Looking Back at Paul McCartney's Wonderful, Bizarre McCartney II

Looking Back at Paul McCartney's Wonderful, Bizarre McCartney II

By Craig Hlavaty Wed., Nov. 7 2012 at 9:00 AM

On the way to releasing McCartney II and with Wings in deathly limbo, McCartney tinkered with recording equipment and ended up recording 20 or so songs by himself on his Scottish farm. You would think the pastoral surroundings would create something rootsy, but not so with McCartney. He ended up making an electronic funk record, which today would be held up as expert latpop dance-pop. "Temporary Secretary" would make it onto an Apple commercials in a flash.

Last year's reissues of 1970's McCartney and McCartney II astounded the hipster rock press, who also agreed that some of this material wouldn't be too far removed from the output of the current indie class of 2012.

Check out the video MII, lead single, "Comin' Up," which features Paul as everyone, even Ron Mael from Sparks.

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McCartney II, Paul McCartney

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mrosin80

1 Like

Absolutely spot on. I bought the McCartney II reissue and became an instant convert.. So many great tracks -- Check My Machine, Temporary Secretary, Secret Friend, and, yes, even the awkwardly named Frozen Jap. One of These Days is a gorgeous ballad, too. The record is more interesting and more forward-thinking than anything produced by the other three ex-Beatles. After all, John did some avant garde stuff with Yoko (the Two Virgins album) but its unlistenable. McCartney II just feels ahead of its time.

It's amusing, though, how many Wings fans still hate the record. They never got it and never will.