The Who would sack their original drummer to secure a record deal, according to guitarist Pete Townshend.
The Roger Daltrey-fronted group would have a few changes to their line-up over the years, having to replace both Keith Moon and John Entwistle after their deaths. However, before the band secured a record deal, Townshend decided to replace their original drummer, as the “much older” member was standing in the way of a record deal for The Who. Speaking to David Sheff of Playboy Magazine, the veteran guitarist confirmed he, Daltrey, and Entwistle all agreed to get rid of the drummer but that the “loyalty” of their bandmate had stopped them from acting. Townshend’s “heart of stone” came into play and the drummer, Doug Sandom, was let go. The veteran performer would also confirm Sandom “quite rightly” didn’t speak to him for thirty years after the sacking.
Townshend said: “We met a while later. We were struggling to get a record deal. We had a very good drummer, but he was much older, about thirty-six. We were about to get a record deal with Philips, and the record company guy told us, ‘Listen, we’ll give you a deal, but you have to get rid of the drummer.’
“We said we weren’t sure, and the guy goes, ‘Listen, you have to get rid of him now. You have to tell him now.’ So John, Roger and I had a meeting. It was a big question of loyalty because this guy was somebody we loved very much. And at that moment, my heart turned to stone, and I said, ‘I’ll go tell him.’
“And I went out and said, ‘He said he would give us a record deal but not if you’re in the group, so you’re out.’ And this guy Doug didn’t talk to me for 30 years. Quite rightly.” It wouldn’t be the first blunt occasion from The Who, with Townshend suggesting he was held back in the years to follow by both Daltrey and Entwistle.
Though Townshend would get back together with The Who several times over his career, he believes the band did not aid him as well as it could have. Asked if looking back at his time in The Who was a reminiscent, “good old days” feeling, Townshend says he felt “fettered” by frontman Daltrey.
He said: “Under the so-called democracy of The Who I felt very fettered by Roger, but at the same time it was wonderful to share the weight of a concert with him. I was somewhat held back by John Entwistle’s tendency to play too loud, but equally I miss his backstage wit and the fact that we have been friends since we were 11 years old. So it’s mixed.”
