The Iron Man: The Musical by Pete Townshend
The Iron Man: The Musical | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 27 June 1989 | |||
Recorded | 1986–1989 | |||
Studio | Eel Pie Studios, London | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 45:36 | |||
Label | Atlantic (US) | |||
Producer | Pete Townshend | |||
Pete Townshend chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Hi-Fi News & Record Review | A*:1/2[2] |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Iron Man: The Musical by Pete Townshend is the fifth solo studio album by Pete Townshend of The Who, released in 1989 as a concept album adaptation of Ted Hughes' story The Iron Man. It also stars Roger Daltrey, Deborah Conway, John Lee Hooker, and Nina Simone.
The three then-surviving original members of The Who (Daltrey, John Entwistle, and Townshend) performed as a group in two songs, "Dig" and "Fire", although the latter was a cover of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown's hit. (The Who would later perform "Dig" live during their 1989 reunion tour.)
"A Friend Is a Friend" and "I Won't Run Anymore" were commercially released as singles; "Fire" was issued as a promo-only single in the United States. Cash Box said that "A Friend is a Friend" "finds Pete in an uplifting vein, with falsetto vocals and strummed guitar."[4]
A stage version was mounted at the Young Vic theatre in London in 1993. On the strength of this, Warner Bros. optioned the story for a movie that, with a very different adaptation of the story, became The Iron Giant; Townshend received an executive-producer credit.
Characters
[edit]- Hogarth: Pete Townshend
- The Vixen: Deborah Conway
- The Iron Man: John Lee Hooker
- The Space Dragon: Nina Simone
- Hogarth's Father: Roger Daltrey
- The Crow: Chyna
- The Jay: Nicola Emmanuelle
- The Frog: Billy Nicholls
- The Owl: Simon Townshend
- The Badger: Cleveland Watkiss
Track listing
[edit]All songs written by Pete Townshend except where noted.
- "I Won't Run Any More" – 4:51 Vocals by Pete Townshend with Deborah Conway
- "Over the Top" – 3:31 Vocals by John Lee Hooker
- "Man Machines" – 0:42 Vocals by Simon Townshend
- "Dig" – 4:07 Performed by The Who
- "A Friend Is a Friend" – 4:44 Vocals by Pete Townshend
- "I Eat Heavy Metal" – 4:01 Vocals by John Lee Hooker
- "All Shall Be Well" – 4:02 Vocals by Pete Townshend with Deborah Conway and Chyna
- "Was There Life" – 4:19 Vocals by Pete Townshend
- "Fast Food" – 4:26 Vocals by Nina Simone
- "A Fool Says..." – 2:51 Vocals by Pete Townshend
- "Fire" (Arthur Brown, Vincent Crane, Mike Finesilver, Peter Ker) – 3:47 Performed by The Who
- "New Life/Reprise" – 6:00 Vocals by Chyna with Pete Townshend and Nicola Emmanuel. Contains small extract of a live performance of "Magic Bus"
Bonus tracks from the 2006 US Hip-O Records release
[edit]- "Dig" (Simon Townshend vocal version) – 4:09
- "Man Machines" (long version) – 4:34
- "I Eat Heavy Metal" (demo) – 4:04
Bonus tracks from the 2006 Japanese Imperial release
[edit]- "A Friend Is a Friend" (live at the Fillmore West, 1996)
- "All Shall Be Well" (live at the Fillmore West, 1996)
Non-album tracks
[edit]- "Real World" (instrumental released on 12" and CD singles of "A Friend Is a Friend", a different mix of it was on Scoop 3 in 2001)
- "Penny Drop" (appeared on the Timothy White Radio Show; promo copies of the interview were pressed on vinyl by DIR Broadcasting)
- "Dig" (demo released on the 1989 UK CD single of "I Won't Run Anymore")
- "Iron Man Recitative", "Can You Really Dance?", and "Man and Machines (demo)" appeared on Scoop 3 in 2001
- "Dig" (concert version appeared on The Who's 1989 reunion tour concert album Join Together)
References
[edit]- ^ The Iron Man: The Musical by Pete Townshend at AllMusic
- ^ Dellar, Fred (September 1989). "Review: Pete Townshend — The Iron Man" (PDF). Hi-Fi News & Record Review (magazine). Vol. 34, no. 9. Croydon: Link House Magazines Ltd. p. 103. ISSN 0142-6230. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021 – via World Radio History.
- ^ "Pete Townshend: Album Guide | Rolling Stone Music". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 5 February 2011. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
- ^ Wednesday, Oscar (17 June 1989). "Pure Pop for Now People" (PDF). Cash Box. p. 22. Retrieved 21 December 2022.