Wings 7th Most popular 1970s act
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According to this site: http://tsort.info/ , Wings were the 7th most popular act of the 1970s, beating Bowie, Dylan, Rod Stewart and many other acts who seem to have a higher profile in our memories today. Interesting. Nice to see Jethro Tull in there as well. Strange how certain bands get a bit forgotten over time. For me Tull was the best of all, but seem left by the wayside now.
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What do we mean when we say "popular"? Sold copies?
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WingsOfMacca:
What do we mean when we say "popular"? Sold copies?
Sold the most records, yes.
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It has sense. Except 'Wild Life' and 'Back To The Egg', the others albums put a number one in the lists ('My Love', 'Band On The Run', 'Listen What The Man Said', 'Silly Love Songs' and 'With A Little Luck'). Plus 'Jet' (#7 in USA), 'Rock Show' (#20), 'Helen Wheels' (#10), 'Junior's Farm' (#3), 'Sally G' (#17), Live & Let Die (#2), 'Let'Em In' (#3 in USA and UK), 'Mull Of Kintyre' (#1 in UK)... there are not many band with that amount of hits.
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True. I sometimes feel Wings have a bad reputation though, compared to other 70s acts.
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On that website it has listed The Beatles as #1 music act of alltime. Elvis Presley is #2 , Frank Sinatra #3 and The Rolling Stones #4 etc. Paul is at #67 and Wings #69. So by my reckoning Paul and Wings combined would probably be ranked somewhere in the 30's. Also I note John Lennon is #53.
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Wyrdskein:
True. I sometimes feel Wings have a bad reputation though, compared to other 70s acts.
First, most people thought of them as Paul McCartney and his backup band. It is not like McCartney had another person in Wings that was his "equal" in talent. Groups like Led Zepplin had superstars like Plant and Page. The Rolling Stones had Jagger and Richards. The Who had Daltry and Townsend. Also, McCartney did not appear "hip" by putting his wife Linda in the band. Nothing wrong with that IMO but it does not fit the "rock and roll" image. On the positive side, the WOA tour was loved by the critics and the fans. Wings obviously was commercially succesfull !!
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According to me they're higher than #7. I trust me more than some website I've never heard of.
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yankeefan7:
First, most people thought of them as Paul McCartney and his backup band.
Age comes into it I think. As a youngster discovering Wings (and music in general) back in 1973, Wings were Wings. I never thought of them as Paul McCartney and a back up band. I wasn't even aware of who Paul McCartney was. Maybe someone older at that time who was familiar with Paul's work in the Beatles may have been less inclined to see Wings in that way but I always saw Wings as a group just like 10cc, Roxy Music, ELO, Queen, Pink Floyd etc etc etc. I still view them that way today.
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Yeah, that's like when young Stella (around age 4 or 5) asked her Dad, "What was the name of that group you were in before Wings?"
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Nancy R:
Yeah, that's like when young Stella (around age 4 or 5) asked her Dad, "What was the name of that group you were in before Wings?"
Well, I wasn't quite as young as Stella was at that time but its a nice quote. 
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Nancy R:
Yeah, that's like when young Stella (around age 4 or 5) asked her Dad, "What was the name of that group you were in before Wings?"
I remember Stella saying to him... "you're Paul McCartney!"
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I've always read Paul was the #2 biggest selling act of the 70s behind Elton. O
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Kestrel:
Age comes into it I think. As a youngster discovering Wings (and music in general) back in 1973, Wings were Wings. I never thought of them as Paul McCartney and a back up band. I wasn't even aware of who Paul McCartney was. Maybe someone older at that time who was familiar with Paul's work in the Beatles may have been less inclined to see Wings in that way but I always saw Wings as a group just like 10cc, Roxy Music, ELO, Queen, Pink Floyd etc etc etc. I still view them that way today.
That's a good point. I knew about The Beatles before Wings, so I always saw Wings as Paul's band.
