It was 47 years ago today (October 19th, 1973) that the Who released their second double album, the watershed 1973 collection, Quadrophenia. The set featured such classic Who songs as "The Real Me," "5:15," "I'm One," "The Punk And The Godfather," "Drowned," "Sea And Sand," and "Love Reign O'er Me," among others. A film version based around the album was produced by the band and released in 1979. The Who returned to the road in North America and Europe in 2012 and 2013 for their critically acclaimed Quadrophenia & More Tour, which saw the band reviving the album with a new, state of the art production.
Pete Townshend's long-awaited orchestral version of Quadrophenia, titled Classic Quadrophenia, premiered on July 5th, 2015 at London's Royal Albert Hall starring Townshend and Alfie Boe singing Roger Daltrey's original parts with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the London Oriana Choir conducted by Robert Ziegler. The new ‘symphonised’ version was orchestrated by Townshend's wife, musician and composer, Rachel Fuller, with a studio version of the work also released on CD. The team hit the road last year for five high-profile performances of the production in New York, the Chicago area, and Los Angeles.
In June 2014, the Who released the live package, Quadrophenia: Live In London. The set was recorded on July 8th, 2013 during the band's tour-closing concert at London’s Wembley Arena. The collection is released in seven different configurations — including a five-disc metal box. In 2012, the Who released the critically acclaimed Quadrophenia "Director's Cut" Box Set. The collection marked the first release of all of Pete Townshend's fully produced one-man-band demos for Quadrophenia — including the tracks which ended up on the 1979 film soundtrack, along with previously unheard titles.