My best friend in high school, who had always had a knack for deadpan humor, wrote two hilarious fan-letters to Paul McCartney back when we were newly minted fans. One was right after that time he was in the news for ordering a pizza from a place in New York while he was in London ("Why don't you get off your chubby *** and put out an album?! Enough of this pizza ****, get to work! I bet John would have written a song about your laziness! P.S. I hate yououououou!") The other was about "Listen to What the Man Said". "Dear Paul, what does 'dun dun dun dun dun dun dun' mean?!" We never sent either letter, of course. But in an interview marking the release of Flowers in the Dirt (which we taped), the interviewer asked him just what the man was saying. To the surprise of no one who's familiar with his style in interviews, Paul said he had no idea. "Could be God. Could be, women, listen to your husband, dunno." I would love to know what Linda had to say about that second answer! Great song, in any case. Fun melody, lyrics that are open to some interpretation without being too opaque. In fact, I consider all three of the singles from Venus and Mars among his best, which is odd in that the rest of the album isn't terribly strong in my opinion. I do like "Medicine Jar," though.
This one has aged well to me and I never tire of hearing it. The wonder of it all baby, yeah yeah yeah!...and I love the coda. Had the V&M stickers and poster adorning my bedroom door and wall. Paul was on a roll.
This was a favorite of my mine and I still remember watching them perform this on TV (Midnight Special?). RIP.
Wings - Listen to What the Man Said The constant "clip-clop" isn't my favorite, but otherwise it's a solid song. I'm really surprised that it hit #1. There are a lot of different elements to this one, which is normal for McCartney. He always threw in so many production touches and I appreciate that. As far as the elements go, there's the western clip-clop, the jazzy soprano sax, the lite funk of the bass and drums, the proggy vibe of the guitar line, and of course the slow down at 3:30 really recalls The Beatles. That section is really unexpected and a cool way to end the song. Overall, it's a lot of fun and I like the song. Venus & Mars is a good album too.
Really like this one a lot - has it's own unique groove, a good vocal performance and arrangement. I like the unique structure, too. Extra kudos for the lyric "I had a taste of the real world, when I went down on you." It's fun and sexy and poetic without being infantile and dirty. Wish they could have included it on the single version - don't know if they sang it on the live TV version or not. I think you could have gotten away with it on a late night rock/pop music show.
Now THIS is a song time has been very, very kind to. I've never tired of it. A quite different sound and feel than any of the top 40 ballads of the time - especially the drop out from the main music and talking voice over near the middle. Really isn't anything I don't love about it.
You're absolutely right. I still hear it to this day, something you can't say about most of the other chart toppers. Well done love songs are indeed timeless. 'Course, there's another one coming up that I feel won't get as much love in these parts.
Jumping in here. I like Paul McCartney but some of his #1's like this one has not stood the test of time. I'm shocked this went to # 1 at all.
Love 10cc and I'm Not In Love. I think both the band and this track are terribly misunderstood. Art rock lives!
I don't buy new vinyl anymore (I try not to buy reissued vinyl either, unless it's some mix I want, or if there is no other format alternative). I wonder what their (Capitol's) vinyl label looks like now.
When I caught up with said former girlfriend about 10 years ago on Facebook, I told her two songs from our time stuck in my mind, and they couldn't have been more polar opposites. "Love Will Keep Us Together" and "I'm Not In Love." Turned out for me--and her--it was the latter song that proved prophetic. Now, her friend that I moved on to--that was a different story altogether that I'm sure I'll get a chance to touch on as we proceed through 1975 and the first part of '76. Gal #2 and I were a couple for a long time (by my 17 year old standards)--8 months. JcS (married to the same woman now for 37 years...)
"I'm Not In Love" is a strong candidate for song of the year. Stunning production for 1975 - we'd never heard anything like this before. One of those tracks you just want to crawl right into. This video details how the song was assembled - absolutely fascinating. If you haven't seen this before and you like the song at all, give this a spin (it's from a radio program I believe - you can just listen to this if you're at work and get the gist of it).
The song certainly is a marvel of production and sound. Like an angelic choir wrapping itself around you. These guys were so darned talented I sometimes think the general public just couldn't keep up with so many ideas in one package. It was like if you enjoyed Rubber Bullets, I'm Not In Love, The Things We Do For Love or I'm Mandy, Fly Me then you probably wanted more like that. I discovered them in late '73 and really thought they would be big but they never really exploded in the US outside of a few hit singles.
I first heard them with their first significant 1974 U.S. single "The Wall Street Shuffle". I didn't quite like the lyrics because they were so simple, but the music was great.
Here is a fantastic 1976 single by Dee Dee Sharp, released on the TSOP label in 1975. Yup, the same woman who did "Mashed Potato Time" in 1963. I'm Not In Love - Dee Dee Sharp I guess I can mention it now because it only got as high as #62 on the Billboard Soul chart. But, it's a powerhouse, and the Dallas-Ft. Worth urban station KNOK-FM I listened to when I lived in Texas played it a lot.
Another person whom I remember covering "I'm Not In Love" was Richie Havens, on his first album for A&M in 1976. I heard his version on (I.I.N.M.) WPIX-FM 102 that year.