Press to Play Studio album by Paul McCartney Released 25 August 1986 Recorded March–May 1985 at McCartney's Sussex studios, and from October–December 1985 at McCartney's Scottish studios Genre Rock Length 45:11 (LP) 58:53 (CD) Label Parlophone (UK) Capitol (US) Producer Paul McCartney, Hugh Padgham Press to Play is the sixth solo studio album by English musician Paul McCartney, released in August 1986. It was McCartney's first album of entirely new music since Pipes of Peace in 1983, and his first solo album to be issued internationally by EMI following a six-year alliance with Columbia Records in the United States and Canada. Keen to re-establish himself after his poorly received 1984 musical film Give My Regards to Broad Street, McCartney enlisted producer Hugh Padgham to give the album a contemporary sound. On release, Press to Play received a mixed critical reception and was McCartney's poorest-selling studio album up to that point. Although it failed to make the top 20 in America, the album peaked at number 8 on the UK Albums Chart and achieved gold status from the BPI in September 1986.[1] Four singles were issued from Press to Play: "Press", "Pretty Little Head", "Stranglehold" and "Only Love Remains". "Press" was a minor success, peaking at number 21 in the US. The music video for the song featured McCartney walking around Bond Street and Charing Cross tube stations in London, catching a tube train and speaking with members of the general public. Paul McCartney – lead vocals, bass guitar, acoustic and electric guitars, piano, keyboards, synthesizers Additional musicians Neil Jason – bass guitar Eric Stewart – acoustic guitar, electric guitar, keyboards, backing vocals Pete Townshend – electric guitar on "Angry" Carlos Alomar – acoustic guitar, electric guitar Eddie Rayner, Nick Glennie-Smith – keyboards Simon Chamberlain – piano Linda McCartney – backing vocals Phil Collins – drums, percussion on "Angry" Jerry Marotta, Graham Ward – drums, percussion John Bradbury – violin Ray Cooper – percussion Dick Morrissey – tenor saxophone Lenny Pickett – alto saxophone, tenor saxophone Gary Barnacle – saxophone Gavyn Wright – violin Kate Robbins – harmony vocals Ruby James – harmony vocals James McCartney – spoken word Steve Jackson – spoken word Eddie Klein – spoken word John Hammel – spoken word Matt Howe – spoken word Tony Visconti – orchestral arrangements on "Only Love Remains" Anne Dudley – orchestral arrangements on "However Absurd" Production Paul McCartney – producer Hugh Padgham – producer Bonus tracks: "Once Upon a Long Ago" produced by Phil Ramone, "Spies Like Us" produced by McCartney, Ramone & Padgham Engineering Hugh Padgham – engineer Tony Clark – assistant engineer Jon Kelly – assistant engineer Peter Mew – assistant engineer Matt Howe – assistant engineer Steve Jackson – assistant engineer Haydn Bendall – assistant engineer Hugh Padgham – mixer except "Press" mixed by Bert Bevans and Steve Forward; and "It's Not True" mixed by Julian Mendelsohn. (And on CD reissue, "Once Upon a Long Ago", mixed by former Beatles producer George Martin.) All songs written by Paul McCartney and Eric Stewart, except where noted. Side one No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "Stranglehold" 3:36 2. "Good Times Coming/Feel the Sun" McCartney 4:44 3. "Talk More Talk" McCartney 5:18 4. "Footprints" 4:32 5. "Only Love Remains" McCartney 4:13 Total length: 22:23 Side two No. Title Writer(s) Length 1. "Press" McCartney 4:43 2. "Pretty Little Head" 5:14 3. "Move Over Busker" 4:05 4. "Angry" 3:36 5. "However Absurd" 4:56 Total length: 22:34 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It is interesting that Stewart and Gouldman both moved into projects with other people in 1986. I suppose to some degree it makes sense that if they decided to have a break from 10cc that this would happen. I wonder if they were just meaning to have a break, or if they had gotten stale with the idea of 10cc..... I don't know, but if you have something for us to fill in the blanks, please let us know. I imagine it would have been a dream come true for Stewart to work with Mccartney, it would seem he was a fan of the Beatles, even though he was having a certain amount of success during the Beatles lifetime. It is a shame that it went down the way it did, as we read earlier in the thread, but these things happen. Mccartney obviously has had a stellar career, with remarkable success and a legion of dogmatic fans that some times seem to think he is about the only artists is the music world lol... Anyhow, I know nothing about this particular album, and up until this thread I wasn't aware of Stewart's involvement with it. So please give us any information that you know/have about it and lets take a look at this one, as we move through these wandering years, with the guys trying something different and then returning to work together again later on. Cheers Mark
lol We seem to be taking a lot of side roads, but the guys seemed to want to be thorough ... I have no idea what to expect from this. I like Mccartney but Tug Of War was about the last thing of his I have heard.
I didn't hate Press To Play as much as many people did. Tug Of War was a great McCartney album, but the only subsequent track of his that I had really liked since had been No More Lonely Nights. Both Pipes Of Peace and Broad Street had left me totally cold. On Press To Play I enjoyed the title track, as well as Footprints and Pretty Little Head. So, as much as the critics disliked it, PTP was a bit of a return to form to me. The album was very lightweight, but entertaining. I liked that Paul had started writing with a fellow classic tunesmith like Eric. In retrospect, the album might have been better with a bit more Eric Stewart & a bit less pot.
I love Press To Play. The rough mixes that circulate are my preferred way to listen to the songs. I prefer the released mixes by Padgham to the remixes by the outside remixers. The problem this album had in my opinion is that Paul brought in Hugh Padgham instead of sticking solely with Eric. Padgham had Eddie Rayner of Split Enz overdub piano on many of the tracks. I'm also a big Split Enz fan (or more accurately a big Neil Finn fan), but Eddie's frenetic style did not serve the songs well. The mid-80s style of the mixes (and the extended remixes) bury a set of great songs under a layer of now-dated mush. My favorite songs from the Stewart phase of the project are Footprints and Tough On A Tightrope (a b-side), both co-writes with Eric, but I like almost of the McCartney-Stewart compositions. I don't believe Eric had anything to do with the big ballad on the album, Only Love Remains, as that was recorded after Eric's participation in the sessions ended.
Stranglehold Single by Paul McCartney from the album Press to Play B-side "Angry" Released 29 October 1986 (US only) Format 7" Recorded April/May 1985 Length 3:37 Label Capitol Records Songwriter(s) Paul McCartney and Eric Stewart Producer(s) Hugh Padgham and Paul McCartney "Stranglehold" is a song by Paul McCartney, the former bass guitarist, singer and songwriter with The Beatles. The track is credited as being written by McCartney and 10cc guitarist Eric Stewart, and is on his sixth studio solo album Press to Play. It was issued as single exclusively in the US and reached number 81.[1] The b-side featured the remix of "Angry" by Larry Alexander taken from the previous single "Pretty Little Head". ----------------------------------------------------------- Well I kind of expect Ted Nugent to come roaring out of the speakers ... but lets see. Well perhaps it is just because I have read up on it, and perhaps it is because we are doing this thread, but I reckon I can hear both writers in this track. I could almost here 10cc doing this on Deceptive Bends. This is a pretty good track. It has some well trodden aspects about it, but it sounds well constructed and to be honest, I like it.
Good Times/Feel The Sun To be honest I never even noticed this album at the time, but I was starting my own recording and band career ... that wasn't lol, at the time. Well this is a funny one ... Mccartney writes this on his own, but it has that somewhat reggae thing that was a little too prominent on the 10cc albums of the early eighties. This isn't a bad track. We have a few little tricks to try and draw the ear, like the way it starts, and some really nice production, with some nice stereo effects and such. We get a nice Stewart lead break. Not an amazing song, but a pretty good one, with a nice change. A good sounding track .... Dman I hope I don't get bitten with the need to buy Mccartney's post Tug albums ....
You know what would have been more interesting? If McCartney had worked musically with Kevin Godley instead. He works well will an out the box thinker who’s willing to challenge him.
In the eighties that would have been interesting. In the seventies it would have been extremely interesting.
He'd have been fluorescent green with envy as soon as Kev demonstrated how to sing one of his compositions
Stranglehold and Good Times Coming/Feel The Sun are both songs I have liked since first hearing them 30+ years ago. As a fan of both Paul and Eric, I was thrilled with how these songs got the album off to a great start. I hadn't had high hopes because the previous singles from the sessions were not co-writen with Eric and were frankly a bit disappointing to me. Stranglehold especially was "different", and while I never expected it to be a hit, I did like it a lot. It does have that Eric Stewart off-center pop touch.
Talk More Talk We have a nice little atmospheric opening with some chatter underneath, and then some strings come in. Then we burst into a pop/rock track. The doubled vocal is quite effective. Not a bad track. This is one of the Mccartney written tracks and Stewart is just playing and co-producing on this track I imagine.
Footprints We start with a nice acoustic, and a percussion track. We have a somewhat melancholy ballad here, and the arrangement is really pretty cool. This is one of the Stewart co-writes, and to some degree I think you can hear that. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the sounds came from Stewart also. Another pretty good song. Please remember this is the first time I have ever heard any of this.
Just for reference, here is a collection of demos from the Press period. The original version of Yvonne is included.
Footprints is one of my all-time favorite McCartney songs. (I have to be honest and admit I have dozens of favorite McCartney songs.) There was an MTV special when Press To Play came out where Eric was interviewed about the album. He described writing Footprints with Paul. It was a very ordinary observational process that resulted in what I've always felt was an extraordinary song.
Only Love Remains With Mccartney and Stewart writing together, this song is kind of what one would expect at some point. A big, juicy piano ballad. We start with the piano and Mccartney singing. There are some small synth drops ins, and then partway through the second verse, there is the introduction of strings, and some nice layering that gives the song a nice dynamic burst. Again, I think in this song you can hear some Stewartisms in this track. I actually think this track manages to keep my attention pretty well. I could actually see myself enjoying this album .... and I really didn't expect that.
Press German 7-Inch single cover Single by Paul McCartney from the album Press to Play B-side "It's Not True" "Hanglide" (12" only) Released 14 July 1986 Recorded April–May 1985 at McCartney's Sussex studios Genre Synth-pop Length 4:43 Label Parlophone/EMI Songwriter(s) Paul McCartney Producer(s) Paul McCartneyHugh Padgham This track has a more eighties kind of pop sound, and I can hear Hugh Padgham doing what he does here. This is a pretty good track, but it isn't generally what I go to Mccartney for.
The most common versions of Press are remixes, the superior, original Hugh Padgham mix was only available on a 10" single (I think). I couldn't find it to post. I hope it will be included if they do a McCartney Archive set for Press To Play.
Pretty Little Head We start with a fairly typical eighties kind of drum machine figure, but then a nice tuned percussion section comes in. This actually reminds me a lot of Peter Gabriel. I think when I hear stuff like this, I just don't expect it to be coming from Mccartney ... but why not? He has been playing this game since about 63. This is an interesting collage. It is very much an eighties track, and that in itself is no issue, but it would probably be easier to get into if I had discovered it at the time. So for me, this is a very Peter Gabriel sounding collage of eighties sounds, that would mean more to me if it had the nostalgia attached. Having not known it, it ends up being an interesting example of Mccartney staying contemporary in the eighties.
Move Over Busker We start with a nice Stewart riff and a descending chord pattern. Then we move into a sort of rock and roll song. This track works pretty well, and is pretty straight.
With the weather I'm afraid my internet is down. It's just too awkward to try and do this on the phone. I'll try and get us on it later today. Cheers Mark
Angry We start with a cool bassline, and then get as somewhat punkish sounding guitar, that moves into an almost Ska-like thing. This is pretty cool actually. It would have been nice to hear Stewart bring a little of this aggression to some of 10cc's more recent albums. Not amazing, but a pretty cool track.
