The Who singles box set OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
THE WHO SINGLES BOX 1
Box Set Of 11 Classic Singles With Two Brand New Tracks
Release Date Monday April 12th 2004
2004 is quickly shaping up to be the busiest year for The Who in decades.
In March alone, the band are playing three sold out dates at The Forum in London. These gigs are warm ups for their Teenage cancer Trust show at The Royal Albert Hall where they will perform the rock opera 'Tommy'.
Following on from these shows, April 12th sees the release of a 12 cd box set of classic Who singles, beginning in 1965 and culminating in two brand new songs that lead the way for The Who in the 21st Century.
The news that this box set includes two brand new songs has set The Who Internet message boards alight over the past few days, with rumour and conjecture as to what the songs sound like and the subject matter they deal with.
Pete Townshend has commented extensively on his website about the genesis of these songs, 'Real Good Looking Boy' and 'Old Red Wine' which are the first original Who recordings since the early 1980's.
Townshend commented, 'Real Good Looking Boy' is a song I wrote quite a few years ago about two young men who worry about their looks. One of them, based on me - hopes and believes he might look like his best friend who is a conventionally handsome fellow. (He is disavowed of this notion by his mother). The second, based on Roger - hopes and believes he will one day turn out to be like the young Elvis. (He, more happily, sees part of his dream come true). They both find love in later life'.
The song itself opens with the piano refrain from Elvis Presley's 'Can't Help Falling In Love' and is an instantly recognisable as a classic Who track.
'Real Good Looking Boy' and 'Old Red Wine' feature what Townshend has described as 'Who2', the band that supported Pete and Roger after John Entwistle's sudden death in 2002. They are Zak Starkey on drums, Rabbit Bundrick on keyboards, Pino Palladino on bass (Greg Lake plays bass on Real Good Looking Boy) and Pete's brother, Simon Townshend on additional guitar and vocals.
The second brand new track, 'Old Red Wine' was written by Townshend about the late John Entwistle. Of this song and it's subject Townshend said 'He (John) loved expensive claret, and often drank it past its prime. There is an irony there somehow: John never seemed to realize how perfectly mature he had really become as rock musician. He didn't need the trappings he thought essential, and that - in my opinion - led directly to his premature death'.
As with 'Real Good Looking Boy', 'Old Red Wine' was produced by Simon Townshend.
These two new tracks form the basis of a brand new studio project from The Who that is due to be released in the first part of 2005.
The full tracklisting for the boxset is as follows:
CD1 I Can't Explain / Bald Headed Woman No. 8 in 1965
CD2 My Generation / Shout and Shimmy No. 2 in 1965
CD3 Substitute / Circles No. 3 in 1966
CD4 I'm a Boy / In the City No.3 in 1966
CD5 Happy Jack / I've Been Away No. 3 in 1967
CD6 Pictures of Lily/Doctor Doctor No. 4 in 1967
CD7 I Can See For Miles/Someone's Coming No. 10 in 1967
CD8 Pinball Wizard/Dogs Part II No. 4 in 1969
CD 9 Won't Get Fooled Again/Don't Know Myself No. 9 in 1971
CD 10 5.15/Water No. 20 in 1973
CD 11 Who Are You/Had Enough No.18 in 1978
CD 12 Real Good Looking Boy/Old Red Wine Brand New!
Included in the box set package will be a 16-page book with photos, original adverts and, instead of sleeve notes, the original reviews that appeared in publications such as the NME and Melody Maker.
The original singles were housed mostly in Polydor/Track records house bags, but for this release, sleeves from all over the world have been used. These include sleeves from as far as away as Japan and Yugoslavia plus a very rare French promo-only release for Pictures Of Lily.
Following on from the London shows and the boxset of singles, the band return for their only other UK show of the year at the scene of one of their most triumphant shows at The Isle Of Wight Festival on 12th June.
Let love be your energy - Long Live Rock - Are you living in the Real World ?