Your "conversion playlist"
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B J Conlee:
For people who aren't that fond of Wings based on only knowing the hit "singles" that were played to death on the radio (Silly Love Songs, Let them In, Listen What the Man Said, Live and Let Die, Jet etc.) I would "first" get them to listen to Wings Over America. This remaster CD would give them a much better feel for how good of a Band Wings were, how good the non-singles were and how this band could rock. At that point, people not too enthusiastic about Paul's Post Beatles songs might be energized to discover more on their own. Just listening to songs like Letting Go, Beware My Love, Call Me Back Again, Rock Show, Let Me Roll It To You etc. might change their minds in a hurry. Even the "hits" on Wings Over America sound better in most cases.
While you do make good points, keep in mind that (realistically) someone is more likely to listen to a playlist of 10-14 songs from a band they're not crazy about than to an entire live triple album. Either way, WOA is a great album regardless of who listens to it.
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With the release of NEW and its respective marketing campaign approaching its one-year anniversary, I think its long past-time to release an updated McCartney Conversion Playlist... Not sure about most of you, but I have frequently been told by some that Paul, in essence, is incapable of sounding current. Obviously, this isn't exactly an informed opinion; so rather than vehemently deny it up-and-down while frothing at the mouth, I thought it might be more effective to simply prove that this isn't true. Hence, a perfect opening to revive this discussion for a bit... This obviously reflects a great deal about current society: mainly that many view Paul as being stuck in the '60s/'70s. While we know this is not the case, we're also dealing with a large group of people who have short attention spans. Those of them that heard the lead single and title track to the album when it was released about a year ago were solidified in that belief and didn't bother giving him a second listen. So my challenge was clear: if you had to change their mind with 10 songs, how would you do it? Here's my pick of Paul's 10 most contemporary-sounding songs... 1. Temporary Secretary (Twin Freaks Mix) 2. Appreciate 3. Out of Sight (Bloody Beetroots Mix) 4. Queenie Eye 5. Looking At Her 6. Ou est le Soliel 7. Mr. Bellamy 8. Coming Up (Twin Freaks Mix) 9. Spinning On An Axis 10. Pure Trance (Fireman) Thoughts? What would be your picks?
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I really like this idea, Mr. Spock! Here's my list (not necessarily saying that these are my "favorite" Macca tunes, just those that define him best as an artist )... - Band on the Run - New - Appreciate - Early Days - C'mon People - Heather - Sing the Changes - With A Little Luck - Say Say Say - Junior's Farm - Every Night - Here Today - Lonely Road - Only Mama Knows - Nod Your Head - 1985 - Maybe I'm Amazed - Live and Let Die - Hope of Deliverance ...Well obviously I couldn't condense my list to just 14 songs - I had a hard enough time cutting it down from 19! But I think these songs really define Paul as a musician. I wanted to include more songs from NEW, but in my opinion the entire album displays his musical variety. Had a really difficult time weeding out the two or three songs that I selected from that album. I look forward to viewing everyone else's playlists. -Rubber Soul13
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Mr Spock - I definitely agree with Appreciate being on your list. I also considered adding Mr. Bellamy to mine; it really has a different feel to it and the notes linger in your ears. -Rubber Soul13
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Rubber Soul13:
Mr Spock - I definitely agree with Appreciate being on your list. I also considered adding Mr. Bellamy to mine; it really has a different feel to it and the notes linger in your ears.
As it turns out, I think Mr. Bellamy is my favorite song of Paul... It's just perfect to me: whimsical, powerful, evocative, and theatrical. Absolutely love it That said, the list I posted isn't necessarily a list of my favorite Macca songs, just songs that I would share with anyone who thinks that he can't sound contemporary. I would have posted a very different list for someone who's taste may lean towards jazz, country, or classical That's the beauty of these lists - you get to personalize and fine-tune them to people's specific taste, a task made easy by the variety found within Paul's 50+ year career. Then again, I'd probably sneak Bellamy somewhere in any of those lists I mentioned just to get a reaction
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Mr. Spock:
There may already be a thread to this effect, and please PM me if you find it, but I wanted to give this idea a try anyway... I'm sure many of you have had that experience, as McCartney fans, where you run into someone (or more) who knows little to nothing of Paul's career past the Beatles. To be honest, I get a lot of people who ask "isn't that the one who was shot?" : ops: Obviously this raises the issue of a vast amount of the populous that is culturally deprived by not having being exposed to the best of Paul's post-Beatles work. We must do something about this! Anyway, I thought it would be interesting if we used this thread to do just that. In essence, if you had to pick about 12-14 songs from all of Paul's post-Beatles career that could make the case for why he is extremely relevant (both historically and currently) as an artist, which songs would you choose? Think of your list as more of a playlist than another "greatest hits/fan favorites" album. I recommend choosing songs that are high in quality (i.e. hidden album gems) than the outright famous ones, but its totally up to you. Remember: you have to pick 12-14 songs that can convert the average layman into "McCartneyism"
Tug Of War Band On The Run Too Much Rain What It is My Brave Face House of Wax Soily Dance Til We're High Little Willow About You Dear Boy I Can Bet Long Leather Coat Only Love Remains
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Bruce M.:
All right, I'll bite. Some of these have been mentioned before, but not all, I think... Jenny Wren Mr. Bellamy She's Given Up Talking The Pound is Sinking Wanderlust Old Siam Sir Somedays The World Tonight Junk Maybe I'm Amazed You Tell Me Riding to Vanity Fair Here Today
I actually got the opportunity to do this a few months ago, with a friend who's a big Beatles but wasn't really familiar with solo Paul post-'70s. I ended up using most of the above list, minus Maybe I'm Amazed, Junk and Old Siam Sir, adding Calico Skies and Only Mama Knows. It was pretty successful As for Mr. Spock's idea of picking Paul's most contemporary-sounding songs, I'll pass. Most of Paul's attempts to sound contemporary (including most of Spock's proposed list) sound forced and awkward. Our boy does not need to try to sound "modern."
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Bruce M.:
I actually got the opportunity to do this a few months ago, with a friend who's a big Beatles but wasn't really familiar with solo Paul post-'70s. I ended up using most of the above list, minus Maybe I'm Amazed, Junk and Old Siam Sir, adding Calico Skies and Only Mama Knows. It was pretty successful As for Mr. Spock's idea of picking Paul's most contemporary-sounding songs, I'll pass. Most of Paul's attempts to sound contemporary (including most of Spock's proposed list) sound forced and awkward. Our boy does not need to try to sound "modern."
Great to hear Bruce!! As would be suspected, I too have used this before and am glad to say its also worked several times. It's always rewarding to hear about when it works for other people. I understand your criticisms of Paul's more contemporary-sounding work, but the way I see it these tracks give all of us ammunition to reach out to people who listen to it regularly and hadn't been exposed to his catalog before. Its a first step, and they need to be able to connect with it. In the end, after years of following Paul on his exciting journey of musical exploration, I can say that he has opened me up many genres that would otherwise not have given a second listen. All I'm doing here is reversing the process and introducing fans of those other genre's to his work through this approach. It seems the best way to break through the noise of public perception is to somewhat evangelize his catalog I do agree with you in saying that Paul doesn't need to sound modern. His career and legacy are definitely not dependent on it. On the other hand, he was always the most pop conscious Beatle and has always been the best at adapting to the times - not just in the group, but arguably his entire generation of fellow musicians. To take it a step further, he really doesn't "need" to be recording or performing at all at this point, but I'm sure glad he is - his "do what you love for as long as you can" philosophy is incredibly inspiring... So, in that light, the fact that he not only does choose to keep performing, recording, and challenging himself with new approaches is a new kind of testament to his endurance, flexibility, and versatility that likely will be remembered alongside his early career highs (plus the fact that he can go there and still chart further backs up the argument).
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I love Appreciate and think it should have been released as a single. I bet if it was released by anyone else, it could have been a hit. As soon as the younger crowd sees "Paul McCartney" on it, they discount it.
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Nancy R:
I love Appreciate and think it should have been released as a single. I bet if it was released by anyone else, it could have been a hit. As soon as the younger crowd sees "Paul McCartney" on it, they discount it.
I think there's probably a great deal of truth there... Time for a new pseudonym!
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little-lamb-dragonfly:
I'll give it a shot... Heart of the country Give Ireland back to the Irish Little Lamb Dragonfly Don't let it bring you down Footprints Letting go (Single Edit) No more lonely nights The end of the end How kind of you Old Siam, Sir Heaven on a Sunday Beware my love C'mon People (The order of the songs may have to be figured out better)
Seeing Paul's "Give Ireland Back To The Irish" on the list just reminded me that Paul is catching all kinds of flak ('Effing McCartney is a Hypocrite' and other similar sentiments based on his NOT wanting Scotland to leave the UK) on YouTube at the above song's site. All of that makes me think/wonder, aside from all the tasteless comments, : Why is that song not available for purchase? It indicates on the site that it is on the "Wild Life," album...as a bonus cut...but I have that CD which has three bonus cuts, none of which is that song. Since it was a # 1 hit....at least in Spain and Ireland and top 15 in England in 1972, why was it not on "Wingspan" or ..... Can one obtain this song anywhere these days???? I rather liked it...both the sentiment and the production. It had some bite to it and a certain raggedness that was appealing to me.
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Nancy R:
I love Appreciate and think it should have been released as a single. I bet if it was released by anyone else, it could have been a hit. As soon as the younger crowd sees "Paul McCartney" on it, they discount it.
Yes. And "I Can Bet" could have been a hit as well....were it not for what you stated.
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Beatles4Ever&Ever:
little-lamb-dragonfly:
I'll give it a shot... Heart of the country Give Ireland back to the Irish Little Lamb Dragonfly Don't let it bring you down Footprints Letting go (Single Edit) No more lonely nights The end of the end How kind of you Old Siam, Sir Heaven on a Sunday Beware my love C'mon People (The order of the songs may have to be figured out better)
Seeing Paul's "Give Ireland Back To The Irish" on the list just reminded me that Paul is catching all kinds of flak ('Effing McCartney is a Hypocrite' and other similar sentiments based on his NOT wanting Scotland to leave the UK) on YouTube at the above song's site. All of that makes me think/wonder, aside from all the tasteless comments, : Why is that song not available for purchase? It indicates on the site that it is on the "Wild Life," album...as a bonus cut...but I have that CD which has three bonus cuts, none of which is that song. Since it was a # 1 hit....at least in Spain and Ireland and top 15 in England in 1972, why was it not on "Wingspan" or ..... Can one obtain this song anywhere these days???? I rather liked it...both the sentiment and the production. It had some bite to it and a certain raggedness that was appealing to me.
"Give Ireland Back To The Irish" was included as a bonus track in the 1993 "Paul McCartney Collection Series" issue of Wild Life.
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DrivinFan:
Beatles4Ever&Ever:
little-lamb-dragonfly:
I'll give it a shot... Heart of the country Give Ireland back to the Irish Little Lamb Dragonfly Don't let it bring you down Footprints Letting go (Single Edit) No more lonely nights The end of the end How kind of you Old Siam, Sir Heaven on a Sunday Beware my love C'mon People (The order of the songs may have to be figured out better)
Seeing Paul's "Give Ireland Back To The Irish" on the list just reminded me that Paul is catching all kinds of flak ('Effing McCartney is a Hypocrite' and other similar sentiments based on his NOT wanting Scotland to leave the UK) on YouTube at the above song's site. All of that makes me think/wonder, aside from all the tasteless comments, : Why is that song not available for purchase? It indicates on the site that it is on the "Wild Life," album...as a bonus cut...but I have that CD which has three bonus cuts, none of which is that song. Since it was a # 1 hit....at least in Spain and Ireland and top 15 in England in 1972, why was it not on "Wingspan" or ..... Can one obtain this song anywhere these days???? I rather liked it...both the sentiment and the production. It had some bite to it and a certain raggedness that was appealing to me.
"Give Ireland Back To The Irish" was included as a bonus track in the 1993 "Paul McCartney Collection Series" issue of Wild Life.
Thanks. Guess it's no longer available. I've looked everywhere on the internet for that 1993 issuance and for Paul's Collection Series of albums, but it doesn't seem to be there..one with that song. One with the wonderful "Mary Had A Little Lamb", however, is quite available!!! ops:
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So, I haven't put together a particular playlist yet. But....I was having this dream last night and in it Queen was singing "Bohemian Rhapsody"....for whatever reason. Right when Freddie Mercury should have sung "I'm just a poor boy from a poor family......," in came Paul singing ..."hands across the water, heads across the sky." I promptly woke up and thought, "Damn, those songs actually fit together." I guess they both are a bit nonsensical but, somehow, work nevertheless. Now I can't get them out of my head...and how bits from one song fits in the other.
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Beatles4Ever&Ever:
DrivinFan:
Beatles4Ever&Ever:
little-lamb-dragonfly:
I'll give it a shot... Heart of the country Give Ireland back to the Irish Little Lamb Dragonfly Don't let it bring you down Footprints Letting go (Single Edit) No more lonely nights The end of the end How kind of you Old Siam, Sir Heaven on a Sunday Beware my love C'mon People (The order of the songs may have to be figured out better)
Seeing Paul's "Give Ireland Back To The Irish" on the list just reminded me that Paul is catching all kinds of flak ('Effing McCartney is a Hypocrite' and other similar sentiments based on his NOT wanting Scotland to leave the UK) on YouTube at the above song's site. All of that makes me think/wonder, aside from all the tasteless comments, : Why is that song not available for purchase? It indicates on the site that it is on the "Wild Life," album...as a bonus cut...but I have that CD which has three bonus cuts, none of which is that song. Since it was a # 1 hit....at least in Spain and Ireland and top 15 in England in 1972, why was it not on "Wingspan" or ..... Can one obtain this song anywhere these days???? I rather liked it...both the sentiment and the production. It had some bite to it and a certain raggedness that was appealing to me.
"Give Ireland Back To The Irish" was included as a bonus track in the 1993 "Paul McCartney Collection Series" issue of Wild Life.
Thanks. Guess it's no longer available. I've looked everywhere on the internet for that 1993 issuance and for Paul's Collection Series of albums, but it doesn't seem to be there..one with that song. One with the wonderful "Mary Had A Little Lamb", however, is quite available!!! ops:
Sent you a PM.
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DrivinFan:
Beatles4Ever&Ever:
DrivinFan:
Beatles4Ever&Ever:
little-lamb-dragonfly:
I'll give it a shot... Heart of the country Give Ireland back to the Irish Little Lamb Dragonfly Don't let it bring you down Footprints Letting go (Single Edit) No more lonely nights The end of the end How kind of you Old Siam, Sir Heaven on a Sunday Beware my love C'mon People (The order of the songs may have to be figured out better)
Seeing Paul's "Give Ireland Back To The Irish" on the list just reminded me that Paul is catching all kinds of flak ('Effing McCartney is a Hypocrite' and other similar sentiments based on his NOT wanting Scotland to leave the UK) on YouTube at the above song's site. All of that makes me think/wonder, aside from all the tasteless comments, : Why is that song not available for purchase? It indicates on the site that it is on the "Wild Life," album...as a bonus cut...but I have that CD which has three bonus cuts, none of which is that song. Since it was a # 1 hit....at least in Spain and Ireland and top 15 in England in 1972, why was it not on "Wingspan" or ..... Can one obtain this song anywhere these days???? I rather liked it...both the sentiment and the production. It had some bite to it and a certain raggedness that was appealing to me.
"Give Ireland Back To The Irish" was included as a bonus track in the 1993 "Paul McCartney Collection Series" issue of Wild Life.
Thanks. Guess it's no longer available. I've looked everywhere on the internet for that 1993 issuance and for Paul's Collection Series of albums, but it doesn't seem to be there..one with that song. One with the wonderful "Mary Had A Little Lamb", however, is quite available!!! ops:
Sent you a PM.
Much thanks. Received it. I will follow the link.
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Glad we could help!
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My conversion playlist would depend on the age/era of the person. IF the person was close to 50 or older, my playlist would be more rock oriented. This was the era of classic rock. The 2nd conversion playlist would be for a younger audience i.e. 40 and younger. That playlist would be less rock and a combination or fusion of different genre's. *Rock Oriented Playlist (in any order) Maybe I'm Amazed (album version which is the faster, edgeier) 1985 Letting Go (Wings Over America version Magneto and Titanium Man (Wings Over America version) Beware My Love (album version) Getting Closer So Glad You Are here Spin It On Figure of 8 Young Boy Flaming Pie House of Wax Mr. Bellamy Queenie Eye Playlist for Younger era (i.e. born after 1975) I'm Carrying Little Willow Hope of Deliverence Souvenir Tug of War Take It Away Ever Present Past Mr. Bellamy Early Days Alligator Arrow Through Me Daytime Nightime Suffering Mull of Kintyre Young Boy
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B J Conlee:
My conversion playlist would depend on the age/era of the person. IF the person was close to 50 or older, my playlist would be more rock oriented. This was the era of classic rock. The 2nd conversion playlist would be for a younger audience i.e. 40 and younger. That playlist would be less rock and a combination or fusion of different genre's. *Rock Oriented Playlist (in any order) Maybe I'm Amazed (album version which is the faster, edgeier) 1985 Letting Go (Wings Over America version Magneto and Titanium Man (Wings Over America version) Beware My Love (album version) Getting Closer So Glad You Are here Spin It On Figure of 8 Young Boy Flaming Pie House of Wax Mr. Bellamy Queenie Eye Playlist for Younger era (i.e. born after 1975) I'm Carrying Little Willow Hope of Deliverence Souvenir Tug of War Take It Away Ever Present Past Mr. Bellamy Early Days Alligator Arrow Through Me Daytime Nightime Suffering Mull of Kintyre Young Boy
___________________________________________________ typo on my first list (the rock oriented one more for the baby boomers) Should be "So Glad To See You Here" A couple of other good conversion songs for the rock oriented list: The Mess Smile Away Old Siam Sir Only Mama Knows I have found a number of friends around my age brackett (i.e. over 50) who never liked or got into Solo Paul because they think his songs were too "Poppy" with too simplistic lyrics. I think this goes back to the 70's when his "singles/hits" were way overplayed on the radio. If you remember this was a time where 1 or 2 Top 40 radio stations dominated each big market. Songs like Silly Love Songs, Let 'm In, My Love etc. were played endlessly on the radio. I think that Paul's overwhelming success on the radio certainly hurt him with the critics which spilled to the average music listener. It then happened a few years later when Paul did his duets with Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. The same thing happened...songs with simple lyrics became monster hits and were played to death. I don't care how good a song is...if it gets way overplayed, people get tired of it and there will be a backlash. The people who are just casual type music fans just begin believing (along with what they hear from the critics) that Paul is strictly a "pop" song writer (albeit a very good one) with no depth. Many also don't view him as a rock artist. Many boomers are more rock oriented. My conversion list is based on going into Paul's deep album rock oriented tracks. If they heard these tracks they might come around in realizing that Paul was/is a truly diverse artist whose compositions cover a whole spectrum of categories including rock. I intentially left off Band on the Run and Live and Let Die since they have and still are played to death. I am a huge fan of the album version of Maybe I'm Amazed which normally doesn't get the airplay versus the live Wings Over America Version. I still think the album version is the most pure, true version. It's faster and has more of an edge. I love the way the instrument s work together and the song fade out is still one of the best in rock history. To think that Paul is the only player on this version is still extraordinary. This is not to say that the Wings over America version is not good. It's just that the album version to me is the one I want to hear.