What do you think of the song 'Press'?
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favoritething:
stuartshire:
I think its a great song. I really like the album actually, and think it's really underated - none more so than "Stranglehold" which I think is both a great song and recording. It would be cool to hear a new version of the song press with just guitars and drums actually.
Big fan of "Stranglehold" here too. One of my favorites from the eighties. I found the album refreshing after the rehashes and laziness of the previous two albums.
Now there's a great song! Chunky horns, words that mean something and along with so many other songs - just a shame it hasn't / isn't being done live.
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ewanme:
Regarding 'Press' , I've always enjoyed this recording, even the production which is very much of that period (in fact VERY 1986 specifically). Great musical arrangement, backing vocals etc. Some of the lyrics don't make obvious sense, but then it's the way Paul writes sometimes and they probably come from personal experiences etc. 'Oklahoma was never like this' (??) Someone on Youtube suggested 'Press' could be describing a specific sexual act?
I really enjoy the song and always loved the video !!
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yankeefan7:
ewanme:
Regarding 'Press' , I've always enjoyed this recording, even the production which is very much of that period (in fact VERY 1986 specifically). Great musical arrangement, backing vocals etc. Some of the lyrics don't make obvious sense, but then it's the way Paul writes sometimes and they probably come from personal experiences etc. 'Oklahoma was never like this' (??) Someone on Youtube suggested 'Press' could be describing a specific sexual act?
I really enjoy the song and always loved the video !!
Right there, that's it, yes.... Press holds a special place with me.... Not the greatest song in the world, and some of the lyrics were a bit lazy, but it has a most unique feel... dated, but unique, as a McCartney song. Stranglehold at the time was my favourite song from the album, easy. I thought it was the obvious first single at the time. And I like Footprints. And Only Love Remains. And I think However Absurd is a real grower, and has appreciated through time. And I don't mind Angry either, even with the restrained vocal. But Press.... I wouldn't take it on a desert island with me, but I do have a fondness for it.
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rich n:
I've always liked this version far better than the album version
This version is the same as the studio version, it's that it's just edited abruptly. Btw, do you have a complete version of the video? Thanks for sharing
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Press To Play is one of my favorite albums because it is different from what he did before or after. Very '80s sounding, yes, but the "Press" music video looks fun and I do love the song. I'd say my favorite on the album is either "Press" or "However Absurd". Sadly, I don't think the album exists much in Paul's mind anymore...lol...or some of the fans.
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I like it for the innuendos. It's got the most of any Paul song I think
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Kathryn O:
I like it for the innuendos. It's got the most of any Paul song I think
As far as innuendo goes, Eat At Home goes alright too...
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i remember when i was little,my mom would play this song/album alot and one time as she was taking me to school,i had told her i had that press song on my mind and she had that song recorded on tape in her car and she had fast forwars it so i can hear that song hehe thanx mom : )
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Paul includes the song in his pre-show DJ-set. Makes me smile every time.
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Amazing the things you find on Youtube. I've literally never heard this version of 'Press' before
Quite different -
Wow, had forgotten how damn good a pop song 'Press' is. This is THE perfect version/edit
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^^ that is a great version. Best one imo. Thanks.
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I like it very, very, very, very much.
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Pawel:
rich n:
I've always liked this version far better than the album version
This version is the same as the studio version, it's that it's just edited abruptly. Btw, do you have a complete version of the video? Thanks for sharing
This is the full version of that same version - it's actually the Hugh Padgham version...I don't think it's the same version from the album or single (by evidence of the steady pulsing bass line play right through the first verse...and it has a pretty cool ending)
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Kevin:
I like it very, very, very, very much.
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ewanme:
Some of the lyrics don't make obvious sense, but then it's the way Paul writes sometimes and they probably come from personal experiences etc. 'Oklahoma was never like this' (??) Someone on Youtube suggested 'Press' could be describing a specific sexual act?
In an interview of the time he said that Oklahoma was a random place far removed from his daily life.
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al Sabah:
ewanme:
Some of the lyrics don't make obvious sense, but then it's the way Paul writes sometimes and they probably come from personal experiences etc. 'Oklahoma was never like this' (??) Someone on Youtube suggested 'Press' could be describing a specific sexual act?
In an interview of the time he said that Oklahoma was a random place far removed from his daily life.
I also seem to remember an interview at the time where he acknowledged that "Oklahoma was never like this" made no sense, but it just seemed to sound right. So, he went with it. Little fuss, at his end, about it.
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Omg, I'm sorry, I can't stand this song, lol. Most of it has to do with the sound and the production. It's like being hit by a tsunami of cheese. All those synths, and electronic drums, and flourishes make it such a shmaltzy pop song. It feels like a SuperNintendo song on acid. I was analyzing this song a bit more the other day. I was listening to a more stripped-down version on youtube, and I found it immensely more tolerable. Melody-wise I don't think it's too bad, it's nicely crafted, but I think it lacks the monster hook of some of his best hits. It's a potpourri of song bits, and some of them I think are pretty good! The opening line "I love you very, very, very much", I find very, very, very grating, lol. There could be an Elvis vibe in that opening bit of melody which I think would have been more cool to capitalize on. Getting back to the "sound", it made me wonder what Paul was going for. In the previous years, he had just scored a couple of HUGE hits with Coming Up and Say Say Say, and I would describe those as pop-funk type songs, which, in a general sense, feels like what Press is going for, too. But I think the production and arrangements of Coming Up and Say Say Say was far better and stronger (i.e. less cheezy) and had better hooks. I don't think synths are necessarily bad either. There are a lot of cool bands (Prince, NIN) that do well with synths. I wonder if Paul was trying to evoke a Talking Heads vibe with this song? I can hear some similarities in sound, with the funky-african grooves, fat bass, high keyboards, etc. Sometimes it's a fine line between a really cool sound and cheezy crap. It might have been nice if he had restrained himself to more of a Talking Heads vibe with this song (?). I don't buy into the argument that Paul was a "victim" of the sound stylings of the day. Sure, there was lots of embarrassing crap during this era. Hugh Padgham was the producer. I was listening to the Police's Synchronicity again, and it's a freaking brilliant album with a fantastic sound (produced by Padgham), just a couple years previous to Press. (On a sidenote, as weird as it sounds, I can hear a lot of McCartney-isms in Synchronicity. Miss Grenenko sounds like a classic McCartney song I wish he'd make again. Shades of Temporary Secretary?) I suspect that Padgham is just another super producer who can't stand up to Paul's, ummm, aesthetic indulgences. So, yeah, I just find Press way too over-the-top in all its poppy flourishes and accents. That's just my tastes!
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I have always found this song great. I remember having this song recorded in a tape along with Jerry Harrison's Rev it up and New Order's Bizarre love triangle. Good memories...
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ZodiakFool:
Omg, I'm sorry, I can't stand this song, lol. Most of it has to do with the sound and the production. It's like being hit by a tsunami of cheese. All those synths, and electronic drums, and flourishes make it such a shmaltzy pop song. It feels like a SuperNintendo song on acid. I was analyzing this song a bit more the other day. I was listening to a more stripped-down version on youtube, and I found it immensely more tolerable. Melody-wise I don't think it's too bad, it's nicely crafted, but I think it lacks the monster hook of some of his best hits. It's a potpourri of song bits, and some of them I think are pretty good! The opening line "I love you very, very, very much", I find very, very, very grating, lol. There could be an Elvis vibe in that opening bit of melody which I think would have been more cool to capitalize on. Getting back to the "sound", it made me wonder what Paul was going for. In the previous years, he had just scored a couple of HUGE hits with Coming Up and Say Say Say, and I would describe those as pop-funk type songs, which, in a general sense, feels like what Press is going for, too. But I think the production and arrangements of Coming Up and Say Say Say was far better and stronger (i.e. less cheezy) and had better hooks. I don't think synths are necessarily bad either. There are a lot of cool bands (Prince, NIN) that do well with synths. I wonder if Paul was trying to evoke a Talking Heads vibe with this song? I can hear some similarities in sound, with the funky-african grooves, fat bass, high keyboards, etc. Sometimes it's a fine line between a really cool sound and cheezy crap. It might have been nice if he had restrained himself to more of a Talking Heads vibe with this song (?). I don't buy into the argument that Paul was a "victim" of the sound stylings of the day. Sure, there was lots of embarrassing crap during this era. Hugh Padgham was the producer. I was listening to the Police's Synchronicity again, and it's a ****ing brilliant album with a fantastic sound (produced by Padgham), just a couple years previous to Press. (On a sidenote, as weird as it sounds, I can hear a lot of McCartney-isms in Synchronicity. Miss Grenenko sounds like a classic McCartney song I wish he'd make again. Shades of Temporary Secretary?) I suspect that Padgham is just another super producer who can't stand up to Paul's, ummm, aesthetic indulgences. So, yeah, I just find Press way too over-the-top in all its poppy flourishes and accents. That's just my tastes!
Had Paul made the album 2 years earlier, it would have had a completely different production sound. I reckon Hugh Padgham was conforming to the latest production trends - type of drum and synth sounds etc which were very much confined to 1985-86. You can hear this from the track 'Spies Like Us' from '85. By 1987 and 'Once Upon A Long Ago', the more organic sounds were returning. Having said all that, there are hits from 1986 ('oldies') played on the radio every day in 2014 which have similar production values to those heard on 'Press To Play'. And people tend not to complain about these....because, for whatever reason (airplay/timing/image etc) they were big hits.......so there's possibly a little hypocrisy going on.
