Column: For Pete Townshend’s sake

Column: For Pete Townshend’s sake

Happy 80th birthday, Pete Townshend! Longtime readers will know he’s my favorite songwriting rock-and-roller, placed high on a pedestal that includes Bob Dylan and Van Morrison (who belong to no other genre than the ones they created), any number of blues and jazz performers, and Frank Sinatra, who is also in a category all by himself. Either you get the perfect amalgam of adolescent angst of the Who’s early years, the artistic advancements from…