It’s 1959, Roger Daltrey was expelled from school and began working at a construction site. That year, he also formed a band called The Detours and recruited bassist John Entwistle (1944-2002), who later brought on guitarist Pete Townshend two years later.
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By the early-to-mid-’60s, The Detours established themselves on the London scene and became known for their tear-down performances—literally ravaging most stages, and instruments, in their path.
Detoured to The Who
In 1964, The Detours changed their name to The Who after learning of another band with a similar moniker, Johnny Devlin and the Detours, and after some additional lineup shifts were rounded out with drummer Keith Moon (1946-1978).
Though Townshend was the band’s chief songwriter, Daltrey, along with Entwistle and Moon also contributed a number of songs. Their first single as The Who, “I Can’t Explain,” peaked in the top 10 (No. 8) in the U.K. in 1965 and was followed by a series of more hits from “My Generation,” “Substitute,” “I Can See for Miles,” and on through their 1969 concept album, Tommy, their hit “Pinball Wizard” and the band’s extensive catalog over nearly 60 years.
Rocky Road
Since the band’s inception, the relationship between Townshend and Daltrey has always been quite contentious and has remained so over the decades, yet their alchemy on stage together is undoubted.
“Our relationship is a working one, and that’s about as far as it goes,” Daltrey recently revealed in 2022. “But when we get on stage, there’s a chemistry that’s created. When we’re playing well, it starts to kick in properly. It’s still as wonderful as ever.”
Daltrey adds, “We never really had a strong relationship off of the stage, though. It’s as simple as that.”
Over the years, Townshend has shared some harsh words about Daltrey. At one point Townshend even tried to boot Daltrey out of the band after he flushed Moon’s drugs down the toilet.
Punching Out
In 1973, when The Who were prepping for their Quadrophenia Tour, the two came to blows, and Daltrey punched Townshend out after tensions rose during studio rehearsals. Daltrey recalled the incident in 2018: “Next thing I knew, he’d swung a 24-pound Les Paul guitar at me. It whistled past my ear and glanced off my shoulder, very nearly bringing a much earlier end to The Who. I still hadn’t retaliated, but I was beginning to feel quite put out. He’s called me a little fucker, after all. … After another left hook narrowly dodged, I replied with an uppercut to the jaw. Pete went up and backward like he’s been poleaxed. And then he fell down hard, cracking his head on the stage. I thought I’d killed him.”
Daltrey felt guilty about the episode and held Townshend’s hand in the ambulance all the way to the hospital. Townshend later said that he lost two days of memory after the knockout. “When I came round an hour later my memory was gone for two days,” said Townshend. “He’s a one-punch man, Roger.”
“Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere”
Still, Daltrey and Townshend did end up writing one Who track together, “Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere,” which was released in 1965.
“It happened by accident,” said Daltrey of the duo’s rare co-write. “Pete had a sketch for a song but didn’t have a bridge for it. We were rehearsing it, getting it down on stage at the Marquee Club. We were doing a show that night. When we got to the bridge part, I added some lyrics, and, if you add any lyrics to a song, you’re one of the writers. But apparently, that doesn’t happen with everything you do, especially when jamming.”
Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
