THE WHO: Singles box set on the way
The Who have compiled more than a half-century of songs first heard as singles and EPs on Maximum A's and B's.
Scheduled for release on October 27th, this five-disc, 86-track box includes such enduring songs as “I Can See for Miles,” “Magic Bus,” “Pinball Wizard,” “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” “Substitute,” “I Can’t Explain,” “My Generation,” “Squeeze Box,” “Who Are You,” “You Better You Bet” and their most recent release, “Be Lucky.” The set also includes rarely heard B-sides and EP tracks, along with the group’s first single -- back in their days as The High Numbers -- “I’m the Face” backed with “Zoot Suit.” A 48-page booklet includes a track-by-track annotation by acclaimed Who historians with period photos and copies of memorabilia.
For vinyl fans, Pete Townshend's demo and outtakes collections will be reissued for the first time in 15 years. The three Scoop sets will be available as color discs -- Scoop will be pressed in pink, Another Scoop in yellow and Scoop 3 in light blue. All go on sale August 18th. And if that's not enough, Live at Leeds and the 1971 compilation Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy will have 180-gram vinyl editions on sale October 27th.
FOREIGNER: Band said no to MTV when it launched this week in 1981
36 years ago today, MTV signed on with the video for "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.
While many acts of the day such as Pat Benatar, The Cars, Peter Gabriel and Genesis embraced the concept, Foreigner did not.
Mick Jones on why Foreigner was not an early adapator to MTV:
"I don't know if I was wise, but I kind of kept us out of MTV for the first year or two. When I look back now I'm not quite sure whether that was the best thing to do because we were kind of a bit of a nameless band at the beginning - that's what people criticized us for being. And I saw us more as doing it in the tradition of Pink Floyd or Bruce Springsteen, you know, staying away from it in the early days. But obviously it was a revolution."
Foreigner released their fourth album, 4, a month before MTV debuted. They did take advantage of it in 1984 when with a clip for "I Want to Know What Love Is" off of their fifth album, Agent Provocateur.
Foreigner are on their 40th anniversary tour this summer.
MORE BIG MUSIC NEWS HEADLINES: August 2nd
Donald Fagen's first solo album, 1982’s The Nightfly, will be reissued on vinyl in a limited-edition box set on October 13th. Fagen, fresh off playing Classic West and Classic East with Steely Dan, starts a solo tour on Thursday in Port Chester, New York.
The documentary Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival next month.
Steppenwolf will mark their 50th anniversary this Saturday night in Nashville, the longtime home of frontman John Kay. The show at the Ryman Auditorium will salute the band’s self-titled first album, which includes "Born to Be Wild."