The Who’s classic 1975 album The Who By Numbers is set to be reissued as a 5CD/1Blu-Ray super deluxe edition for its 50th anniversary. The boxset features the remastered album, Pete Townshend demos, tracking sessions from Ramport & Shepperton Studios, early mixes and vocal guides, and live recordings from a concert at Vetch Field, Swansea, Wales, in June 1976.
Also included are 52 unreleased tracks, Atmos and Stereo mixes by Townshend, a 100 page hard back book containing photos, memorabilia, and exclusive notes from Townshend and Who expert Andy Neill, and a full unseen concert.
Released in early October 1975, The Who By Numbers is the band’s seventh album. Though the cover features a lighthearted drawing of the group by John Entwistle, the music is notably heavier and introspective. As Townshend says in the box set’s making-of-the-album book, “I could feel a new wave or reaction and rebellion coming in the music business, the big bands were becoming careless and self-indulgent. I wanted my songs to continue to have a cathartic function for our audience. When punk hit a few years later, I was not surprised.”
The Who By Numbers was a commercial success, peaking at No. 8 on the US Billboard chart and No. 7 in the UK, partly due to international hit “Squeeze Box,” which reached the top ten in the UK, top 20 in the US and No. 1 in Canada.
The Blu-Ray includes remastered audio and video from a previously unreleased Who concert shot on 2” videotape from Metropolitan Stadium, Pontiac, Michigan. The concert on December 6, 1975, set the record at the time for the largest-ever indoor rock concert attendance, with 76,896 people. It is one of the rare existing visual records of this memorable Who tour, their last with Keith Moon.
Six months later, The Who played three British football grounds under the banner Who Put The Boot In. The first of these, at The Valley, the home of Charlton Athletic, was recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s loudest rock concert. The third show at Swansea FC’s Vetch Field was recorded for a proposed live album. Songs from the Swansea concert have appeared on official Who releases over the years, but now the available original mix tapes have been remastered and returned to their original order. The show was Moon’s final proper show before a British audience.
