So, last night I hit on Paul McCartney’s little film and soundtrack Give My Regards to Broadstreet and then I got curious, so I delved deep into You Tube and interviews and articles from WAY back. There is a lot to discuss (if you are a Beatles/McCartney fan — and there is so much Beatles history in this).
Let’s dive in. The film was released in 1984 and was a commercial bomb. Not bomb as in good. The soundtrack sold well, but we have to remember, this was when McCartney was still doing well on the charts. “No More Lonely Nights” was a beautiful ballad, which they turned to a bastardized rock version.
Back to the film. First and foremost, it hardly passes as a film. It’s more small sequences between glorified videos. I still like the in-studio scenes, but I love that kind of stuff. Here’s the background: McCartney had always wanted to do another film — post Beatles. That’s it. That’s all.
Here’s the plot: Paul is in his chauffeured car and starts to daydream. He dreams his master tapes are stolen and while the tapes are being hunted down, he further dreams a sort-of Paul’s day-in-the-life: we get Paul in the studio re-recording Beatles favorites, fanciful scenes with Ringo and wife Linda in a Victorian afternoon picnic (if I’m remembering correctly) and a wacky ballroom sequence to go with the song “Ballroom Dancing,” which I doubt even a seasoned fan would recall. After more silliness, the master tapes are recovered and Paul wakes up. Yep, that’s it. And I was obsessed with this film (I was 11, that’s my excuse).
Most of it is on You Tube. No need to watch, I’ll fill y’all in this week and explain why the re-recording were pointless and just plain wrong. And there’s why McCartney didn’t ask George Harrison to be in the film. It just gets more ridiculous. Tomorrow I’ll address that and more and start with the music.
Oh, and there was a video game made. Yes, there was.
We’re going to have fun with this one.
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