Wings

Certain Songs #1453: Paul McCartney & Wings – “Girls’ School”

February 11, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Single, 1977

In 1977, Paul McCartney had a massive massive world-wide hit single with a song called “Mull of Kintyre,” an acoustic guitar and bagpipe driven ode to a Scottish farm he’d owned since the Revolver days which is still one of the all-time biggest selling singles in the U.K.

Meanwhile, here in North America, “Mull of Kintyre” was deemed too Scottish? I guess? And so instead they released the b-side, an admittedly slight rocker called “Girls’ School,” that quite naturally I loved to death.

Certain Songs #1452: Paul McCartney & Wings – “Venus and Mars/Rock Show”

February 10, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Venus and Mars
Year: 1975

Despite the fact that James Paul McCartney hadn’t actually attended a rock show as a casual fan for well over a decade, his single of the same name did kinda capture the anticipation of a fan. Two album tracks stitched together as as a single, “Venus and Mars” provided an acoustic overture while “Rock Show” was the electric heart of the track.

Taken together, “Venus and Mars/Rock Show” is also McCartney at his most playful, both lyrically and musically, and also a sly commentary on the the musical trends of the day.

Certain Songs #1449: Paul McCartney & Wings – “Band on the Run”

February 7, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Album: Band on the Run
Year: 1973

It’s entirely possible, if you adjust for 2019 dollars, that “Band on the Run” might just be my all-time favorite song.

At the very least, it’s one of the most important songs in my life, as I loved it more than any song I’d previously encountered, to the point where I went out and got the Band on The Run album and listened to it in the obsessive way only a pre-teen can do. In my room, very loudly, over and over and over again. To the point where, 45 years later, I still know every single nook and cranny. “Band on the Run” can no longer surprise me.

Certain Songs #1447: Paul McCartney & Wings – “Live and Let Die”

February 5, 2019 by Jim Connelly

Single, 1973

Of course, the James Bond films have always been ridiculous. That’s part of the fun, and while a half-century and gaps between production has lessened the impact, part of the ridiculousness has always been the foofaraw surrounding the theme song.

For reasons, I guess, it’s always been a thing, so when in 1973, the producers were able to convince an ex-Beatle to provide the theme song for the first film where Roger Moore played Bond, it was a huge huge thing indeed.