The album peaked at No. 70 on the UK Albums Chart, and at No. 26 on the US Billboard 200. The album also reached the Top 20 in five other countries, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland.
Concept
A loose concept album, its title refers to a story (called a "novel" in the album title) that accompanies the album, which takes place in a low-income housing estate in the West London district of White City, near where Townshend had grown up. The story tells of cultural conflict, racial tension and youthful hopes and dreams in the 1960s – a world of "prostituted children", "roads leading to darkness, leading home" and despairing residents living in "cells" with views of "dustbins and a Ford Cortina". The song "White City Fighting", which features Pink Floyd's David Gilmour on guitar,[3] tells listeners that the White City was "a black, violent place" where "battles were won, and battles were blown, at the height of the White City fighting".
Biographer Mark Wilkerson quotes Townshend’s explanation for the “a novel” subtitle: “‘Well, I thought, if I could get away with Rock Opera . . .’ Pete told Dan Neer, ‘[that’s] a bit of a gag, you know, to address the fact that I’d been working as a book publisher lately and that if I was gonna make a record and a video, that I should call it a novel.’”[4]
The album opens with crashing guitar chords (also played by Gilmour[5])
that capture a feeling of urban chaos, leading into "Give Blood", a song with Townshend's moral lyrics demanding listeners to "give blood, but you may find that blood is not enough".[6]
Film
The disc also mentions a film based on the album, directed and "adapted for longform video" by Richard Lowenstein. The 60-minute video, entitled White City: The Music Movie, was released by Vestron Music Video in 1985 and stars Pete Townshend, Andrew Wilde and Frances Barber. The videotape also features exclusive footage of Townshend discussing the album and film, and the premiere performance of "Night School". That song, in a different form, would be included on Hip-O's 2006 reissue as a bonus track.
Album contents
The track "White City Fighting" originated as a composition written by David Gilmour for his 1984 solo album About Face.[3] He asked Townshend to supply lyrics, but felt that he could not relate to them, so Townshend used the song instead with Gilmour playing guitar.[3] Gilmour sent the same tune to Roy Harper, whose lyrics had the same effect as Townshend's on Gilmour.[3] Harper used the result, "Hope", which has a markedly slower tempo, on his 1985 album Whatever Happened to Jugula? with Harper's son Nick on guitar.[3]
Reception
Cash Box said that "Secondhand Love" "continues Townshend’s penchant for brilliant songwriting and tough, hard-hitting performance."[7]Billboard said it's "delivered with [Townshend's] customary intensity."[8]
Spin said, "There's really only one thing | can be sure about: White City is one of the most pretentiously boring records I've heard in quite some time. You begin to wonder why Townshend's still making records if he can't even find the inspiration to sound like himself."[9]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Pete Townshend, except where noted
