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Roger Daltrey launches a new podcast on Tuesday (October 5th), called The Real Me. The Who fromtman, tapped the band’s Quadrophenia classic for the title and theme of the show, which “features teen cancer patients not only talking about their stories but presenting songs they’ve written and performed.” All proceeds from the podcast go to the Who’s patron U.S. charity, Teen Cancer America.
Daltrey, who’s set for a 12-date full-band UK tour kicking off next month, told Rolling Stone, due to venues dealing with backed up and rescheduled tours in the wake of the pandemic, the soonest the Who could be back on the road isn’t until March 2022.
When pressed if the band was considering playing their 1971 masterpiece Who’s Next in its entirety for the album’s 50th anniversary, Daltery admitted he had little interest: “No, I don’t see the point. Who’s Next is a great album, but it’s best left as a great album. Just playing albums live doesn’t do anything for me, personally. The show we’ve got with the orchestra is fantastic, and the Who’s catalog has so much varied stuff that makes it better than just listening to Who’s Next. Why do that? Go and play the record and get stoned or whatever you wish and have a good time! That’s a way to celebrate. You don’t need us to do that.”
Daltrey had to laugh when he was told about how in a recent interview Pete Townshend revealed he’d already started demoing songs for the Who’s next album. When Daltrey was asked if that came as a surprise, he said, “Certainly is. I’ve just fallen off the chair! But there’s a song on the last album we did, which I think is a fabulous album called Who. It’s called ‘Beads On One String.’ And the opening line is, ‘Don’t you ever say never/It don’t mean a thing.’”
Roger Daltrey, who’s made raising awareness and money to combat teen cancer his life’s mission, explained how and why teen cancer patients are hit extremely hard by the disease: “Teens, they get very rare cancers, generally — some of the rarest cancers. Because of their age and the speed that they’re growing, they get really aggressive cancers. The impact of the disease is worse. Plus the psychological effect; there they are just coming into the age where they’re really gonna enjoy life and they get hit with this whammy.”