Keep On Working

"Keep On Working" is a song written and composed by the English musician Pete Townshend, guitarist for the Who. The song was released as a single, and is on the album Empty Glass.

"Keep On Working"
Single by Pete Townshend
from the album Empty Glass
B-side	"Jools and Jim"
Released	1980
Recorded	1980
Genre	Rock
Length	3:23
Label	Atco Records
Songwriter(s)	Pete Townshend
Producer(s)	Pete Townshend, Chris Thomas
Pete Townshend UK singles chronology
"A Little Is Enough" (1980) "Keep On Working" (1980) "Face Dances, Pt. 2" (1982)

Background

Like its album-mate "Empty Glass", "Keep On Working" was a leftover from Who Are You, a 1978 album by Townshend's band The Who.^[1] However, upon Townshend's decision to make a solo album, the song was resurrected.

Pete Townshend has since said that the song was created in an attempt to replicate Kinks' songwriter Ray Davies' style of writing. In 1982, Townshend said, "Ray's always been a big influence on me. I've never been able to write in the same way, though I've often tried. In fact, I'm terrible at it. I think 'Keep on Working' tries to be a Kinks song but it just doesn't work."^[1]

Release and reception

In 1980, "Keep On Working" was released as the final single from Empty Glass in the UK, following his success with "Let My Love Open the Door" and "Rough Boys". Backed with its fellow Empty Glass track "Jools and Jim", the song was a commercial flop, failing to chart at all.^[2] The single wasn't released in the US, where "A Little Is Enough" was issued instead.

AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine criticized "Keep On Working" for being "a little artier than it needs to be".^[3]

References

1. Wilkerson, Mark. Who Are You: The Life Of Pete Townshend. Omnibus Press.
2. "The Who This Month! 1980".
3. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Empty Glass". allmusic. Retrieved 21 April 2015.