Live and let die - Paul McCartney & Wings

One of the singles I've been after for a couple of years now is 'Live and let die', the theme song of the 1973 James Bond film of the same name. Originally, the movie's producer Harry Saltzman was interested in having Shirley Bassey or Thelma Houston perform it instead of Wings. George Martin said McCartney would allow the song to be used in the movie only if Wings was able to perform the song in the opening credits. The recording contract specified that McCartney would "perform the title song under the opening titles".

After the release of the single, it reached number 2 in the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 9 in the UK singles chart. Amazingly, it only reached number 27 in the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 7470
Found: Discogs.com, received 28 November 2024
Tracks: 'Live and let die' / 'I lie around'

I've had enough - Wings

The Wings album 'London Town' featured a markedly softer-rock, synth-based sound than previous Wings albums. The single 'With a little luck' reached number 1 in the US and number 5 in the UK, but the second single from the album, 'I've Had Enough' fared much less well. It only reached no. 42 in the UK and no. 25 in the US Billboard Hot 100.

While I don't necessarily collect Wings singles, it is always fun to pick one up when it appears in front of me for a low price. And this copy popped up when I was browsing a stall with hundreds of UK pressings. 

My collection: 7" single no. 6723
Found: Record fair, Den Haag, 4 June 2022
Cost: €1
Tracks: 'I've had enough' / 'Deliver your children'

Hi, Hi, Hi / C Moon - Wings

It's been a while since I had the opportunity to go to a real record shop and browse through racks of singles. It's always more interesting than buying singles online, because you tend to come across discs that you would never order from an online dealer. This is such a single: Wings' double A side of 'Hi, Hi, Hi' and 'C Moon'. 

In the UK, 'Hi, Hi, Hi' was banned by the BBC for its sexually suggestive lyrical content. The BBC also assumed that the title phrase, "We're gonna get hi, hi, hi" was a drug reference.The specific lyrics objected to is the apparent phrase "get you ready for my body gun"; McCartney has said that the correct lyrics are "get you ready for my polygon", an abstract image, and later said, "The BBC got some of the words wrong. But I suppose it is a bit of a dirty song if sex is dirty and naughty. I was in a sensuous mood in Spain when I wrote it."

As for 'C Moon', that title was inspired by lyrics in the song 'Wooly Bully' by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. McCartney said, "There's a line in [Wooly Bully] that says, 'Let's not be L7.' Well, L7, it was explained at the time, means a square—put L and 7 together and you get a square... So I thought of the idea of putting a C and a moon together (a half-moon) to get the opposite of a square. So 'C Moon' means cool, in other words."

My collection: 7" single no. 6678
Found: Plato, Leiden, 2 April 2022
Cost: €2
Tracks: 'Hi, Hi, Hi' / 'C Moon'

Silly love songs - Wings

Recorded on January 16, 1976, 'Silly love songs' was a song written as a rebuttal to music critics who criticized Paul McCartney for writing lightweight love songs. According to McCartney, "The song was, in a way, to answer people who just accuse me of being soppy. The nice payoff now is that a lot of the people I meet who are at the age where they've just got a couple of kids and have grown up a bit, settling down, they'll say to me, "I thought you were really soppy for years, but I get it now! I see what you were doing!""

The single was released in April and reached number 2 in the UK and number 1 in the USA. The label of this single mentions 'Wings at the speed of sound', which is of course the album from which it was taken.

My collection: 7" single no. 5872
Found: Record exchange, Greenwich, London, October 27, 2017
Cost: 25p
Tracks: 'Silly love songs' / 'Cook of the house'

Jet - Paul McCartney & Wings

'Jet' is a song by Paul McCartney & Wings from their album Band on the Run. The song peaked at number 7 in both the British and American charts in 1974. Whereas most of the album was recorded in Lagos, Nigeria, 'Jet' was recorded entirely at EMI Studios in London after the group's return.

Reviewers have reported that the subject of the song is McCartney's Labrador Retriever dog named 'Jet'. However, in a 2010 interview on the UK television channel ITV1 for the program Wings: Band on the Run (to promote the November 2010 CD/DVD re-release of the album) McCartney explained that 'Jet' was the name of a pony he had owned, although many of the lyrics bore little relation to the subject.

My collection: 7" single no. 5251
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 19, 2011
Cost: 0,8 euro
Tracks: 'Jet' / 'Let me roll it'

Goodnight tonight - Wings

'Goodnight tonight' began as an instrumental track which Paul McCartney had recorded in 1978. Needing a single for Wings to accompany the album 'Back to the egg', he took out the track and brought it into the studio, where the full Wings lineup completed it. Since the track was over seven minutes long, an edited version was used as the single, with the full version available as a 12" single.

The single reached number 5 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and the UK singles chart and number 21 in the Dutch Top 40. McCartney's former songwriting partner John Lennon later commented that he didn't care for the song, but enjoyed McCartney's bass guitar on the single.

My collection: 7" single no. 4746
Found: Record fair, Rijswijk, April 5, 2010
Cost: 0,5 euro
Tracks: 'Goodnight tonight' / 'Daytime nighttime suffering'

Mull of Kintyre - Wings

'Mull of Kintyre' is arguably Paul McCartney & Wings' most recognised song. McCartney wrote it as an ode of the Kintyre peninsula in Scotland, where he had a home and recording studio since the late Sixties. McCartney commented about the song: 'I certainly loved Scotland enough, so I came up with a song about where we were living; an area called Mull of Kintyre. It was a love song really, about how I enjoyed being there and imagining I was travelling away and wanting to get back there.'

Released shortly before Christmas 1977, it became that year's Christmas number 1 in the UK, staying at the top of the singles chart for nine weeks. The single eventually sold over two million copies. The single also reached the top position in the Dutch Top 40.

I originally bought a copy of the single back in 1985, with the sleeve so torn up that I eventually cut out the photographs and made a new sleeve for it using standard white paper. This new copy is actually made in England, and in the condition it's in (i.e. very good) I bet a collector would pay dearly for this one.

My collection: 7" single no. 300
Found: Plaatboef, Rotterdam, July 31, 2009
Cost: 0,25 euro
Tracks: 'Mull of Kintyre' / 'Girls school'

Listen to what the man said - Wings

'Listen to what the man said' was recorded in early 1975 by Wings during their New Orleans sessions for the album 'Venus and Mars'. The song featured new member Joe English on drums, with guest musicians Dave Mason on guitar and Tom Scott on soprano saxophone.

The single peaked at number 6 in the UK singles chart and number 14 in the Netherlands.

My collection: 7" single no. 3778

Found: Record fair, Den Haag, June 20, 2009

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Listen to what the man said' / 'Love in song'

With a little luck - Wings

Paul McCartney and his band Wings recorded 'With a Little Luck' on board the boat 'Fair Carol' in the Virgin Islands. The song was written by Paul McCartney in Scotland. The single hit number 1 in the USA, number 5 in the UK and number 6 in the Netherlands.

My collection: 7" single no. 843

Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, May 27, 1989

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'With a little luck' / 'Backwards traveller', 'Cuff link'

Download: Album 'London town', including these tracks