To coincide with the Who’s 30th-anniversary celebrations...

To coincide with the Who’s 30th-anniversary celebrations next year, MCA will release “30 Years of Maximum R&B;” in May. The four-CD set has 80 tracks from Pete Townshend and company, including 12 previously unreleased recordings. . . .

A first-ever U.S. tour by Babyface is tentatively scheduled to start in early summer--after some European tune-up dates in the spring. Meanwhile, Babyface and Daryl Simmons are producing and writing two new cuts, “Honey” and “Willing to Forgive,” for Aretha Franklin’s otherwise greatest-hits album, which is now due Jan. 26. . . . Also set to hit the road is Color Me Badd, which is planning its first headline tour for early summer. . . .

The world’s tallest hit rapper, Shaquille O’Neal, is apparently preparing for his first U.S. concert, though details--including how to work it around his pro basketball duties--are still being worked out. Rumors have been hot and heavy that O’Neal had been doing surprise club appearances to sharpen his rap skills, but a source close to him says it’s not true. . . .

Teenage Fanclub and Helmet are among the acts contributing new tracks to a collection benefiting the L.A. underground club Jabberjaw. Mammoth Records will issue the tracks first as a series of four 7-inch vinyl releases with four bands each (the first is due in January), with a CD compilation due in April.

The Beastie Boys are working on a new album due in May, with a guest appearance by Q-Tip of a Tribe Called Quest. But first, the band will release “Some Old Bull . . . ,” a CD compiling material from its out-of-print mid-’80s EPs “Pollywog Stew” and “Cookie Puss.” . . .

Fans of ‘70s arena-rock rejoice: A new Boston album is on the way. Tom Scholz is putting the final touches on a collection due in March. . . . And wait, there’s more! There’s “An Evening of Yes Music and More,” a two-CD live recording from last year’s Anderson, Wakeman, Bruford and Howe tour coming Feb. 25. . . . And Blue Oyster Cult has recorded new versions of some of its old hits for the soundtrack to the TV version of Stephen King’s “The Stand.” The songs will be released on CD in April. . . .

For some more esoteric ‘70s sounds, “Essential Fripp-Eno,” a CD compiling the ambient collaborations of Robert Fripp and Brian Eno, is due Feb. 25. . . . Sometime Eno partner Daniel Lanois holed up in Ojai recently with bassist Daryl Johnson and drummer Brian Blade recording a new album that may be out next fall.