For the final installment of this series on Paul McCartney’s 1983 film, Give My Regards to Broad Street, I’ll be discussing the solo tracks in the movie/soundtrack.
Yesterday I covered the re-recorded Beatles tracks, today — the newly written and recorded song “No More Lonely Nights” — one of my favorite solo McCartney songs, a ballad, which he did like no one — from the Beatles days through to this album. He also recorded “Not Such a Bad Boy,” which is ok — not bad; and the forgettable “No Values.” I’m not counting “Corridor Music” and “Eleanor’s Dream”
Now we enter new/old territory. This gets weird. McCartney chose to include re-recorded versions of “Silly Love Songs,” “Wanderlust,” Ballroom Dancing,” and “So Bad.” No big, right? Maybe not, but why would one of the greatest songwriters of his or any other generation choose to re-record “Ballroom Dancing” and “Wanderlust” when they were released just two years before on Tug of War? As well as “So Bad,” released in 1983? That’s one year before Give My Regards to Broadstreet.
Here’s the campy “Ballroom Dancing” sequence. I always fast-forwarded through this song on the soundtrack.
Wait, it gets campier. You’re not going to believe the weirdness that is “Silly Love Songs.”
See? I told you. So many questions. What’s with the white outfits and owl-looking hair and makeup? I will never understand that sequence. It’s beyond wacky and doesn’t fit with the rest of the film. If you watch the film on You Tube, you’ll find the Beatles sections nicely done. The studio recording section is great. That’s where McCartney shines. The outdoor Victorian part is nice, quaint, very British. Then we go straight into Wackadoodleville.
Let’s go back to the recordings for a bit. Unless he was going for straight camp, there was no reason to re-record and include a few of the songs. It would have been much more interesting to include “Junk,” “The Lovely Linda,” or “Every Night,” from his first solo album, McCartney (1970). Those happen to be a few of my favorites, but I would put those up against the Beatles songs that were included and “No More Lonely Nights” as songs that would have been a better fit.
The argument could also be made that those songs were mostly recorded on McCartney’s farm on his home recording equipment, which you can hear on the album. This isn’t relevant to Give My Regards to Broad Street, but the songs I mentioned were gritty and real. To hear them re-recorded in a proper studio would have been interesting. Not better, because I love the sound on McCartney, but interesting. They were also recorded right as McCartney was going through post-Beatles breakup depression, from what I’ve read. That also makes them particularly notable, especially since six of the other songs from the film are Beatles songs.
And heck, if he was looking for something different, how about “Venus and Mars,” “Jet,” Band on the Run,” or “Call Me Back Again.” By the way, if you don’t have the Wings Venus and Mars album and you’re remotely a McCartney fan (which you are because you wouldn’t be reading this drivel if you weren’t), go get it. It’s a great one and you’re missing out.
So, what have we learned from this series on McCartney’s little film? Well, it’s probably the reason he didn’t make another, no, I’m not including the animated Rupert and the Frog Song, which was released at the same time as GMRTBS. The other films he’s made have been concert films and interview pieces. I doubt we will get another McCartney movie at this point.
The other takeaway I see from this is that “No More Lonely Nights” may just be McCartney’s last excellent song. “My Brave Face” co-written by the amazing Elvis Costello is also up there, but in my opinion nothing in his 80s+ stuff is better than the opening “I could wait another day…until I call you.” And of course that doesn’t touch his masterpiece (and my favorite) “Maybe I’m Amazed,” but that’s 70s material.
So, if we only got “No More Lonely Nights” out of GMRTBS, it’s worth it. Believe me, it’s not worth watching the movie again for, but the original song (not the other two weird versions on the soundtrack), which is on You Tube, even a live version. The rest of the soundtrack is, sadly, forgettable. And there could be many reasons for this. 1984 was getting into the best of the Second British Invasion with tons of synthpop, along with heavy metal, American Rock, and Michael Jackson. McCartney didn’t fit. He did get somewhat of a rebound later on with Press to Play and Flowers in the Dirt, but his peak as a solo singer-songwriter had gone. After those albums he recorded some experimental synth stuff with The Fireman, several classical works, and many tours that sell out in literal minutes. He will always be my first celebrity crush, my musical first love. “Here Today” will always, always make me cry. Let’s go out with that one for my own sentimental reasons. Put “No More Lonely Nights” on your iPod and see McCartney on tour of you can. Just don’t watch Give My Regards to Broad Street.
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