February 22, 2010

By By Andre Paine, London

Retail album exclusives have arrived in the U.K.: mass merchant Tesco will release a Simply Red set this month only in Tesco stores and via its Web site.

"Songs of Love," released Feb. 28 for Mother's Day in the U.K., features a collection of Simply Red's love songs alongside the two new recordings, "I Have The Love" and a new recording of "Beside You" which originally appeared on the soundtrack to "What Dreams May Come."

Buyers of the album will get priority booking for Simply Red's last ever tour which takes place this autumn. Mick Hucknall has announced there will be no more Simply Red concerts after the end of 2010.

"Tesco already provides exclusive offers in almost every product category we sell," said Rob Salter, Tesco Entertainment director, in a statement. "Extending this approach to entertainment is a logical step which reflects our customers' keen interest in music and films. We are thrilled to have to joined up with the legendary Simply Red to release an exclusive album. The new songs sound fantastic and it is sure to be a big hit."

The move into album exclusives follows Tesco's announcement last month that it is to create exclusive feature films for DVD based on works from some of the world's best-selling authors.

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