Paul McCartney, Press to play appreciation thread

I started with the single "Press" with "It's Not True" as b-side.
I loved it a lot. I listened to the single countless times until I bought the album.
I was very excited about "Press To Play".
When I got the album, i heard first "Press"... I was completely shocked... I thought to myself "What the f**k is this? I bought the remixed versions or what?" I was completely disappointed...
When I bought the 1993 remaster version , I was sincerely horrified by the "It's Not True" version too.
If only there could be the album with the same production of the single...
That would be fantastic.
I dream several times about this.

 

True. But that was common practice in the 80's. Just ask K-Tel! I'm glad they didn't though.

They managed to squeeze Paul McCartney Unplugged onto a single LP

 

FYI.....One of the first ever Cassingle's released.......definitely the first from the solo Beatles...........

 

So I was playing around with my turntable and computer and wound up doing a rip of this album because I always thought it sounded like crap on CD. As a result, I wound up listening to it with fresh ears.

Wow. Talk about an album in need of reevaluation. It is brilliant, and that's coming from someone who (after buying it early in the morning on release day at 18 in 1986) not only completely rejected it originally, but was so put off that it knocked my budding Paul McCartney obsession off track for three years. I've come to appreciate it in recent years (thanks to the folks in this forum) but now I'm kind of obsessed with it. The so-called 80s production, rather than sounding dated, sounds both modern and classic (that "80s production" being 30 years old now - longer than the time between Let it Be and this album).

It's experimental like McCartney II, but with good songs.

If you don't want to listen to it because "Press sucks," well, first, Press doesn't suck, and also Press is about the worst song on the album. Press is the bridge between Spies Like Us and the brilliance of the other 9 songs.

I always skipped Talk More Talk because of the offputting spoken intro (still kind of hate that) but there's a good song there. People rip on Angry with cliche'd "ZOMG he's not really Angry he's Paul McCartney!" but that song just builds and builds. Two beautiful ballads, the meandering McCartney medley and the obligatory ending production number. Two solid flat-out rock numbers. Scattered melodic weirdness. What more could you look for in a Paul McCartney album?

By the way, the CD still sounds like crap. I have no idea what I'm doing (even after Google led me to the mother lode of helpful Vinyl Rip posts from @Grant over the decades) and garbage old equipment, but what I've recorded from the record is miles ahead of the CD. Archive Collection now, please.

 

Nice ad from No. 1 magazine at the end of 1986.

 

I’ve listened to PTP and ‘the alternative’ boot a lot recently. I think it’s a fine album, one I return to a lot. Like many fans, I’d love to hear a full-on, ground up remix to allow the tracks to breathe, but I still rate the album as it is. Good Times Coming, Footprints, Move Over Busker, However Absurd, Tough On A Tightrope - they all do it for me.

 

Paul McCartney “Press to Play” and A Tale of Two Mixes

 

As I posted earlier, it's way better than it has ever been given credit for!

 

I agree

 

Another great post. I bought everything Beatle and solo related in the 80's I could find, and there are still things I never heard or saw at the time. Bought the Press 45 single in advance of the album after seeing the video on MTV. I am going by memory as my 45's are in storage right now, but I'm pretty sure my 45 said "video edit" for Press. I only played it for a short time until Press To Play came out. (My first McCartney CD purchase). Is the edit on the CD the album, video or a unique edit?

Seems there was little choice of singles available in my area once the record hit. I heard Only Love Remains on the radio and called the station to ask if it was a single or something they pulled off the album. I still haven't seen any version of that single in all my years of hunting used shops across America. I don't understand not releasing Once Upon A Long Ago in North America either. It sure would help sales if the consumer had a chance to buy the product. Once Flowers hit I had no trouble finding singles, domestic or import. Press To Play singles were never available to me after Press.

 

Thank you! Yes, I did much the same as you. I bought most of the 12 inch singles released from Press to Play but not the UK 45s. I had a hard time locating them all but managed to find most of them. It was a nightmare trying to find all that stuff back then! The edit of the rare mix that's on the CD matches the rare UK 45 and 10 inch single.

 

For years I only had the original UK CD of this album, so to me the album had 3 more songs on it after However Absurd.

When I listen to the album with However Absurd as the last track it is SO much better, and a really fun album!

I really hope we get the Archive treatment on this one, there could be so much interesting stuff there....

 

I like most of the song except maybe "angry" even if he played with townsend and phil collins on it.love the bassline of good time coming .love that macca leaves his comfort zone on this lp.love the drums and percussions sound on many songs.

 

Bow Wow Wow's "C·30 C·60 C·90 Go" was the first cassette single, released in the U.K. in 1980, and I.R.S. Records released the first cassette single in the U.S. with the Go-Go's "Vacation" in 1982.

 

Interesting record, probably the last release where McCartney tried to sound contemporary.
However Absurd, Pretty Little Head and Good Times Coming are great tracks.

 

People knock the "sterile eighties production", but I can never tell if they are taking that position now, or from the perspective of then. Press To Play came out in the eighties, and it sounds like eighties production. While I have a problem with most eighties production, the production on Press To Play never bothered me much because it has a full sound, a lot of bass, and the technology doesn't sound strictly "out of the box".

Reviews for the album were great. I thought it was great. The album cover was all wrong. But I still think it's a solid album. And also the last time Paul tried to compete with everyone else.

 

It's a great album.