I
remember buying Wings Greatest on CD
when I was at University, from Our Price (Our
Price!) in Huddersfield town centre. Then, a few years later when I was
building my vinyl collection, McCartney released this - a retrospective of
(mainly) his work with Wings, even though the collection is credited to
McCartney in name, as though it is purely a solo compilation.This was an album I bought on vinyl and immediately transferred onto tape so I could play it in my crappy Nissan Sunny on drives over to Ireland. I’ve spent many a reggae-inspired middle-eight of Live And Let Die racing through the Welsh valleys on my way to the ferry port at Fishguard.
The Wings stuff across this double-LP set is essentially their greatest hits (their singles complimented by their better album tracks), and these are bookended by McCartney’s solo stuff both pre- and post-Wings. Thankfully, there’s not a great deal of McCartney’s solo cheese on here - the only real example is No More Lonely Nights, which gets two versions for some reason. The rest of his solo cheese - especially the likes of Ebony & Ivory and Wonderful Christmastime - is thankfully overlooked.
I’d have stuck Say Say Say on this if I had the opportunity, but given that none of his big duets appear on the album, it’s probably a simpler affair to keep it strictly a McCartney / Wings affair.
Hit: Band On The Run
Hidden Gem: Too Many People
