Pete Townshend issues statement on One Direction Twitter storm

Pete Townshend has issued a statement about the One Direction Twitter storm, which has seen fans of the boyband take to the social networking site to defend claims that One Direction’s new single, “Best Song Ever”, sounds like The Who’s “Baba O’Riley”.

Responding to unsbstantiated claims that The Who are planning to take action against One Direction, Pete Townshend said.

“No! I like the single. I like One Direction. The chords I used and the chords they used are the same three chords we’ve all been using in basic pop music since Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran and Chuck Berry made it clear that fancy chords don’t mean great music – not always. I’m still writing songs that sound like Baba O’Riley – or I’m trying to!. It’s a part of my life and a part of pop’s lineage. One Direction are in my business, with a million fans, and I’m happy to think they may have been influenced a little bit by The Who. I’m just relieved they’re all not wearing boiler suits and Doc Martens, or Union Jack jackets. The funniest thing is that in Canada this year I met with Randy Bachman once the leader of GUESS WHO who told me that he not only copied Baba O Riley for their hit You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet, but he even called his band after us. Why would I not be happy about this kind of tribute?”

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