The Who is teaming up with Heinz Baked Beans as a tie-in to promote the upcoming The Who Sell Out box set and the band's patron charity, the Teenage Cancer Trust. In addition to recording a jingle for the brand on the legendary 1967 pop art masterpiece — along with Roger Daltrey appearing in a vat of beans of band on the LP cover — new, limited edition 'Beanz Meanz The Who' baked beans cans are available to purchase with all net proceeds going to charity.
Stateside, there are 500 limited-edition cans available to buy from the Who's U.S. merch store. All net proceeds are going to Teen Cancer America (TCA). The charity was co-founded by Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey, with TCT partnering with hospitals throughout the States to develop specialized facilities and services for teens and young adults with cancer.
According to the Who's official announcement: "A giant, hand-signed (empty) 57.5cm (H) x 42cm (D) version of the limited-edition can, similar in size to the one Roger is holding on the album cover, is also being auctioned off for the charities from 9.00am BST on Thursday,April 15th to 12 midnight BST on Sunday, April 25th. For more info, log on to: https://bit.ly/3sepgUl"
Although he's been among the top elder statesmen in rock for at least the past 30 years, Pete Townshend explained that the Who's mere existence was a threat to all that had come before in terms of not just their music — but how it was created and marketed: [“There were a lot of forces that were resisting it. Y’know, the establishment and the music industry at the time wanted us to be moldable — y’know, like the artists of the previous generation. Our world was very different. And I think we just wanted to kind of bring down a big Berlin Wall between us and everyone that was born before 1944 and we did it very, very effectively. So, I wrote ‘My Generation’ as a way of enforcing that, saying ‘We are different than you. We will live forever. We have a different secret.”] SOUNDCUE (:26 OC: . . . a different secret)
Coming on April 23rd is the "Super-Deluxe Edition" of The Who Sell Out in a massive box set, with a total of 112 tracks over five discs. The collection includes never-before-heard outtakes and Pete Townshend demos — along with a heaping dose of replica memorabilia from the era.
