The Who have made a previously unreleased track called The Girls I Could Have Had available to stream.
It features on The Who’s upcoming My Generation box set, which will launch on November 18. The Girls I Could Have Had is available now via Spotify.
The Girls I Could Have Had was recorded as a demo by Pete Townshend in the London flat where he also wrote My Generation. But he says the song wouldn’t have worked if frontman Roger Daltrey had sang its “fantastical” lyrics.
Townshend tells the NME: “I have often said about my early songs that I tried hard to appeal to Roger’s sense of late teenage machismo. Here, a rather machismo and bragging song slipped away because it was more about me than Roger Daltrey.
“It’s about my lack of success with girls when I lived at Chesham Place, partly because I spent all my time in my studio. Roger did very well with girls – it would never have worked for him to sing this lyric.
“The lyric is also fantastical. I make it sound as though I was turning down girls every day. In real life I was probably piqued that rarely happened. My tape machine was my mistress.”
My Generation – originally released in 1965 – will be reissued as a 79-track, five disc super-deluxe edition. A 3LP edition will also be issued on February 10 next year.
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The Who My Generation super-deluxe tracklist
CD1: Original album (mono mixes)
- Out In The Street
- I Don’t Mind
- The Good’s Gone
- La-La-La Lies
- Much Too Much
- My Generation
- The Kids Are Alright
- Please, Please, Please
- It’s Not True
- I’m A Man
- A Legal Matter
- The Ox
CD2: Original album (new stereo mixes)
- Out In The Street
- I Don’t Mind
- The Good’s Gone
- La-La-La Lies
- Much Too Much
- My Generation
- The Kids Are Alright
- Please, Please, Please
- It’s Not True
- I’m A Man
- A Legal Matter
- The Ox
CD3: Mono mixes - bonus tracks
- I Can’t Explain
- Bald Headed Woman
- Daddy Rolling Stone
- Leaving Here
- Lubie, Come Back Home
- Shout And Shimmy
- (Love Is Like A) Heatwave
- Motoring
- Anytime You Want Me
- Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
- Instant Party Mixture
- Circles
- Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere (French EP Mix)
- Out In the Street (Alt guitar break)
- Out In the Street (Alt early vocal)
- I Don’t Mind (Full Length)
- The Good’s Gone (Full Length)
- My Generation (Alt version)
- I’m A Man (V2 – Early vocal)
- Daddy Rolling Stone (alt. take)
- Lubie (Alt Mix)
- Shout And Shimmy (Alt mix)
- Circles (Alt Mix)
CD4: Stereo mixes - bonus tracks
- Out In The Street (Alt - Take 1)
- I Don’t Mind (Full Length Version)
- The Good’s Gone (Full Length Version)
- My Generation (Instrumental Version)
- The Kids Are Alright (Alt - Take 1)
- I Can’t Explain
- Bald Headed Woman
- Daddy Rolling Stone
- Daddy Rolling Stone (Alt version)
- Leaving Here
- Lubie, Come Back Home
- Shout And Shimmy
- (Love Is Like A) Heatwave
- Motoring
- Anytime You Want Me
- Instant Party Mixture
- Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere
- Circles (New Mix)
- Daddy Rolling Stone (Alt Take B - New Mix)
- Out In The Street (Alt Take 2)
- I’m A Man (Alt - New Mix)
CD5: The Demos
- My Generation (V 3)
- My Generation (V 2 – fragment)
- The Girls I Could’ve Had
- It’s Not True
- As Children We Grew
- Legal Matter
- Sunrise (V 1)
- Much Too Much
- My Own Love
- La-La-La- Lies
- The Good’s Gone