A Few More Things: Townshend, Newton & Feliciano

Talking About His Generation
Pete Townshend has responded to critics saying The Who shouldn’t play this Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime show because of the guitarist’s 2003 run-in with the law regarding  child pornography.

Townshend was arrested after a child pornography Web site in Texas was infiltrated by the FBI and pulled up information on 6,000 Britons who had used their credit cards on the site, according to the BBC News.

The guitarist admitted to using his credit card to access the child pornography Web site but explained he was sexually abused as a child and that he was conducting research for his autobiography. E-mails to child protection charities backed up Townshend’s research story.

He pleaded guilty but avoided trial, instead receiving a formal police caution and having his name placed on a British sex offenders’ watch list for five years.

Evin Daly, the CEO and founder of ChildAbuseWatch.net, a Florida-based child abuse group, told the press, “I’m a fan of the band. … Pete Townshend is the only issue, and the issue is that he’s a former registered sex offender. The issue is, it sends the wrong message to American families.”

After rehearsing for the big day on Thursday, Townshend defended his right to take the stage by simply saying, “I kind of feel like we’re all on the same side, I guess that’s all I can really say.”

Click here for the AP story.

Thank You For The Moldy Plane
Some people forget their dry cleaning and never pick it up. Wayne Newton dropped off his plane about four years ago at a Waterford, Mich., airport and then never went back to retrieve it.

The singer left the plane at Oakland County International Airport four years ago to have some interior repair work done. The repairs took about a year and then Newton requested that Oakland Air hold onto the plane “for a couple of months,” according to The Oakland Press.

“He paid rent for a while, but the rent payments stopped coming in, so we’re stuck with this dilapidated airplane that’s not flyable,” said Oakland County International Airport President Joe Borgesen. “We just would like to get rid of it — it’s taking up valuable space here at the airport.”

Newton now owes more than $60,000 in storage fees and Borgesen estimates it would cost $30,000 to move the plane.

The plane was once worth about $2 million but Borgesen notes that “the thing is is all full of mold and the engines aren’t runnable. The only way it’s gonna go out of here is in pieces on a truck.”

Borgesen said the airport might be forced to pursue a lawsuit.

“We’re gonna have to explore (legal action),” Borgesen said. “Somehow, some way, (the plane has) gotta go away.”

Click here for The Oakland Press article.

Get Out
José Feliciano, the Puerto Rican-American singer best known for his 1970 Christmas hit “Feliz Navidad,” has reported receiving a number of creepy phone calls with the caller telling him to “get out.”

The 64-year-old Grammy-winner filed an incident report with the Lee County, Fla., Sheriff’s deputy on Tuesday explaining that he had received two phone calls with a muffled voice telling him to “get out.” His caregiver also reported receiving similar calls directed toward the singer.

The investigation is ongoing. No arrests have been made.

Click here for the AP story.