On June 12th, the Who will release an expanded 40th anniversary edition of their 1981 Face Dances collection for Record Store Day. “LP 1” is the original album with its nine tracks. “LP 2,” entitled “Face Dances Part 3” — with a nod to the 1982 Pete Townshend solo hit “Face Dances, Part 2” — has another nine tracks. The album was remastered and cut at half speed by Miles Showell at Abbey Road.
The second disc features alternate versions of Face Dances tracks and outtakes, along with four of the album's songs performed on March 28th, 1981 live in Essen, Germany.
According to TheWho.com: “The album cover features the original Peter Blake design front and back. LP 1 is on blue heavyweight vinyl with colored labels and LP 2 is on yellow heavyweight vinyl with colored labels. In addition, there are four 12-by-12 fine art prints included in the package with four portraits on each print.”
Face Dances marked the first of two albums to feature drummer Kenney Jones anchoring the band. We asked Jones how he would like to be remembered for his work with the Who: “I’d like to think that what I did while I was in the Who was good. And once again, if you’ve got great songs to work with, you find your own moment as a drummer in there, and you put that in there and that’s what I was doing.”
Pete Townshend, who forced the Who to call it quits a year after the release of Face Dances, explained why he needed the band to end: “Y'know, when I quit the Who in 1982, I didn't really quit because I was sick of the road; what I felt was that I couldn't serve . . . I, I hesitate to even call it a 'band.' I couldn't serve the brand anymore. The brand being not so much, Pepsi — so there's the Who and Pepsi as brands — it's the brand as something that includes the fans. As a writer, I felt that I couldn't use the band to reach the fans anymore, so I quit for a while.”
The Who's expanded 'Face Dances' Record Store Day set features:
The Original Album
Side One:
“You Better You Bet”
“Don’t Let Go The Coat”
“Cache Cache”
“The Quiet One”
“Did You Steal My Money”
Side Two:
“How Can You Do It Alone”
“Daily Records”
“You”
“Another Tricky Day”
Face Dances – Part 3
Side Three:
“I Like Nightmares”
“It’s In You”
“Somebody Saved Me”
“Dance It Away” (previously unreleased)
“Don’t Let Go The Coat” (previously unreleased) with Pete Townshend on lead vocals
Side Four – All tracks live at Grugahalle, Essen, 28 March 1981 and broadcast live for Rockpalast:
“Don’t Let Go The Coat” (previously unreleased)
“You Better You Bet” (previously unreleased)
“The Quiet One” (previously unreleased)
“Another Tricky Day” (previously unreleased)
