10 Artists Who Slated The Beatles
4. Pete Townshend
Another of The Beatles’ peers with a reputation for speaking his mind, The Who’s guitar slinger(and smasher) gave his thoughts on The Beatles in a 1966 TV interview.
After stating there was no quality in pop music and no standards, The Beatles are brought up as a counter argument. “But wouldn’t you say The Beatles and people like that have a certain musical quality?” Townsend begins by replying, “Ooh that’s a tough question,” before making it actually look quite easy…
“Actually, this afternoon, John [Entwistle] and I were listening to a stereo LP of The Beatles — in which the voices come out of the one side and the backing track comes out of the other. When you actually hear the backing tracks of The Beatles without their voices, they’re flippin’ lousy,”
Did Pete mean really mean it? Or was he just playing to the gallery? Watch the interview back and after the “flippin’ lousy” remark you can hear what sound like gasps and stifled giggles; perhaps Pete was just trying to get a reaction? Either way, his views seem to have mellowed in recent years, praising Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, Day Tripper and Paperback Writer.