Video Game Music: "Destiny"
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toris:
ewanme:
favoritething:
Oh, I agree, kestrel, he'll be fine. He's had so many backlashes against him, it's a wonder he can walk straight! He always recovers, though. Just look at how people slammed him for Honey Pie, Maxwell's Silver Hammer, the "McCartney" album and cover, putting Linda's name on "Ram," putting Linda in Wings and having such a raggedy first LP, Mary Had A Little Lamb, the song-and-dance in his '73 TV special, Silly Love Songs, Goodnight Tonight, Wonderful Christmastime, Ebony and Ivory, the Michael Jackson collaborations, Broad Street, Rupert the Bear, and on and on. How many times has he been counted out, and how many times has he come back again? He's never been afraid of looking silly, all the way back to the "cha cha BOOM" of "Besame Mucho" in the early days. But then he can turn around and do a "Long Tall Sally" or "Helter Skelter" or "Soily" or "Save Us" and it all balances out. There's still a lot of hope for his future, I believe!
I'd never heard of him being slammed for 'Goodnight Tonight'. Only praise. That's new to me
Goodnight Tonight is in my Top Nine post-Beatle tracks from Paul... Might've got a bit sloppy at latter parts, but I love it! Awesome track for me. Love it. Hell, on a good day it is in my Top Five.
I've always liked it, but he did get slammed just because it had a disco feel, and anything disco got dissed at that time, at least by the rock press.
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Before it became sooooooo over-over-over-exposed, disco was a legitimate, underground musical genre -- with strong ties to r&b, black gospel and jazz. To me, it's not so far-fetched that rock acts made disco records: The Stones were heavily influenced by blues, and The Beatles were heavily influenced by r&b. Same for Rod Stewart. Surely, Wings wasn't singled-out by the rock-press for recording "Goodnight Tonight," were they? To me, "Silly Love Songs" is just as much a disco track as "GT." Anyway, that whole "disco sucks" movement -- besides being a self-aggrandizing promotion for FM-radio DJs -- had undertones of homophobia and, possibly, racism.
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The weird thing to me about all this promotion, and the release of the single, is the timing. Why didn't he do all this when the video game was first released? Everybody was already listening to it then. It's just really bizarre. And why is he promoting it? Does he expect it to sell well? He could go on every late night talk show in the land, play in the center of every city and it still would barely affect the tracking of this song. Those days are gone. I certainly don't mind him appearing on these shows, but he does seem kind of bored by the whole thing.
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Maccafan82:
The weird thing to me about all this promotion, and the release of the single, is the timing. Why didn't he do all this when the video game was first released? Everybody was already listening to it then. It's just really bizarre. And why is he promoting it? Does he expect it to sell well? He could go on every late night talk show in the land, play in the center of every city and it still would barely affect the tracking of this song. Those days are gone. I certainly don't mind him appearing on these shows, but he does seem kind of bored by the whole thing.
He didn't promote it as much back when the video game was released because it was only on the video game at the time, it wasn't officially released as a Paul single until last week.
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favoritething:
oobu24:
Bruce M.:
toris:
I haven't given up hope on Paul charting again in his lifetime.... problem is this song ain't going to do it. It's perfunctory, not exactly inspiring, and no matter of publicising it is going to make a difference. Doesn't mean I love Paul any less, but this song is average at best. So, certainly not worthy of any single release and any promotion of it is a waste of time..... Actually, even if released on a "proper" Paul album it would sit in the back seat.... of my car...behind a cushion... Time to shift focus to what he does best.... pop and rock, or an acoustic reinvention.... or reinterpretation...Too many fingers in too many pies, at the moment.... Just can't help but think he is poorly advised. Or has become laconic in his choices. Cares too much about being "the king of versatility".... All I want is a "real" album!
I don't believe there's the slightest evidence that Paul picks his projects because of how he is "advised." He does what he wants and always has, from putting Linda in the band and "Mary Had a Little Lamb" to classical compositions and video game music. He does what he feels like doing. And yeah, I think some of his choices are goofy, but you know what? It's not my life and career, it's his. One more thing: Paul of all people must be painfully aware of his own mortality. His mom, his wife and 2 of the bandmates with whom he became a star all died way too young. If anyone on this planet understands that you never know how much time you have left, it's Paul, and I'll bet he does whatever he effing wants -- baffling as it may be to some of us -- for as long as he can move and breathe.
I doubt that he has had such a large "team" in the past. It has now grown into an empire. It practically runs itself. So yes, I do think he has advisors for many things...but of course...he has the final say so.
After watching his "Daily Show" and Jimmy Fallon appearances... yeah, he has advisers. He certainly didn't book himself, and he didn't seem really all that jazzed about doing these appearances.
No one said Paul doesn't have advisers, including people who manage the publicity efforts and book his appearances, etc. That has nothing whatever to do with how Paul decides what music to write and record. I didn't see the Jimmy Fallon appearance, but he sure seemed to be having fun on The Daily Show. Why he or his staff thinks it's worth going on TV to promote a video game single remains a mystery, though.
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I love the positive message of this song and that Paul is such an integral part of this popular computer game. New generations will know of him and his music. Thank you, Sir Paul, for always reminding us to be our best selves by your own example.
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Bruce M.:
favoritething:
After watching his "Daily Show" and Jimmy Fallon appearances... yeah, he has advisers. He certainly didn't book himself, and he didn't seem really all that jazzed about doing these appearances.
No one said Paul doesn't have advisers, including people who manage the publicity efforts and book his appearances, etc. That has nothing whatever to do with how Paul decides what music to write and record. I didn't see the Jimmy Fallon appearance, but he sure seemed to be having fun on The Daily Show. Why he or his staff thinks it's worth going on TV to promote a video game single remains a mystery, though.
I would say that 99.9% of the time, you're right, but with this song, it seems clear that there were other people (besides his kids and grandkids) who said it would be a good thing to do from a publicity standpoint. He has admitted that he has no particular interest in this video game at all (unlike "Live And Let Die," where he certainly was already a fan of the James Bond movies), but still he ended up writing the song and pieces of the score and he has been promoting it like no other single song for who knows how long. Yeah, I guess he was more loose and fun on "The Daily Show," but Jimmy Fallon was just trying way too hard to be buddy-buddy with Paul, and it was getting kind of wearing.
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audi:
Before it became sooooooo over-over-over-exposed, disco was a legitimate, underground musical genre -- with strong ties to r&b, black gospel and jazz. To me, it's not so far-fetched that rock acts made disco records: The Stones were heavily influenced by blues, and The Beatles were heavily influenced by r&b. Same for Rod Stewart. Surely, Wings wasn't singled-out by the rock-press for recording "Goodnight Tonight," were they? To me, "Silly Love Songs" is just as much a disco track as "GT." Anyway, that whole "disco sucks" movement -- besides being a self-aggrandizing promotion for FM-radio DJs -- had undertones of homophobia and, possibly, racism.
I totally agree that homophobia and racism were tied up with the "disco sucks" movement, which is why it reflected badly on most rock acts that dipped into it, although the Rolling Stones did already have some funk/R&B elements to their music. Still, after the huge success of "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy," gay rumors about Rod seemed to pop up out of nowhere. The thing with "Goodnight Tonight" was that it was released at the very height of disco's popularity, when everyone from the Bee Gees to ELO to Ethel Merman was doing it, so even though "Silly Love Songs" was slammed first, I think "GT" was slammed reflexively more as a "bandwagon" gimmick, I guess.
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So is Hope For The Future getting any airplay or charting at all anywhere? I don't believe it is, unfortunately....and what a shame. Yes, the video is lame....but I believe the song is fine musically....certainly nothing second rate about the melody and arrangement.....a strong Bond film vibe. Such a shame that no matter what Paul puts out now as a single, it just will not get played or go anywhere on the charts. If the single "New" had come out in the early 80s or in 1965 it would have deservedly been a smash #1 single. Who would have thought in 1986 (Spies Like Us # 7, Press # 21) or 1989 (My Brave Face # 25) that would be it in terms of top 40 singles for Paul in the U.S.? I remember being shocked in '89 that My Brave Face didn't do better as a single at that time. What wouldn't we give to see a Paul single reach # 25 on Billboard now??
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My Salamander:
So is Hope For The Future getting any airplay or charting at all anywhere? I don't believe it is, unfortunately....and what a shame. Yes, the video is lame....but I believe the song is fine musically....certainly nothing second rate about the melody and arrangement.....a strong Bond film vibe. Such a shame that no matter what Paul puts out now as a single, it just will not get played or go anywhere on the charts. If the single "New" had come out in the early 80s or in 1965 it would have deservedly been a smash #1 single. Who would have thought in 1986 (Spies Like Us # 7, Press # 21) or 1989 (My Brave Face # 25) that would be it in terms of top 40 singles for Paul in the U.S.? I remember being shocked in '89 that My Brave Face didn't do better as a single at that time. What wouldn't we give to see a Paul single reach # 25 on Billboard now??
As much as I don't like it, 'New' was a major hit single in Japan, reaching number 4, I understand.
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I like "New" so much more than "Hope For The Future."
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Just for the record, "Hope For The Future" did not hit the Billboard Hot 100 this week, so his talk show appearances had no measurable effect on the song's performance. Guess it's time to move on. I'm sensing that the promotional efforts for this song have now ended.
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This song sounds like it should be a soundtrack for a movie to me! It has, since I first heard it.
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He should be advised less is more impactful. For the love of God...he's been saturating the circuit and what for? Zero. The song stiffed...as it should have. It's crap. And if any hardcores remove their blinkers, they would agree.
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moptops:
He should be advised less is more impactful. For the love of God...he's been saturating the circuit and what for? Zero. The song stiffed...as it should have. It's crap. And if any hardcores remove their blinkers, they would agree.
There are songs of his that I dislike, but this isn't one of them. I still think it's fine. But at this point, I have to think that his charting days are behind him. Maybe his only chance would be some new tribute song to John, or something along those lines. Not that I want him to do that, but I can't see any other way he can get near a singles chart otherwise.... unless: Kanye? (But even Kanye doesn't do that well with singles anymore.)
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I wonder if HOW he promoted this song is part of the problem. Sure, he made the rounds on the TV talk shows. But he should have performed the song LIVE with his band. In the mid 80s he would promote things like Broadway in the same manner. Just showing up and talking about it. People want to see and hear Paul McCartney MAKE MUSIC.
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RMartinez:
I wonder if HOW he promoted this song is part of the problem. Sure, he made the rounds on the TV talk shows. But he should have performed the song LIVE with his band. In the mid 80s he would promote things like Broadway in the same manner. Just showing up and talking about it. People want to see and hear Paul McCartney MAKE MUSIC.
Yes, good point.
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There will always be exceptions to the rule but Paul's main problem is his age. As far as 'singles' go, its mainly the youngsters who buy into that market (and always have done) so its not surprising that they'll tend to ignore a release by someone like Paul. When I was 16 year old Wings fan back in the mid-70's, if someone had asked me if I was going to buy a new single by a 72 year old I would have soon told them to 'p*** off'.
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moptops:
He should be advised less is more impactful. For the love of God...he's been saturating the circuit and what for? Zero. The song stiffed...as it should have. It's crap. And if any hardcores remove their blinkers, they would agree.
I wouldn't call it crap, it's just so-so, Paul on autopilot. And it's not getting any meaningful radio play. While it's unlikely Paul will have another hit single ever (sigh...), you can bank on the fact that "Hope" won't be one.
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Bruce M.:
moptops:
He should be advised less is more impactful. For the love of God...he's been saturating the circuit and what for? Zero. The song stiffed...as it should have. It's crap. And if any hardcores remove their blinkers, they would agree.
I wouldn't call it crap, it's just so-so, Paul on autopilot. And it's not getting any meaningful radio play. While it's unlikely Paul will have another hit single ever (sigh...), you can bank on the fact that "Hope" won't be one.
Yup. I wonder if he should even try or care to make the charts anymore. I know he has a competitive spirit, but it really is not his market anymore. He has nothing to prove. He had many major hits as a Beatle and as a Wing and as Paul McCartney.