Editing Pete Townshend (section)

== Musical influences ==
Townshend was born ten days after [[Nazi Germany]] [[Victory in Europe Day|surrendered]] in the [[Second World War]] and grew up in the shadow of reconstruction in and around London. According to Townshend, postwar trauma was the driving force behind the rock music revolution in the UK. "Trauma is passed from generation to generation", he said, "I've unwittingly inherited what my father experienced."<ref>{{citation |last=Kelts |first=Roland |date=9 October 2012 |title=Pete Townshend's War |url=http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/pete-townshends-war |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=20 August 2015}}</ref> Townshend notes that growing up in this period produced the narrative that runs through his music of a boy lost in the stresses and pressures of postwar life.<ref>{{citation |last=Victoriano |first=Camila |date=16 October 2012 |title=Townshend Talks Postwar Lyricism |url=http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/10/16/pete-townshend-who-berklee |work=[[The Harvard Crimson]] |access-date=20 August 2015}}</ref> In his autobiography, he wrote: {{blockquote|I wasn't trying to play beautiful music. I was confronting my audience with the awful, visceral sound of what we all knew was the single absolute of our frail existence{{mdash}}one day an aeroplane would carry the bomb that would destroy us all in a flash. It could happen at any time.<ref name=art>{{citation |last=Deusner |first=Stephen |date=19 October 2012 |title=Pete Townshend: "I wasn't trying to make beautiful music" |url=http://www.salon.com/2012/10/19/pete_townshend_i_wasnt_trying_to_make_beautiful_music |work=Salon |access-date=20 August 2014}}</ref>}}

Although he grew up in a household with jazz musicians, Townshend absorbed many of his ideas about performance and rock music themes during art school. Townshend's roommate at Ealing Art College, Tom Wright, had a large record collection, and Townshend listened to and became influenced by R&B and rock & roll artists like [[Howlin' Wolf]], [[John Lee Hooker]], [[Bo Diddley]], [[Booker T. & the MGs]], [[Little Walter]], and [[Chuck Berry]].{{sfn|Wilkerson|2006|p=16}} He was also strongly influenced by cellist [[Malcolm Cecil]], who often damaged his cello during performances, along with [[Gustav Metzger]], pioneer of [[auto-destructive art]]. In light of these influences, guitar smashing became not just an expression of youthful angst, but also a means of conveying ideas through musical performance. "We advanced a new concept", he writes. "Destruction is art when set to music."<ref name=art /> Townshend also cited [[Robbie Basho]] as a significant influence, saying "I've totally been influenced by him. You can hear it in my work."<ref>Andrew Male. "Strength of Strings". ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]''. January 2020. Issue 314. p. 112.</ref>