The Number Ones: Paul McCartney
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The Number Ones: Paul McCartney & Wings' "My Love"
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Well, I must agree to disagree with this journalist. Maybe if he knew the story of how, when Linda first arrived at Paul’s in mid-Sept. 1968, there was nothing in the fridge except sour milk and moldy cheese and “the cupboard was bare” he would appreciate the lyrics more. I was 18 years old when My Love was released and nearly 46 years later it remains one of my favorite Paul/Wings songs.
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I must say I've never thought of My Love as anything more than just okay. Paul's written a gazillion better love songs, from Maybe I'm Amazed to My Valentine and Hand in Hand.
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Bruce M. wrote:
I must say I've never thought of My Love as anything more than just okay. Paul's written a gazillion better love songs, from Maybe I'm Amazed to My Valentine and Hand in Hand.
Like I said, agree to disagree. Maybe I’m Amazed, I will agree, is my favorite.
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I have to say that I've always found My Love a bit of a dirge, only saved by Henry's guitar solo. But there's no getting away from the fact that its a very popular ballad by Paul.
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Let's see, "My Love" was #1 for a month in 1973 and spent over two months in the Top Twenty. As known on this site, I'm a bit of a rocker, but "My Love" was not a 'dirge' and in this universe not a lesser tune than "My Valentine" and "Hand in Hand". "My Love" will be played and played on FM, AM, Spotify, Pandora, etc., etc., for the next 50 years. Not sure if Valentine or Hand will be played for the next 50 days. "My Love" owned the summer of '73 and regarded by millions as a great love song.
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wingsoverkc wrote:
Let's see, "My Love" was #1 for a month in 1973 and spent over two months in the Top Twenty. As known on this site, I'm a bit of a rocker, but "My Love" was not a 'dirge' and in this universe not a lesser tune than "My Valentine" and "Hand in Hand". "My Love" will be played and played on FM, AM, Spotify, Pandora, etc., etc., for the next 50 years. Not sure if Valentine or Hand will be played for the next 50 days. "My Love" owned the summer of '73 and regarded by millions as a great love song.
Hear, Hear!!
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It's not fair to compare commercial success of a tune from the height of Paul's days as a hitmaker with recent songs like My Valentine. He could release My Love, Maybe I'm Amazed or pretty much anything else today as new material and it wouldn't chart. That's no reflection on the quality of anything, it's just a matter of what the kids listen to (mostly hip hop) and what radio plays.
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Ahh, "Come On To Me" reached #6 on the Adult Contemporary Chart and #18 on the Hot 100. Yea, I think "Maybe I'm Amazed" would have charted in 2018.
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wingsoverkc wrote:
Ahh, "Come On To Me" reached #6 on the Adult Contemporary Chart and #18 on the Hot 100. Yea, I think "Maybe I'm Amazed" would have charted in 2018.
Sorry, but though"Come On To Me" was the closest Paul's come to a radio hit in over 20 years it did not crack the Billboard Hot 100. It edged into the top 10 in the AC and Triple A charts (which represent miniscule airplay compared to Top 40), but that's it. Wikipedia sums it up, but you can dredge through Billboard's site if you want to confirm.
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The Number Ones: Paul McCartney & Wings’ “Coming Up (Live At Glasgow)”
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jimmix wrote:
The Number Ones: Paul McCartney & Wings’ “Coming Up (Live At Glasgow)”
I am in the minority and I actually hated "Coming Up".
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jimmix wrote:
The Number Ones: Paul McCartney & Wings’ “Coming Up (Live At Glasgow)”
Was a nice surprise to hear Alexis Taylor of Hot Chip doing Coming Up. I really like his voice and Hot Chip as well.
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Yankeefan2 wrote:
jimmix wrote:
The Number Ones: Paul McCartney & Wings’ “Coming Up (Live At Glasgow)”
I am in the minority and I actually hated "Coming Up".
Well, I don't hate it, but I don't love it either. Like the live version better.
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The author of these #1 articles has been pretty 'snarky' when discussing Wings' #1's. Of course, as a huge Wings fan I have built up an immunity to these views. I loved the live version of Coming Up and actually liked the studio version. And when played live, Coming Up got a tremendous response.
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wingsoverkc wrote:
The author of these #1 articles has been pretty 'snarky' when discussing Wings' #1's. Of course, as a huge Wings fan I have built up an immunity to these views. I loved the live version of Coming Up and actually liked the studio version. And when played live, Coming Up got a tremendous response.
Not surprising that the author will be snarky, most journalists could not stand McCartney early work after the Beatles. In retrospect, some did change their mind later on with albums like RAM. I am sure the author will love "Band On The Run" but trash "Silly Love Songs" -lol. As for me, I liked but did not love "My Love" and disliked "Coming Up". Like everyone else, thought "Band On The Run" was fantastic. I really did like "Silly Love Songs" (great bass line and harmonies) although most critics mocked the song.
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Just a couple of thoughts on these #1 Paul McCartney articles. I have seen a couple of them and the author is definitely an anti-Paul, very pro John critic.
As far as a couple of #1's I have seen:
My Love - I clearly remember a couple of the "live" versions of "My Love" I personally saw at his Philadelphia shows in 2002 and 2005.. In my opinion, I thought they were much better than the studio/single version that everyone hears on the radio. I'm talking in 2002 and 2005 when Paul's singing was close to peak. I also thought the Wings Over America live version from 1976 is also better. The "live" versions were more "bluesy" than the studio version which in my opinion made the song even better. I always loved the melody and unlike some critics I always liked the "And when the cupboard's bare, I'll still find something there" line. It was one of the songs that Paul's critics love to "hate" (like Silly Love Songs). At the same time, I agree with Bruce and others that Paul has written many great "Love" songs throughout his career like "Only Love Remains, "Beautiful Night", "Calico Skies", "Great Day","My Valentine", "Only Our Hearts", "Hand in Hand", "See Your Sunshine"etc.
Coming Up - The best thing about "Coming Up" was Paul's video on the song. I thought the video was hilarious. I loved Paul and Linda on it and showed their sense of humor. Like a couple of others have said, I don't think "Coming Up" is one of Paul's best songs. I didn't put it on my Top 30 Best Paul Songs on this Site. Some of the "live" versions from his various tours are better than others. Like many Paul songs, the melody is very infectious and clever but again I don't consider "Coming Up" as one of Paul's absolute classics.
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Well, read the remaining #1 articles by this 'journalist' and yep, he continues his 'snarky' views. Called Band On The Run 'sloppy' and 'jumbled'; said that With A Little Luck was a 'bad song'; and Listen To What The Man Said was 'lazy' and 'fatuous'. Whatever. These tunes were listened by and probably loved by millions of people through the years. The wonder of it all baby, the wonder of it all.
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wingsoverkc wrote:
Well, read the remaining #1 articles by this 'journalist' and yep, he continues his 'snarky' views. Called Band On The Run 'sloppy' and 'jumbled'; said that With A Little Luck was a 'bad song'; and Listen To What The Man Said was 'lazy' and 'fatuous'. Whatever. These tunes were listened by and probably loved by millions of people through the years. The wonder of it all baby, the wonder of it all.
Can't be much of a critic if he thought "Band On The Run" was sloppy. Even people who trashed his early work after The Beatles liked that song and album. While the other songs you mentioned were not great, they were still good and obviously a commercial hit. In other words to this journalist, the public liked the songs. You really have to pick critics that you can respect, for example the two guys from the "Take It Away" podcasts. These guys while obviously McCartney fans are very fair about their opinions regarding McCartney's music. They will dislike some things that may surprise you and like other things that will equally surprise you. So in the end, I would really not take this critic regarding the McCartney #1 songs too seriously.
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wingsoverkc wrote:
Well, read the remaining #1 articles by this 'journalist' and yep, he continues his 'snarky' views. Called Band On The Run 'sloppy' and 'jumbled'; said that With A Little Luck was a 'bad song'; and Listen To What The Man Said was 'lazy' and 'fatuous'. Whatever. These tunes were listened by and probably loved by millions of people through the years. The wonder of it all baby, the wonder of it all.
Pretty ridiculous to call "Band on the Run" sloppy and jumbled. Some of these type of music critics are what I would call music wannabe's. In some cases they don't like a particular artist and they are jealous that they couldn't make it on their own.
It brings up a good point about the Beatles and Paul after he left the Beatles. I think some of Paul's best Beatle songs were Here, There & Everywhere, For No One, Blackbird, I've Just Seen a Face, Eleanor Rigby and Michelle. What is one thing all these songs have in common. None of them were "singles". Paul's Post Beatles' career was similar. Many of his best songs were not singles (Band on the Run is an exception). Take an album like Tug of War. While Ebony & Ivory and Take It Away were the main singles from the album, some of the best songs on Tug were Wanderlust, Here Today, Somebody Who Cares, The Pound is Sinking and Ballroom Dancing.
