The Kids Are Alright Quotes

Tom Smothers: So what’s your name?
Pete: Pete. Pete… Pete Townshend.
Tom Smothers: Pete? And where’re you from, Pete?
Pete: London.
Tom Smothers: From London?
Pete: Yeah.
Tom Smothers: London, where?
Pete: London, England.
Tom Smothers: Hey, where’d you learn to play, you know, that’s a wild style of, uh, playing… where’d you learn to playing the guitar like that?
[Tom imitates Pete’s windmill]
Pete: That was bowling, that’s bowling…
Tom Smothers: Yeah, I could tell…
Play

Tom Smothers: And uh, you must be… uh, Roger?
Roger: I must be.
Tom Smothers: And… uh, are you?
Roger: Yeah.
Tom Smothers: You’re Roger? And where’re you from?
Roger: Uh, Oz.
Tom Smothers: Roger… Here’s Roger from Oz.
Play

Keith: My friends call me Keith; you can call me John.
Play

Russell Harty: Now you’ve been together now as a group for how many years, ten years?
Keith: Yeah, I’m leaving… was it that long? Christ Almight…
Pete: It’s known as “the decade of The Who”. Was it the decade?
Russell Harty: The decline [ie. decayed] of The Who?
Pete: The decade of The Who! Who decade!
Play

Pete: I used to rush into Marshall’s music shop and steal guitars off the wall. I’d say, “Just taking a guitar, pay ya Tuesday!” and rush out.
Play

Pete: If you steer clear of quality, you’re alright, you know.
Play

Pete: And when you actually hear the backing track to the Beatles without their voices, they’re flipping lousy.
Play

Pete: So I said, “You can’t write a ten minute song! I mean, rock songs are two minutes fifty! By tradition! It’s one of the traditions!” You know, they only allowed you one modulation… four chords… or, five you know, five chords you might be up before the committee. Ten minutes? It’s ridiculous!
Play

Keith: Well, I, I’ve, I’ve just been sitting in for the past fifteen years. You know, they never actually told me that I was part of the band. I knew it by instinct.
Play

[Keith is tearing Pete’s shirt]
Pete: Eh! Ey! Gah! Oh no… no! Oh no, Keith… ohh… ohh…
Keith: That’s what he was doing! Developing his muscles!
Pete: Keeeeith… leave me alone.
Play

Ringo Starr: What do you think about Pete?
Keith: I love the man. Pete’s one of my dearest friends. But I couldn’t say that, Ringo, if, if Pete said, “What do you think about Ringo?”, see well, you know, we have our moments, and when we get together, there are certain times that you just… something, happens, that I really don’t know what it is. But there’s that magic there…
Ringo Starr: It’s probably, we’re drunk.
Keith: …it could be that.
Ringo Starr: Well, not drunk, teenyboppers!
Keith: I, no, absolutely not, you Donny and Marie fans!
Ringo Starr: I mean, Keith and Ring, had a lot of medicine…
Keith: Absolutely!
Ringo Starr: …you know, just a lot of medicine, ’cause…
Keith: We’re getting on…
Ringo Starr: We’re getting older now, we need our medicine…
Keith: You know, see, just see the age of this suit!
Play

Pete: Bill said, eh, “Well, what advice would you give him? Would you tell him to stop playing entirely? And, leave the group?…”
Keith: “Go throw his career out the window?”
Pete: “…throw his career out the window? Become a pauper? Starve? Would you tell him that?” “Well, no, actually, no, but, I would advise him to learn to lip read”.
[Keith laughs]
Pete: It’s, it’s true, it’s what he said!
Play

John: We became rich a lot later than I expected, heh heh heh. Now I’m too old to enjoy my money.
Play

Cameraman: Uh, excuse me. Uh, you know, we just shot a lot of film at the interview, and uh, talking about all that, and I was wondering, uh, now if you could really tell the truth, and stuff like…
Keith: Uh, no… but, I mean, the truth is, you wanna hear it? I can’t do that… you couldn’t afford me!
Play

Interviewer: But you’re a very different person now to the desperate young man of the early sixties, aren’t you?
Pete: Yeah, I’m a desperate old fart, now. Not boring, though!
Play

Russell Harty: You’re all married, aren’t you?
Pete: Eh?
Keith: Eh?
Various: Eh? No no no no…
Keith: I wouldn’t marry this lot!
Play

Keith: You leave his sleeves alone! Personal, them, eh? Can’t touch things of yours, can we? Eh! Now he’s in command, innit he? He can make everybody else look a right twit, as long as you don’t have a go at him! How long you been happily married then, eh?
Play

John: Can’t think of anything to say.
Play

Roger: It just… it doesn’t stand up… so… shut up!
Play