For 'White City' Pete Townshend returned to the concept based song cycle that had been so successful for him in The Who. The album, and accompanying long form video, told the story of life on a working class council estate in Townshend's old West London stomping ground. The songs deal with lost love, racial tension and broken dreams.

The album, released in 1985, peaked at number 26 in the Billboard chart and saw similar success for the singles 'Give Blood' and 'Face The Face'. The album also saw contributions from Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmore, who also performed with 'Deep End', the band formed by Townshend early in 1985.