LONDON – Pete Townshend, a full-time member of The Who, said even he does not fully understand the circumstances that led to drummer Zak Starkey’s dismissal from the band.
Starkey was initially fired in April following a concert in London, where Roger Daltrey reportedly expressed dissatisfaction with Starkey’s performance of “The Song Is Over.” Days later, Starkey was reinstated, with Townshend attributing the situation to “communication issues.” Starkey was subsequently dismissed again and replaced by drummer Scott Devours.
Starkey has alleged that Daltrey was the one who interrupted the performance at a bar.
“I got a call from the manager, and he says, ‘It’s my unfortunate duty to inform you that you won’t be needed from now on,"” Starkey told The Telegraph. “‘Roger says you dropped some beats.’ I watched the show and I can’t find any dropped beats. Then Pete had to go along with it because Pete’s had 60 years of arguing with Roger.”
In an interview with i Paper, Townshend suggested Starkey’s performance was satisfactory. “I couldn’t see anything wrong,” he said. “What you see is a band who haven’t played together for a long time. But I think it was probably to do with the sound. I’ve lost my sound man as a result.”
Townshend added, “I think Roger just got lost. Roger’s finding it difficult. I have to be careful what I say about Roger because he gets angry if I say anything about him at all. He’ll be sacking me next. But that’s not to say that he sacked Zak. It’s a decision Roger and I tried to make together, but it kind of got out of hand.”
Townshend also mentioned that it was Daltrey’s idea to bring Starkey into the band. “I didn’t invite him in, right? Roger invited him,” he explained. “And at that time, I don’t know quite why he chose Zak, but Zak is another Keith Moon. He comes with real, real bonuses and real, real difficulties.”