Press to play

Press to play
Paul McCartney's studio album
Publication (s)	August 25, 1986 ( US ) , 0September 1, 1986 ( UK )
Label (s)	Parlophone / EMI (UK) Capitol Records (USA)
Format (s)	LP , MC , CD , download
Genre (s)	skirt
Title (number)	LP: 10 CD: 13
running time	LP: 45 min 10 s CD: 58 min 53 s
occupation	Paul McCartney : bass , acoustic guitar , electric guitar , vocals Eric Stewart : acoustic guitar, electric guitar Neil Jason: Bass Pete Townshend : electric guitar Carlos Alomar: acoustic guitar, electric guitar Eddie Rayner: Keyboard Nick Glennie-Smith : Keyboard Simon Chamberlain: piano Linda McCartney : keyboard, vocals Phil Collins , Jerry Marotta, Graham Ward, John Bradbury: drums , percussion Ray Cooper : Percussion Dick Morrissey : Tenor Saxophone Lenny Pickett : alto saxophone and tenor saxophone Gary Barnacle: saxophone Gavyn Wright: violin Kate Robbins, Ruby James: background singers Anne Dudley , Tony Visconti : orchestral arrangement Sound engineer : Hugh Padgham
production	Paul McCartney , Hugh Padgham
Studio (s)	Hog Hill Mill Studios, Sussex
chronology Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984) Press to play All the best! (1987)

Press to Play ( English pressures to games ) is the seventh solo album by Paul McCartney . At the same time, including the Wings albums , it is Paul McCartney's 17th album after the Beatles split up . It was released on August 25, 1986 in the US and September 1, 1986 in the UK.

Emergence

After the commercial failure of his music film Broad Street , mixed reviews for his last studio album Pipes of Peace (1983) and the relatively poor sales in the USA of the soundtrack album Give My Regards to Broad Street (1984), Paul McCartney wanted his new studio album to sound more contemporary. He hired Hugh Padgham , who was best known for his work with Genesis , XTC , The Police and Phil Collins in the 1980s , as producer .

Paul McCartney set up his Hogg-Hill Mill recording studio not far from his farm in Sussex and began working on a new album with Eric Stewart and drummer Jerry Marotta in April 1985. He had neither a concept nor a specific idea, but wanted to “start from scratch”. The way he worked with Eric Stewart - "with two acoustic guitars, looking at each other like in a mirror, just better" - reminded McCartney of his earlier collaboration with John Lennon , which he had not tried again since the Beatles' days. With Eric Stewart, Paul McCartney wrote six songs on the album in these recording sessions: Footprints , Stranglehold , Pretty Little Head , Move Over Busker , Angry and However Absurd . Even if Stewart described the collaboration positively in retrospect, he stated that the recordings “did not lead in a particularly exciting direction” and that McCartney was artistically “just a bit tired”. Eric Stewart withdrew from the recordings prematurely: In addition to his personal differences with producer Hugh Padgham, Paul McCartney's mood swings in the studio also led to increasingly bad mood. The musical collaboration with Eric Stewart, which had existed since the recording of Tug of War , was not extended for future albums. Press to Play also remained the only album Hugh Padgham produced for Paul McCartney.

In September 1985, the recordings were interrupted album for four days to the theme song for the film (Spies Like Us , we like spies ) record.

The studio recordings of the album were finished in November 1985. After it was decided that Paul McCartney would leave the recording company Columbia Records in the USA in order to sign a new contract with Capitol Records , further recordings and mixings took place until April 18, 1986.

The song Yvonne's the One , which was released in 1995 in a new recording by 10cc on their album Mirror Mirror , was not released. Paul McCartney played guitar on this version. Paul McCartney's version was available on bootlegs .

On June 20, 1986, Paul McCartney performed with other artists at Wembley Arena on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Prince's Trust. He sang the songs I Saw Her Standing There , Long Tall Sally and Get Back . The released vinyl album Recorded Highlights of the Prince's Trust 10th Anniversary Birthday Party contains the song Get Back , and an enclosed 7 ″ vinyl single contains the other two songs.

The album was originally due to be released in June 1986, but Press to Play wasn't released in Europe until September 1, 1986. Despite the good reviews, the musical direction change to a more contemporary sound was not accepted by the audience. With around 600,000 copies sold, it was McCartney's most commercially unsuccessful solo album to date. It was the second album that could no longer place in the top twenty on the US Billboard 200 .

Cover design

The cover photo shows Paul and Linda McCartney cheek to cheek with their eyes closed. The black and white photo is from Hollywood photographer George Hurrell , who used an old box camera to take the picture . The CD is accompanied by a twelve-page booklet with illustrations containing the lyrics.

Track list

page 1

1. Stranglehold (Stewart / McCartney) - 3:36
2. Good Times Coming / Feel the Sun (McCartney) - 4:44
3. Talk More Talk (McCartney) - 5:18
4. Footprints (Stewart / McCartney) - 4:32
5. Only Love Remains (McCartney) - 4:13

Page 2

1. Press (McCartney) - 4:43
2. Pretty Little Head (Stewart / McCartney) - 5:14
3. Move Over Busker (Stewart / McCartney) - 4:05
4. Angry (Stewart / McCartney) - 3:36
5. However Absurd (Stewart / McCartney) - 4:56

The CD release included three additional songs:

11. Write Away (McCartney) - 3:00
12. It's Not True (McCartney) - 5:53
13. Tough on a Tightrope (McCartney) - 4:42

1993 remaster bonus tracks

14. Spies Like Us - 4:45 (McCartney)
15. Once Upon a Long Ago (Long Version) - 4:37 (McCartney)

iTunes Bonus Track (2007)

Press (12 ″ Bevans / Forward dub mix) - 6:31 (McCartney)

Information on individual songs

• In addition to Eric Stewart, other well-known musicians were involved in the album, for example Phil Collins and Pete Townshend worked on the song Angry .
• The intro to Talk More Talk was spoken by Paul McCartney's son James , Linda McCartney, Eddie Klein, Paul McCartney's longtime guitar technician John Hammel, Matt Howe and Steve Jackson.
• The first edition in Great Britain and Germany of the long-playing record included the same version of the song Press as the CD version, the mixing by Bert Bevans and Steve Forward. The second edition of the LP includes the longer mix by Hugh Padgham.

Re-releases

• In April 1993 the CD was released in a version remastered by Peter Mew with two additional bonus tracks. The CD comes with a twelve-page illustrated booklet containing information on the album and the lyrics to the song.
• In May 2007 the album was released in download format.

Single releases

Spies Like Us

On November 18, 1985, the single Spies Like Us / My Carnival was released ; the A-side was recorded during the Press to Play album sessions , while the B-side My Carnival was recorded in 1975 during the Venus and Mars album sessions .

The single was also released on December 9, 1985 in the UK as a picture disc single in Shape format.

Furthermore, a 12 ″ vinyl maxi single was released with the following songs: Spies Like Us (Party Mix) / Spies Like Us (Alternative Mix) / Spies Like Us (DJ Version) / My Carnival (Party Mix) . This maxi-single was also released as a picture disc in Great Britain on December 2, 1985.

Spies Like Us is the last top ten hit in the USA for Paul McCartney as sole performer. The promotional 7 ″ vinyl single and 12 ″ vinyl single in the USA contain the single version and the shortened DJ version.

Press

On July 14, 1986, the single Press / It's Not True was released; the single was withdrawn after a few days, on July 20, in Great Britain and Germany and replaced by Press (Video Edit, Bevans-Forward Mix) , with only the second version was released in the USA.

The 12 ″ vinyl maxi single contains the following songs: Press (Bevans-Forward Mix) / It's Not True / Hanglide / Press (Dubmix) . Hanglide has not yet been released on CD.

A limited 10 "vinyl maxi single was released in Great Britain on August 18, 1986: Press (Original Mix) / It's Not True / Press (Video Edit) .

In the USA, two different 7 "vinyl promotion singles were distributed, the first containing the video edit on both sides, while the second promotion single has the video edit on the A-side and B-side as an exclusive mix. The 12 ″ vinyl promotional single again contains the video edit on both sides.

Pretty Little Head

The second single in Europe Pretty Little Head / Write Away   was on October 27, 1986. The A-side contains a new mix by Larry Alexander.

The 12 ″ vinyl maxi single contains the songs Pretty Little Head (Long Remix) / Angry (Remix) / Write Away; the new mix of Pretty Little Head was done by John Potoker, the new mix of Angry was done by Larry Alexander.

Although Pretty Little Head was not released as a single in the USA , a promotional 12 "vinyl single (catalog number: Capitol SPRO-9928) containing the European single version was released there.

Stranglehold

The second single in the US was Stranglehold / Angry (Remix) and took place on November 3, 1986.

In the USA 7 ″ and 12 ″ vinyl promotional singles were produced, which contain the normal single version on both sides. A 12 ″ vinyl promotional single was also released, which contains Angry as an LP version on both sides .

Only Love Remains

The third single in the US and Europe was Only Love Remains (Remix) / Tough on a Tightrope and was released on December 1, 1986 in the UK and on January 19, 1987 in the USA.

In Europe there was also the 12 ″ vinyl maxi single Only Love Remains (Remix) / Tough on a Tightrope (Long Remix) / Talk More Talk (Remix) . The new mix of Only Love Remains was done by Jim Boyer, who also added other instrumentations. Tough on a Tightrope (Long Remix) was remixed by Julian Mendelsohn, while Talk More Talk (Remix) was remixed by Paul McCartney and Jon Jacobs.

In the USA 7 ″ vinyl promotional singles were produced, which contain the normal single version on both sides.

Music videos

Music videos were produced for the single A-sides.

Chart placements

year	album	Chart placements					annotation
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1986	Press to play	30th	-	28	8th	30th	The album also reached number 21 in the Dutch charts, number 17 in the Swedish charts and number 8 in the Norwegian charts.
year	Single release	Chart placements					annotation
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1985	Spies Like Us Separate single	-	-	-	13	7th	The title also reached number 24 in Canada
1986	Press press to play	53	-	-	25th	21st	The title also reached number 25 in the Belgian (Flemish) charts.
1986	Pretty Little Head Press to Play	-	-	-	76	nv	The title reached number 29 in the Belgian (Flemish) charts.
1986	Stranglehold Press to Play	nv	nv	nv	nv	81
1986	Only Love Remains Press to Play	-	-	-	34	-

Sales figures and awards

Country / Region	Award	Sales
Awards for music sales (country / region, Award, Sales)
United Kingdom (BPI)	gold	100,000
All in all	1 × gold	100,000

Video publications

The video documentary The McCartney Special was released on VHS tape in November 1987 . A DVD version has not yet been released. The documentary outlines the career of Paul McCartney up to and including the album Press to Play .

criticism

The Rolling Stone found in 1986 that Press to Play made McCartney musically firmly in the present. The collaboration with Stewart and producer Padgham combines McCartney's melodies with a “dense electronic, contemporary sound” that gives the album a “rhythmic kick”.

allmusic stated that McCartney tried his hand at the areas that he was good at and tested what worked. Press to Play is not his strongest album, but more interesting than some of his albums, which are more uniform in terms of content and style. The Chicago Tribune described Press to Play as one of McCartney's better solo albums, it was a bit edgier and much faster than one is used to from him, even if it is not particularly memorable.

literature

• Chip Madinger, Mark Easter: Eight Arms To Hold You - The Solo Compendium . 44.1 Productions, 2000, ISBN 0-615-11724-4 (pp. 280-290).

Web links

• More information about the album
• Official Homepage: Press to Play
• Recorded by Paul McCartney in 1985
• Paul McCartney singles from 1980 to 2007
• Video: The McCartney Special

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Peter Ames Carlin: Paul McCartney. The biography . Hannibal, Höfen 2010, p. 356.
2. ↑ Quoted from: Judith Philipp, Ralf Simon: Listen to What the Man Said. Paul McCartney and his songs. A complete retrospective of the records, videos & films . Pendragon, Bielefeld 1991, p. 134.
3. ↑ Quoted from Peter Ames Carlin: Paul McCartney. The biography . Hannibal, Höfen 2010, p. 356.
4. ↑ Peter Ames Carlin: Paul McCartney. The biography . Hannibal, Höfen 2010, p. 358.
5. ↑ See Press to Play on maccafan.net
6. ↑ 7 ″ vinyl single: Long Tall Sally / I Saw Her Standing There
7. ↑ Peter Ames Carlin: Paul McCartney. The biography . Hannibal, Höfen 2010, p. 359.
8. ^ Judith Philipp, Ralf Simon: Listen to What the Man Said. Paul McCartney and his songs. A complete retrospective of the records, videos & films . Pendragon, Bielefeld 1991, p. 133.
9. ↑ See Press to Play on paulmccartney.com
10. ^ Judith Philipp, Ralf Simon: Listen to What the Man Said. Paul McCartney and his songs. A complete retrospective of the records, videos & films . Pendragon, Bielefeld 1991, p. 134.
11. ↑ Single: Spies Like Us
12. ↑ Picture-Disc-Shape-Single: Spies Like Us
13. ↑ Maxi single: Spies Like Us
14. ↑ Picture Disc Maxi Single: Spies Like Us
15. ↑ Promotional single : Spies Like Us
16. ↑ Promotional maxi single: Spies Like Us
17. ↑ Single: Press
18. ↑ 12 ″ -Maxi single: Press
19. ↑ 10 ″ -Maxisingle: Press
20. ^ Promotion single : Press
21. ↑ Second promotional single: Press
22. ^ Promotion maxi single: Press
23. ↑ Single: Pretty Little Head
24. ↑ Maxi single: Pretty Little Head
25. ^ Promotion maxi single: Pretty Little Head
26. ↑ Single: Stranglehold
27. ^ Promotion single : Stranglehold
28. ↑ Promotion single : Stranglehold
29. ↑ Promotion single : Angry
30. ↑ Single: Only Love Remains
31. ↑ Maxi single: Only Love Remains
32. ↑ Promotional single : Only Love Remains
33. ↑ Chart sources: hitparade.ch , allmusic.com
34. ↑ Chart sources: allmusic.com
35. ↑ See overview on hitparade.ch
36. ↑ See overview on hitparade.ch
37. ^ "... supplies Press to Play with an electronically dense contemporary sound that fleshes out McCartney's melodies and gives the LP rhythmic kick" Antony DeCurtis: Paul McCartney: Press to Play . In: Rolling Stone , October 23, 1986 ( online ).
38. ^ "... dabbling in each of his strengths, just to see what works. It doesn't wind up as one of his stronger albums, but it's more interesting than some of his more consistent ones “Stephen Thomas Erlewine: Paul McCartney: Press to Play. Review. allmusic.com.
39. ↑ Lynn Van Mattre: No Silly Love Songs on "Press to Play" . In: Chicago Tribune. September 12, 1986.