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The Who - Discography - Other - Page 33:

The Who - 2015 <Aborted> Rarities Box Set

Way back in 2015, Jon Astley, Andy Macpherson and myself worked on a "Rarities Box Set" project together. What started out with the full-length (and some alternate) "Lifehouse" ("Who's Next") tracks expanded and turned into a nice project. Some of these tracks (i.e. "Facts Of Life") I never heard before! It was a fun while it lasted. Jon would find various rarities from the vaults and send them to Andy to remix. Hearing all of these new tracks was just amazing. The most surprising find in the bunch was the unedited "Pinball Wizard". It has a whole extra "mid section" and a very cool "pinball machine" ending (you can hear a tiny sliver of the ending on the 2003 "Tommy" Deluxe set).

One of the songs which I was most enthusiastic about getting released was the Roger Daltrey lead vocal version of "Eminence Front". Way back in 1997, when Andy remixed "It's Hard" he found Roger's vocals on the multi-track tapes. Unfortunately, it was too late to do anything with it. Jon said to me, "Some day...". Fast forward again to 2015, I remember getting a call from Jon and Andy... "You're going to be disappointed." Oh? Why? "Roger starts out with lead vocals, but it then becomes a duet." Oh no! (In a good way.) I LOVE Pete and Roger dueling vocals! As it turned out, it was great! (And finally released on the 2022 Record Store Day (RSD) LP version of "It's Hard".)

We all got along very well on this project. A few creative "disagreements". The tracks that comprised "Pictures Of Lily" made for an odd stereo mix. Andy wanted to use some technology to make a more "normal" stereo mix, Jon wanted to present it naturally (with exactly what was on the tapes) without artificially changing anything. I could understand both sides of the "discussion" but I really loved what Andy did to make the mix better!

As you can see by the track listing below, many of these tracks have now been released (or were previously released in one form or another). The tracks colored in red, denote that they have not been released at this time.

Since 2015, while many of these tracks have been used, others have been found (i.e. the 1963 Detours' track, the (2) two 1964 Who tracks, "Baba O'Riley" (unedited), etc.). What probably makes the most sense (to release all of the remaining rarities) is an expanded "Odds And Sods" box set. Who doesn't love "Odds And Sods"?

Getting back to this <aborted> release... What happened? Without revealing who said what to whom, it was deemed "lack luster". Jon likes to organize these kinds of releases in chronological order (think back to the 1998 "Odds & Sods" expanded CD release). However, that doesn't always work. Just like any other great (or good) album - there's a science how to create a track list. This track list (in this order) doesn't work for me either. I wouldn't have rejected this, I would have said, "please rework the track list and resend it to me". The most shocking thing (11) eleven years later is... the unedited "Pinball Wizard" has still not be re-released. Talk about a "WOW!" track. It's fantastic. Maybe some day...

Proposed Track Listing:

I Can't Explain (Stereo Mix)

Anyway Anyhow Anywhere (Stereo Mix)

My Generation (Stereo Mix)

Substitute (Alternate Vocal Version)

I'm A Boy (Alternate Version)

Batman (Instrumental)

Pictures Of Lily (Stereo Mix)

The Last Time (1967 Single Version)

I Can See For Miles (Alternate Version)

My Way (Alternate Version)

Facts Of Life (John Entwistle Demo)

Call Me Lightning (Stereo Mix)

Magic Bus (Stereo Mix)

Pinball Wizard (Unedited Version)

I'm Free (False Start Version)

The Seeker (Unedited Version)

Lets See Action (Unedited Version) *

Naked Eye (Alternate Mix, Unedited Version)

Pure And Easy (Unedited Version)

My Wife (Unedited Version)

Going Mobile (Left Channel Lead Guitar Version)

Join Together (Unedited Version)

 5.15 (Single Version)

The Real Me (Single Version)

Bell Boy (Alternate Mix Version)

Dreaming From The Waist (Pete Townshend Demo Version)

Who Are You (Radio Edit Version)

Empty Glass (Work In Process Version)

Eminence Front (Roger Daltrey Lead Vocal Version)

Real Good Looking Boy (Alternate Radio Edit Version)

* This is a full-length version of the single. The "Who's Next"/"Lifehouse Box" included a different extended version.

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