Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend is an English multi-instrumentalist and songwriter best known as the guitarist and secondary lead vocalist, principal songwriter, co-founder and leader of the rock band The Who. His career with the Who spans over 50 years, during which time the band grew to be one of the most important and influential rock bands of the 20th century. Pete Townshend is the main songwriter for the Who, having written well over 100 songs for the band's 12 studio albums, including concept albums and the rock operas Tommy and Quadrophenia, plus popular rock radio staples such as Who's Next, dozens more that appeared as non-album singles, bonus tracks on reissues, tracks on rarities compilations such as Odds & Sods, he has written more than 100 songs that have appeared on his solo albums, as well as radio jingles and television theme songs. Although known as a guitarist, he plays keyboards, accordion, ukulele, violin, bass guitar, drums, on his own solo albums, several Who albums and as a guest contributor to an array of other artists' recordings.
He is self-taught on all of the instruments he has never had any formal training. Townshend has contributed to and authored many newspaper and magazine articles, book reviews, essays and scripts, he has collaborated as a lyricist and composer for many other musical acts. Due to his aggressive playing style and innovative songwriting techniques, Townshend's works with The Who and in other projects have earned him critical acclaim, he was ranked No. 3 in Dave Marsh's list of Best Guitarists in The New Book of Rock Lists, No. 10 in Gibson.com's list of the top 50 guitarists, No. 10 again in Rolling Stone's updated 2011 list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. In 1983, Townshend received the Brit Award for Lifetime Achievement, he and Roger Daltrey received The George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement at UCLA on 21 May 2016. Townshend was born on 19 May 1945, in Chiswick, west London at the Chiswick Hospital, Netheravon Road, he came from a musical family: his father, Cliff Townshend, was a professional alto saxophonist in the Royal Air Force's dance band the Squadronaires and his mother, was a singer with the Sydney Torch and Les Douglass Orchestras.
The Townshends had a volatile marriage, as both drank and possessed fiery tempers. Cliff Townshend was away from his family touring with his band while Betty carried on affairs with other men; the two split when Townshend was a toddler and he was sent to live with his maternal grandmother Emma Dennis, whom Pete described as "clinically insane". The two-year separation ended when Cliff and Betty purchased a house together on Woodgrange Avenue in middle-class Acton, the young Pete was reunited with his parents, his neighborhood was one-third Polish, a devout Jewish family upstairs shared their housing with them and cooking with them—many of his father's closest friends were Jewish. Townshend says he did not have many friends growing up, so he spent much of his boyhood reading adventure novels like Gulliver's Travels and Treasure Island, he enjoyed his family's frequent excursions to the Isle of Man. It was on one of these trips in the summer of 1956 that he watched the 1956 film Rock Around the Clock, sparking his fascination with American rock and roll.
Not long thereafter, he went to see Bill Haley perform in Townshend's first concert. At the time, he did not see himself pursuing a career as a professional musician. Upon passing the eleven-plus exam, Townshend was enrolled at Acton County Grammar School. At Acton County, he was bullied because he had a large nose, an experience that profoundly affected him, his grandmother Emma purchased his first guitar for Christmas in an inexpensive Spanish model. Though his father taught him a couple of chords, Townshend was self-taught on the instrument and never learned to read music. Townshend and school friend John Entwistle formed a short-lived trad jazz group, the Confederates, featuring Townshend on banjo and Entwistle on horns; the Confederates played gigs at the Congo Club, a youth club run by the Acton Congregational Church, covered Acker Bilk, Kenny Ball, Lonnie Donegan. However, both became influenced by the increasing popularity of rock'n' roll, with Townshend admiring Cliff Richard's debut single, "Move It".
Townshend left the Confederates after getting into a fight with the group's drummer, Chris Sherwin, purchased a "reasonably good Czechoslovakian guitar" at his mother's antique shop. Townshend's brothers Simon were born in 1957 and 1960, respectively. Lacking the requisite test scores to attend university, Pete was faced with the decision of art school, music school, or getting a job, he chose to study graphic design at Ealing Art College, enrolling in 1961. At Ealing, Townshend studied alongside future Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood. Notable artists and designers gave lectures at the college such as auto-destructive art pioneer Gustav Metzger. Townshend dropped out in 1964 to focus on music full-time. In late 1961, Entwistle joined a skiffle/rock and roll band, led by Roger Daltrey; the new bass player suggested Townshend join as an additional guitarist. In the early days of the Detours, the band's repertoire consisted of instrumentals by the Shadows and the Ventures, as well as pop and trad jazz covers.
Their lineup coalesced around
Global Underground 029: Sharam, Dubai is a DJ mix album in the Global Underground series and mixed by Iranian-American DJ and producer Sharam Tayebi of the house music duo Deep Dish. As darlings of the GU faithful, Deep Dish could do no wrong, so Sharam’s solo return to the label was greeted with much joy; as an exercise in pointing out how his and Dubfire’s tastes differ – and what they each brought to the celebrated DD partnership – this double CD can be held up against Dubfire’s GU031 for a fascinating insight. Sharam isn’t afraid of vocals and occasional pop sensibilities, but remains true to the underground spirit of the series with a flawless mix, his choice of the latest clubbing frontier - the fast rising Gulf city of Dubai - sits well with his own personal new era. Bold new music for the glitzy new metropolis. DYAD10 - "Sugar " Spider & Legaz - "Look Around" 16 Bit Lolitas - "Passing Lights" Syntax – "Bliss" Spider & Legaz - "Majorca Roots" Paul van Dyk feat. Wayne Jackson - "The Other Side"" Lunascape - "Mindstalking" Jiva feat.
Rula – "Timelapse" Sultan & Ned Shepard - "Together We Rise" 16 Bit Lolitas vs. Motorcycle – "Deep Breath Sedna" Creamer & K feat. Nadia Ali & Rosko - "Something to Lose"" Crime Mob - "Stilettos featuring Miss Aisha" Pig & Dan - "Eiffel Nights" The Reese Project - "Direct Me" Pete Heller Presents Timewarp - "Timewarp" Cedric Gervais feat. Caroline - "Spirit In My Life" Miss Nine - "Everlasting" Sultan & Ned Shepard feat. Stereomovers - "Connected" Simon & Shaker – "Zero" Suite 117 - "Smaller" Spider & Legaz - "Psych" Twotrups - "The Cello Track" Armin Van Buuren feat. Nadia Ali - "Who is Watching" Casa Grande - "El Ayoun" Nicolas Bacher - "Manitou" Acquaviva & Maddox - "Feedback" Planet Funk - "Everyday" Official Release Information from Global Underground News Page Global Underground 029: Dubai at Discogs
Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Bolton Littledale DSO was a British Army officer who became a prisoner of war and escaped from Colditz Castle during the Second World War but was killed in action on 1 September 1944. Ronald Littledale was born in June 1902 in Sandiway House, Cheshire, the only son of Captain John Bolton Littledale and his wife, Clara Stevenson, he was educated at St. Aubyn's, Rotttingdean and Eton College. Littledale attended the Royal Military College, Sandhurst and, after passing out from there, was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the King's Royal Rifle Corps, a rifle regiment of the British Army, on 1 February 1923, he served with both the 1st and 2nd Battalions, KRRC in Germany with the British Army of the Rhine, India and Northern Ireland, rising through the ranks during the 1920s and 1930s. He was promoted to lieutenant on 1 February 1925, captain on 3 May 1936. From 8 September 1936 he was appointed as a staff captain with the 2nd Infantry Brigade, part of the 1st Infantry Division, serving in Palestine during the Arab revolt.
He relinquished this appointment on 9 December 1937. Littledale, promoted on 1 February 1940 to major, served in World War II where he took part in the defence of Calais, as a Transport Officer with the 30th Infantry Brigade. On 26 May 1940 he was captured by a German patrol near the fort at the harbour mouth. With other captured officers he was marched across northern France for about 10 days taken by train from near Luxembourg to Trier and onward to Oflag VII-CLaufen in mid June 1940. In March 1941 he was transferred to Stalag Poznań in Poland; as a Prisoner of War he made several escape attempts. In May 1941, with two other British officers, they made contact with the Polish underground movement in Warsaw but, after parting company, Davies-Scourfield was recaptured in March 1942. Littledale and Sinclair were recaptured in Bulgaria after 8 months of freedom and handed back to the Germans; the three were all sent to Oflag IV-C at Colditz Castle, Littledale arriving there on 15 July 1942. On 15 October 1942, together with Captain Pat Reid, Lieutenant Commander William E. Stephens RNVR, Flight Lieutenant Howard D. Wardle, he escaped from Colditz, travelling with Stephens arrived in neutral Switzerland on 20 October 1942.
Littledale left Switzerland on 25 January 1943, with Flight Lieutenant Hedley Fowler, who had escaped earlier from Colditz, travelled across unoccupied France. They crossed into Spain on 30 January 1943, however they were arrested by the Spanish authorities the same day, they were taken to a military prison at Figueras, where they were held in filthy and cramped conditions until 22 February 1943. They were taken to the British Consul in Barcelona. From there they travelled to Gibraltar arriving on 25 March 1943. Littledale returned to the UK shortly afterwards. For his escape and actions whilst in captivity he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order on 4 May 1943, he was killed in action on 1 September 1944, commanding the 2nd Battalion of the King's Royal Rifle Corps and is buried at Airaines Cemetery in France. The Colditz Story by Pat Reid Colditz - The Full Story by Pat Reid In the Presence of My Foes by Gris Davies-Scourfield Those Who Dared by GA Brown