"McCartney & Wings Say Goodnight Tonight" ENTER DISCO WATERS 1978--1979--POLL:

When "Robbo" starts this live version, it's such an energetic, exciting sound unlike almost nothing I've heard. You can't sit still when you hear this.

 

Funny, I feel just the other way around about these two songs. IMO, DNS is a far better song that would have worked a the A-side IMO. OTOH, at the time disco was at the height of its popularity, so I can see why Goodnight tonight was chosen as the A-side. Not sure if DNS would have become a hit on its own strength in 1979.

About Goodnight tonight - Yes, I like it. In itself it's not much of a song, but the playing, the arrangements (the grooving bass of course, and those latin-flavoured guitar parts) and the mix make this a standout track for me. Usually I'm swayed by a McCartney track for the melody, but this is a rare occasion of a Macca song of which I don't care much for the melody. But I enjoy the disco feel of the song.

Yes, as others mentioned, almost everybody was doing a disco song circa '78'/79. The Stones definitely got it right, much better than McCartney. I consider Roxy Music's Angel eyes (the single version) another standout from that era. Bandwagonesque indeed, but very well done.

BTW I bought the 7" single of Goodnight tonight when it was in the charts, but I liked the 12" version enough to buy it a few months later. My Dutch pressing also has that nice inner sleeve. Was glad to pick up the only legit CD release of the 12" version on the Grand 12 inches 4 CD box set. Compiled by Dutch DJ Ben Liebrand. I'm still baffled at how he was able to get that McCartney song properly licensed.

 

I just listened to it, and it's really not that bad - it still sounds a bit awkward to me, as if the song was originally written to be performed in a different style and then "discofied" (like the "dance mixes" of "No More Lonely Nights"). But, it's pleasant. Maybe I'll change my vote.

In the "dance" genre, Paul did much better with "Coming Up" and "Say Say Say", which were well-received, although they didn't do much for his rock credibility. He did much worse with "PS Love Me Do" in 1990. I sttended the Tokyo show where I believe he debuted it. The crowd was so stunned to be in the presence of McCartney that you would have thought he could have coughed and they would have loved it. But, I still remember after he played it, the Japanese around me all seemed perplexed; exchanging what would be later be known as "WTF?" expressions.

 

Wasn't "Goodnight Tonight"/"Daytime Nighttime Suffering" presented as a "double A-side" single, at least in some places?

 

Could very well be. My Dutch 7" pressing definitely lists Goodnight tonight as the A-side, but I do remember Daytime getting some modest airplay as well. Can't speak for other countries, but I don't think it's impossible.
Checking Discogs I'm noticing that the record labels of both the UK and the US 7" single don't make any distinction between any A or B side at all...

https://www.discogs.com/Wings-Goodnight-Tonight/release/1258311
https://www.discogs.com/Wings-Goodnight-Tonight/release/1141850

 

No need to recompense me financially for intellectual property rights if the idea takes off. Just an acknowledgement on the cd cover will do.
And a gig if you need a second guitarist

 

The U.S. Columbia 12" with the plain white cover and blue sticker is actually quite a collectors item here in the States. I am stunned to hear it was available on release in Belgium.
I only ever saw one copy of it in a store.
I found it in a little drug store in Hot Springs, Arkansas in 1980. They had a small rack with maybe 60 records total.
They also had The Beatles Tell All on Vee Jay.
I went home thinking I had found the very rare Hear the Beatles Tell All and a nice little 12" to boot.

Turned out Hear the Beatles Tell All was a recent reissue and was to become pretty common.
While it was that nice little 12" that has been valued at something around $100 by Perry Cox's most recent Beatles Collectors Guide (2007).

I've always liked "Goodnight Tonight". Maybe not in my top 20 Macca tunes, but then again there are a hell of a lot of great songs in that Not Top 20 category.
I just could never get the praise heaped on "Daytime Nighttime Suffering". That one never worked very well for these ears.

 

Disco version of Silly Love Songs.

 

I recall that the then 'new' record company he signed for made a huge mistake by keeping it off the last wings album.'Goodnight Tonight' is another of the long line of complete classic million selling singles he hit the worlds charts with.Pure pop gold and perfection.

 

McCartney post beatle pop genius on full display 1970's early 1980's.

 

I'd be making the music on the computer, so no need for guitarists at all. If I can pull it off, for some reason, when it comes to "Dope Disco", I envision a "reggae meets disco" kinda thing, could be innaresting. I'll give you an "inspiration" credit

As I've said before, the 1979-82 period is my favourite era for McCartney's music...and that would include that old band he was in in the sixties.

 

Oh that band?

 

the perfect 12 inch single

 

AGREED

 

Yeah, you know...The Rolling Stones!

 

Hahahahaha !!

 

Yeah, I miss the sound of the weaving basses after they sacked McCartney.

 

To paraphrase Robert Duvall in Apocalypse Now, "I love the sound of weaving basses in the morning."

 

I didn't know it was that rare.
I am sure I have seen a copy in a 2nd shop very recently, probably priced around $15 (not sure it still had the sticker, though).
Belgiun being a small market, the records available here were either locally made, or imported from other countries (for instance, the copies of "At The Speed Of Sound" sold were from the UK, but "London Town" was Italian...).

Which means that some relatively rare records were sometimes, for a while, quite commonly found here (I'm thinking of the early UK mono version of "Revolver" with the alternate mix of "Tomorrow Never Knows", or the UK "Thrillington" album).

I remember that the US "Goodnight Tonight" (and, later, "Coming Up") singles were also available here as US Columbia imports not very long after the EMI versions sold out. Actually, those were marked as "imports", but were in locally produced "title" sleeves and at normal price (there were even 2 different ones for "Goodnight Tonight"!).
What is beyond me is why EMI chose to import those records from a concurrent label on another continent, instead of importing them from another neighboring branch of EMI.

(with misprints, in typical Belgian fashion: "Good Night" instead of "Goodnight", and "Mc Cartney" in two words...).

 

Great stuff here in a 2012 reincarnation

 

That supposed disco version of Silly Love Songs doesn't sound anything at all like disco?

 

If there was a 12" single of Silly in 1976 maybe it was listed as a disco 12" for marketing sales in the then very popular disco genre.