Fans of Barenaked Ladies Choose Final Tracks for Greatest Hits

Reprise Records, Press Release, September 26th, 2001.

The results are in. The contest to name the eighteenth track on Barenaked Ladies' upcoming hits package "Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits/1991-2001" is over.

And guess what? It's a dead heat.

"Disc One...," scheduled for release by Reprise on November 13, 2001, is already packed with classics by the Toronto-based hitmakers. Problem is, seventeen tracks just aren't enough; one more had to be added to complete the lineup. Rather than duke it out amongst themselves, the Ladies threw it to their fans to choose that final track.

The vote, undertaken on VH1.com's website (with access available via the band's website http://www.bnlmusic.com/) narrowed down to two titles: "Be My Yoko Ono," from their debut album "Gordon" (1992), and "Alternative Girlfriend," from "Maybe You Should Drive" (1994).

To make things even more complicated, the split between the two was virtually even. At one point, somewhere around 51% of the votes were for "Yoko Ono"; a few days later, the same number would be for "Girlfriend." At last count, both songs were locked in at 50%.

What to do? Simple: Reprise Records and the Ladies agreed to turn "Disc One..." into a nineteen-track extravaganza, with both tunes joining their chart-topping 1998 single "One Week." Also making an appearance are last year's radio hits "Pinch Me" and "Too Little Too Late," the current heavy-rotator "Falling for the First Time," as well as "$1000000," "The Old Apartment," "Brian Wilson," "Jane," and other memorable cuts.

"Disc One..." also includes two new tracks, "It's Only Me (The Wizard Of Magicland)" and "Thanks That Was Fun" which the Ladies recorded specifically for this project during a hiatus in their year-plus tour in support of the platinum album "Maroon." "It's Only Me..." also makes an appearance on EA Sports NHL 2002 video game serving as the musical accompaniment to the opening sequence of the hockey video game.

Even as "Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits/1991-2001" arrives in the music marketplace, Barenaked Ladies will set time aside to serve worthy causes. On November 30 they will perform live on a pay-per-view concert sponsored by Guinness to raise funds for the Leukemia Society. And already they've gone on record in the wake of the recent U.S. terrorist attacks with a plea for tolerance from singer/guitarist Ed Robertson. Ed asks fans on the band website to "prove to the world that this community is not just mighty with the sword, but with the head and heart as well."

Barenaked Ladies consists of Robertson, singer/guitarist Steven Page, bassist Jim Creeggan, keyboardist Kevin Hearn, and drummer Tyler Stewart.