Technology and rock were hand in hand marching to the future like a modern salvation army

Technology and rock were hand in hand, marching to the future like a modern salvation army. Rock was a mirror to society, and reflected spiritual hunger."In the midst of all this uneasy anticipation, I wrote a play. My corollary ran thus: show business was corrupt and exploitative; the Establishment colluded."What made this bearable was the fact that rock had passed through its infancy and was occasionally generating spiritual uplift only matched in the classical arts. Many Sixties rock artists and their cronies were Utopian visionaries, or bed-sit revolutionaries. However, their peaceful post-war middle-class upbringing instilled in them an innate belief in democracy, rather than direct action. Rock music was a bastard art form, and many in society tacitly approved the corruption of its exponents.

He called it `grid.' But he was hitting the nail almost right on the head."Townshend, who has been adding to the original Lifehouse concept over the 29 years, has been working secretly with BBC drama executives on the project, and rehearsing a cast that includes Geraldine James, David Threlfall, Kelly Macdonald who appeared in Trainspotting, and 11-year-old primary school pupil Phillip Dowling.Explaining the genesis of the piece in typically idiosyncratic analytical fashion, Townshend says: "At the end of the Sixties I was wary of growing tension between entertainment and commerce My experience was salutary. It's extraordinary when you think about what he was writing in 1971 It was like he was projecting ahead He didn't use the words net or web. At the heart of the drama is an 11-year-old, avisionary, full of daring ideas and dreams.Perhaps reflecting Townshend's ascent to the arts establishment in the intervening period or rock's now classical status, its premiere in December will be on Radio 3.Kate Rowland, head of BBC radio drama, said yesterday: "I feel sure that Lifehouse will be greeted as a contemporary classic. Townshend, in a particularly visionary phase, had foreseen the worldwide web.The basic storyline, unchanged for the past 29 years, addresses the spiritual consequences of a move away from a physical, human community to digital networking and the power of music.

Townshend had intended it to be the successor to his massively successful rock opera, Tommy.But he then discarded the ambitious project which demanded `creative feedback' from the audience, and returned to conventional music making.The completed project will surprise Who fans and non-fans alike For it is clear now why it seemed so baffling in 1971. Now, it can be revealed, the piece, entitled Lifehouse, is to have its premiere. A performance of an early version of the work was in fact given in 1971 to a small audience at the Young Vic Theatre in London, which I attended. But Townshend took nearly 30 years to complete it: a longer conception than any other work in rock history. THE WHO'S Pete Townshend calls it the story of "a vast global network." Begun in 1971 it would have foretold the coming of the internet and worldwide web. Instead, we deflected an artist from one of his life's great works for 28 years Sorry, Pete.. Roger Daltrey said: "Don't worry, we'll send you home happy."So we waited for the promised greatest hits that would follow the grid- talk and film show And happy, if puzzled, was how we departed We could have had 15 minutes of fame. We had all come for a concert.It was impossible to understand what giving "creative feedback" consisted of But that was what Townshend asked for This was not a concert, he insisted We exchanged bewildered looks.But Townshend kept on talking He may well have talked of "the grid." I can't remember The late Keith Moon broke through the jargon "You are merely padding," he yelled at us.

The audience was a curious mix, teenage fans like myself whose parents had been able to get them tickets because they were on the Young Vic mailing list, and diehard Who addicts, who must have swelled that list in a hurry when they heard what was happening. I was present at the Young Vic theatre in London when The Who staged their first and only performance of a drama that could have revolutionised rock music and foretold the Internet - not a bad double whammy to get in a small studio theatre. It was a strange occasion. I FEAR I was one of those who failed to give the necessary inspiration to Pete Townshend when he embarked on his 28-year quest to compose Lifehouse. But apes can never learn to speak - their voice boxes are anatomically different to human ones.. It might be possible for adult chimps with simple language abilities to teach their young to understand human speech.