Psychoderelict
Encyclopedia
Psychoderelict is a concept album
written, produced and engineered by Pete Townshend
. Some characters and issues presented in this work were continued in Townshend's later opus The Boy Who Heard Music
, first presented on The Who
's album Endless Wire
and then adapted as a rock musical.
This is Townshend's last solo album to date.
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
(Tommy
, Quadrophenia
and the unreleased Lifehouse album) and as a solo artist (White City
and The Iron Man).
Veteran rock performer RAY HIGH has lived for about two years as a recluse in plush isolation, dreaming about Gridlife, a musical project he abandoned in the '70s. Witty, cynical, clever, and ambitious young music critic RUTH STREETING devotes an edition of her successful network radio show, Streeting's Street, to attack Ray, whom she despises.
Ray's manager, RASTUS KNIGHT, is unaware of Gridlife and is frustrated that Ray has lost interest in recording and performing. Meeting Ruth in a nightclub, he confides his problem to her. Ruth surprises Rastus by claiming that, of all people, she could find a way to inspire Ray and resurrect his career. When Rastus offers her a percentage, she tells him she has a plan.
Meanwhile, we learn that Gridlife is a futuristic musical about a global Virtual Reality system which provides its subscribers with entire lifetimes of karmically tailored experience. ATHENA, the controller of the Grid, uses a jingle to promote her Gridsuits as safe havens from the heavily polluted atmosphere. But the young hero, SPINNER, is concerned that Athena has too much power and is distorting the truth. He plans to expose her and lead a rebellion.
Back in real life, Ruth believes her attack has forced Ray out of isolation: he appears in a London club with Rastus. Ruth returns to the fray, broadcasting a second public assault, with increased venom.
Around the same time, Ray receives a letter from a young American fan, ROSALIND NATHAN, who encloses a provocative photo. She wants to be a singer. Ray recognizes something in her and begins a correspondence. He opens his heart to Rosalind, speaking frankly about his life and sharing his observations about art and stardom. He asks her to test herself by singing "Flame," a song he wrote for his Gridlife project, which she does. He ends the correspondence, in his last letter revealing his innermost secret.
At this point, Ruth informs Rastus that her plan is nearing its climax. During her next radio show, she viciously lays into Ray. Ruth has obtained all his letters to Rosalind, and she twists and distorts the contents, insinuating that Ray was sexually exploiting Rosalind, an innocent, naive, underage fan.
Ruth blatantly exploits the situation, creating controversy about Rosalind, who has just released a record. A huge media furor follows, and the "Porno Pen-Pals" scandal looks as though it could destroy Ray. However, it instead creates renewed interest in his music, and his albums begin to sell again. It is also revealed that Rosalind is a fictional character, created and portrayed by Ruth herself.
Later, Ruth shows up at Ray's house for an encounter with Rastus, during which she claims credit for both Rosalind's hit and the resurrection of Ray's career. Rastus is overwhelmed at the scale of Ruth's deceit. Ruth collects her commission from Rastus and is impressed at the amount Ray is now earning as a result of the scandal. Ray tells Ruth that he knew all along, and wanted her to know the secret that he had been hiding.
Ray finally gets to record his Gridlife project. We hear Spinner, in a scene from Ray's dream, explain that everything in the Universe is composed of music and vibrations, and that soon the whole world will experience their adventure. Ray's story closes as he compares the deceit of today with the optimism of the time when he was composing Gridlife. He longs for a return to the values and visions of the early '70s.
's teachings, and his Lifehouse project, which closely resembles the Gridlife project the Ray High character is working on. 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 Who's Next. 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
, 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
.
. 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:
, Richard Barnes, Paul Bonnick, Ian Broudie
, Mark Brzezicki
, John "Rabbit" Bundrick, Chyna, Allan Corduner, Bruce Davies, Barry Diament Audio, Julie Duff of Anne Henderson Casting, Andrew Eccles, Nick Goderson, Linal Haft, Deirdre Harrison, Steve Hill, Peter Hope-Evans, Icon Communications, Nicola Joss, Kick Horns, Roger Knapp, John Labanowski, Jamie Lane, Dee Lewis, Gavin Lewis, Jody Linscott
, Jaz Lochrie
, Andy Macpherson, Billy Nicholls, Michael Nicholls, Tessa Niles
, Phil Palmer
, Josh Phillips-Gorse, Bob Pridden, Jan Ravens, Simon Rogers, Adam Seymour, Paul Stevens, Paul Townshend, Simon Townshend
, Nigel Walker, Cleveland Watkiss, Suzy Webb, Lee Whitlock, Paul "Tubbs" Williams, Ian Wilson.
solo tour was broadcast live from the theatre of the Brooklyn Academy of Music
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 Great Performances
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.
and the show was workshopped with actor Peter Gallagher
. However, to date the show has not been produced.
In March 2009, the webcomic
3rd Bladehttp://3rdblade.net began a serialized adaptation of Psychoderelict.
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
written, produced and engineered by Pete Townshend
Pete Townshend
Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...
. 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
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 the plots and storylines, but in this case he published the...
, first presented on The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
's album Endless Wire
Endless Wire (The Who album)
Endless Wire is the eleventh album by the English rock band The Who released on 30 October 2006, through Polydor Records and the following day in the United States by Universal Republic. It was their first new album of original material in twenty-four years following the release of It's Hard in 1982...
and then adapted as a rock musical.
This is Townshend's last solo album to date.
History
Released in 1993, Psychoderelict is a rock operaRock opera
A rock opera is a work of rock music that presents a storyline told over multiple parts, songs or sections in the manner of opera. A rock opera differs from a conventional rock album, which usually includes songs that are not unified by a common theme or narrative. More recent developments include...
conceived by Townshend in 1991 as the follow-up to The Iron Man
The Iron Man: A Musical
The Iron Man: The Musical by Pete Townshend, released in 1989, is an adaptation of Ted Hughes' story The Iron Man, produced and largely composed and performed by Pete Townshend of The Who...
, 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
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
(Tommy
Tommy (rock opera)
Tommy is the fourth album by English rock band The Who, released by Track Records and Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Decca Records/MCA in the United States. A double album telling a loose story about a "deaf, dumb and blind boy" who becomes the leader of a messianic movement, Tommy was...
, Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia
Quadrophenia is the sixth studio album by English rock band The Who. Released on 19 October 1973 by Track and Polydor in the UK, and Track and MCA in the US, it is a double album, and the group's second rock opera...
and the unreleased Lifehouse album) and as a solo artist (White City
White City: A Novel
White City: A Novel is a solo concept album by Pete Townshend of The Who, released in 1985 on Atco.The title refers to a story that accompanies the album, and which takes place in a low-income housing estate in the West London area of White City, near where Townshend grew up...
and The Iron Man).
Veteran rock performer RAY HIGH has lived for about two years as a recluse in plush isolation, dreaming about Gridlife, a musical project he abandoned in the '70s. Witty, cynical, clever, and ambitious young music critic RUTH STREETING devotes an edition of her successful network radio show, Streeting's Street, to attack Ray, whom she despises.
Ray's manager, RASTUS KNIGHT, is unaware of Gridlife and is frustrated that Ray has lost interest in recording and performing. Meeting Ruth in a nightclub, he confides his problem to her. Ruth surprises Rastus by claiming that, of all people, she could find a way to inspire Ray and resurrect his career. When Rastus offers her a percentage, she tells him she has a plan.
Meanwhile, we learn that Gridlife is a futuristic musical about a global Virtual Reality system which provides its subscribers with entire lifetimes of karmically tailored experience. ATHENA, the controller of the Grid, uses a jingle to promote her Gridsuits as safe havens from the heavily polluted atmosphere. But the young hero, SPINNER, is concerned that Athena has too much power and is distorting the truth. He plans to expose her and lead a rebellion.
Back in real life, Ruth believes her attack has forced Ray out of isolation: he appears in a London club with Rastus. Ruth returns to the fray, broadcasting a second public assault, with increased venom.
Around the same time, Ray receives a letter from a young American fan, ROSALIND NATHAN, who encloses a provocative photo. She wants to be a singer. Ray recognizes something in her and begins a correspondence. He opens his heart to Rosalind, speaking frankly about his life and sharing his observations about art and stardom. He asks her to test herself by singing "Flame," a song he wrote for his Gridlife project, which she does. He ends the correspondence, in his last letter revealing his innermost secret.
At this point, Ruth informs Rastus that her plan is nearing its climax. During her next radio show, she viciously lays into Ray. Ruth has obtained all his letters to Rosalind, and she twists and distorts the contents, insinuating that Ray was sexually exploiting Rosalind, an innocent, naive, underage fan.
Ruth blatantly exploits the situation, creating controversy about Rosalind, who has just released a record. A huge media furor follows, and the "Porno Pen-Pals" scandal looks as though it could destroy Ray. However, it instead creates renewed interest in his music, and his albums begin to sell again. It is also revealed that Rosalind is a fictional character, created and portrayed by Ruth herself.
Later, Ruth shows up at Ray's house for an encounter with Rastus, during which she claims credit for both Rosalind's hit and the resurrection of Ray's career. Rastus is overwhelmed at the scale of Ruth's deceit. Ruth collects her commission from Rastus and is impressed at the amount Ray is now earning as a result of the scandal. Ray tells Ruth that he knew all along, and wanted her to know the secret that he had been hiding.
Ray finally gets to record his Gridlife project. We hear Spinner, in a scene from Ray's dream, explain that everything in the Universe is composed of music and vibrations, and that soon the whole world will experience their adventure. Ray's story closes as he compares the deceit of today with the optimism of the time when he was composing Gridlife. He longs for a return to the values and visions of the early '70s.
Commentary
The album is a critical, perhaps satirical look at Townshend's own life: the dedication of his music to Meher BabaMeher Baba
Meher Baba , , born Merwan Sheriar Irani, was an Indian mystic and spiritual master who declared publicly in 1954 that he was the Avatar of the age....
's teachings, and his Lifehouse project, which closely resembles the Gridlife project the Ray High character is working on. 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 Who's Next. 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
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 the plots and storylines, but in this case he published the...
, 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
Wire & Glass
Wire & Glass is the only EP released from The Who's 2006 album, Endless Wire. The EP was released exclusively to the iTunes Music Store on 17 July 2006 and a Maxi-CD/12" was released a week later in Australia and the United Kingdom. The EP was released as a "mini-opera" in six songs...
. That mini-opera would become the centrepiece of The Who's comeback album Endless Wire
Endless Wire (The Who album)
Endless Wire is the eleventh album by the English rock band The Who released on 30 October 2006, through Polydor Records and the following day in the United States by Universal Republic. It was their first new album of original material in twenty-four years following the release of It's Hard in 1982...
.
Meher Baba instrumentals
There are four instrumental tracks which originated from Townshend's 1970-1971 synthesizer demos for The Who's album Who's NextWho's Next
Who's Next is the fifth studio album by English rock band The Who, released in August 1971. The album has origins in a rock opera conceived by Pete Townshend called Lifehouse. The ambitious, complex project did not come to fruition at the time and instead, many of the songs written for the project...
. 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", though this song undoubtedly features overdubs recorded by the musicians Townshend employed for Psychoderelict.
- "Meher Baba M5 (Vivaldi)": an upbeat arrangement with 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.
Dialogue version
- "English BoyEnglish Boy"English Boy" is the first song on Pete Townshend's 1993 album Psychoderelict. This song is used to introduce the character Ray High, as well as journalist Ruth Streeting, host of Street On The Street...
" - "Meher Baba M3"
- "Let's Get Pretentious"
- "Meher Baba M4 (Signal Box)"
- "Early Morning Dreams"
- "I Want That Thing"
- Dialogue introduction to "Outlive the Dinosaur"
- "Outlive the Dinosaur"
- "Flame (demo version)" (Gavin Lewis, Jaz LochrieJaz LochrieJaz Lochrie is a bass guitarist born in Scotland, UK.Credits have included Bad Company, Go West, Psychedelix, Paul Rodgers, Pete Townshend, British Rock Symphony, Mamma Mia! The Musical, David Knopfler, Breathe and many others.-References:...
, Josh Phillips-Gorse, Mark Brzezicki, Simon Townshend) - "Now and Then"
- "I Am Afraid"
- "Don't Try to Make Me Real"
- Dialogue introduction to "Predictable"
- "Predictable"
- "Flame" (Lewis, Lochrie, Phillips-Gorse, Brzezicki, S. Townshend)
- "Meher Baba M5 (Vivaldi)"
- "Fake It" (Billy Nicholls, Jon Astley, Jon Lind)
- Dialogue introduction to "Now and Then (Reprise)"
- "Now and Then (Reprise)"
- "Baba O' Riley (Demo)"
- "English Boy (Reprise)"
Non-dialogue version
- "English Boy"
- "Meher Baba M3"
- "Let's Get Pretentious"
- "Meher Baba M4 (Signal Box)"
- "Early Morning Dreams"
- "I Want That Thing"
- "Outlive the Dinosaur"
- "Now and Then"
- "I Am Afraid"
- "Don't Try to Make Me Real"
- "Predictable" (contains an extra verse not found on dialogue version)
- "Flame" (Lewis, Lochrie, Phillips-Gorse, Brzezicki, S. Townshend)
- "Meher Baba M5 (Vivaldi)"
- "Fake It" (Nicholls, Astley, Lind)
- "English Boy (Reprise)"
Personnel
Credited as Psychoderelict family: Jeremy Allom, Jon AstleyJon Astley
Jon Astley is a British record producer who 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 commercial starring a pre-Friends cast member Matt...
, Richard Barnes, Paul Bonnick, Ian Broudie
Ian Broudie
Ian Broudie is a British singer-songwriter, musician and record producer from Liverpool, England. After emerging from the post punk scene in Liverpool in the late 1970s as a member of Big in Japan, Broudie went on to form the short-lived groups Original Mirrors and Care in the early 1980s as well...
, Mark Brzezicki
Mark Brzezicki
Mark Brzezicki is a rock drummer, who is primarily known for his work with Big Country, and was a member of the groups The Cult, Ultravox, and Procol Harum. He has also played with Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, Midge Ure, Fish, The Pretenders and many others...
, John "Rabbit" Bundrick, Chyna, Allan Corduner, Bruce Davies, Barry Diament Audio, Julie Duff of Anne Henderson Casting, Andrew Eccles, Nick Goderson, Linal Haft, Deirdre Harrison, 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
Jody Linscott is an American session musician and percussionist who resides in England and maintains an extended discography. She has two daughters and has written two children's books which were published by Doubleday, both edited by Jackie Onassis...
, Jaz Lochrie
Jaz Lochrie
Jaz Lochrie is a bass guitarist born in Scotland, UK.Credits have included Bad Company, Go West, Psychedelix, Paul Rodgers, Pete Townshend, British Rock Symphony, Mamma Mia! The Musical, David Knopfler, Breathe and many others.-References:...
, Andy Macpherson, Billy Nicholls, Michael Nicholls, Tessa Niles
Tessa Niles
Tessa Niles is an English singer, best known as a backing singer for a wide variety of artists.-Early life and career:Born in Kent, Niles began her professional singing career, as both a lead and a backing vocalist, in 1979...
, Phil Palmer
Phil Palmer
Philip 'Phil' John Palmer is a sideman and session guitarist in jazz and rock who has toured, recorded, and worked with numerous famous artists...
, Josh Phillips-Gorse, Bob Pridden, Jan Ravens, Simon Rogers, Adam Seymour, Paul Stevens, Paul Townshend, Simon Townshend
Simon Townshend
Simon Townshend is a British guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is the younger brother of The Who's Pete Townshend, and is most associated with The Who and the various side projects of its original members, despite many other musical ventures in his career....
, 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 AmericanNorth American
North American generally refers to an entity, people, group, or attribute of North America, especially of the United States and Canada together.-Culture:*North American English, a collective term used to describe American English and Canadian English...
solo tour was broadcast live from the theatre of the Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music
Brooklyn Academy of Music is a major performing arts venue in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City, United States, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance....
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
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 Great Performances
Great Performances
Great Performances, a television series devoted to the performing arts, has been telecast on Public Broadcasting Service public television since 1972...
and directed by Richard Barnes and Bruce Gowers. It was later issued as a double CD called Pete Townshend Live BAM 1993
Pete Townshend Live BAM 1993
Pete Townshend Live BAM 1993 is a live recording by Pete Townshend. The music was recorded at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn, N.Y., on 7 August 1993 and a double CD released 11 August 2003 by UK company Eel Pie Recording Productions Ltd...
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 HaftLinal HaftLinal Haft, sometimes known as Lionel Haft, is a British actor.- Biography :Haft made his acting debut in an episode of Homicide as Harry Bruce in 1968. He went on to play his second role later the same year, as Adams in an episode of Contrabandits...
... Rastus Knight - Jan RavensJan RavensJanet "Jan" Ravens is an English actress and impressionist, famous for her voices on Spitting Image and Dead Ringers.-Early life:...
... Ruth Streeting - Sage Carter ... Athena
- John BundrickJohn BundrickJohn Douglas "Rabbit" Bundrick is an American rock keyboardist, pianist and organist. He is best known for his work with The Who and associations with others including Eric Burdon, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Roger Waters, Free and Crawler. Bundrick is noted as the principal musician for the cult...
... Keyboards - Peter Hope Evans ... Harmonica
- Andy Fairweather Low ... Guitar
- Deirdre Harrison ... Athena (voice)
- Katie Kissoon ... Vocalist
- Billy NichollsBilly NichollsBilly Nicholls is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and musical director, who first gained fame in the 1960s while still a teenager with his Pet Sounds influenced album, Would You Believe, originally released on Immediate Records.Nicholls' compositions have been covered by many...
... Vocalist - Pino PalladinoPino PalladinoPino Palladino is a Welsh bass guitarist who gained fame playing primarily rock and roll, blues rock, and rhythm and blues music, although he has been lauded for his ability to play most genres of popular music, including jazz, neo soul, and funk...
... Bass - Phil PalmerPhil PalmerPhilip 'Phil' John Palmer is a sideman and session guitarist in jazz and rock who has toured, recorded, and worked with numerous famous artists...
... Guitar - Simon PhillipsSimon PhillipsSimon Phillips is an English jazz, pop and rock drummer.-Career:Phillips began to play professionally at the age of twelve in his father's Dixieland band for four years. He was then offered the chance to play in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar...
... Drums - Lee WhitlockLee WhitlockLee Whitlock is a British television and film actor.At age 12 he gave his debut in the British television series The Gentle Touch in 1980. In 1982 he appeared as Stanley Moon, the son of Harvey Moon, in the series Shine on Harvey Moon and as Falstaff's page Robin in The Merry Wives of Windsor. In...
... Spinner (voice)
Other media
In 1999 Psychoderelict was considered for production as a Broadway musical. Townshend worked on a script with director Ethan SilvermanEthan Silverman
Ethan Silverman is a writer, theatre director, filmmaker, and producer who was born on November 25, 1959 in Brooklyn, New York. He was raised in Chicago IL and Albany, New York before attending Oberlin College and The Drama Studio, London....
and the show was workshopped with actor Peter Gallagher
Peter Gallagher
Peter Killian Gallagher is an American actor, musician and writer. Since 1980, Gallagher has played many roles in numerous Hollywood films. He starred as Sandy Cohen in the television drama series The O.C. from 2003 to 2007...
. However, to date the show has not been produced.
In March 2009, the webcomic
Webcomic
Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
3rd Bladehttp://3rdblade.net began a serialized adaptation of Psychoderelict.