Roger Daltrey helped form The Who in the early 1960s, and in the following years, they became one of the most important bands in the world. Part of the so-called “British Invasion,” the band, which also included Pete Townshend (the main songwriter and guitarist), Keith Moon (drums), and John Entwistle (bass), evolved and refined their sound as the years went by.
They became not only one of the most influential bands in the world but also one of the best-selling. By the late 1970s, they witnessed the emergence of Punk Rock, which shook the Rock and Roll scene. Although bands from the movement were not generally loved by older artists, Daltrey once revealed which Punk group he admired.
The Punk Rock band that Roger Daltrey said he loves
The Punk Rock band that Daltrey loves is The Clash, the group which had in their classic line-up Joe Strummer (Vocals and guitar), Mick Jones (Guitar), Paul Sinomon (Bass) and Nicky “Topper” Headon (Drums).
They were The Who’s opening act in the 80s and played at the Shea Stadium in New York with them. In an interview with Uncut in 2015, Daltrey talked about the Punk Rock movement and praised the Clash and the late Joe Strummer.
“We were getting incredible accolades from some of the new punk bands. They were saying how much they loved The Who, that we were the only band they’d leave alive after they’d taken out the rest of the establishment! But I felt very threatened by the punk thing at first.”
He continued:
“To me it was like, ‘Well, they think they’re fucking tough, but we’re fucking tougher.’ It unsettled me in my vocals. When I listen back to ‘Who Are You?’ I can hear that it made me incredibly aggressive. But that’s what that song was about.”
“Being pissed and aggressive and a c***! It was only a few years after that I realised what a great favour punk did the business. We toured with The Clash in 1982. We took them to the US with us, and I used to fucking love watching ’em. I’m still a huge Joe Strummer fan,” Roger Daltrey said,
Joe Strummer didn’t want to become a band like The Who
Although The Clash supported The Who and respected the band, according to Joe Strummer they didn’t want to be a group like they were. He explained that in an interview with Hot Press in 1999 and used Aerosmith as an example too.
“When we supported The Who in America in ’82, I remember looking at them and thinking, ‘God, any day now this is going to be us.’ I was also worried that no matter how hard I tried not to, I was going to become a phoney.”
“How can you impart things to other human beings when you’re not one yourself? There was a point around the time of Combat Rock that if we’d been prepared to become just another conveyor-belt rock band, we could’ve been huge. On one hand there was our dignity, and on the other, Aerosmith,” Joe Strummer said.
The Clash was formed in London, England back in 1976 and were active until 1986. They released six studio albums and became one of the biggest Punk Rock bands of all time.