London Town/Back to the Egg: What if...?
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I almost used to respect Madonna, even though I've liked nothing she put out the last 20 years... my take is that once one starts to look like Cesar Romero's Joker, they no longer have relevance... their adherence to image and appearance totally discounts and diminishes their musical contribution... Mariah used to have a beautiful voice, second only to Whitney Houston. Mariah too has lowered herself to a joke... sad, really....
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favoritething:
Beatles4Ever&Ever:
Bruce M.:
I'm not sure the timing of either album would have changed much. The music scene was changing. Disco was huge and punk/new wave was the coming thing, and Paul at that point had been a huge star for nearly 2 decades -- a much longer run as a chart-topper than most rock acts ever get. It had to slow down at some point, and this was the logical time. Popular music is a youth-oriented world -- always was and and always will be -- and Paul was no longer a youth.
And Mariah Carey is finding that out now! For sure. And not a moment too soon!!
For a while, I was concerned that she might move past the Beatles on the Top 40 Chart....most number one hits! She seems to have stalled at 18 to their 20, and her new album and all its singles tanked. Even if she had moved past them, it would have taken her about 25 years, to their less than seven, to achieve that many number one songs. While she may have a resurgence in popularity, it likely won't be on the Top 40 chart. We'll see. Getting older and losing relevancy is a bitch...as we all find out sooner or later! 
(Do I have any other artists to be tracking and be worried about...on this particular achievement record?? )Off the top of my head, I think Rihanna and Madonna are up there, but yes, Mariah seems to have had her day. Way too much competition from the younger singers, though she'll be a popular live act forever, probably. Madonna is fading a bit, too, so perhaps just Rihanna right now is a threat.
I just Googled the whole subject. The article, a bit confusing, indicated that Katy Perry just tied Rihanna with 11 No. One songs on ..."the top 40 radio playlist chart..." It seems they started counting them differently, in some way, around 1992!!! Does sales not figure into the process anymore? At all? Just radio airplay...or spins or whatever? And it seems that Rhianna and Perry constantly guest on any number of other artists' songs and they get credit for that song...if it goes to No One as well. I mean how many times does one see Juicy J....whoever/whatever that is....with someone else on some song? (And then there's Taylor Swift here and there.) Maybe we should be worried about this Juicy J or whomever/whatever that is! LOL Maybe we just can't compare these things anymore. I mean, back in the old days (bones are weary just thinking about it), we had to get off our duffs and drive to an actual "record store" and make a purchase of a product we could hold in our hands and then drive home and play it on a turn style. That's how they decided which song was No One!!! Ah, back in the day.....
( I loved the comment someone made about Madonna now looking like Caesar Romero's Joker in a Batman movie. I think that's what it was. LOL. Actually, she does sort of resemble that character. I wonder how many people would even know who Caesar Romero is or was now?? Funny.) I think it was a mistake for Carey to be a judge on American Idol. She got skewered by Minaj for "bringing along her resume' " and that didn't help her street creds in any way..... she will be respected forever....in Las Vegas....but not by the youths, whose tastes change by the minute!!! -
Beatles4Ever&Ever:
favoritething:
Beatles4Ever&Ever:
Bruce M.:
I'm not sure the timing of either album would have changed much. The music scene was changing. Disco was huge and punk/new wave was the coming thing, and Paul at that point had been a huge star for nearly 2 decades -- a much longer run as a chart-topper than most rock acts ever get. It had to slow down at some point, and this was the logical time. Popular music is a youth-oriented world -- always was and and always will be -- and Paul was no longer a youth.
And Mariah Carey is finding that out now! For sure. And not a moment too soon!!
For a while, I was concerned that she might move past the Beatles on the Top 40 Chart....most number one hits! She seems to have stalled at 18 to their 20, and her new album and all its singles tanked. Even if she had moved past them, it would have taken her about 25 years, to their less than seven, to achieve that many number one songs. While she may have a resurgence in popularity, it likely won't be on the Top 40 chart. We'll see. Getting older and losing relevancy is a bitch...as we all find out sooner or later! (Do I have any other artists to be tracking and be worried about...on this particular achievement record?? )Off the top of my head, I think Rihanna and Madonna are up there, but yes, Mariah seems to have had her day. Way too much competition from the younger singers, though she'll be a popular live act forever, probably. Madonna is fading a bit, too, so perhaps just Rihanna right now is a threat.
I just Googled the whole subject. The article, a bit confusing, indicated that Katy Perry just tied Rihanna with 11 No. One songs on ..."the top 40 radio playlist chart..." It seems they started counting them differently, in some way, around 1992!!! Does sales not figure into the process anymore? At all? Just radio airplay...or spins or whatever? And it seems that Rhianna and Perry constantly guest on any number of other artists' songs and they get credit for that song...if it goes to No One as well. I mean how many times does one see Juicy J....whoever/whatever that is....with someone else on some song? (And then there's Taylor Swift here and there.) Maybe we should be worried about this Juicy J or whomever/whatever that is! LOL Maybe we just can't compare these things anymore. I mean, back in the old days (bones are weary just thinking about it), we had to get off our duffs and drive to an actual "record store" and make a purchase of a product we could hold in our hands and then drive home and play it on a turn style. That's how they decided which song was No One!!! Ah, back in the day.....
( I loved the comment someone made about Madonna now looking like Caesar Romero's Joker in a Batman movie. I think that's what it was. LOL. Actually, she does sort of resemble that character. I wonder how many people would even know who Caesar Romero is or was now?? Funny.) I think it was a mistake for Carey to be a judge on American Idol. She got skewered by Minaj for "bringing along her resume' " and that didn't help her street creds in any way..... she will be respected forever....in Las Vegas....but not by the youths, whose tastes change by the minute!!! I was going by this article, referring to Billboard: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_Hot_100_chart_achievements_and_milestones By this measure, Rihanna is the only one that's close to the Beatles and still pumping out hits with consistency, although it is quite lame that she gets credit for just singing part of Eminem's #1 hit, and so on. Billboard has changed their "metrics" so many times over the years. Some songs that got tons of airplay didn't get on the charts because there was no physical release, but now you can chart with a song that is only a "radio hit" and they also factor in streaming services like Spotify (where you're not actually buying the song, just playing it on a subscription service) and even YouTube views (which is how that tuneless song "Harlem Shake" hit #1 last year, mainly from people doing parody videos of it!). It really is apples to oranges, but Billboard pretends it isn't!!
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favoritething:
Beatles4Ever&Ever:
favoritething:
Beatles4Ever&Ever:
Bruce M.:
I'm not sure the timing of either album would have changed much. The music scene was changing. Disco was huge and punk/new wave was the coming thing, and Paul at that point had been a huge star for nearly 2 decades -- a much longer run as a chart-topper than most rock acts ever get. It had to slow down at some point, and this was the logical time. Popular music is a youth-oriented world -- always was and and always will be -- and Paul was no longer a youth.
And Mariah Carey is finding that out now! For sure. And not a moment too soon!!
For a while, I was concerned that she might move past the Beatles on the Top 40 Chart....most number one hits! She seems to have stalled at 18 to their 20, and her new album and all its singles tanked. Even if she had moved past them, it would have taken her about 25 years, to their less than seven, to achieve that many number one songs. While she may have a resurgence in popularity, it likely won't be on the Top 40 chart. We'll see. Getting older and losing relevancy is a bitch...as we all find out sooner or later! (Do I have any other artists to be tracking and be worried about...on this particular achievement record?? )Off the top of my head, I think Rihanna and Madonna are up there, but yes, Mariah seems to have had her day. Way too much competition from the younger singers, though she'll be a popular live act forever, probably. Madonna is fading a bit, too, so perhaps just Rihanna right now is a threat.
I just Googled the whole subject. The article, a bit confusing, indicated that Katy Perry just tied Rihanna with 11 No. One songs on ..."the top 40 radio playlist chart..." It seems they started counting them differently, in some way, around 1992!!! Does sales not figure into the process anymore? At all? Just radio airplay...or spins or whatever? And it seems that Rhianna and Perry constantly guest on any number of other artists' songs and they get credit for that song...if it goes to No One as well. I mean how many times does one see Juicy J....whoever/whatever that is....with someone else on some song? (And then there's Taylor Swift here and there.) Maybe we should be worried about this Juicy J or whomever/whatever that is! LOL Maybe we just can't compare these things anymore. I mean, back in the old days (bones are weary just thinking about it), we had to get off our duffs and drive to an actual "record store" and make a purchase of a product we could hold in our hands and then drive home and play it on a turn style. That's how they decided which song was No One!!! Ah, back in the day.....
( I loved the comment someone made about Madonna now looking like Caesar Romero's Joker in a Batman movie. I think that's what it was. LOL. Actually, she does sort of resemble that character. I wonder how many people would even know who Caesar Romero is or was now?? Funny.) I think it was a mistake for Carey to be a judge on American Idol. She got skewered by Minaj for "bringing along her resume' " and that didn't help her street creds in any way..... she will be respected forever....in Las Vegas....but not by the youths, whose tastes change by the minute!!! I was going by this article, referring to Billboard: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Billboard_Hot_100_chart_achievements_and_milestones By this measure, Rihanna is the only one that's close to the Beatles and still pumping out hits with consistency, although it is quite lame that she gets credit for just singing part of Eminem's #1 hit, and so on. Billboard has changed their "metrics" so many times over the years. Some songs that got tons of airplay didn't get on the charts because there was no physical release, but now you can chart with a song that is only a "radio hit" and they also factor in streaming services like Spotify (where you're not actually buying the song, just playing it on a subscription service) and even YouTube views (which is how that tuneless song "Harlem Shake" hit #1 last year, mainly from people doing parody videos of it!). It really is apples to oranges, but Billboard pretends it isn't!!
Thanks for the info. There's just something very wrong and incongruous with placing Rihanna's name in the same sentence as the Beatles....as well as there being tons of things wrong with Billboard these days!
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And nothing sells like it used to either. Paul would kill for the "medium" sales of "Back to the Egg" these days, I bet!
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rich n:
Here in the States, London Town made it up to the number 2 slot of Billboard's top 100 albums...It was held out from the number 1 slot by the Saturday Night Fever sound track...that's what I think happened to London Town...LOL While I would most definitely prefer to hear London Town (or any Paul project for that matter) over that sound track, evidently the world felt differently as it became a world phenom of sorts...the fact that Paul was able to gain another number 1 single spawned from the album is strong praise given the bombardment of various songs from the SNF soundtrack that was making the airwaves at the time...I don't think time has treated London Town very kindly as it's almost never mentioned as a 'favorite'...I think it has to do with the laid back feel to it, which I happen to like...Tug of War, which did make it to number 1 roughly 5 years later, suffers from the same fate in my opinion, despite being a very strong album
Most of 1978's U.S. Number 1 hits was dominated by the Bee Gees, brother Andy Gibb, and songs off the Saturday Night Fever album. The closest thing to that kind of dominance was the Beatles circa 1964. The fact that With a Little Luck held the top spot in the middle of all of this is a testament of how good the song is. Very underrated, even by McCartney himself. He never performs the song live. I just dont get it. Innovative synth pop with good lyrics and a killer melody.
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JoeySmith:
rich n:
Here in the States, London Town made it up to the number 2 slot of Billboard's top 100 albums...It was held out from the number 1 slot by the Saturday Night Fever sound track...that's what I think happened to London Town...LOL While I would most definitely prefer to hear London Town (or any Paul project for that matter) over that sound track, evidently the world felt differently as it became a world phenom of sorts...the fact that Paul was able to gain another number 1 single spawned from the album is strong praise given the bombardment of various songs from the SNF soundtrack that was making the airwaves at the time...I don't think time has treated London Town very kindly as it's almost never mentioned as a 'favorite'...I think it has to do with the laid back feel to it, which I happen to like...Tug of War, which did make it to number 1 roughly 5 years later, suffers from the same fate in my opinion, despite being a very strong album
Most of 1978's U.S. Number 1 hits was dominated by the Bee Gees, brother Andy Gibb, and songs off the Saturday Night Fever album. The closest thing to that kind of dominance was the Beatles circa 1964. The fact that With a Little Luck held the top spot in the middle of all of this is a testament of how good the song is. Very underrated, even by McCartney himself. He never performs the song live. I just dont get it. Innovative synth pop with good lyrics and a killer melody.
Agreed! "With a Little Luck" is very underrated. People seem to be quick to dismiss it as dated. Brilliant melody! -
favoritething:
And nothing sells like it used to either. Paul would kill for the "medium" sales of "Back to the Egg" these days, I bet!
I remember not liking that album title at all!!!! The word "egg" just put me off. Loved the packaging; the cover shot was gorgeous and inventive...but then that title!!
I thought..."Couldn't he have just chosen a song and used it for the album title....or anything else but that?" Maybe "Getting Closer"??? I get why he used an idea like that.....getting back to basics, but......it was sort of an "ew" moment for me. Still is. Hate that album name!!!! -
I didn't mind that title, it made me think of the final mystifying scenes of "2001: A Space Odyssey" sci fi movie classic.
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Beatles4Ever&Ever:
favoritething:
And nothing sells like it used to either. Paul would kill for the "medium" sales of "Back to the Egg" these days, I bet!
I remember not liking that album title at all!!!! The word "egg" just put me off. Loved the packaging; the cover shot was gorgeous and inventive...but then that title!!
I thought..."Couldn't he have just chosen a song and used it for the album title....or anything else but that?" Maybe "Getting Closer"??? I get why he used an idea like that.....getting back to basics, but......it was sort of an "ew" moment for me. Still is. Hate that album name!!!! I love the Title! Second only to 'Red Rose Speedway' as the coolest Paul album title. Ram is a close 3rd.
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I didn't like the title either at first, but over the years I've become used to it. I have, however, always thought that the "Sunny Side Up" and "Over Easy" names of the respective LP sides was a wonderfully clever idea!
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audi:
The album isn't a mistake. The timing of its creation/release might've been, perhaps. I believe that's what Mr. Spock was trying to convey.
Too right!! Both outstanding albums that were released at a time when audiences didn't appreciate them. The release time was definitely a mistake, but making BTTE was definitely not.
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Well, I don't see the way of 'mix' both albums. London Town is soft, with some psychedelic touches, and BTTE has some punk influences and some songs that I don't understand why they're there (Baby's Request, Winter Rose/Love Awake, After The Ball... good songs, but they're not confortable in this album).
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I loved "London Town" when it came out and still do. For my part, on a list of best album in 1978, there is no over. Although Springtseen's "Darkness on the Edge of Town" is close... with punk and disco there are songs and singles I enjoy but not so many album favorites maybe.
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Just wished Girls School and Mull of Kintrye were placed on London Town instead of the awful Children Children and Cuff Link. And Coming Up and Goodnight Tonight put on Back To The Egg instead of Baby's Request. Oh well.
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There is only one change I'm willing to approve of when it comes to "London Town". It could have ended with "Mull of Kintyre" instead of "Morse Moose and the Grey Goose". Not because I don't think Morse Moose is a cool and experimental track but it makes quite a peaceful and dreamy album end with a noise. It could also be good for the folk-rock vibe of the album. "Girl's School" is a fun rocker but slightly edgier than the rock tracks on "London Town". it's a different sound, getting closer (tji-hi) to "Back to the Egg". "Goodnight Tonight" on Egg... yeah, y not, it's a very messy album anyway, stylistically. I don't want "Coming Up" differently. there is a live Wings performance of it. Great in its own way played by a tight rock band but not better to my liking.
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Hendrix Ibsen:
There is only one change I'm willing to approve of when it comes to "London Town". It could have ended with "Mull of Kintyre" instead of "Morse Moose and the Grey Goose". Not because I don't think Morse Moose is a cool and experimental track but it makes quite a peaceful and dreamy album end with a noise. It could also be good for the folk-rock vibe of the album. "Girl's School" is a fun rocker but slightly edgier than the rock tracks on "London Town". it's a different sound, getting closer (tji-hi) to "Back to the Egg". "Goodnight Tonight" on Egg... yeah, y not, it's a very messy album anyway, stylistically. I don't want "Coming Up" differently**. there is a live Wings performance of it. Great in its own way played by a tight rock band but not better to my liking. :**D
The live version was the hit single. The record company that released McCartney II insisted on it, the single 45 rpm, being included in the package with the album...but not placed on the album! You probably already knew that.
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I did maybe but on the other hand can't McCartney, Beatles... be repeated enough. I love this stuff.
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Hendrix Ibsen:
There is only one change I'm willing to approve of when it comes to "London Town". It could have ended with "Mull of Kintyre" instead of "Morse Moose and the Grey Goose". Not because I don't think Morse Moose is a cool and experimental track but it makes quite a peaceful and dreamy album end with a noise.
No Morse Moose?! I wait for that one... It's my favorite on the album!
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I think it's a great track myself, and for my part, I don't need "London Town" different, it's only meant as a suggestion from my side, if...
