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What do you do when your elder
brother is an icon? Follow his example. The Who had a unique
rhythm section. Thundering solid bass and a wild extraordinary
drummer like there hadn't been before or since. In Mark Brzezicki
and Tony Butler (albeit Brzezicki no wild man), Simon Townshend
followed the example by teaming up with his teenage friends who
possessed amazing potential in the rhythm department, so much
so that elder bro Pete employed both of them himself for his
solo projects. Probing deeper, its no wonder Simon was so talented
as well, given that the whole Townshend family is steeped in
rich musical background and influences. From Cliff Townshend
the sax player and band leader of The Squadronaires through Simons
other brother Paul and of recent Simons son Ben drumming for
Alice Cooper, its no surprise that On The Air is something special.
Although terminated in early 80s, partly because Simon was offered
a solo deal with Polygram USA and the arrival of Big Country, "the
band was put on ice" to quote Mark Brzezicki.
Simon then made some fine solo
albums for Polygram and has continued to write well crafted
songs and produced several more albums via his own label and
recording studio. He also toured with the Who on their Quadrophenia
productions taking his brothers lead guitar parts and has toured
separately with Roger Daltrey & John Entwistle amongst others.
Once it was decided to release
the album and add a couple of new songs, the obvious thing to
do was play a few gigs and put OTA back on the map. Indeed a
few shows are being put together for the end of September.
The ice is thawing and ON THE
AIR are READY FOR ACTION AGAIN!.
This album has not been released
on CD before and will have two new tracks recorded this summer
included.
Footnote -
Who would have thought - a Townshend
back on Track? |
