as plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is pr ...
'' and directed by Richard Barnes and Bruce Gowers. It was later issued as a double CD called '' Pete Townshend Live BAM 1993'' and an NTSC all region DVD in 2006, titled ''Pete Townshend Live in New York Featuring Psychoderelict'' ASIN: B000B8TJ6W. The DVD included an interview with Pete Townshend conducted by Barry Barnes recorded specifically for this release in September 2005.


Cast

The cast included: *Pete Townshend ... Himself *John Labanowski ... Ray High *
Linal Haft Linal Haft (born 23 March 1945 in Leeds) is an English actor, best known for playing controlling or manipulative characters in both film and television, most notably his role as businessman Harry Gold in the popular BBC soap opera ''EastEnders ...
... Rastus Knight *
Jan Ravens Janet "Jan" Ravens (born 14 May 1958) is an English actress and impressionist, known for her voice work on ''Spitting Image'' and '' Dead Ringers''. Early life Ravens grew up in Hoylake, then in Cheshire, on the west side of the Wirral with he ...
... Ruth Streeting *Sage Carter ... Athena *
John Bundrick John Douglas "Rabbit" Bundrick (born November 21, 1948 in Houston, Texas) is an American–English rock keyboardist. He is best known for his work with The Who and associations with others including Eric Burdon, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Roge ...
... Keyboards * Peter Hope Evans ... Harmonica *
Andy Fairweather Low Andrew Fairweather Low (born 2 August 1948) is a Welsh guitarist and singer. He was a founding member and lead singer of 1960s pop band Amen Corner (band), Amen Corner, and in recent years has toured extensively with Roger Waters, Eric Clapton ...
... Guitar, Vocalist *Deirdre Harrison ... Athena (voice) *
Katie Kissoon Mac and Katie Kissoon are a pop soul duo, consisting of brother and sister Mac Kissoon (born Gerald Farthing, November 11, 1943, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) and Katie Kissoon (born Katherine Farthing, March 11, 1951, Port of Spain). E ...
... Vocalist *
Billy Nicholls William Morris Nicholls Jr (born 15 February 1949) is an English singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and musical director. He was born into a musical family, his father Billy Nicholls (Sr.) being a double bassist and big band singer, ...
... Vocalist *
Pino Palladino Giuseppe Henry "Pino" Palladino (born 17 October 1957) is a Welsh musician, songwriter, and record producer. A prolific session bassist, he has played bass for acts such as The Who, the John Mayer Trio, Nine Inch Nails, Gary Numan, Jeff Beck ...
... Bass *
Phil Palmer Philip John Palmer (born 9 September 1952) is a rock sideman and session guitarist who has toured, recorded, and worked with numerous artists. He is best known for his work with Eric Clapton and Dire Straits. Biography Palmer grew up in nort ...
... Guitar * Simon Phillips ... Drums *
Lee Whitlock Lee Whitlock (17 April 1968 – 17 February 2023) was a British television and film actor. Of the many roles in film and TV, they included ''Shine on Harvey Moon'' (1982), '' Two of Us'' (1987), '' Casualty'' (1991), ''Grange Hill'' (1993), '' S ...
... Spinner (voice)


Other media

In 1999 ''Psychoderelict'' was considered for production as a Broadway musical. Townshend worked on a script with director
Ethan Silverman Ethan may refer to: People * Ethan (given name) Places *Ethan, South Dakota * Fort Ethan Allen (Arlington, Virginia) Fiction *''Ethan of Athos'', 1986 novel by Lois McMaster Bujold *" Ethan Brand", 1850 short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne *''Eth ...
and the show was workshopped with actor
Peter Gallagher Peter Killian Gallagher (born August 19, 1955) is an American actor. Since 1980, he has played roles in numerous Hollywood films. He is best known for starring as Sandy Cohen in the television drama series ''The O.C.'' from 2003 to 2007, recurr ...
. However, to date the show has not been produced. In March 2009, the
webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be co ...
''3rd Blade''3rdblade.net
/ref> began a serialized adaptation of ''Psychoderelict''.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Psychoderelict 1993 albums Concept albums Pete Townshend albums Rock operas Rock musicals Atlantic Records albums Albums produced by Pete Townshend