White City: A Novel is the fifth solo studio album by the English rock musician Pete Townshend, released on 11 November 1985 by Atco Records.

The album opens with crashing guitar chords (also played by Gilmour)

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".

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. 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. Billboard said it's "delivered with [Townshend's] customary intensity."

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."

Track listing

Non-album tracks

  1. "Face the Face" (Vocal long version) – 6:08 (Available on 12" US Atco and European Singles)
  2. "Hiding Out" (Instrumental version) – 3:00 (Available on 12" Atco Germany single of "Hiding Out")
  3. "Night School" – 3:03 (Video version)
  4. "Face the Face" (Single edit) – 4:23 (Available on 7" US single)
  5. "Face the Face" (Edit version) – 3:59 (Available on 12" US promo single)

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the White City: A Novel liner notes.

Musicians

  • Pete Townshend – vocals; guitar
  • John "Rabbit" Bundrick – keyboards
  • Tony Butler, Phil Chen, Chucho Merchan, Pino Palladino & Steve Barnacle – bass guitars
  • Mark Brzezicki, Simon Phillips – drums
  • Clem Burke – drums
  • David Gilmour – guitar
  • Peter Hope-Evans – harmonica
  • Kick Horns: Simon Clarke, Roddy Lorimer, Tim Sanders, Peter Thoms
  • Ewan Stewart – voice (spoken word)
  • Emma Townshend, Jackie Challenor, Mae McKenna, & Lorenza Johnson – backing vocals
  • Justine Frischmann – backing vocals on "Night School"

Technical

  • Chris Thomas – producer
  • Bill Price – recording
  • Chris Ludwinski, Dave Edwards, & Jules Bowen – assistant engineers

Artwork

  • Richard Evans – art direction; cover design; inner sleeve photography
  • Alex Henderson – front cover photography
  • Malcolm Heywood – inner sleeve photography

Charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

! scope="col"| Chart (1985–1986)

! scope="col"| Peak<br>position

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! scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)

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Certifications

References