At first I direct them to react to the slab as Kubrick's apes and astronauts react in 2001: approaching cautiously, arms upraised almost touching it. The sky is still gray and occasional drops of rain fall. I grab my camera and we all walk out onto the dark reef of the slag. Russell describes the impromptu photo shoot: We tried, but you can’t brainstorm that kind of thing. They couldn’t perform! Totally spontaneous. Except for Pete’s, the “urine” was water we poured on the concrete. I was taking test Polaroids and looked up…Pete had peed on it…I thought “OK!” Took about eight shots. The band exited the cars, and Russell began taking test shots with a Polaroid camera: Embedded in the rolling hill of debris were a series of concrete pilings. There, spoil tips changed the landscape to rolling hills of industrial waste. They exited the highway and headed toward the coast, reaching Easington Colliery, a coastal town in an area that was badly damaged from a century of coal mining activities. Townshend was probably driving on the A19, passing near Easington Village. He slowed down at a roundabout and asked if I had any ideas I told him about those shapes. I saw those concrete things and didn’t know what they were.

On the way home, Pete was driving fast again. Pete Townshend’s driving scared me so much, I laid down in the back seat. To get ideas, I accompanied them to a gig in Central England. Townshend in particular was unsatisfied with the ideas to date, and wanted to brainstorm more artistic options. Some photos were taken by Russell, including a photoshoot with Moon in various outfits (see images below). Rejected ideas included Keith Moon dressed up as a woman, or in S&M gear, and a naked heavy-set woman with her privates replaced with photos of the band members. The band had been tossing around ideas for an album cover for a while.

Walk the moon album cover'=