Townshend ‘russell Never Slept’

Rocker PETE TOWNSHEND was amazed by director KEN RUSSELL’s sleep deprivation skills on the set of rock opera TOMMY - the moviemaker never took a break.

The Who star initially rejected plans to turn the band’s landmark concept album into a movie - but he knew at least the director was perfect once he started working with Russell.

He tells the Los Angeles Times, “Ken was bombastic, energetic, funny, tireless and inspiring. He had an obsessive eye for detail and planning that I now realise every great film director needs… I never had a bad moment with Ken.

“During the Tommy film, he only ever slept for about four hours… I have no idea how he stayed awake.”

But Townshend isn’t sure Russell has the same fond memories of working with him: “I survived on cognac… When we filmed our own sequences as The Who band, I simply behaved like the arrogant half-drunk rock star I was at the time and entirely got my way.”