As the Second World War lurched to its conclusion, Peter Dennis Blandford Townshend was born in Chiswick Hospital in West London. Pete’s early years were shaped by both the grim austerity that defined the immediate post-war era, and an insecure family background. His father Cliff was a professional musician, and was mid-way through a gig in Germany with the RAF Dance Orchestra when informed of Pete’s nativity. His mother Betty, a former singer who’d lied about her age to enlist in 1941 and had ended up singing with her soon-to-be husband’s band, was so livid at Cliff’s absence that she moved out of the family home.
The couple soon reconciled, but their relationship - and consequently Pete’s childhood - was marked by an ongoing volatility that culminated in Pete being sent away to live with his “quite bonkers” grandmother, a rash decision that would ultimately engender significant and lasting consequences.
