POLL: How do you rate Paul McCartney's "Press to Play" album?

Said it many times before, but I think the full length Padgham mix is by far the best. I have it on 1 copy of the LP & the 10" single. The other LP & the 2 CD's ive owned had the remix which I never cared for, the 7" single I bought in July '86 was an edit of the Padgham mix.

 

That explains a lot.

My little Press to Play vinyl collection...

Apparently I was a budding completest at 17.


Excuse me while I blow my nose. I'm allergic to dust.

 

a load of crap- avoid like a plague

 

You braved a voyage to the basement!

 

Curiosity got the best of me. Anything to further the conversation with you guys!

I've got all kinds of vinyl things I forgot about there. A "release" called Yvonne, which seems to be "Pizza and Fairy Tales." Wings over Denmark. Wings Over Wembley. Eggs Up. "Venus" "Mars" (Venus and Mars outtakes). One Hand Clapping. The James Paul McCartney Special. My storied copy of Not For Sale. Something called "Rarer Than Rare." I must have been on a buying spree during my final days of vinyl.

 

And this is why I generally try to avoid situations where someone has a gun to my head.

Also, add me to the "Pretty Little Head" single mix fan club. The album version is alright, but that single mix is the way it's meant to be heard.

 

And speaking of "Pretty Little Head", what's with the little snippet of "She's Leaving Home" at the start of the video?:



Has Paul explained why this was done? It is also interesting, because presumably he had to ask George, Ringo, and Yoko for permission to use it.

 

I think that it was chosen because of what happens in the video; a girl runs away from home.

Either way, I personally think that it works well, and I also think that the video is quite well done.

 

Wow, I am glad that you still have all of these releases.

What is on 'Wings Over Denmark'?

 

The girl later had moderate fame in an acting career (Gabrielle Anwar), fwiw!

 

At the time of its release, I thought PRESS TO PLAY was kinda daring for Paul — and it was, considering his previous couple of studio album releases (GIVE MY REGARDS TO BROAD STREET and PIPES OF PEACE). Problem with PRESS TO PLAY is its production hasn't aged at all well and there's a lack of songwriting focus, which is odd as Paul had, by this time, solidified his musical partnership (of sorts) with Eric Stewart of 10cc, who gets co-writing credits on the lion's share of songs. Kinda says a lot that he and Stewart were never to work together again, save for a couple of castoff tracks that ended up on 10cc's MIRROR MIRROR nine years later. And as we all know with Paul, professionally speaking, once you're out, you're out.

 

i like "mccartney", "ram", "red rose speedway", "wild life", & "venus & mars"....over "band on the run"....so sue me, sue you blues....

 

It's the Wings 1972 tour: Live At Veliby-Risskov Hallen, Aarhus - 14th August 1972

Instrumental Jam
Eat At Home
Smile Away
Bip Bop
Mumbo
1882
I Would Only Smile
Give Ireland Back To The Irish
Blue Moon Of Kentucky
The Mess
Best Friend
Soily
I Am Your Singer
Seaside Woman
Henry's Blues
Say You Don't Mind
Wild Life
Mary Had A Little Lamb
Maybe I'm Amazed
Hi Hi Hi
Encore:
Hi Hi Hi (again)
Long Tall Sally

Cool set list. For all those wishing that Paul would change his present-day set lists, they should have been there in 1972.

 

Ah, you guys are going to make me go back down there, aren't you?

For some reason I think it's the 1976 tour and not the 1972 tour. I have no recollection of buying it or ever listening to it, and I only glanced at the cover as I was on my quest for Press to Play related stuff.

I've also got the 12" Goodnight Tonight "Disco Single" and the 12" Temporary Secretary / Secret Friend. They were gifted to me at some point.

 

OK, I went back down. The things I do for you guys! I was wrong. It is 1972. Here's the Wings Over Denmark track listing. Exactly what @Arnold Grove said, except they tacked I Lost My Little Girl and some talking on the front...



Back on the topic of this thread, here's that "Yvonne" thing I have. I guess "Talk No More" is "Talk More Talk"? At the bottom, not pictured, it says "previously unreleased in these versions" except starred, which is previously unreleased. This is Pizza and Fairy Tales, right?



Frank of the 80s - why and when did you buy these things? That's what having a decent job and very few living expenses will do for you.

 

Wow, that really was an amazing set list. It is almost unthinkable that he would perform a concert anywhere close to that now.

Can you imagine how strange it would be to see him sing Wild Life and Mary Had A Little Lamb now?

I hope that one day his 1972 live material gets an official release.

 

Every McCartney album has its defenders and, while I thought that Eric Stewart and Paul would make a good team, some of the material was less than stellar.

 

I like "Footprints" and, curiously, dislike "However Absurd". Different strokes.

 

I listened to this album today in its entirety for the first time in many years, thanks to this Forum. This is a decent album. Don't know why people dislike it so much.

 

That's what I've been having fun with. You'd think that someone who wanted to sell an item would happily just pop a disc in a machine and report back the track time but, oh no. More than one person has just replied with something along the lines of "it says 4.42 on the sleeve" and when I've reiterated that I need the actual time checking they're got all snarky with me. Bizarre.

 

Just checked. You are correct sir.

 

Listening to "Talk More Talk", I found the vocal harmonies arrangement reminded me of something I heard before. It was the "Drive My Car" harmonies!

 

I won't vote on this - not yet anyway as I've only played the album a few times... I had it on cassette for a time but bought a CD of it a couple of months ago and it was much better than I remembered; I don't mind the production for one thing.

So I'll endevour to give this a spin soon again and it's always worth doing so (to me, anyway) on albums I've possibly not given due attention to, in favour of ones that are already firm favourites. But surely if you're a fan (as I count myself to be) then they're all essential to own?

Saying that (and I bet I'm one of dozens, at least) reminds me of 3 or 4 of his that I still don't have though.

 

Perhaps I'm looking to read too much into things, but there's an article in this month's Q magazine in which he namechecks Angry during a brief discussion about using anger in his writing. He makes no real reference to his current view on the song but notes that at the time, he thought he'd "slammed" it.

Searching for crumbs of comfort, I can't help but feel that this is immensely positive. In the past McCartney has claimed that when he looked at the tracklisting he couldn't even remember any of the titles. And yet here, we have McCartney discussing his recollection of the song. Either his previous comments have been lies made in order to fit a wider point he was trying to make, or he's been reacquainted with the album recently. (The article did note that Tug of War is being worked on. Interestingly, it refers to "tinkering with the mix".)

 

I ranked this album as a lower tiered effort but it's still an album that I will forever love as it came out when I was a senior in high school and it earned heavy rotation in the car while cruising with my girlfriend...who eventually became my wife about 5 years later. So, this is a sentimental favorite while recognizing that the songs fall short of the standards of the day. I'm still puzzled why the video for "Only Love Remains" didn't make it onto the McCartney Years DVD. It's a fantastic video!