DOES SHE
THAN HE DOES
JUST BECAUSE
KNOWN?
United Way supports a wide range
of human service agencies—charities we all
know but also less well-known organizations
which otherwise might not get the needed
finances to carry on jA
their good work.
Thanks bo you
It works.
for all or us.
A PuMc Sonin of Thu MiguifM ir Tho Advoroatng Counci
cided to use the time to write.
“I stocked the car with pads and pens
and made a start. I was always scared of
writing. 1 was never any good at it, even ;
in school, so I began just trying to write
‘a day in the life of Paul McCartney’ sort
of thing. Then 1 heard a story about the
Sex Pistols having the master tapes of
their first album go missing and that
started me thinking.”
As it stands Broad Street concerns an
international pop star (played by
McCartney) who has worked for a year
on a new album when the master tapes
vanish, perhaps stolen by an ex-convict
he’s taken pity on and given a job. Ringo
who was working on Tug of War with
Paul read the script and loved it. “Great,”
said Paul, "because I’ve written a part for
you in it.” Ringo and his wife, actress
Barbara Bach, were among the first to
sign on for the film. Record producer
George Martin (sometimes known as
“The Fifth Beatle” because of his influ
ence with the group’s records) plays
himself. Australian actor Bryan Brown
( Breaker Morant’) plays Paul’s shrewd
Australian manager (echoes of Steve
Shrimpton, Paul’s real Australian man
ager?). There are 14 songs in the film
ranging from Lennon/McCartney favor
ites like “Good Day Sunshine” and
“Eleanor Rigby” to “Band on the Run”
and “So Bad” to some new songs written
especially for the film.
Part Three: Sharp Words
McCartney is well aware of the criti
cisms that have been levelled at him and
at his music since the Beatles broke up:
that he is manipulative and hypocritical,
that his songs are sentimental and super
ficial. “It does annoy me when jour
nalists write about me as if ‘oh, isn’t he
the sharp one.’ I remember one day
when we were having arguments in The
Beades. I said something and as it hap*
pens I was in the right. John (Lennon)
turned around and said "well you’re al
ways right aren’t you?’ But he still did it
his way. It was shocking to me because
suddenly I though, ‘oh god, I’ve always
thought it was okay just to be right.
Someone’s wrong, someone’s right and
we go with who’s right But sometimes it
isn’t enough to be right and it was a
shock to me having to learn that.
“I’m not trying to be the clever one
these days at all. I really try to avoid it
like mad, in fact I mean, people do get a
very wrong impression of me. If they’re
feeling bitchy, they’ll categorize me as
the schmaltzy one. I don’t mind if they
call me romantic or sentimental. ”
Talking about himself, McCartney can
be his own worst enemy. He’s not nearly
as conventional as he sounds but he
doesn’t have the way with words that
John Lennon had that made his own
domesticity seem like the ultimate in
rock rebellion. The facts are that Paul, of
all the ex-Beatles, has tried hardest to
remain true to the old rock and roll.
When the Beatles broke up, the formed
Wings with his wife Linda and guitarist
Denny Laine, packed them in the back of
a transit van and set off on an ad hoc
tour of Britain, turning up at colleges
unannounced and asking if he could
play for them for free. It was back to
basics with a vengeance and as a result
McCartney says, “we couldn’t believe it
when Wings became successful. There’d
been tremendous criticism of Linda
being in the group (Linda McCartney, a
professional photographer before she
met Paul, had no musical training). We'd
formed Wings on a whim, we'd done it
on vibes.”
Part Four Bandleader
on the Run
Whatever its origins, Wings was the be
ginning of McCartney's staggeringly suc
cessful solo career. He’s always been a
perfectionist and a workaholic. As
George Martin observed on Broad
Street.’ "I couldn’t stand the pace Paul
goes. He gets up incredibly early in the
morning, he drives two hours to and
from Sussex to the studios, he acts all
day. During lunchtime he’s talking about
problems on the film with one person
or another, every evening he’s having
discussions with the director or the pro
ducer. He’s involved in every aspect. ”
“Obviously it’s easier for me to make
a film or do some big project that it
would be for the average person,” says
McCaryiey who pumped $100 thousand
of his own money into Broad Street be
fore 20th Century Fox took over the
financing. “That's one of the terrific
things about my life. It’s one of the
things you work and become successful
for even though you may not realize it
When you get money, you don't just
stop, so there must be something else. I
think it’s this kind of thing. The freedom
of action, the freedom to change your
direction professionally a little.”
Though he has collaborated, with the
best,-like Stevie Wonder on "Ebony and
Ivory” and Michael Jackson, McCartney’s
name is forever linked with John Len
non. Though their relationship degener
ated into bitter squabbles after the Bea
tles broke up, Lennon’s murder in 1980
hit Paul hard.
“On a purely selfish level it affected
my composure in public places. You
begin to be wary of getting into close
quarters with fans. When some kid
reaches into his pocket for a pen or a bit
of paper, you tense and want to ease
away. That passes with time to some ex
tent. What will never pass is the personal
sadness. I’m just grateful that the last
words we had together were pretty de
cent. That means a lot to me.”