Boomer Boxed Set Brawl: The Who vs. The Rolling Stones
Don’t worry, we’re not staging geriatric wrestling matches (although, that could be a money maker…) No, we’re looking at which classic band has the most extravagant box set. Fight!
This fall’s flood of ginormous box set re-releases continues in November with two boomer generation classics: The Who’s bombastic early ‘70s rock opera Quadrophenia and The Rolling Stones’ gritty late ‘70s comeback Some Girls. So who’s better? The Who or the Stones? (Sorry, Beatles fans.)
Quadrophenia
Some Girls
Band
The Who
The Rolling Stones
Originally Released
October 26, 1973
June 9, 1978
Other albums released that month
Elton John’s
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
, Bob Marley & The Wailers’
Burnin’
, The Partridge Family’s
Bulletin Board
Other albums released that month: Bruce Springsteen’s
Darkness on the Edge of Town
, Bob Dylan’s
Street Legal
, The Alan Parsons Project’s
Pyramid
10-Second Summary
An aging rock band looks back on its early years of drugs, sex and bad behaviour.
An aging rock band looks at its current years of drugs, sex and bad behaviour.
Most Scandalous Lyric
“What is it? I’ll take it. / Who is she? I’ll rape it.” (from “Dr. Jimmy”)
“Black girls just want to get fucked all night/ I just don’t have that much jaaaammmm…” (from “Some Girls”)
Hit song
“Love Reign O’er Me,” a rock ode to the awesome power of love
“Miss You,” a disco ode to the awesome power of lust
Recorded at
A half-built studio in South London’s gritty Battersea neighbourhood
The tiny Pathé Marconi studio in staid Paris suburb Boulogne-Billancourt
Inspired by
1960s London, mods and rockers, teenage rebellion
1970s New York, punk rock and disco, adult decadence
Fashion Accessories
French crew cuts, scooters and green anoraks
“Tongue” logo t-shirts, drain-pipe pants, heroin chic
Drug of Choice
50 year-old-brandy
pharmaceutical-grade cocaine
Praise From Other Artists
Eddie Vedder once said that
Quadrophenia
“basically saved my life.”
Prince has said that “Miss You” is the only song he wished he had written.
Films Inspired
Quadrophenia
(1979) – A cult favourite starring scrawny English actor Phil Daniels and featuring a weirdly young Sting.
Some Girls
(1988) – A forgotten romantic comedy starring chiselled American actor Patrick Dempsey and featuring a sexy young Jennifer Connelly.
Most Over-the-Top Box Set Available
The Director’s Cut (Super Deluxe Edition)
:
Digitally remastered album plus demos and rarities on 4CDs, one DVD with surround-sound mixes, a seven-inch vinyl single, a 100-page hardback book with a new essay by Pete Townshend, and other memorabilia. $117 on Amazon.
Some Girls Super Deluxe Version
:
Digitally remastered and expanded two-CD version of the album, plus a bonus DVD, a seven-inch vinyl single with a previously banned sleeve, a hardback book, a set of postcards, Helmut Newton prints, and a poster. $153 on Amazon.
Box-Set Face-Off: U2 vs. Nirvana
