Pete Townshend - Slit Skirts - 1984

[jrushmen]

The Sea Refuses no River was written about redemption and cleansing.The sea will take in a polluted river and naturally clean it. Pete's wife was the sea and Pete was the river. She threw him out and told him that he could only come home if he went to rehab and get clean.So he did and wrote the song to reference the experience.

Slit Skirts is also about Pete's wife. Pete was out on the road in hotel rooms with prostitutes,while his wife was home being faithful.Prostitutes wear slit skirts.

[jrushmen]

Pete wrote ATBCHCE while getting clean and sober in California. Several songs on the album are direct references to the experience. For example : Exquisitely Bored in California - Somebody Saved Me - The Sea Refuses No River.

It is rumored that" Somebody Saved Me" was written in reference to Keith Moon but The Who's early manager Kit Lambert had passed away of a heroin overdose just previous of Pete going into rehab. Pete has never mentioned who the song was written about.

[tjrrockandrollmaster]

Phil Collins played the drums here much better than Mark Brzescki (who I think was badly miming Simon Phillips' parts in the video). Another great version was 1986 Deep End featuring David Gilmour on guitar.

[TheStuport]

@pjp729...it was the mid 80's.....fashions were all over the place as well.....AND, if your only concerned with the dudes attire and not his guitar...then you missed the boat to The Cat Walk Princess!!

[SuperMegaUberGenius]

it's still 2011 and the best chord progression but then i saw how pete in an interview in his interview and now that moon and enth and the sign of eth is rising in the walrus' tale.

pete said in an interview tsomething how the comment would mirror the song writer, or opinion let me tell you more about almost 2012 god.

anyhoo the mirror interview artist james joyce ! idndeed thanks for the threshold of great chord progressions!

[herbiemarx01]

Waht is he wearing?

[pjp729]

who wears a tie and plays the guitar, please

[federipal]

Brilliant!!!

The most versatile musician.

[kc768]

It's rare to see him play piano or keyboards, and he's really good at it. Beautiful player.

[lovedandhis]

petes my man but WHO DRESSED HIM? YIKEZ

[gomudhen]

@lovedandhis Chairman Mao.

[fasima]

RIP Karn

[dreck93]

bass is crazy 

[tripleTmoney]

wait, what? is that midge ure on guitar?

[StretchPhotography]

So 80's! The perm! The eye shadow! PHIL COLLINS! LOL!

[ROBYLIO]

The guitarist is MIDGE URE of ULTRAVOX!!! Who's the bass player?

[booeyats1]

Mick Karn from Japan and Midge Ure from Ultravox correct! One of three songs perfromed by Pete also were Let My Love Open The Door and Higher!

[movikk]

PTOWNS <3

[PutItAway101]

Ha tragic haircut on Pete, and the guitarist looks like he escaped from Kraftwerk

[zebonaut]

3:18

He loves Phil Fill..

[dersh65]

I love Pete!!! The greatest composer of ALL time. There is no equal!!!

[lovedandhis]

@dersh65 here u r again!!! my fellow pete freak

[rizlateef]

Phil Collins should've done a cover version of this back in the day.

[Anglovox]

That looks, and sounds like, MICK KARN on Bass. Townsy could always seem to spot the quality young players.

[80snewwavekid]

It actually is Mick, after japan dissolved he did the Dali's Car project and was highly sought after for session work. This is taken from one of the Prince's Trust performances. And to also think, Pete's early 80's albums featured the rhythm section of what would become Big Country, spotting quality players indeed

[BuddyT]

Pete looks great in this video. Well tanned and young looking.

[BuddyT]

The guitar and bass player look gay.

[zebonaut]

it was the 80´s.

Everyone looked gay.

[KEVSKI1]

Cool with Collins and Ure. I prerfer the Simon Phillips drums.

[jumbod]

Where is this from?

[80snewwavekid]

Prince's Trust concert for 1982, available on VHS if you can find a used copy

[tonyv47]

me thinks that is a better version period !!!

excellent !!!

[craggy1969]

Midge Ure on guitar i noticed..love it, great PT song, Chinese Eyes is a great cd too..

[bonjovilvr3]

sweet song!!

i love the transition!

pete is a freakin genius!

i have this album on vinyl and i'm 14!!!

one of the best presents i ever got!

but i can't listen to it so i still need the cd

rock on pete!

phil collins rocks too

[kitakashiwa]

Pete on touppe ;)

[balz2dewalz]

This song is like a piccaso or a rembrant, never to be duplicted. not in its original form. beutiful

[edskap1967]

Absolutely oustanding Pete Townshend solo song. Probably his best. Perhaps only John Lennon can deal with the emotional pain associated with aging and life stages in the honest and candid fashion that Townshend does here. When he profoundly states--"No one quite respects the flame like the fool that has been badly burned" he speaks volumes. Great vocals combined with Phil Collins'powerhouse drumming make this performance one to remember.

[bonjovilvr3]

amen to that!

[dsm29530]

Great version of a great song! As a semi-pro musician I can only imagine how much fun Phil and Pete had playing together.

[Ugwamp]

What an artist this man is! Love Townsend and The Who, but I never did dig the 80's haircuts that three of them just had to have (thanks for standing your ground, Ox!). The other band around for all of the 70's that got some of those awful haircuts was Rush. Thanks for posting the song, Sox; haven't heard it in years!

[JeepityJ]

I've always LOVED this song, and haven't heard it in years! Thanks for posting!

[cungar]

You have to give Phil Collins credit. He may be the biggest sellout in rock history but he never had a faux new romantic haircut like Pete.

[LennysComet]

when you have the talent as townshend does, you can do anything ya want when it comes to fashion, besides, philly boy had no hair in the 80s

[SqueakySpeedKing]

Who are you? What have you done? Certainly you have to give hime credit. He's one of the heaviest drummers in history. You probably say that same thing about Madonna.

[meh130]

Phil was the hardest working man in show business in the 1980's. He would tour with Genesis, followed by a solo tour, followed by an Eric Clapton tour. Somehow he worked Pete in.

Don't you remember Live Aid, one year after this video? Phil was the only artist to play both Wembley in London and JFK in Philadelphia.

[longrockwoman]

Most drummers I've ever met were really hyper folks. Phil probably enjoyed touring that much, and he may have had some chemical assistance. You can always spot potential drummers...they're the ones tapping their pencils on the desk and stuff like that.

[meh130]

Good point. Those habits (tapping pencils, etc.) are classic ADHD symptoms. Drumming is a perfect outlet for that kind of personality. But I also think Phil was a classic workaholic as well.

[floydgenesisnut]

Phil was a notorious workaholic. When Genesis weren't recording nor touring he would be either doing solo work or playing with other people or producing other people. What put an end to it was when he went deaf in his left ear a few years ago when he got sudden deafness syndrome while ill with the flu.

[valdostaguru]

Don't forget the brand x albums, tours, Crosy Stills nash and collins tour

[joezesiger]

that's only because he didn't have any hair

[TownshendFan91]

Pete's God!!!!!

Ijustlove his music!

In my opinion the most important guy in the history of rock music!

[jointogetherlizette]

pete is my favorite, he's amazing

[515whofan905]

pete's brilliant on piano

[ackerlaw2004]

Thank you so much for this post!

[peacemonger1967]

Great song. Loved this when I was 15 years old. A lost classic. Where does the time go...I`m older now than Pete was then!

[Jiggs46]

"No one respects the flame quite like the fool whos badly burned"

Simply the best!

[robinmod]

This is one of my favourites Pete Townshend´s solo songs, the others being "Brilliant Blues" and "Heart to Hang Onto". A truly genius.

LONG LIVE ROCK!

[515whofan905]

'heart to hang onto' is an abosolutely beautiful song.

[EuchridEucrow1]

Phil's a great drummer but you can tell he's really just blustering his way through this.

Townshend has to give him the signal to lay off for the second verse.

Unfortunate...

[foppa123]

it was handled nicely, no complaints from me; well maybe except one...the ending to me is what makes this song great(studio version), but so far I can't find a similar ending live, with the cool guitar lick.

[EuchridEucrow1]

That's down to Phil's basic skill.

I'm not saying the performance is bad. I'm just regretful because I feel it could've been so much better.

When he knows a piece he's an incredibly inventive, yet rocksteady drummer.

To be fair to the man, though, this is from the days when both Genesis and his solo career had taken off into the atmosphere in terms of popularity. Talk about being busy!

[zebonaut]

Nope.

This look is not a signal.

It is just a look.

There is no hint whatever that Phil is not certain where he should be.

The Band is tight and so is Phil.

Remember: this combonation was a One-Off.

How many rehearsals did they have for that? I guess one day, i´m sure.

So no "unfortunate".

[gymerap]

Gotta love the Yamaha electric grand. Pete's a bleeping genius.

[jamesfuria]

pete on piano, rare, and killer of course

[howelldrake]

Great to hear Pete on keyboards. The key changes in this song are more beautiful than anything The (albeit brilliant) Who ever did in their later days (if ever).

[BaDeeRich]

01:14-01:19

[BaDeeRich]

Listen to Phil rip through those tom toms...

[progjunky]

he reminds me of '80s peter gabriel in this performance

[buickmonte]

hey sauciest1 i hope your female because with a screen name like that i wouldnt be attempting call outs here.if youre truly a Pete Townshend fan you would respect all the musicians that jam with him, i am sure he does.

[buickmonte]

hell yeah...Midge Ure

[sauciest1]

Yeah right...Midge applied to be Pete's butler...but left with "tears in his eyes". LOL

[progjunky]

this is way better than the deep end version

[tracywatt]

Happy Thanksgiving!

To memories of yesteryear

Great tune

[WizardGlik]

Trust me, it is Prince from 1982

[robin14669]

Was this taped for Top the Pops? Funny that Pete played this song in 1984, because the album All the best cowboys... from which this song was taken, was already released in 1982.

Beautiful live versin though!

[sauciest1]

Staying power baby! Ever had a hard on that wouldn't go away??? LOL

[ghorn19]

Makes me realize just how good Tony Butler and Mark Brzezicki are/were......

[sauciest1]

Not the Sabbath Tony (Geezer) Butler??

[BabaORiley1972]

Okay, I think that's Tina Weymouth on bass, and some Nazi-looking guy on guitar.

[ThemanfromZambodia]

No those guys are from the Human League. Just Kidding but that was my first impression HA!

[tinecassidy]

Actually, I think it's Midge Ure of Ultravox on guitar.

[fridrixfanclub]

That's what I was thinking. . . what a band!

[germurph51]

Better than that other one w/ so many comments

[ThemanfromZambodia]

I think this drummer used to Play on Miami Vice or something like that. Huh Huh HUh Huh!

[arnolri1]

I do believe the drummer is Phil Collins, a drummer before anything else.

[ThemanfromZambodia]

A drummer`s drummer for certain!

[koenan1]

@arnolri1 Whoa! Tis Phil. What the heck was this performance for? I would've expected Brzrzrzrki.

[msn5864]

He's now cool and stifled and it's she who has to beg.

Fine Imagery!

[kitakashiwa]

pete's old new wave duran duran hair from the early 80s

[Nur100etc]

Impeccable. Beautiful soul.

[pauliborracho]

damn!!! sounds just like it does on the album!!! verrry impressive!!!awesome!!!

[Melegorm]

What an amazing find! I love this song :-)

[germurph51]

Phil Collins DID WANT TO REPLACE MOON and toss his then-at-its-height solo career. He was a WHOMANIAC (like us all).

[mlmr11]

This guy blows me away!!

Look up pure musician in the dictionary and there's Pete's picture!!!

[theEnglishbeat]

Collins would have been great with the who!

[rjeman2000]

First time I've seen Pete on anything but guitar. He sounds awesome on this tune. And not a bad backing band. Pete is the man...

[lenart]

in the end of clip see robert plant and pete in guitars..?¿??¿

[lenart]

the year must be 82 for the townshend haircut and look.

but..the show?, man is AMAZING the pete perfomance.

where is?

greeting from Argentina

[allenswoody]

It's from the Prince's Trust Rock Gala, July 21, 1082 in London. He also played Let My Love Open the Door, and sat in for a lot of other stuff. This was released back then on VHS, beta, and Laserdisc.

[gibsonpt2006]

it's 1984 lol

[gibsonpt2006]

i didnt read the replies whoops. forget i posted that

[vernonjoseph]

wow! this is fantastic, mick karn on bass, midge ure guitar and phil on drums! what is this from? 1982?

[Sox7703]

It says 1984 but i think you're right it must be from 1982. He did a few solo concerts in england in '82.

[vernonjoseph]

thanks for putting it up, it takes me back! i love pete and the who since 1981!

[cutiger1984]

I'm pretty sure it's 82. Pete does the 37 years old line, he would have been 37 in 1982, and 39 in 1984.