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3 March 2004 
The Who singles box set 

You may have already heard that Polydor / Universal Music in the UK are 
to release a box set of singles (on CD) on April 12. Here's the official
press release that has been sent out:

Matt

==========
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

March 2, 2004, London. 

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.
==========

- SCHRADE in Akron

The Council For Secular Humanism
http://www.secularhumanism.org/