Latest / Booked On Rock with Eric Senich / [EP 388] Press to Play: Paul McCartney's Most Misunderstood Album? With Luca Perasi

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[EP 388] Press to Play: Paul McCartney's Most Misunderstood Album? With Luca Perasi · Booked On Rock with Eric Senich

0:00
Speaker 1: Well is devise of it's a bit experimental. It's not
0:03
Speaker 1: the straightforward McCartney many of us good like, but McCartney's
0:08
Speaker 1: many things. We're totally bummed rock and roll. I mean,
0:14
Speaker 1: I'll leave you. You're reading. Little Hands says it's time
0:16
Speaker 1: to rock and roll, Rock, Roll up. I totally booked.
0:24
Speaker 2: Welcome back to book don Rock, the podcast for those
0:26
Speaker 2: about to read and rock Americ Sanitch. If you'd like
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0:35
Speaker 2: the backstage Pass from Patreon and you can find the
0:38
Speaker 2: link in the show notes. You can also go to
0:40
Speaker 2: Booked on rock dot com and find it there. Now
0:44
Speaker 2: on to our guest. A returning guest, Luca Parassi returns
0:47
Speaker 2: this time to talk about Paul McCartney's nineteen eighty six
0:50
Speaker 2: album Press to Play the title of his book, Paul
0:54
Speaker 2: McCartney Press to Play That Unmistakable Eighties sound. It's part
0:58
Speaker 2: of Lily Publishing's mouse Stones series, to a series of
1:02
Speaker 2: books dedicated to classic albums and pop and rock history.
1:05
Speaker 2: Welcome back, Luca, Nice to see you again.
1:07
Speaker 1: Thanks Eric. I'm very happy to be back and discuss
1:10
Speaker 1: this album that was released exactly forty years ago, So
1:17
Speaker 1: which better occasion and chance to talk about it together.
1:23
Speaker 1: I had enjoyed very much last year putting together this
1:27
Speaker 1: book and releasing it. So yeah, looking forward to have
1:32
Speaker 1: a discussion with you today.
1:34
Speaker 2: Forty years ago this summer before we start on this album.
1:38
Speaker 2: What do you think of Paul's new album. I had
1:39
Speaker 2: a chance to listen to it. It's very good.
1:42
Speaker 1: It's a great album. I mean, I was invited to
1:46
Speaker 1: a listening event for the press at Universally Milan, so
1:51
Speaker 1: I had the chance to listen to the album a
1:55
Speaker 1: couple of weeks in advance, but that was just one listen,
2:00
Speaker 1: so it's very hard after one listen to formal opinion.
2:04
Speaker 1: So I was asked to write a couple of reviews
2:08
Speaker 1: for magazines and that was not easy. The easy part
2:14
Speaker 1: the easiest part for me. But anyway, I enjoyed some
2:17
Speaker 1: of the songs and others were maybe a little bit
2:21
Speaker 1: difficult to grab immediately. But anyway, I assess it very
2:26
Speaker 1: positively with four stars. And I've listened to it over
2:31
Speaker 1: the last week because it was out last week, and
2:34
Speaker 1: I think it's very it's a very good album. Very consistent,
2:39
Speaker 1: very nice, catchy, lots of good melodies, variety. All the
2:45
Speaker 1: hallmarks of mccarthur's music you can imagine are in this album.
2:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're right, I'm pretty much on the same page
2:54
Speaker 2: as you are with that. There's I like about a
2:56
Speaker 2: handful of songs that I really like. I've listened to
2:59
Speaker 2: a three times now. I actually was a little I
3:03
Speaker 2: didn't think they should have led with the single. I
3:06
Speaker 2: think what they lead with, they led with Days You
3:08
Speaker 2: Left Behind, is a little too slow. I think for
3:11
Speaker 2: a lead single, as You Lie there might have been
3:13
Speaker 2: a great one. I think there's another one in there
3:18
Speaker 2: that I think would have been a great lead single.
3:20
Speaker 2: I think Rilesques.
3:23
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah. I think they made the choice of
3:26
Speaker 1: having Paul with this very kind of nostalgic song that
3:34
Speaker 1: is we Left Behind, very atmospheric, talking about him and John.
3:39
Speaker 1: That is a great hook for, you know, promoting such
3:44
Speaker 1: an album full of memories. I don't I would not
3:47
Speaker 1: call it nostalgic. It is full of memories and I
3:51
Speaker 1: like I like the the music, I like the ideas
3:55
Speaker 1: they put together with Andrew Watter. I mean, it's a
3:58
Speaker 1: it's definitely grower as the say, but I mean the
4:02
Speaker 1: more you listen to it, the more accustom you are
4:06
Speaker 1: to do various songs. And so it's it's like having
4:09
Speaker 1: new friends, and step by step his new friends become
4:15
Speaker 1: old friends and you spend your time with them, enjoying
4:22
Speaker 1: your time with them, and that's that's what will happen
4:25
Speaker 1: with this new album.
4:26
Speaker 2: I think there are some classic Beatles Paul moments as
4:31
Speaker 2: with this album, but not as much I think as
4:35
Speaker 2: audience audience is expected. I mean, that's one of the
4:38
Speaker 2: most interesting ideas that you write about in the introduction
4:42
Speaker 2: is that Press to Play may have been misunderstood because
4:46
Speaker 2: most were expecting classic Beatles Paul or straightforward pop Paul.
4:51
Speaker 2: Why do you think the album has remained to this
4:53
Speaker 2: day since it's come out in the summer of eighty six.
4:56
Speaker 2: So divisive and what do you hope readers will hear
4:58
Speaker 2: differently after reading the book.
5:00
Speaker 1: Well, it's devisive because exactly because of what you have
5:04
Speaker 1: said now. So it's a bit experimental. It's not the
5:10
Speaker 1: straightforward McCartney many of us, let me say, good like,
5:17
Speaker 1: but McCartney's many things. So yeah, you can choose your
5:22
Speaker 1: own McCartney. You know you can maybe you love more
5:27
Speaker 1: the rocker, you love more, balladeer, you love more experimental one.
5:33
Speaker 1: So each one of us has got a favorite McCartney.
5:39
Speaker 1: In this album, it choose to do something different, so
5:45
Speaker 1: not necessarily going for you know, the earworms and stuff,
5:51
Speaker 1: although there are good, nice melodies, good good songs and
5:56
Speaker 1: catchy riffs, but it definite approached the album, uh, wanting
6:03
Speaker 1: to do something different. Many magazines and newspapers at the
6:08
Speaker 1: time commented about the album having a harder edge, and
6:13
Speaker 1: definitely we know that. One of the features is the
6:19
Speaker 1: co production by you pagem so you said, okay, it's
6:24
Speaker 1: a it's a kind of typical eighties sound, which I
6:29
Speaker 1: mean is, but the title is not to that definitely
6:33
Speaker 1: does an eighties sound, but it was done in the eighties,
6:35
Speaker 1: so no surprise about that. And let me say that
6:40
Speaker 1: also Flowers and the Dirty If the Follower had a
6:45
Speaker 1: definitely eighties sound, So presence of you pageant. Eric Stewart
6:52
Speaker 1: on the other side as a core writer of many
6:57
Speaker 1: of many songs on the album, but this the definitely
7:01
Speaker 1: a herder wretch. So some songs you can hear this,
7:05
Speaker 1: you know, clanging guitars and stuff. I mean heavy stuff
7:10
Speaker 1: at times. So you put together production which is was
7:15
Speaker 1: a bit different from what the fans were accustom too
7:20
Speaker 1: at the time. You put together different kind of write
7:24
Speaker 1: songwriting partnership, although Eric Stewart was a really great songwriter
7:29
Speaker 1: and a Beetle fan himself, kind of a different approach,
7:37
Speaker 1: experimental touch. You put together all these things and you
7:41
Speaker 1: have a different flavor. So it and it didn't met.
7:45
Speaker 1: It didn't met, unfortunately with a great commercial success. Last
7:52
Speaker 1: Thing is Well. It's a divisive album still to these days.
7:56
Speaker 1: But I've found many fans of this album, and I
8:00
Speaker 1: must tell you that this Book of Mind almost outsold
8:07
Speaker 1: my band on the wrong book, So I think it's
8:09
Speaker 1: a good sign of held his heads, which I was expecting,
8:14
Speaker 1: but maybe not to this extent. So there's there's definitely
8:19
Speaker 1: love for this for this album among fans.
8:23
Speaker 2: I became a fan of it. Never heard the album
8:26
Speaker 2: before reading a book. I'm gonna admit it. Never heard. No,
8:29
Speaker 2: I mean, I knew spies like us the single which
8:32
Speaker 2: we'll talk about, but I was it was a brand
8:36
Speaker 2: new lesson for me. So I really enjoyed it. And
8:39
Speaker 2: I'm a huge fil Collins fan, so I I really
8:43
Speaker 2: appreciate his his input on this album as well, which
8:46
Speaker 2: we'll get to. Yeah, that first chapter you talk where
8:48
Speaker 2: you suggest there was some confusion there between Hugh Pageant,
8:51
Speaker 2: Eric Stewart and Paul McCartney regarding the production roles. For
8:55
Speaker 2: those who made to know Stuart multi instrumentalist and producer
8:59
Speaker 2: and he Pageum the first time I've heard his name.
9:03
Speaker 2: I heard his name was reading it on the back
9:06
Speaker 2: of the Police Synchronicity album that was my first album
9:09
Speaker 2: I ever bought. And he's an amazing producer. You worked
9:12
Speaker 2: with a Police Genesis XDC Phil Collins, among others, so
9:18
Speaker 2: that I think, yeah, that kind of shapes the sound
9:21
Speaker 2: or the inconsistency of the album. But there are some
9:24
Speaker 2: great moments on it. Now Spies like Us is one.
9:27
Speaker 2: It could have been on the album. But this is
9:29
Speaker 2: very Paul because I know we talked about this last
9:31
Speaker 2: year with Paul, where he likes to put out a
9:33
Speaker 2: standalone single separate from the album, something that had been
9:38
Speaker 2: done since back to his Beatles days in this situation,
9:41
Speaker 2: and you covered this song in the book. It was
9:44
Speaker 2: recorded around that time. The film from nineteen eighty five
9:50
Speaker 2: starring Dan Ackroyd and Chevy Chase. It was on there
9:53
Speaker 2: and it was played at the end in credits, and
9:55
Speaker 2: it was a big hit number seven on the Hot
9:58
Speaker 2: one hundred. Here in the station and we're thirteen in
9:59
Speaker 2: the U you read it almost feels like a bridge
10:03
Speaker 2: into the sound of press to play. Looking back, do
10:05
Speaker 2: you see the song as an important creative turning point
10:08
Speaker 2: for Paul, even if it's often dismissed as maybe a
10:10
Speaker 2: novelty soundtrack single.
10:12
Speaker 1: I don't know. I mean, I like the song, especially
10:15
Speaker 1: the rocking coda. It was done in a hurry. I mean,
10:20
Speaker 1: Paul recorded a demo over a few days, and then
10:25
Speaker 1: they had a very tight deadline to produce a song,
10:30
Speaker 1: and because they wanted to have it in the soundtrack
10:34
Speaker 1: of the film, so it was done really really quick.
10:38
Speaker 1: And I think it was just for fun. I mean,
10:42
Speaker 1: because you know, the project of Road Street, the film
10:47
Speaker 1: that McCartney released in ninety eighty four, was not as
10:52
Speaker 1: successful as Paul expected. So I thought, and I put
10:58
Speaker 1: forward this this saying in the book, maybe it was
11:05
Speaker 1: it was a way for Paul to have his little revenge, uh,
11:11
Speaker 1: you know, on the on the movie business and stuff,
11:15
Speaker 1: having another song linked to a movie which wasn't quite successful.
11:23
Speaker 1: If I'm not mistaken. At the time, spies like us.
11:26
Speaker 1: I mean at least Italy we we can, we can,
11:30
Speaker 1: I can remember. Uh. It was screened in quite a
11:34
Speaker 1: good number of cinemas and so well having I mean
11:40
Speaker 1: another another director, you work with another director, you are
11:44
Speaker 1: involved in another film for him, maybe it was important
11:48
Speaker 1: for for that aspect. Then from a creative point of view,
11:55
Speaker 1: it's an interesting song and production at the time it
12:01
Speaker 1: was well. It was released in late eighty five, so
12:05
Speaker 1: at the time Press to Play it was still in
12:07
Speaker 1: the works. And I think to some extent it anticipates
12:12
Speaker 1: some of the sonic features of the album. So there's
12:15
Speaker 1: big loud drums and all these electric guitars. Although it's
12:20
Speaker 1: basically Paul on his own we just ded Rainer on synthesizer,
12:26
Speaker 1: but it has some of the sonic features of the album.
12:29
Speaker 1: So I think it's interesting.
12:31
Speaker 2: Can you share the story he offered the song for
12:32
Speaker 2: free to the director John Landis.
12:35
Speaker 1: The story that Paul has as told is that it
12:43
Speaker 1: was requested the song, But when it comes to John Landers,
12:49
Speaker 1: it was clear in telling another completely different story. So
12:55
Speaker 1: it was Paul who pone him and asked, Okay, I
13:01
Speaker 1: got this song. It's great for your film, bah blah blah.
13:04
Speaker 1: So I mean, we don't really know what happened. Probably
13:10
Speaker 1: I am more inclined to think that John Lander's version
13:17
Speaker 1: is the right one. So Paul was was was offering
13:22
Speaker 1: his song to the director. So it's it shows us
13:27
Speaker 1: that definitely, the mid eighties we're not the best period
13:32
Speaker 1: for Paul in with his critics and stuff. Well, the
13:36
Speaker 1: previous album, Pipes of Piece, was not so well received,
13:41
Speaker 1: although it had it added two great hits. One would
13:46
Speaker 1: say say, say we know about this and also Pipes
13:49
Speaker 1: of Peace, which was number one in the UK. I mean,
13:51
Speaker 1: a great video, great song, was quite successful in commercial films,
13:57
Speaker 1: but not so much with the critics. Then the was
14:00
Speaker 1: broad sit so I mean it was the aftermath of
14:06
Speaker 1: well John Lennon's death, and so the the first part
14:12
Speaker 1: and the mid eighties Foot Paul was definitely hard period.
14:17
Speaker 2: That leads to the interesting question about the album itself.
14:20
Speaker 2: And there's that question is he experimenting as an artist
14:25
Speaker 2: or was he trying to do different things to keep
14:28
Speaker 2: up with the times. But we'll get into all of that.
14:31
Speaker 2: We'll get into the tracks now and I was intrigued
14:33
Speaker 2: by your point that the album almost feels like it's
14:35
Speaker 2: split in two between Polish pop perfection and then deeper experimentation.
14:40
Speaker 2: Do you think that internal tension is what ultimately makes
14:43
Speaker 2: the album fascinating, even if it also made it commercially confusing.
14:48
Speaker 1: Yeah, it is. Every Paul McCarty album, ma's got something
14:55
Speaker 1: worth exploring. And I must tell you d Well, this
14:59
Speaker 1: was the first album I bought when I was sixteen
15:03
Speaker 1: as a conscious McCartney fan. Because when I when they
15:08
Speaker 1: bought me Press the Pipes Apiece, I was basically a
15:11
Speaker 1: Michael Jackson fan, so I was expecting my mother coming
15:15
Speaker 1: back home with a Michael Jackson album, and then she
15:19
Speaker 1: came back and was on McCarney album with a couple
15:22
Speaker 1: of duets with Michael Jackson. So it took me some
15:27
Speaker 1: time to, you know, to understand McCartney and to like it.
15:31
Speaker 1: I like him, and to like the album. But by
15:34
Speaker 1: the time of Press a Play, I was definitely a
15:35
Speaker 1: McCartney fan. So I had enjoyed rediscovering the album last
15:44
Speaker 1: year again, and I had the chance to interview you
15:49
Speaker 1: Pageant last year, so we went through the tracks together.
15:54
Speaker 1: I pointed out to him some of the ethics that
15:59
Speaker 1: are in the songs. So I had this sected. Really
16:04
Speaker 1: this this album technically sonically, in the instrumentation and stuff.
16:10
Speaker 1: So I found an album which was way better than
16:15
Speaker 1: I remember. Even though I'm a big mccarfy fan, it
16:19
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that I like all these material one hundred percent.
16:25
Speaker 1: So I had some reservation still about press to play.
16:29
Speaker 1: And I must say it's it's it's a good album.
16:32
Speaker 1: It's not as perfect as others, but really you can
16:36
Speaker 1: find interesting aspects. So yeah, there's this pop does this
16:43
Speaker 1: you know, typical eighties production, the efforts on the drums.
16:48
Speaker 1: I mean I discovered many many nuances that I wasn't
16:54
Speaker 1: aware of by putting my headphones, going through the album
16:59
Speaker 1: again talking with with you and and I think if
17:06
Speaker 1: you approach the album without any bias, which probably was
17:10
Speaker 1: your okay, he's Eric, I think you can you can
17:13
Speaker 1: really take the album. You can really appreciate a lot
17:18
Speaker 1: of stuff. So there was definitely, Uh, it was definitely
17:24
Speaker 1: a brave move, let me say, from Paul to in
17:28
Speaker 1: trying to do an album which was different you want
17:31
Speaker 1: he wanted to be different, so that that is the
17:35
Speaker 1: main point for me. Okay, your Pageant was a great producer,
17:39
Speaker 1: uh an engineer. And let me point out this because
17:43
Speaker 1: when we talk about UH this, you know, misunderstanding about
17:50
Speaker 1: the production. Uh. Eric Stewart was a producer and a songwriter,
17:55
Speaker 1: your passion producer and engineer. So that adds to the confusion.
18:04
Speaker 1: But yeah, listened to the album and try to, you know,
18:12
Speaker 1: grab or embrace the complexity that it lies behind this album.
18:19
Speaker 2: I found of fascinating how much attention was given to
18:21
Speaker 2: the percussion textures. You just mentioned that drum machines, the
18:25
Speaker 2: gated reverb, the stereal placement of effects. How much of
18:30
Speaker 2: that do you think comes from pageants production fingerprints versus
18:35
Speaker 2: Paul's on creative direction.
18:37
Speaker 1: Paul was adamant in saying that you Paget was basically
18:42
Speaker 1: chosen for the drum sound, and Paul said, it's very
18:47
Speaker 1: good at having a great drum sound, and so that
18:52
Speaker 1: was basically what Paul was interested in achieving. So definitely
18:58
Speaker 1: you at a great a part on that. But we
19:02
Speaker 1: know that Paul experimented a lot is in his career
19:06
Speaker 1: and so is not shy to experiment and to try
19:12
Speaker 1: something different. And then there's Jerry Marotta because I mean
19:17
Speaker 1: Jerry drummed on on the whole album basically except for
19:20
Speaker 1: a couple of tracks, and so it did contribute to
19:25
Speaker 1: this big sound a lot. So it's a combination, you
19:31
Speaker 1: for sure, as the main element, the main pushing factor.
19:38
Speaker 1: Then McCartney always came to experiment and Jerry definitely, you know,
19:45
Speaker 1: playing at his best.
19:47
Speaker 2: I think the lead track Stranglehold was one of the
19:50
Speaker 2: album's singles. You describe it as almost a mission statement
19:53
Speaker 2: for the album's hard reds direction, and I was fascinated
19:56
Speaker 2: by the stereo diagram Paul drew for the track that's
19:59
Speaker 2: in the book. It's built around rhythm, atmosphere and texture
20:05
Speaker 2: every bit as much as melody. Do you think it
20:07
Speaker 2: reflects Paul being influenced by contemporary artists at the time,
20:10
Speaker 2: like Peter Gabriel, Talking Heads, or even art rock production
20:14
Speaker 2: trends of the mid eighties.
20:16
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was. It was definitely following all the names
20:20
Speaker 1: that you mentioned. You mentioned Peter, He was aware of
20:25
Speaker 1: of Peter Gabriel. He likes Peter Gabriel. I mean, just
20:31
Speaker 1: that be a little digression. They work together. Just after
20:37
Speaker 1: after press the play, they worked together and they did
20:40
Speaker 1: the song together that was not released at the time.
20:44
Speaker 1: It was called The Politics of Love. I don't know
20:49
Speaker 1: why Peter said that maybe some well, the collaboration didn't
20:54
Speaker 1: work for any reason. Maybe you know where when you
20:57
Speaker 1: are working with McCartney and point you realize this form
21:01
Speaker 1: accaundy on the other on the other side, it could
21:04
Speaker 1: be difficult at times. But then quite recently I think
21:08
Speaker 1: there was twoy eighteen they they found themselves again together
21:15
Speaker 1: in the studio doing things. So I hope that someday
21:19
Speaker 1: we can we can find that some of the work
21:23
Speaker 1: that they did together. Anyway, Yeah, it was definitely aware
21:29
Speaker 1: of who was riding high in the charts at the time,
21:35
Speaker 1: so Strangle was not a successful single, but when the
21:41
Speaker 1: album came out it was definitely it gained a good
21:47
Speaker 1: airplay by radio stations in the US, so that that
21:51
Speaker 1: seemed to foresee, Okay, the album will be will be great,
21:55
Speaker 1: will be a great success. It didn't. It didn't happen.
22:00
Speaker 1: But it's an interesting start. I mean, it's not so
22:04
Speaker 1: typical for me of McCartney's music because when it starts,
22:09
Speaker 1: it starts with uh this acoustic guitars and drumps, acoustic
22:15
Speaker 1: guitar and drums with no base for the first bats
22:19
Speaker 1: there's this whispered vocals. Then it develops and goes into
22:24
Speaker 1: a great rocker, you know, with a with a powerful
22:28
Speaker 1: hone arrangement. Well, it's not that typical, and I think
22:31
Speaker 1: it shows there's something different in the album to come
22:37
Speaker 1: for the listener.
22:38
Speaker 2: Oh for sure. Yeah. Track two Good Times coming into
22:41
Speaker 2: Field the Sun that's followed by Talk More Talk. You
22:45
Speaker 2: describe this as the moment where Press to play fully
22:47
Speaker 2: dives into experimentation and electronics. You point out the surreal
22:52
Speaker 2: and abstract, lyrical influence of filmmakers like Bunuel and the
22:56
Speaker 2: stream of consciousness approach that Paul uses here, and it
23:00
Speaker 2: reminds me of his future project, The Fireman Sessions, which
23:03
Speaker 2: you mentioned in the book for a track on say
23:06
Speaker 2: two Pretty Little Head. Was this kind of lyrical experimentation
23:10
Speaker 2: something that Paul had always wanted to explore more deeply,
23:12
Speaker 2: and he's doing more on this album.
23:14
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I mean he admitted that finally, you know,
23:19
Speaker 1: it was free to do to do these kind of
23:22
Speaker 1: things to explore. He had to admit that going into
23:28
Speaker 1: something more abstract was one of the reasons why the
23:33
Speaker 1: album was not as successful as expected. But if we
23:39
Speaker 1: put this in perspective, as you said, you mentioned the
23:42
Speaker 1: Fireman definitely Talk More Talk and press to play both
23:48
Speaker 1: smack of Fireman and experimental stuff of McCartney. So these
23:55
Speaker 1: two songs are are interesting if you well, just one moment,
23:59
Speaker 1: you've get it. You want that you want necessarily a
24:03
Speaker 1: catchy McCartney. I'm not saying that these two songs are
24:08
Speaker 1: not catchy because there's little risks and and and things
24:11
Speaker 1: that you you can come for days as well. Uh
24:16
Speaker 1: and Talk More Talk, especially with an interesting experiment, because
24:21
Speaker 1: it was done basically as Paul said in One Day.
24:25
Speaker 1: So it's Paul with an drum machine that's an emulator, uh,
24:32
Speaker 1: programming in in the song and he played all the
24:36
Speaker 1: all the instruments here. So I mean just the crazy
24:41
Speaker 1: day likes to have once in a while. You know,
24:47
Speaker 1: you're recording with the band, uh Monday to Friday, and
24:51
Speaker 1: then comes a moment that Paul said, Okay, don't show
24:55
Speaker 1: up tomorrow. I want to I want to do these
24:57
Speaker 1: things on my couple of things on my own. That's
25:00
Speaker 1: a that's an interesting approach to me because it's this
25:05
Speaker 1: shows how Paul is smart in taking this decision. So
25:10
Speaker 1: I mean, you can enjoy playing with you with your
25:14
Speaker 1: band for an album, then maybe you need you need
25:18
Speaker 1: something different, you need a different approaching the studio just
25:22
Speaker 1: one day and then you can go back to your
25:27
Speaker 1: working with your band. But it's an interesting thing because
25:29
Speaker 1: it it adds to do variety, and so I think
25:34
Speaker 1: that's a that's a good that's a good way to
25:38
Speaker 1: vary your material.
25:39
Speaker 2: Phil Cowns did that on a full album with both
25:41
Speaker 2: sides from nineteen ninety three where he did all of
25:44
Speaker 2: the instruments. But this is what separates solo Paul from
25:48
Speaker 2: beatles Paul. These are the things that he can do
25:50
Speaker 2: now as a solo artist, and that's where you hear
25:52
Speaker 2: the difference in sound. But it's interesting now after that,
25:56
Speaker 2: after the track like that more experimental, you have only
26:01
Speaker 2: Love Remains, which finishes outside one more of something that
26:05
Speaker 2: longtime fans would appreciate. Right the stereo diagram again in
26:09
Speaker 2: the book for this, and it details just how carefully
26:13
Speaker 2: layered the arrangement was. Yet the final result still feels
26:16
Speaker 2: intimate and emotional, and this was a late addition in
26:20
Speaker 2: the process. So I wonder if you think Paul realized
26:22
Speaker 2: the record needed a classic McCartney style ballad, maybe to
26:26
Speaker 2: avoid alienating the longtime fans completely, especially coming off of
26:31
Speaker 2: a track like Talk More Talk.
26:33
Speaker 1: Definitely at some point he thought, well, maybe i'm I'm
26:38
Speaker 1: I'm going too far, And because this was the last
26:43
Speaker 1: song recorded for the album, so all the rest was finished,
26:46
Speaker 1: basically they were in the mixing process and they basically
26:51
Speaker 1: stopped for you know, recording this song, which I mean
26:55
Speaker 1: is a big ballad. And even Paul at the time
26:59
Speaker 1: promote the album said well, people ask me if an
27:02
Speaker 1: album is incomplete without a ballad, and I think so.
27:07
Speaker 1: So he didn't want to, you know, having his all
27:13
Speaker 1: time fans maybe deluded a bit or disoriented by this
27:19
Speaker 1: new approach. Also, it just three in this great song.
27:25
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't like necessary to put labels on
27:30
Speaker 1: a song if it's a ballad or rocker or pop whatever, experimental.
27:35
Speaker 1: But this is a great song, regardless of the fact
27:38
Speaker 1: that it's definitely stylistically and sonically different from all the
27:45
Speaker 1: rest of the album. Uh, there's another there's another drummer,
27:49
Speaker 1: which was Graham Ward. It's not Jerry Marotta this time.
27:54
Speaker 1: But it's a great song. I mean, produced with all
27:57
Speaker 1: the trimmings, big orchestra. You know, it's intimate. Yeah, I
28:01
Speaker 1: think the first minute basically we have just Paull the
28:05
Speaker 1: piano and maybe a couple of Bacon vocals, very light.
28:11
Speaker 1: There's a wineglasses played at some point to run the song,
28:17
Speaker 1: and then you have the big orchestra and the big
28:20
Speaker 1: statements at the end. I think it works, and it closes,
28:25
Speaker 1: and it closes Side one Majestically.
28:31
Speaker 2: Find the bookdown Rock website at bookdown rock dot com.
28:34
Speaker 2: There you can find all the back episodes of the show,
28:37
Speaker 2: the latest episode in video and audio, links to all
28:40
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28:42
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28:47
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28:50
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28:54
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28:59
Speaker 2: down Rock merch. It's all at booked on rock dot com.
29:04
Speaker 2: Luca Parossi is our guest. We're getting into his book.
29:06
Speaker 2: Paul McCartney press to play that unmistakable eighties sound. Now
29:11
Speaker 2: the track, I would say is my favorite as a
29:13
Speaker 2: child of the eighties. I took to it right away.
29:15
Speaker 2: That's the song press kicks off side too. This is
29:17
Speaker 2: the biggest hit on the album, reached twenty one in
29:20
Speaker 2: the US twenty five in the UK. And the song's
29:22
Speaker 2: inspiration coming from something as ordinaries giving Linda a massage
29:26
Speaker 2: and transforming that into this highly stylized, sensual pop track.
29:32
Speaker 2: It's packed with sequencers, drum programming, digital delays, layer guitars,
29:37
Speaker 2: studio experimentation. How much of this is Hugh Pagem? How
29:40
Speaker 2: much is this Hugh pushing Paul maybe further into modern
29:44
Speaker 2: production techniques. Maybe then Paul would have gone into on
29:48
Speaker 2: his own.
29:49
Speaker 1: Much of it is you. And if you listen to
29:54
Speaker 1: the basic track, so it's kind of a proper various
30:01
Speaker 1: if you just get rid of the synthesizer and the
30:07
Speaker 1: stuff they added and you come back and listen to
30:10
Speaker 1: the basic track, there was some unofficial recordings over the
30:15
Speaker 1: net that you can really you really have a kind
30:22
Speaker 1: of different song. I mean it's very straightforward and stuff. Yes,
30:25
Speaker 1: it's very catchy and commercially in the in the final
30:29
Speaker 1: as a final product, I like it. There's a there's
30:32
Speaker 1: great guitars part. There's a solo by Paul, great guitars
30:37
Speaker 1: part by Carlos Alomar, which I interviewed for the book,
30:41
Speaker 1: and it was a great another great contribution. Having Carlos
30:45
Speaker 1: in the book was very nice because it was really
30:48
Speaker 1: able to listen to the songs with me and explaining
30:53
Speaker 1: really what it did in each of this in each
30:58
Speaker 1: of these tracks. And you know, so again it's interesting
31:05
Speaker 1: because in the end they started for a very basic
31:09
Speaker 1: and straightforward bussy rocker and they turned into into a
31:14
Speaker 1: you know, I don't I want to call it, I
31:16
Speaker 1: don't want to call it dance, a disc but very
31:19
Speaker 1: very modern, modern production, which in the end, I mean,
31:24
Speaker 1: it works because you mentioned it was a quite a
31:27
Speaker 1: moderate success at the time. I mean it charted not
31:30
Speaker 1: so high, but it stayed in the charts for quite
31:33
Speaker 1: a good number of weeks. And so I well remember
31:36
Speaker 1: in Italy at the time also thanks to the video,
31:39
Speaker 1: it was a nice success in the charts here. So
31:43
Speaker 1: it worked. It worked because it was a good compromise
31:47
Speaker 1: between melodic, let me say, Paul, and with a modern touch.
31:53
Speaker 1: Because if you analyze a song, it's it's done in
31:56
Speaker 1: four different parts. I mean, it's not so simple as
32:00
Speaker 1: it seems. So harmonica is speaking, there's four different parts.
32:05
Speaker 1: So again, listen to the album very carefully, guys, because
32:09
Speaker 1: there's many things of interest.
32:12
Speaker 2: Yeah, if you pop in the earbuds too, it makes
32:14
Speaker 2: it even more of an experience. But yeah, that was
32:16
Speaker 2: released ahead of the album, So it was released in
32:18
Speaker 2: July of eighty six, and, like I said, did very well.
32:22
Speaker 2: Carlos Almar famous for his work with David Bowie. Yeah,
32:26
Speaker 2: the next track was released as a single in the UK,
32:29
Speaker 2: only Pretty Little Head. He write that this may be
32:32
Speaker 2: one of the boldest experimental pieces McCartney ever released under
32:37
Speaker 2: his own name. This is where you see that connection
32:40
Speaker 2: to the Fireman sessions. Eric Stewart describes a song as
32:43
Speaker 2: emerging organically from jams rather than traditional songwriting. How unusual
32:48
Speaker 2: was that process for Paul at the stage of his career.
32:51
Speaker 2: And do you think that spontaneity is part of why
32:53
Speaker 2: this track feels so unpredictable and hypnotic? Really?
32:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, this is definitely the reason why I'm in it again.
33:01
Speaker 1: Paul likes to do something different, so that that very
33:04
Speaker 1: day he said, Okay, I'm gonna play the drums and
33:08
Speaker 1: Jerry Morotto was on the vibes and Eric sewartt on
33:13
Speaker 1: on on synthesized or keyboards. So they did just switch
33:16
Speaker 1: the usual roles in the studio and they came up
33:20
Speaker 1: with this, I mean, which is it's it's It was
33:23
Speaker 1: a jam. It was an instrumental kind of thing they
33:29
Speaker 1: had lying around for months until Paul thought it was
33:35
Speaker 1: worth adding some vocals, so melody. So that that was
33:40
Speaker 1: the process. It's not that unusual Paul likes to do
33:44
Speaker 1: to do these kind of things, even with Wings. Sometimes
33:48
Speaker 1: they jammed together and something different, uh may may pop
33:55
Speaker 1: up and that's that's the same thing. I mean, I
33:58
Speaker 1: think we can here in this song a bit of
34:05
Speaker 1: Peter Gabel's influence. I mean, it's a very percussive track
34:09
Speaker 1: and I'm not sure if Paul played regular drums or
34:15
Speaker 1: he played the diner Corde drumps, which is a digital
34:19
Speaker 1: drum that Jerry Marotta had at the time. Uh so
34:25
Speaker 1: it could be a diner Corde anyway. It's very interesting
34:28
Speaker 1: because basically there are no symbols, no crashes on the track,
34:34
Speaker 1: which was one of the trademarks of Peter Gabriel, especially
34:38
Speaker 1: on the album Peter Gabriel three, So I can I
34:42
Speaker 1: can definitely hear that kind of influence.
34:45
Speaker 2: I didn't even think about that.
34:47
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh yeah, if you I had the opportunity to
34:51
Speaker 1: listen to the track to separate tracks, if you just
34:54
Speaker 1: listen only to the drum part, there's no symbol, no
34:58
Speaker 1: crashes throughout the old on. So that was something that said, Okay,
35:03
Speaker 1: this is interesting. Uh. Having having Jerry Morotta as a drummer. Uh,
35:11
Speaker 1: he had a kind of a good input with ideas.
35:15
Speaker 1: I mean, Jerry Morotto is not only which I've interviewed
35:19
Speaker 1: again for this book. Jerrem Marotto was interviewed many many
35:23
Speaker 1: years ago, but it is in the book with the
35:25
Speaker 1: with the interesting quotes and yeah, so he witnessed Paul
35:31
Speaker 1: playing the drums, and when he was asked about it's
35:36
Speaker 1: Paul a good drummer, he said something, well sort of.
35:40
Speaker 1: I mean the real test would be, uh seeing Paul
35:44
Speaker 1: playing the drums live, that would been the great test.
35:49
Speaker 1: But it's a great drummer in terms of ideas. So
35:52
Speaker 1: he acknowledged that Paul has great percussive ideas and that's
35:59
Speaker 1: and that's uh, that's one of of the tracks that shows, Uh,
36:04
Speaker 1: this he's.
36:05
Speaker 2: The drummer on all the tracks on Ben on.
36:08
Speaker 1: The Run, correct, Yeah, definitely, yeah, yeah.
36:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, so he can play.
36:12
Speaker 1: But yeah, no, he can play. I mean, he was
36:15
Speaker 1: just he was just saying or referring to the fact
36:18
Speaker 1: that when you are in the studio you can redo
36:20
Speaker 1: your pass. You can you can maybe add a feel,
36:23
Speaker 1: an extra feel by over dubbing, or they do these
36:26
Speaker 1: kind of things. Not not saying that pol is not
36:29
Speaker 1: capable of playing, but I mean in the live environment,
36:33
Speaker 1: it's a completely different thing because you have to really
36:36
Speaker 1: keep keep the pace and and the rhythm without losing
36:41
Speaker 1: a bit, you know.
36:43
Speaker 2: Well the perfect segue into the next track. I want
36:45
Speaker 2: to stay on the topic of drums Phil Collins, and
36:48
Speaker 2: he's credited on one track on this album, Angry that's
36:51
Speaker 2: the next track. But honestly, hmmm, I hear I hear him.
36:57
Speaker 2: I hear him on Good Times, Coming Feel the Sun,
36:59
Speaker 2: I hear him on Talk More Talk, I hear him
37:01
Speaker 2: on the last four tracks, starting with a Pretty Little Head.
37:04
Speaker 2: He's not playing drums on that one, but I feel
37:06
Speaker 2: like that drum loop is something you'd hear on No
37:08
Speaker 2: jacket required.
37:10
Speaker 1: Mm hmm.
37:11
Speaker 2: That's him on the next track move over Busker and
37:14
Speaker 2: after Angry is the final track, however, absurd that's him
37:17
Speaker 2: on the drums. I mean, I'm curious as to your
37:19
Speaker 2: thoughts that I could wait to ask you this because
37:22
Speaker 2: I love the accounts. I'm curious as to your thoughts
37:24
Speaker 2: on where you hear him outside of his quote unquote
37:27
Speaker 2: official credit and Angry.
37:30
Speaker 1: Maybe I'm not that into Uh, Phil Collins says you are,
37:36
Speaker 1: so I trust you. I trust what what what you hear? Well,
37:42
Speaker 1: having having spoken with Jerry about some of these tracks, Uh,
37:48
Speaker 1: he definitely confirmed his own presence. So I'm not aware
37:52
Speaker 1: of Phil Collins being in in other tracks because it
37:57
Speaker 1: basically wash according to what we know, it was basically
38:04
Speaker 1: in in the city for one day because that's the track.
38:08
Speaker 1: Angry was recorded one week after Live Aid. Okay, so
38:13
Speaker 1: the Live Aid was was on the other thirteenth of July,
38:17
Speaker 1: and so the Saturday twenty they showed up him and
38:24
Speaker 1: the townshend on guitar and was also Eddie Rayner on
38:29
Speaker 1: on synthesizer was in the studio. And so to my
38:34
Speaker 1: books and my information, feel is not in any of
38:38
Speaker 1: the tracks you mentioned pretty Head and then and then
38:42
Speaker 1: or Talk more talk and then and percussion percussion. Uh
38:47
Speaker 1: you know this, these kind of rhythms that lie behind
38:53
Speaker 1: h I know that Jerry Morotto programmed the lindrum on Footprints,
38:59
Speaker 1: another another track on the album, so I think it
39:02
Speaker 1: was the one who was programming the lindrum, and also
39:07
Speaker 1: Edite Rainer did a lot of programming. I had the
39:10
Speaker 1: chance to interview Edi Uriner quite recently last month, and
39:16
Speaker 1: so he mentioned him programming lindrums and emulator throughout the album.
39:25
Speaker 1: It was called in to do a specifically discount of
39:30
Speaker 1: work and adding a piano parts synthesizer choosing different sounds
39:37
Speaker 1: soon reach the album. So but anyway, anything could be
39:43
Speaker 1: eric because McCartney's discography is full of details that we
39:49
Speaker 1: don't really know. So that's the official thing.
39:52
Speaker 2: Because now I'm sort of feel like I'm crazy. I'm
39:54
Speaker 2: hearing things that I'm not here. I mean no, I
39:57
Speaker 2: listened to so many of Phil Collins's music that I like,
40:00
Speaker 2: I'm tuned into it. But maybe it's like confirmation biased.
40:03
Speaker 2: I think I'm hearing it.
40:05
Speaker 1: Well, anything could be. I mean, Paul said said this
40:08
Speaker 1: thing at the time that he involved Phil Collins only
40:14
Speaker 1: on one track because he didn't want to rely too
40:17
Speaker 1: much on such a big name blah blah, but that
40:20
Speaker 1: that could be an indirect, indirect confirmation that Phil is
40:25
Speaker 1: hidden somewhere and they didn't credit it in him here
40:29
Speaker 1: and there. Anything could be anything could.
40:33
Speaker 2: Yeah, what what is what's the decision behind? Because there's
40:36
Speaker 2: a first version of Angry apparently scrapped. What do you
40:40
Speaker 2: know about that? Any insight as to why Hugh Pagem
40:43
Speaker 2: and Paul felt compelled to rebuild the track almost from scratch.
40:47
Speaker 1: That's one of the key elements that I explained in
40:49
Speaker 1: the first chapter. So because I didn't have the chance
40:54
Speaker 1: to interview Eric stewartt who whoever? Uh Over the years,
41:01
Speaker 1: he has referred many times to a production misunderstanding with you, Pagamin,
41:07
Speaker 1: I think the production misunderstanding, it's not really a thing,
41:11
Speaker 1: because basically what happened is that they started the sessions
41:16
Speaker 1: with Paul, Eric Stewart, and Martin Chambers on drums and
41:22
Speaker 1: John Kelly engineering. So that was a batch of sessions
41:26
Speaker 1: that took place before you Pageum came in, then You
41:33
Speaker 1: Pagem came in. Is known for co producer now that
41:38
Speaker 1: producing on his own and engineer, so that was probably
41:43
Speaker 1: there was, you know, communication misunderstanding, not not really a
41:50
Speaker 1: production misunderstanding per se. So during that first batch of
41:55
Speaker 1: sessions that took place in March ninety eighty five, the
42:00
Speaker 1: sessions with You Pageant started in April ninety eighty five.
42:05
Speaker 1: They they recorded a first version of Angry, but at
42:15
Speaker 1: some point they decided to reduce the basic track just
42:20
Speaker 1: because maybe Paul wanted to have one track with with
42:24
Speaker 1: Pete Townsend and Anthony Collins and he thought that that
42:28
Speaker 1: was the track they could work on. So they just
42:32
Speaker 1: retained the baking vocals. They retained the original baking vocals,
42:36
Speaker 1: but all the rest was was redone. Yeah, probably suggestion
42:43
Speaker 1: of You Pageant. I don't know. I'm quite sure that
42:49
Speaker 1: Paul had a strong interest in recording something with you
42:55
Speaker 1: with Phil Collins. Phil Collins. At some point, I mean
42:59
Speaker 1: a couple of two or three years before Press to Play,
43:03
Speaker 1: there was a couple of articles in the press saying
43:08
Speaker 1: that Phil Collins was supposed to joining to be joining Wings,
43:16
Speaker 1: I mean because they they knew that we were without
43:20
Speaker 1: a drummer. Again, I was ninety eighty one or ninety
43:23
Speaker 1: eighty two, so at the time I think that even
43:26
Speaker 1: they discussed it with with George Martin about involving Phil Collins,
43:31
Speaker 1: blah blah. But there was another interesting thing that I
43:36
Speaker 1: was able to discover and you find it in the
43:38
Speaker 1: book with I was poiling too much again, But since
43:41
Speaker 1: we're talked about Phil, I think it's interesting to mention this.
43:44
Speaker 1: And at some point Phil said, Okay, Paul still still
43:50
Speaker 1: got it. I mean, this is it's a great artist
43:53
Speaker 1: and I would like to produce him. So it was
43:58
Speaker 1: it was suggesting himself kind of a producer for Paul
44:05
Speaker 1: McCarty and it didn't happen. But I mean there was
44:09
Speaker 1: something definitely behind the scenes and contexts between Paul and
44:17
Speaker 1: Phil Collins, because I mean fe Collins around mid eighties,
44:21
Speaker 1: Pield Collins was the drummer you we all know that. Yeah,
44:26
Speaker 1: So to come back to your question, I mean, it
44:28
Speaker 1: could be that there's some hidden credits here and there,
44:33
Speaker 1: So I won't I won't rule it out.
44:38
Speaker 2: The book Down Rock Podcast is part of the Boneless
44:40
Speaker 2: podcasting network. If you're a fan of classic rock and
44:43
Speaker 2: classic film like I am, go to Boneless Dot Lovable
44:46
Speaker 2: dot app to find over twenty great shows there that's Boneless,
44:50
Speaker 2: Downlovable dot app or just go to book down rock
44:53
Speaker 2: dot com, the Boneless podcasting network. It is what you
44:57
Speaker 2: want to be listen with confidence. Well, one last note,
45:03
Speaker 2: I'm angry. The lyrics are interesting because it's the side
45:06
Speaker 2: of Paul that it's it's not in line with that charming,
45:11
Speaker 2: positive public persona, right, I mean this the opening lyric,
45:15
Speaker 2: and this is in the book as well. You reveal
45:16
Speaker 2: this that it's taken from a real conversation with Eric Stewart.
45:21
Speaker 2: The quote what the hell gives you the right to
45:22
Speaker 2: tell me what to do with my life? Is what
45:25
Speaker 2: Paul said. Do you think that line gives us one
45:28
Speaker 2: of those rare moments where Paul drops that charming public
45:33
Speaker 2: persona and sounds sounds a little wounded, a little frustrated.
45:38
Speaker 1: It is one of those rare moments. In the end,
45:43
Speaker 1: and he admitted this, I mean, I don't like to
45:46
Speaker 1: to to to say things when I got the man
45:51
Speaker 1: uh speaking himself about it, I mean, And McCarthy admitted
45:57
Speaker 1: this track could it's to it needs opinion is not
46:01
Speaker 1: is not really successful because he said, I'm not that
46:05
Speaker 1: good and at expressing anger. So I think I tried,
46:10
Speaker 1: but I don't think in the end is it works
46:14
Speaker 1: very well as I would have hoped. So that's his
46:18
Speaker 1: assessment of the song. I think there's a there's a
46:22
Speaker 1: remix of this song. I don't know if you have
46:26
Speaker 1: checked it out, Eric, but there's a remix version with
46:29
Speaker 1: an added own section. If you listen to this, I mean,
46:36
Speaker 1: it's it's one of the best tracks rocking tracks I've
46:40
Speaker 1: ever heard from from Paul. I mean, the mix is
46:44
Speaker 1: a bit different. They mix the drums even higher, and
46:49
Speaker 1: the bass is is uh is also higher in the mix.
46:54
Speaker 1: So check out the remixed version, Eric, because that is
46:57
Speaker 1: a really, really a great one, which I think it
47:02
Speaker 1: would have deserved to be on the album. But at
47:06
Speaker 1: some point Paul decided to remix a lot of a
47:09
Speaker 1: lot of the tracks on the album. Maybe it wasn't
47:14
Speaker 1: it wasn't so fully satisfied of some choices, and it
47:19
Speaker 1: was very undecided at the time. So I think this
47:23
Speaker 1: is a testifies to the difficult moment that it went
47:29
Speaker 1: through at the time.
47:30
Speaker 2: There are two different formats of this depending on which
47:36
Speaker 2: which you purchased at the time, the LP or later
47:40
Speaker 2: the CD. The book gets into all of that as well,
47:45
Speaker 2: and it mentions that contemporary reviews only discussed that ten
47:49
Speaker 2: track vinyl version. Do you think some critics may have
47:52
Speaker 2: missed some key contexts because they never heard the complete
47:55
Speaker 2: CD running order? When did the CD version come out?
47:58
Speaker 1: By the way, the City came out of the same time.
48:00
Speaker 2: And the CDs were very rare in.
48:04
Speaker 1: Well, and I tell you that I bought the LP
48:11
Speaker 1: although I had at the time already a CD player,
48:15
Speaker 1: but I didn't discover there was a CD version with
48:18
Speaker 1: three extra tracks until six months later. But it was
48:22
Speaker 1: definitely release in ninety eighty six. But the official version
48:28
Speaker 1: maybe at the time was considered the vinyl because the
48:31
Speaker 1: vinyl was still you know, well CD was was quite
48:37
Speaker 1: was quite I mean common, but you know, I think
48:42
Speaker 1: the vinyl was still considered the official release. So the
48:47
Speaker 1: critics only reviewed the vinyl with the ten tracks. No
48:52
Speaker 1: one mentions the other three tracks.
48:55
Speaker 2: And did the cassette version matched the vinyl version?
48:58
Speaker 1: The cassette was ten tracks, so it matches the vinyl. Yeah,
49:03
Speaker 1: I had all three formats at the time.
49:06
Speaker 2: Wow, any standout tracks from those sessions that aren't on
49:11
Speaker 2: the LP version that stand out for you?
49:14
Speaker 1: Well, to me, the three extra tracks that were on
49:17
Speaker 1: the CD. So it's not true. Tho Titrope and right
49:21
Speaker 1: Away a really great tracks. I think if I have
49:27
Speaker 1: to choose just one of the three, uh, maybe it
49:33
Speaker 1: would be right Away because there's a there's a jazzy
49:40
Speaker 1: kind of influence on this track. There's an incredible piano
49:43
Speaker 1: solo by Eddie Rayner and that's uh, that's a track
49:48
Speaker 1: that I think would would would have deserved to be
49:51
Speaker 1: on on the main vinyl version to me.
49:55
Speaker 2: Right away, but that's not our I g h T.
49:58
Speaker 1: It's w R I T E right away, yeah, right.
50:02
Speaker 2: Away, right, Okay. The album cover interesting. George Herrell, who
50:09
Speaker 2: photographed legends like Reta Garbo and Humphrey Bogart, took the
50:12
Speaker 2: photo of Paul Linda. It's an ironic cover knowing the
50:16
Speaker 2: music is. I mean, it's a visual style associated with
50:20
Speaker 2: Hollywood's golden age for an album that's obsessed with the
50:23
Speaker 2: mid eighties modern sounds and cutting edge production. It's interesting
50:26
Speaker 2: to see that if Paul had chosen a more contemporary, edgy,
50:30
Speaker 2: distinctly eighties visual presentation with listeners and critics might have
50:34
Speaker 2: approached the album differently before dropping the needle on it
50:38
Speaker 2: or pressing play on the cassette or cet.
50:41
Speaker 1: Yeah, to some extent, we always expect that the cover
50:45
Speaker 1: reflects the content of the of an LP of an album.
50:51
Speaker 1: This is not the case. Also, let me point out this.
50:54
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a there's a glossy perfection on press
50:59
Speaker 1: to play musically speaking, and there's definitely a glossy perfection
51:05
Speaker 1: in the in the album cover. So that's the common
51:08
Speaker 1: trait between the cover and the music. But definitely it
51:13
Speaker 1: could be a bit miss misleading if if it makes sense,
51:17
Speaker 1: I mean myself as a as a as a young
51:21
Speaker 1: buyer of the album, definitely, based on on the cover,
51:25
Speaker 1: I was expecting some more classic I don't know if
51:29
Speaker 1: it makes sense again McCartney, and then I discovered there's
51:32
Speaker 1: there was a different sonic word in the grooves of
51:38
Speaker 1: the of the album. But I mean it's a it's
51:40
Speaker 1: a nice uh contrast, and it's again typical of McCartney, uh,
51:45
Speaker 1: the opposite a Gemini thing that he always often refers to.
51:52
Speaker 2: Most critics like the album thanks to the unconventional sound.
51:56
Speaker 2: Some found it boring was the word. It failed to
52:00
Speaker 2: make the top twenty in the US. It did peak
52:02
Speaker 2: at number eight in the UK, achieved gold status in
52:06
Speaker 2: September of eighty six. For somebody listening or watching this
52:10
Speaker 2: interview now who has always dismissed Pressed to Play as
52:13
Speaker 2: a week point in Paul's catalog, what's the one argument
52:16
Speaker 2: you'd make for why they should give it another serious
52:19
Speaker 2: listen today?
52:20
Speaker 1: Well, if you think that Paul McCartney is an artist
52:26
Speaker 1: capable to do nineteen ninety percent of things, you're wrong.
52:31
Speaker 1: He can do one hundred percent of different things. And
52:35
Speaker 1: this album is definitely could change your perspective on this artists.
52:42
Speaker 1: It could do lots of different things and brave moves.
52:48
Speaker 1: So if you want to have a glimpse of McCartney
52:51
Speaker 1: in the eighties, you know, very typical, but very interesting,
52:55
Speaker 1: with a variety of sounds, variety of ideas, experimentals of
53:00
Speaker 1: this is the album you have to go for.
53:06
Speaker 2: Thanks so much for checking out the Booked on Rock podcast.
53:09
Speaker 2: If you've just found the podcast, welcome. If you've been listening,
53:12
Speaker 2: thank you so much for your support, and make sure
53:15
Speaker 2: you tell a friend, a family member, share on social
53:17
Speaker 2: media and let people know about Booked on Rock. And
53:21
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53:23
Speaker 2: Give a five star review wherever you listen to the
53:26
Speaker 2: Booked on Rock podcast. We're on Amazon, Apple, iHeart, Spotify, Spreaker,
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Speaker 2: tune in, and on YouTube music. You can check out
53:33
Speaker 2: the full episodes on video, along with video highlights from
53:36
Speaker 2: episodes on the Booked on Rock YouTube channel. Find it
53:39
Speaker 2: at Booked on Rock. Thanks again for listening. Now back
53:43
Speaker 2: to the show, Paul McCarty, press to play that unmistakable
53:47
Speaker 2: eighty sound. It is out and now it's been out
53:49
Speaker 2: for about a year. When did you say the book
53:52
Speaker 2: originally came.
53:53
Speaker 1: Out to book was released on the sport of June
53:58
Speaker 1: twenty twenty five, So just yep, and I mean this
54:02
Speaker 1: is selling well. As I was telling it, there's lots
54:05
Speaker 1: of interviews known by myself in so Cala, Salomon Morotta,
54:11
Speaker 1: you pagem other people so that that, you know, helps
54:17
Speaker 1: readers to have a great perspective on the album from
54:21
Speaker 1: the inside.
54:23
Speaker 2: You can find it wherever books are sold. Another one
54:26
Speaker 2: we're going to talk about eventually is Wings London Town.
54:30
Speaker 2: So we're going to get to this one soon, hopefully
54:34
Speaker 2: within the next few months. Another one that we're going
54:37
Speaker 2: to be covering, and I'm going to be doing this
54:39
Speaker 2: interview next week with Alfredo Marciano also an excellent book.
54:46
Speaker 2: It's on xdc's Skylarking and that is a fantastic job
54:53
Speaker 2: that Alfredo did with the book. And I don't know
54:57
Speaker 2: XDC beyond the singles, and I'm a fan of x
55:00
Speaker 2: everything that I've heard, I mean, bout of Fear. Pumpkinhead
55:03
Speaker 2: was a song actually Mayor Simpleton was the first time
55:06
Speaker 2: I ever heard XTC. That was in eighty nine, that
55:11
Speaker 2: was on the radio all the time here in the US.
55:14
Speaker 2: So looking very much forward to it. But it's just
55:16
Speaker 2: a It's a great series from Lily Publishing. So where
55:20
Speaker 2: can people go to get more of these books? Can
55:22
Speaker 2: go right to your website, right.
55:23
Speaker 1: I got a website which is Lily Publishing dot com.
55:29
Speaker 1: You can find all the series and there's also a
55:32
Speaker 1: page dedicated to upcoming titles, so you can discover a
55:36
Speaker 1: little bit of what's or what's what's coming. And I
55:40
Speaker 1: can mention one of the next titles we'll be on
55:44
Speaker 1: Old Stewart's Here of the Cat, which I'm writing with
55:48
Speaker 1: with Andrea Gasso, with which I wrote the Elton John book.
55:53
Speaker 1: So at some point before the end of the year,
55:57
Speaker 1: we will have this inside story of you've the cat
56:00
Speaker 1: again with many interviews of musicians and people who uh
56:06
Speaker 1: took part to the recordings of the album. And that's
56:10
Speaker 1: a that's another great one.
56:11
Speaker 2: Great yeah that you were on for the good Bye
56:13
Speaker 2: Yellow Brick Road album. That was the book that.
56:16
Speaker 3: You Yeah, we we we did we did a good
56:20
Speaker 3: Bye Yellow Brick Road together with Andrea and so, I mean,
56:24
Speaker 3: we we're building with these autos a nice series.
56:28
Speaker 1: I'm happy that you like it. And uh, it takes
56:31
Speaker 1: time if you want to do it properly. Uh takes
56:35
Speaker 1: time because you have to be the ride. Autos and
56:38
Speaker 1: stuff will be dedicated to famous albums, but also albums
56:44
Speaker 1: that were a bit overlooked or need to be rediscovered.
56:50
Speaker 1: That that would be that would be more interesting instead
56:55
Speaker 1: of doing all the classics and stuff. So let's let's go.
57:00
Speaker 1: Let's go in depth and and do something different.
57:03
Speaker 2: Look up. People can find you online. You're on Facebook.
57:07
Speaker 2: I know we're friends on Facebook.
57:08
Speaker 1: I'm on Facebook, I'm on Instagram, Blue Sky threads. I mean,
57:14
Speaker 1: and and I'm about to launch my YouTube channel which
57:19
Speaker 1: will be dedicated to to McCartney songs. It will be
57:23
Speaker 1: dedicated only to McCartney's songs. So The YouTube channel already
57:26
Speaker 1: exists and it's called Music Is Ideas for McCarty Music
57:30
Speaker 1: is ideos the stories behind the songs and now we'll
57:33
Speaker 1: deal with one song at the time with a different
57:35
Speaker 1: guests each time from Paul's catalog. So far, I've launched
57:41
Speaker 1: it with with with a special video with Andy Nicholas,
57:48
Speaker 1: a guy with I know since quite a while, and
57:52
Speaker 1: it was dedicated to my listening event to the Boys
57:55
Speaker 1: of Dungeon Lane. So I basically went through the tracks
57:59
Speaker 1: of Paul McCarthy's new album and describe the songs and
58:05
Speaker 1: my initial feelings to the songs. And that was a
58:09
Speaker 1: way to launch the channel. But I mean I'm building
58:12
Speaker 1: it in a step by step. I will have interviews
58:16
Speaker 1: with musicians all dedicated to to to the songs and
58:21
Speaker 1: the and the records of Paul McCartney.
58:23
Speaker 2: Oh fantastic. I see it here so people can look
58:26
Speaker 2: for I'll put the link in the show notes, but
58:28
Speaker 2: look look up. It's at Paul McCartney Music Is Ideas. Yeah,
58:35
Speaker 2: that's the YouTube channel. I'm seeing it here. The Boys
58:37
Speaker 2: of Dungeon Lane Listening Party. Got that up there?
58:40
Speaker 1: Cool?
58:41
Speaker 2: Okay, I've just subscribed. You've got me as a thank
58:43
Speaker 2: you very I mean, Luca, thanks man, and I'm looking
58:47
Speaker 2: forward to having you back on again soon. We'll cover
58:49
Speaker 2: that London Town book. I'm looking very much forward to
58:53
Speaker 2: this one as well, because it's another album that I
58:54
Speaker 2: have not listened to from start to finish. I just
58:57
Speaker 2: know the a few of the tracks off there.
59:00
Speaker 1: Great, thank you very much for this conversation. That's it.
59:10
Speaker 1: It's in the box.