The Toy Box: February 2026

Retro Spins: Pete Townshend - All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes

Pete Townshend's 1980 solo effort, Empty Glass, really came out of left field for me, and hit me with a solid listening session with quite a few hidden gems that I simply wasn't expecting. It got me super excited to immediately jump into his 1982 follow-up, All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes, a n excessively long title I've typed so many times that I really look forward to never having to do so again.

Unlike its predecessor, upon its release the album was critically panned. Pretentious, meaningless, failure, and mess, were all words used to describe it.

I suppose the best way I would explain it is that if you took everything Empty Glass brought to the table, strip it away, but keep the same deep composition and melodies of music, you get this record. It's definitely not on the same level as its predecessor, and in that right, it's disappointing. It's overall lackluster punch quickly drained my enthusiasm for hearing it, and by track three, I fell deeply into fatigue.

Granted, while definitely a contributor, that may not have been the full responsibility of All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes. I was, at this point, on a six-album marathon of Retro Spins on a lazy Saturday. Perhaps it was destined to fail in that right.

By the end of track four, I opted to hit the pause button and walk away for the rest of the day. Doing so was potentially to the benefit of the album because returning to it with a refreshed mind, I found some tracks to grab. These included Exquisitely Bored, Communication, and Uniform. Slit Skirts was also okay, but I'm not 100% on board with that one as of this writing. These tunes took on that familiar Who sound, in fact pretty much the remainder of the album did, leaving me all the more convinced that a break was definitely the right call.

While I initially thought this was going to be a bust, I'm happy to say that All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes, does redeem itself, and once again invigorates me to continue forward with Pete Townshend. In doing so, I come to his final 80's entry, White City: A Novel, which I'll check out tomorrow.

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Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.

Comics Corner: Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 5

Title: Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual
Issue Number: 5
Release Date: November 1985

Highlights

First appearance of the Reapers gang; Ace, Al Webber, and Lorenzo Spencer
Additional first appearances of the Dragons (all unnamed), Jean Hillman, Rosie Spencer, Mrs. Spenger, and Mr. Alexander
First appearance and death of Sammy, and Vince DiFeo
A gang war has broken out, and the wake leaves the dead teenage boys of the Dragons at the hands of the Reapers
Spider-Man spies Ace sitting in an alley on his bike, and catches a picture of him with his camera
Joy Mercado, new hire for the Daily Bugle, rushes outside, almost knocking over Peter Parker
When she learns who he is, she grabs him, saying she needs a photographer, and drags him with her
Reference is made to The Amazing Spider-Man 267, and Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man 103
Al Webber and Lorenzo Spencer stand trial for shooting Vince DiFeo, unfortunately, he's in a coma, and can't be a witness
As the trial is postponed, the defending legal team find out that DiFeo has passed away
Peter shares his photo of Ace with Joy, and the two head to his neighborhood, asking around for him
Peter and Joy are attacked by the Reapers, and when Ace appears on scene, he pretends to get hit by his bike, playing possum until he can change into his Spider-Man suit
The gang kidnap Joy
When Spider-Man tracks down the Reapers, he's surprised by Ace, who crashes through the window on his bike
As the two fight, Spider-Man can't land a punch on Ace, nor nab him with his webbing, the guy is just too quick for him
Just as Spider-Man thinks he's tricking Ace into getting closer for him to land a blow, the guy cuts him with a knife, so fast that Spider-Man can't even react
The rival gang, the Dragon's show up, ready for war
Spider-Man asks Ace to intervene and stop everyone, but he says it's none of his business
During the fight, a "kid" named Sammy is hit by a bullet, and dies in Joy's lap
Ace goes to see Lorenzo in jail, and tells him he's going to testify against him and Al
Lorenzo turns out to be Ace's half brother

Low Points

We don't learn why Ace is so fast in a fight, but a quick search of Marvel Fandom informs that he's a mutant

Oddities

None

Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)

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Retro Spins: Pete Townshend - Empty Glass

Do I really need to go into detail of who Pete Townshend is? His prolific genius on multiple instruments? Is legacy career with The Who? I Mean...Do I really need to deep dive? No? Good, because I don't honestly know much about The Who, or the man himself, and I'm kind of feeling lazy, having just come off of four back-to-back Van Halen albums on a Saturday afternoon.

Empty Glass was the vacuum for a struggling artist to direct himself towards. It focuses on issues Townshend was personally dealing with, including alcoholism, drug abuse, marital problems and deceased friends, particularly Keith Moon, the Who's former drummer, who died in 1978. Yet buried within it would be the devotional love song, Let My Love Open The Door, a tune which would produce for the artist a top ten hit.

Townshend would explain of the album title, "I called it Empty Glass, 'cause of this idea that when you go to the tavern – which is to God, you know – and you ask for His love – He's the bartender, you know – and He gives you a drink, and what you have to give Him is an empty glass. You know there's no point giving Him your heart if it's full already; there's no point going to God if your heart's full of Doris."

The writing for it would take place between 1978 and 1980, a time when the guitarist was called upon to also fulfill obligations to The Who, working on what would become their 1981 album, Face Dances. Despite this split attention, it would be his solo studio album which critics would label the superior of the two, calling it The Who's album that never was.

That's a fair assessment in retrospect, as Empty Glass does indeed come off as an album that one can easily hear the vocals replaced by Roger Daltrey. It just has that Who sound and style, which fans of their music would immediately pick up on.

Overall, I felt it was a really solid album, and an unexpected gem hidden in my collection. I had picked it up for the aforementioned single and wasn't really expecting much more from it. Call me both shocked and pleasantly surprised to have found additional shuffle worthy tunes, I Am Animal, Cats In The Cupboard, A Little Is Enough, Empty Glass (the song), and Gonna Get Ya.

Though I never listened to them, I actually would continue to pick up Townshend's solo albums as I came across them, not realizing that there was only two more from the 80's, and ultimately adding both of them to my collection. After hearing this one, I'm really glad I did because I'm super excited to continue on through his 80's discography. Though I know nothing about 1982's All The Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes (1982), and White City (A Novel) (1985), I'm hoping to find some more gems among them.

I'm really running a marathon today of Retro Spins, and though you have to wait until tomorrow, without further ado, I'm headed into that 1982 album. I'll see you there.

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