Insider Column 1

An Insider's Look at Townsend... Chapter One

These pages may be a wee bit controversial at times. No, I will not air dirty laundry but I may occasionally state a few things that may irritate one or more of the members of the greater Townsend family. But, what the heck, I have nothing to lose and it won’t be the first time. There is a good chance that some of what I say will immediately be removed from the site after it is placed there. Who am I kidding? Half of what I write will probably never make it to the site. The likely reason will probably be as a result of one or more of the guys taking exception to what I write. They do this relatively frequently but they do it very politely. It seems that I lack an adequate appreciate and understanding of the members of their generation. That’s a nice way of saying that I’m clueless when it comes to figuring out what makes young folks tick.

So, who am I and why do I believe that I know what’s going on relative to Townsend, you ask? I’m Townsend’s interim manager and advisor. I’m also Todd’s dad. Which means he and the other guys manipulated me into helping them out. No big thing, Todd’s been doing that since he was two years old. Don’t tell him, but he believes that he’s had me hoodwinked all this time.

Being the interim manager for Townsend has its ups and downs. The guys frequently "visit" me at my office. Todd has a way treating my staff as if they were all his personal friends. Members of my staff seem to enjoy having the guys around. It helps that the guys are young and charming.

Notice that I stated that I’m Townsend’s interim manager and advisor. This is not something that I want to do long term. Heck, I would love to be replaced as soon as possible. Tomorrow would work fine for me. It’s not that I do not like working with the guys. I do. Well, at least most some of the time. Actually, my motives for getting rid of the guys are quite virtuous. As soon as they get a management company or record company to pick them up I’ll no longer be needed. Great for them, sad day for my wife Wendy; she enjoys it when they hang out at our house. She thinks, "they’re cute". Personally, I do not think that the word cute fits these guys. I would go with "nice". Besides, as far as I’m concerned, only bugs, children and toy trains are cute. Okay, I’ll make an exception, Ryan’s cute.

So what do I do as interim manager? It seems like I do everything but wash their clothes. By the way, Todd still has his mother do his laundry. I think interim manager really means photographer, seamstress, roadie, letter writer, proofreader, common laborer, facilitator, purchasing agent, web site supporter, and all around gopher.

Matt, the newest member of the group, is a great guy. I only whish he would stop singing all the time. The guy can’t talk without breaking into verse. He even sings when he eats. I’m not kidding. The guy can sing with his mouth full of mashed potatoes. I would complain if he didn’t sound so good. I swear, the first night he spent at our house he sang in his sleep. Either that or our cat was sick. I’m not implying that he sounds like a sick cat. He has a great set of pipes (Ryan, that’s an old fashion term for he can wail, which of course means he sings real good [Todd said that Ryan doesn’t understand what I’m saying half of the time]).

Speaking of Ryan. As you all know by now, he’s the youngest member of the group. Real nice kid. He has tons of talent and in spite of the fact the he doesn’t comprehend many of the expressions that I use, he’s sharp. As I said, he’s a nice guy. Maybe even too nice. I’m trying to instill a little playful humor in him. For example, in an earlier version of Townsend’s Message to its Fans section of this website, Ryan referred to the twins as "Butt Ugly". The truth of the matter is that Ryan never said that. I did. I added the statement after the fact. He came to me and very politely asked me to remove that statement from the website. He was concerned about how that it made him appear and that it was mean spirited. Personally I thought it was funny. I figure that if Ryan hangs out with me a little more often, I will become a nicer guy and he will become more of a jerk. Well, maybe not. I’m too old to change my ways.

This may be before your time, but have you ever read the children’s books about the Bobbsey Twins? Neither have I. Still, whenever I see the Restani twins I think about the Bobbsey twins. If I had the time I would write a series of books about Dom n’ Nick. In reality, it would have nothing to do with Dom’s or Nick’s true life story. It would be more like the Adventures of the Hardy Boys except that it would have a little X-Files flavor to it. I’d call the first book The Townsend Twins Meets the Ghost of Market Street. The story would be about how the guys help some poor homeless person that is down on his luck. As it turns the guy isn’t really homeless. He’s a demiangel sent back to earth and given the opportunity to say goodbye to the only person he ever loved. Unfortunately, there is a catch. Before he can say goodbye to the women he loves he has to learn what it feels like to be needy and to care about others. He wasn’t exactly the best kind of person while he was alive. He was very wealthy, greedy and he didn’t treat people well. He was a real jerk. The crux of the story is that he is unable to find the person he loves until he learns about the important things in life. That’s where the guys come in. They find him on Market Street in San Francisco panhandling for spare change. They help him to be a better person and to find his lost love. I wouldn’t include any romantic dribble. Not that the twins are not romantic, I’m sure that they are. It’s just that there is no place for romance in a gothic adventure novel. The story would conclude with a song that they wrote about their adventure.

They would sing it to their friends around a campfire on the beach in Santa Cruz. The song might go something like this:

Hey lady can you spare me a dime? I have nothing in my pocket but a hand full of time. If ya give me a dollar I’ll tell ya a rhyme.

It’s a rhyme about love it’s a rhyme about crime.

Please don’t turn your back on me. You have nothing to fear. Don’t be put back by the clothes that I wear or the state of my hair.

I’m looking for my lady. She’s all that I lived for all that I cared for.

Please look at me. What do you see?


Do you think that my lyrics are a little weak? I’ve been writing lyrics for months now in an attempt to help the guys out. They keep rejecting everything I give them. Most of it doesn’t even get past Todd. You would think that he would at least humor me. By the way, if you listen real closely to the lyrics in Just Say Goodbye you will know where I got the idea for my story. The lyrics tell a story about an angel coming back to earth to say goodbye to a loved one.

Did you know that Dom and Randy Eamata co-wrote the lyrics for Just Say Goodbye? I believe that Dom came up with the idea for it. Great idea. Wonderful song.

The song Tonight is for You was written exclusively by the members of Townsend. I think that Dom and Ryan came up with the basic idea while pumping iron at a fitness center. Todd came up with a partial draft of the lyrics. The guys worked together to develop the final lyrics. At least that is what Todd says. But I must tell you that Todd has a slight propensity towards exaggeration (Quite possibly he got that tendency from me). I’m sure that he was accurate on the pumping iron part. Tonight is for You does seem to have a little macho testosterone in the lyrics.








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