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The Who Blast ‘Quadrophenia’ Film Sequel as Cash Grab

"This karaoke sequel is totally ridiculous," said The Who's manager on the new film

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June 9, 2016

The Who Blast ‘Quadrophenia’ Film Sequel as Cash Grab

The Who, original line up, performing in Chicago in 1975. Left to right: Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, Keith Moon, Pete Townshend. Photo: Jim Summaria/CC BY-SA 3.0/ Wikimedia Commons

A sequel to the 1979 film Quadrophenia – which was based on the Who’sÂ 1973 double LP about a disillusioned teenage mod – willÂ begin filming this summer despite the group’s overtÂ objections. “Any follow-up to this film could only be made by the authors of the original and would need to be worthy of the name,” Who manager Bill CurbishleyÂ said in a statement. “This karaoke sequel announced recently in the press [is]Â totally ridiculous.”

The movie, directed by Ray Burdis, is anÂ adaption of the 2011 novel To Be Someone, by Peter Meadows. It picks up theÂ Quadrophenia story four decades later and finds protagonist Jimmy Cooper working as a cocaine-smuggling gangster. Phil Daniels, who portrayed CooperÂ in the original film has signed on to reprise his role. Mark Wingett, Trevor Laird and Toyah Willcox will also be returning. “The new film doesn’t feature Sting, Leslie Ash or Ray Winstone from the original, let alone any words or music from The Who,” said Curbishley. “I find it hard to understand why any of the original cast would lend themselves to this crass attempt to cash in on the excellence of the original, when this quite clearly isn’t a sequel.”

The Who’s Quadrophenia was a look back at the British mod scene they emerged from in the earlyÂ 1960s. The 1979 loose film adaptation was part of a mini-mod revival and has become a cult classic. The Who played the complete album on tour in 1996/97 and again in 2012/13. Daniels served as the onstage narrator during some of the early shows on the 1996 tour.

The Who are in the middle of a long world tour they’ve suggested may be their final outing. “It’s the end of this type of tour, I’m sure,” Roger Daltrey told Rolling Stone last month. “We’ll take a break for a couple of years, and by the time that’s over I’ll probably be 74, getting on 75. I don’t know if I can physically do what I’m doing now at 75. That’s an impossible question to answer. I don’t feel it.

Andy Greene