User Reviews

To promote what turned out to be the final album bearing the Wings moniker, (the group imploded in the wake of McCartney's drug bust in Japan), Paul McCartney, just because he can, assembled this mini video-album of a selection of tracks from the set.

The album wasn't hugely successful on initial release although it did make the top 10 in the UK and US, but I think it's an okay album and somewhat underrated without being close to his post-Beatles best "Band On The Run" .

The top and tail of this video set takes off from the record's album sleeve with the group, including new members guitarist Lawrence Juber and drummer Steve Holly, meandering to an observation deck on some sort of spaceship which silently opens and closes after the selected videos play below.

Not that the videos are world-class, Michael Jackson certainly needn't lose sleep, mostly just showing Paul and the group in different settings miming to the recorded track.

The best song is the set opener "Getting Closer" a blistering slice of power pop hindered by a fake live audience backing track, while other medium-lights are the attempted heavy-weight nonsense rocker "Old Siam Sir", the punk-ish (he wishes) "Spin It On", the 30's pastiche "Baby's Request" with the group in Army fatigues, the insipid ballad "Love Awake" to a wintry castle backdrop and the pristine synth-pop of "Arrow Through Me".

Only the bloated hyped-up superstar sessions for the bloated Rockestra and Denny Laine's weak "Again And Again Again" really let the side down.

Obviously for Macca fans only, this is a reasonably engaging half-hour of decent songs reasonab!y staged. His video outings would improve in the 80's with "Pipes Of Peace" and "Say Say Say" to name but two but this is okay for starters.

Looking back on Paul McCartney and Wings release of Back to the Egg, time has not been kind to one of Paul's more interesting additions to his musical catalog. On January 16, 1980, Paul McCartney and Wings were busted with a rather large amount of marijuana at Tokyo's Narita International Airport. He faced a 7 year sentence, he spent nine days in custody at Tokyo's Narcotics Detention Center. The 11 date tour was cancelled, and ultimately so was the band Wings. Everything stopped on this album, advertising, concert tour, and ultimately the record company's support. It was decided to "move on" to Paul's solo album "McCartney II.

Interestingly, this tv special exist to show just how much interest was behind the project. Paul had just previously released "Don't Say Goodnight" from these recording sessions (which is in the tv special but not on the album). This special shows a very secure, in his art form McCartney, playing with the audience, having fun and not taking himself to seriously. It comes off quite charming, and embraces his work in a way he would never be able to do again, in the frame work of a band. The music stands the rest of time, and has aged well. Sad to think, what could have been, if the trouble in Tokyo had not knocked everything off it's rails.