They’ve got a little list, and Pete Townshend is on it

In his first statement after Pete Townshend was cleared earlier this month of all charges related to his arrest in London on suspicion of child pornography possession, Who bandmate Roger Daltrey expresses, not surprisingly, relief and total support.

“I am really pleased that Pete has been cleared of all charges,” the singer says. “Anyone who thinks he is anything but a deeply thinking, caring, valuable member of society is sadly wrong. His honesty has shone through. Let’s get back to work.”

But will the work face obstacles now, at least when Daltrey and Townshend tour with the Who again in the U.S.? Even though the charges were dismissed, because Townshend admitted that in 1998 he had paid to view an Internet child porn site once (as research for memoirs he was writing, he has said), English law requires that his name be put on a list of sex offenders.

U.K. shares that list with other governments, which means that any time Townshend seeks to enter the U.S., immigration officials will see his name on that list.

Mathew Millen, a Los Angeles immigration attorney, says that being on the list is not grounds to deny the rocker an entry visa.

“England’s sex registry is overly broad compared to ours,” he says. “They may look at everybody on the list, but when they determine that he’s on the list merely for viewing a site, there should be no problem at all. He might get stopped and they’ll ask if he was on the list because he committed a crime and he’ll say no.”

If he does get stopped, he could be in esteemed company. Paul McCartney said in a recent interview with England’s Mojo magazine that he is still regularly detained on arrival in the U.S. because of several marijuana convictions.

Townshend’s situation, Millen says, may bear more comparison with John Lennon’s celebrated case, in which the U.S. government used a mid-’60s marijuana charge in an attempt to deport him. In 1976, though, a U.S. judge ruled that Lennon’s U.K. conviction would not have stood up under U.S. law, and therefore was not grounds to revoke his visa.

“One of the difficulties with these lists, whether British or ones we have in the U.S., is they’re over-broad,” says Ramona Ripston, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. She said even tighter visa scrutiny has been instituted since the 2001 terrorist attacks. “They include all sorts of people who shouldn’t be on them, and that’s a terrible thing.”

The old Slash label in new form

Slash Records, one of the seminal forces in the L.A. punk and rock explosion of the late ‘70s and ‘80s, is back in action. Once a label built around such acts as X, the Blasters and Los Lobos, founder Bob Biggs says the new incarnation will revolve around distinctive bands connected to a vibrant local scene.

The difference is this scene’s in Brooklyn.

“We were sure of the cultural value of the music there,” says Biggs, who moved back to L.A. a couple of years ago after living in New York. “It was from a place with a geographical identity. It’s the same way it was in L.A. when we started, just a different location. Brooklyn was the place we felt was most authentic that we could pin music to a location.”

The new Slash’s first signing is Shiner Massive, a band drawing on the cultural mix of techno, rock, hip-hop, reggae and Indian sounds swirling around the Brooklyn scene. The group was actually the old Slash’s last signing in its final phase three years ago, and its co-founder and producer, Will Fulton, a former A&R; executive and producer who worked with Run-DMC, Ja Rule and others, is now Biggs’ partner in the new label, called Slash/BiggMassive.

The band, as well as its reggae-focused spinoff, Shiner Massive Sound System, will be introduced with tracks on a compilation of earlier Slash acts that will be the new label’s first release, due in August. A full Shiner Massive album is due in September, and another compilation will follow in October.

Living through corporate mergers and changes convinced Biggs that labels such as Slash are needed more than ever. Slash had been part of Warner Bros. Records from the mid ‘80s until 1996, when it was sold to London Records, part of PolyGram and then the Universal Music Group, and then returned to Warner, which is a partner in the new operation.

“More and more music is controlled by huge multinationals,” he says. “That world seems to eliminate the true cultural values. But all of that is always around. To make it work, you just start doing it.”

Small faces

* Rufus Wainwright is recording his third album in London, working with producer Marius Devries, who served as music director for the film “Moulin Rouge” and has produced Madonna, Bjork and many others. In another direction, Levon Helm and Charlie Sexton have made appearances on the sessions. DreamWorks Records’ release plans have not been determined yet.

* Lake Trout, a Maryland band that’s building a strong following for its jam-friendly mix of rock and electronics, has made a unique deal with Chris Blackwell’s Palm label teamed with RX Records (run by its manager, Gary Kurfirst). Under the deal, the band and the labels will share revenue not just from record sales but also from touring and merchandise. Says Blackwell, “The strength of Lake Trout as a live act along with the experimental nature of their music suggested a deal as unique as their music.”

* David Lindley is reactivating his band El-Rayo X, which made three albums in the ‘80s. Returning to the fold are former Faces keyboardist Ian McLagan, guitarist Ray Woodbury, bassist Jorge Calderon and drummer Walfredo Reyes Jr., joined by Lindley’s regular percussionist, Wally Ingram, for the group’s first shows in 13 years. Plans are being made for a brief launch tour, including L.A. area dates most likely in August.

* After a 2001 album with guest vocalists, Los Straitjackets returns to their all-instrumental ways for a new album due in August. But there will still be guests, including Jon Spencer (on theremin) and X members Billy Zoom (on saxophones and flute) and DJ Bonebrake (playing vibes).