Daltrey on Townsend

[MarcO]

from zap2it.com

Daltrey Blasts Press, Politicos for Townshend’s Ordeal

(Monday, September 29 02:50 PM)

By John Crook

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - Lead singer for The Who Roger Daltrey says he is deeply saddened by the humiliating ordeal bandmate Pete Townshend underwent earlier this year, but he is even more “appalled” by the callous and superficial way British reporters covered the story.

Townshend was cleared last May of all charges stemming from his January arrest on suspicion of possessing child pornography he allegedly had downloaded from the Internet. Nevertheless, the 58-year-old lead guitarist of The Who will have his name listed in a register of sex offenders for the next five years for using a credit card to access a child pornography Web site in 1999. Daltrey, 59, is livid at the way he says some public officials released unfounded accusations as if they were fact, and a sensation-hungry press corps allowed the trampling of Townshend’s personal rights in its pursuit of a hot story.

“They went through his computers, 14 of them, with military precision without finding one image, which is exactly what he had told them,” Daltrey says. “He explained to them that he works in this field, of trying to get this stuff off the Internet. He was telling the truth, all the way, and the whole thing is appalling to me, the way he has been branded this dreadful thing, which he is not. “Look, I have never known anyone in my life who has helped [victims of pedophilia] more than Pete Townshend.”

Townshend, who says he himself was sexually abused as a child, privately helps abuse victims receive counseling and rehabilitation out of his own pocket, Daltrey adds, but such benign stories don’t sell as briskly as sex scandals do.

“You should see some of the letters he has gotten from [people he has helped], and I am talking about hundreds of people, and he also does just incredible work in prisons,” Daltrey says. “Most people don’t even know about that, because Pete doesn’t have a publicist following him around calling attention to all he does to help people. He says, ‘No, these people have to be protected,’ bless him, so imagine how I feel, knowing all this about him, and watching these second-rate journalists feeling they can kick him around all they like. Well, I’d like to have a look in their closets.

“I wouldn’t lie for him. Child pornography is so completely abhorrent to me, that no way would I defend him if I had even a shred of doubt, but I tell you, no one has done more for these people than Pete Townshend. He did what he said he did exactly for the reasons that he said he did it, and he was found not f***ing guilty.” At first, Daltrey says, his own anger was directed at the public officials who released false or misleading reports insisting that Townsend had, in fact, downloaded the offending material by the simple fact of accessing the site in question with his credit card. “The list that Pete’s name appeared on also had the names of a dozen judges, 30-odd policemen, three [members of Parliamen]) -- we don’t know who the hell they were, because everyone focused on Pete, because his name sold papers.

“Listen to me very carefully here: There were people in authority, people other than just the police, who should have known better but who were inflaming the press with sweeping, untrue statements that Pete had actually downloaded this stuff. These people were telling what, well, let’s kindly call ‘variations on the truth.’ What Pete told was the whole truth, from Day One, namely that he never downloaded even one image to his computer. That stuff, the pornography, makes him physically sick, he hates it so much.” Later, Daltrey says, his anger shifted to the reporters who missed what he felt was a far bigger issue.

“I have to wonder what is going on here,” he says. “We used to have such a thing as investigative journalists who would not let politicians and powers-that-be get away with this sort of thing, but now we’re just kind of sitting back and putting up with this garbage. If this were the ‘60s, there’d be 200 journalists crawling all over this story and not letting go of it. Where are they now? This has serious ramifications.

“There is a civil liberties issue here, a big one. We can’t have the police making judgments on people with no crime. It’s not good for democracy, and it’s not good for the police, either. This could be done to you tomorrow, or to me, in the same way. Pete did nothing [wrong]. It’s disgusting.”

Given that Townshend cooperated with police from the very first day, the case also sends a chilling message to other innocent people who find themselves under suspicion, Daltrey adds. “It says to me, ‘If you are arrested by the police, for f***’s sake, don’t tell them the truth. That’s the message they’re giving me,” he says. “My life is almost over, but my kids are going to go on, and I don’t want them living in a world where they can be tried, hung, drawn and quartered without even facing a judge or a jury, or even a [formal] charge for that matter. This could happen to anyone, and there is no one fighting back. It’s very scary.”

Roger Daltrey hosts “Extreme History With Roger Daltrey,” a limited series premiering Sunday, Oct. 5, on The History Channel.

[ollie]

Roger Daltry is the man.

[shainhouse]

another shot to democracy.

wow, Mr. Daltry, kudos.

[Jaimoe]

I'm proud of Roger's intellect, insight and compassion. Not bad for a former sheet-metal worker who's butted heads with Townshend for 40 years. Daltrey always ranked dead-last in my favourite Who member category, but I may have to to re-think this.

By the way, " The Who's " new studio bassist is rock legend Greg Lake. He's currently recording new tracks for a new " Who " box-set and studio album.

[secondtube]

i heard the same thing on Q107, they also reported The Who (who apparently are not going to use the name The Who) are going to go on a supporting tour.

[Seamo]

Where did you read that about Greg Lake...The Who homepage...I've been wondering recently, where do all these greats go? The ones that aren't dead yet that is.

Seamo