The Who will revisit their 1975 album The Who By Numbers with a five-CD and Blu-ray Super Deluxe Edition featuring 92 previously unreleased audio tracks and mixes, restored concert footage and new Pete Townshend mixes.
by Paul Cashmere
The Who will release a 50th anniversary edition of The Who By Numbers on 30 October 2026, bringing together the original album, previously unreleased demos and studio material, a restored 1976 Swansea concert and previously unseen video of the band performing in Pontiac, Michigan, in December 1975.
The seven-inch and vinyl-era catalogue release is being expanded into a five-CD and Blu-ray set, alongside 3LP, 2CD and limited coloured-vinyl editions. The Blu-ray contains new Dolby Atmos, 5.1 and stereo mixes overseen by Pete Townshend, while the concert film preserves one of the few complete visual records of The Who’s final touring period with drummer Keith Moon.
The Who By Numbers was recorded between April and early June 1975 with producer Glyn Johns, who had previously worked with the band on Who’s Next. Townshend had turned 30 in May and was increasingly questioning his place in rock music and the future of The Who. Those concerns became central to an album that was considerably more personal and introspective than much of the band’s earlier work.
The record reached No. 7 in the UK and No. 8 in the US. Squeeze Box became the album’s major commercial success, reaching the UK top 10, the US top 20 and No. 1 in Canada. Slip Kid, which followed as a single, did not chart in the US.
Townshend has described The Who By Numbers as an unusually personal project. “The Who By Numbers is a tricky album to talk about. It’s the only one where I allowed songs that were so personal to be used by The Who,” he said.
Roger Daltrey has similarly singled out the album’s vulnerability. “In some ways, The Who By Numbers is my favourite [Who] album. For me, songs like ‘Imagine A Man’, ‘How Many Friends’ and ‘However Much I Booze’ expose our vulnerabilities, and the album is wonderful for that,” he said.
The expanded edition documents the album’s development through 11 Townshend demos, tracking sessions from Ramport and Shepperton Studios, alternate mixes, guide vocals, studio dialogue and radio material. Among the previously unreleased recordings is an early Pete Townshend vocal version of Imagine A Man, which has been issued as a preview of the collection.
The fifth CD moves beyond the album sessions to The Who’s 12 June 1976 performance at Vetch Field in Swansea, Wales. The concert was recorded with a proposed live album in mind and has previously appeared in partial form. The new edition restores the available tapes and resequences the material into the original performance order.
The Blu-ray adds a different historical document: the complete 6 December 1975 performance at Metropolitan Stadium in Pontiac, Michigan. The concert was filmed on 2-inch videotape using four cameras for the venue’s closed-circuit video system. The footage was partly used in The Kids Are Alright in 1977, but the complete performance has now been restored and cleaned up. The audio remains mono.
The Pontiac concert drew a reported 76,896 people, setting an indoor attendance record at the time. It also documents The Who during the tour that would prove to be the last with Keith Moon, who died in 1978.
Townshend’s 100-page hardcover book accompanying the Super Deluxe Edition places the album within a changing rock landscape. He recalls sensing “a new wave or reaction and rebellion” developing against established rock acts and says he was not surprised when punk emerged several years later.
The Who By Numbers was followed by the band’s 1978 album Who Are You, while The Who’s later catalogue has continued to receive archival treatment. The 2019 album WHO became the group’s first new studio album in 13 years, followed by orchestral touring and the 2023 live release The Who With Orchestra Live At Wembley.
The new edition is the latest archival expansion of The Who’s 1970s catalogue, following Super Deluxe treatments of Quadrophenia, Who’s Next and Who Are You. It completes the series of 1970s Who studio albums receiving an SDE Blu-ray release.
The Super Deluxe Edition is available to pre-order now, with the limited SDE Blu-ray edition’s pre-order window closing on 18 September 2026. The full collection and associated formats will be released on 30 October through Polydor/UMe.
Tracklisting
The Who By Numbers: 5CD/1Blu-Ray Super Deluxe Edition
Disc One: The Original 1975 Album Remastered
Slip Kid
However Much I Booze
Squeeze Box
Dreaming From The Waist
Imagine A Man
Success Story
They Are All In Love
Blue Red And Grey
How Many Friends
In A Hand Or A Face
Disc Two: Pete Townshend’s Demos
Keep Me Turning (Version 1)
Slip Kid (Version 1)
Squeeze Box
Blue Red And Grey
Dreaming From The Waist
How Many Friends
Keep Me Turning (Version 2)
Imagine A Man
Slip Kid (Version 2)
Round And Round (Working Title For In A Hand Or A Face)
There Ain’t No Way Out (Working Title For However Much I Booze)
Disc Three: Tracking Sessions: Ramport & Shepperton Studios
Ramport Jam (Excerpt)
She Loves Everyone (Tracking Session)
Control Myself (Dreaming From The Waist Tracking Session)
There Ain’t No Way Out (However Much I Booze Tracking Session)
Goin’ To Frisco/Round And Round (In A Hand Or A Face Tracking Session)
Hi-Heel Sneakers Jam With Nicky Hopkins (Studio Outtake)
Pete And Keith “The Artiste” (Studio Dialogue)
Success Story (Tracking Session)
How Many Friends (Tracking Session)
Imagine A Man (Tracking Session)
They Are All In Love (Tracking Session)
She Loves Everyone (Retake With Nicky Hopkins)
Squeeze Box (Tracking Session)
Instrumental 1 (Tracking Session)
I’m Dreaming (Dreaming From The Waist Retake)
Every Minute (Blue Red And Grey Tracking Session)
Instrumental 2 (Rough Mix) (Tracking Session)
The Who By Numbers US Radio Spot #1 (Radio Commercial)
Disc Four: Early Mixes & Guide Vocals
Slip Kid – Alternate Roger Vocal (Early Mix Without Overdubs)
However Much I Booze – Alternate Pete Vocal (Early Mix)
Squeeze Box – Alternate Roger Vocal
Dreaming From The Waist – Pete Vocal (Early Mix)
Imagine A Man – Pete Vocal (Early Mix)
Success Story – John Vocal (Early Mix)
They Are All In Love – Alternate Pete Vocal (Early Mix)
Blue Red And Grey (Unedited Version)
How Many Friends – Pete Vocal (Early Mix)
In A Hand Or A Face (Early Mix)
They Are All In Love Alternate Roger Vocal (Early Mix)
Squeeze Box (Acoustic Stripped Mix, 2026)
Imagine A Man (Acoustic Stripped Mix, 2026)
They Are All In Love (Acoustic Stripped Mix, 2026)
How Many Friends (Acoustic Stripped Mix, 2026)
The Who By Numbers US Radio Spot #2 (Radio Commercial)
Keith Moon And John Entwistle Preview (The Who By Numbers With John Peel, BBC 1975)
However Much I Booze (Live At The Summit, Houston, USA, 20 November 1975)
Slip Kid (Live At Madison Square Garden, New York City, USA, 11 March 1976)
Disc Five: Live At The Vetch Field, Swansea, Wales, 12 June 1976
My Wife
Baba O’Riley
Squeeze Box
Behind Blue Eyes
Dreaming From The Waist
Amazing Journey
Sparks
The Acid Queen
Fiddle About
Pinball Wizard
I’m Free
Tommy’s Holiday Camp
We’re Not Gonna Take It / See Me, Feel Me
Summertime Blues
My Generation/Join Together/My Generation Blues
Won’t Get Fooled Again
Disc Six: Blu-ray
The Who By Numbers
Pete Townshend Atmos Mix
Pete Townshend 5.1 Mix
2026 Stereo Mix
Slip Kid
However Much I Booze
Squeeze Box
Dreaming From The Waist
Imagine A Man
Success Story
They Are All In Love
Blue Red Grey
How Many Friends
In A Hand Or A Face
Live At Metropolitan Stadium, Pontiac, Michigan, 6 December 1975
I Can’t Explain
Substitute
My Wife
Baba O’Riley
Squeeze Box
Behind Blue Eyes
Dreaming From The Waist
Boris The Spider
Magic Bus
Amazing Journey / Sparks
The Acid Queen
Fiddle About
Pinball Wizard
I’m Free
Tommy’s Holiday Camp
We’re Not Gonna Take It / See Me, Feel Me
Summertime Blues
My Generation/Join Together/Road Runner/My Generation Blues
Won’t Get Fooled Again
Mono
Stay updated with your free Noise11.com daily music news email alert. Subscribe to Noise11 Music News here
Be the first to see NOISE11.com’s newest interviews and special features on YouTube. See things first—Subscribe to Noise11 on YouTube
Follow Noise11.com on social media:
Bluesky
Facebook – Comment on the news of the day
