Launch Radio Networks has issued the following report from Howie Edelson:

PETE TOWNSHEND says that he didn't rely on ROGER DALTREY's opinion much while composing the new WHO album, Endless Wire, relying instead on his girlfriend Rachel Fuller. Townshend talked about the creative process on his official website (petetownshend.co.uk), explaining that, "Roger was not involved very much. He was an anxious investor in my work, and was as patient as he could be, but I think he would have preferred to develop songs in an open studio format as a band. I decided to work in isolation so he didn't get to hear songs until they were pretty much finished."

Townshend added that, "That method is the same one I used in the halcyon Who years by the way. I solicited many opinions about the stories behind the songs, but not the songs themselves. As well as songwriting and guitar playing I know I am a 'master'of home-studio recording. Rachel was there all the way through my home studio process. She would hear things I was working on through the door and encourage me."

He went on to explain how both Daltrey and Fuller ultimately served both him and the project: "Roger becomes the most powerful ally once the wagon is rolling. Then he is all I need to move ahead. He is a practical man, an interpreter, a dramaturge, a performer. Not so much a creative team player, at least not in the way I work. Rachel has really provided me with creative nurturance in the mist of the early days of writing, and I hope I can give back what I get."

Townshend told us that in the past he never focused on who would perform his material, choosing to just let the inspiration be his guide: "What used to happen was that I used to write, irrespective of whether I was going to sing the song or that the Who were going to sing the song -- or to be honest, if someone came along to me one day... You know, if Paul Simon, or Sting, or Paul McCartney, or the Stones or something, said, you know, 'Have you got a song?'You know, I gladly would've written for anybody else, it's just that nobody asked me."