The Abbie Hoffman Incident (original song)

Pile of Shit

In 1969, at Woodstock, Abbie Hoffman tried to commandeer The Who‘s stage to make a political statement. Pete Townshend physically removed Hoffman from the stage.

Note: The audio is Not Safe For Work.

Play or Download “The Abbie Hoffman Incident (original song) ” on SoundCloud >>

Accounts vary as to whether it was a gentle bump, a jab in the back with the end of the guitar, or a “tennis racket” style smash on the head.

The Who were playing at 4 a.m., so I think Pete might have been grumpy.

This is a piece of music I created using sound from the incident. I don’t know if it counts as songwriting.

This is my first experiment with samples and looping since I was a teenager playing with cassette tapes, a project I called “Paint Thinner.”

I added fuzz bass and drum sequencing. The synthesizer parts are played on a Kaossilator by Nigel Rayner — a kindred spirit I’ve never met in person.

Here is the audio of the incident:

Abbie Hoffman vs. Pete Townshend

Photo Credit: Scott (CC BY-SA 2.0)

3 comments

  1. Ron Reply
    September 3, 2009 at 3:24 am

    The Kaossilator dressed it up nicely, good job guys!

  2. Anonymous Reply
    September 3, 2009 at 6:54 am

    You just had to get that love song out of your system, didn't you?

    LOL! Very cool…

  3. Ted Reply
    September 3, 2009 at 3:50 pm

    It might seem like it, but it's more the other way around. I started working on this back in June, and worked on it bit-by-by for two months. Paper Anniversary flared into my head when Abbie was all done but the Kaossilator, flushing the "pile of shit" out of my system.

Leave A Comment

Please be polite. We appreciate that. Your email address will not be published and required fields are marked

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.