Sound of Vinyl

This 1989 album was based on the story ‘The Iron Man’ by Ted Hughes, who Pete Townshend met whilst working at the publishing house Faber and Faber. The album features contributions from music luminaries Nina Simone and John Lee Hooker (who performs as the eponymous ‘Iron Man’) and formed the basis of a theatre production which would be staged at the Young Vic Theatre in London; where Townshend had work-shopped much of his ‘Lifehouse’ ideas in the early 70s.

The album also saw The Who reunited on record for the first time in seven years on the tracks ‘Dig’ and ‘Fire’, a reworking of the Arthur Brown 60s classic. An animated version of the story – ‘The Iron Giant’ – was released in 1999 for which Townshend received an Executive Producer credit. Two singles ‘I Won’t Run Anymore’ and ‘A Friend Is A Friend’ were released as well as ‘Fire’ which was released as a promo in the US.

Tracklist:

1. I Won't Run Anymore
2. Over The Top
3. Man Machines
4. Dig
5. A Friend Is A Friend
6. I Eat Heavy Metal
7. All Shall Be Well
8. Was There Life
9. Fast Food
10. A Fool Says
11. Fire
12. New Life