Press To Play
	Produced by Paul McCartney and Hugh Padgham
	Released on September 19, 1986
	UK CHART POSITION #8 . . . US CHART POSITION #30
	Find it at GEMM
CDP 7 46269-2 cover [high resolution scan]

P roduced with Hugh Padgham (and I’m a hugh fan of his), Press To Play is Paul’s strongest release since Tug of War. The cynical among you may be wondering whether that’s a backhanded compliment, since only Pipes of Peace and Give My Regards To Broad Street separate the two, hardly heavyweights themselves. But I’m earnest in my appreciation of Press; it has all the ingredients of a good McCartney album with a few new twists to keep things interesting. Much of the material is written with 10cc’s Eric Stewart, who assumed the role played earlier by Denny Laine, and the pop smarts this new pair possess is nothing to sneeze at. Padgham also brings in modern elements that immediately invite comparison to his work with Phil Collins and Split Enz (whose Eddie Rayner appears here), and the songs often sparkle in such a setting. “Strangehold,” “Press,” “Write Away” and “Good Times Coming/Feel The Sun” are the sort of contagious numbers that keep me coming back to Paul’s music and remain some of my favorites over his career. In between are soft ballads (“Footprints,” “Only Love Remains”), agitated rockers (“Move Over Busker,” “Angry”) and edgier experiments (“Talk More Talk,” “Pretty Little Head”). Clearly, Press To Play is not a case of Paul McCartney coasting, as is sometimes the case in his catalog. The record’s cool reception is the likely victim of payback, since listeners scorched on Pipes and Broadstreet weren’t about to get burned again. In retrospect, Press To Play deserved to be heralded as yet another comeback, so here I am (late as usual) telling you to give this one a second chance. The CD adds a few tracks (including the shoulda-beena-hit “Write Away”), so I’d lean in that direction.

CDP 7 46269 2 lyric booklet

TRACK LISTING

1. STRANGLEHOLD    (Paul McCartney)
2. GOOD TIMES COMING/FEEL THE SUN    (Paul McCartney)
3. TALK MORE TALK    (Paul McCartney)
4. FOOTPRINTS    (Paul McCartney/Eric Stewart)
5. ONLY LOVE REMAINS    (Paul McCartney)
6. PRESS    (Paul McCartney)
7. PRETTY LITTLE HEAD    (Paul McCartney/Eric Stewart)
8. MOVE OVER BUSKER    (Paul McCartney/Eric Stewart)
9. ANGRY    (Paul McCartney/Eric Stewart)
10. HOWEVER ABSURD    (Paul McCartney/Eric Stewart)
    
    CD bonus tracks
    
11. WRITE AWAY    (Paul McCartney/Eric Stewart)
12. IT'S NOT TRUE    (Paul McCartney)
13. TOUGH ON A TIGHTROPE    (Paul McCartney/Eric Stewart)
    
    CD reissue bonus tracks
    
14. SPIES LIKE US
15. ONCE UPON A LONG TIME AGO (LONG VERSION)

CREDITS

PAUL McCARTNEY -- illustrations
CARLOS ALOMAR --
GARY BARNACLE --
JOHN BRADBURY --
SIMON CHAMBERLAIN --
PHIL COLLINS --
RAY COOPER --
NICK GLENNIE-SMITH --
RUBY JAMES -- harmonies
JERRY MAROTTA --
LINDA McCARTNEY -- harmonies, spoken word
DICK MORRISEY --
LENNIE PICKETT --
EDDIE RAYNER --
KATE ROBBINS -- harmonies
ERIC STEWART -- special contribution, harmonies
PETE TOWNSHEND --
GRAHAM WARD --
GAVIN WRIGHT --
Anne Dudley -- orchestra arrangement (10)
James McCartney -- spoken word (3)
Tony Visconti -- orchestra arrangement (5)
Hugh Padgham -- engineer, mixing
Haydn Bendall -- additional engineering
Bert Bevans -- mixing (6)
Matt Butler -- additional engineering
Tony Clark -- additional engineering
Steve Forward -- mixing (6)
John Hammel -- additional engineering, spoken word
Matt Howe -- additional engineering, spoken word
Steve Jackson -- engineer, spoken word
Trevor Jones -- additional engineering
Jon Kelly -- additional engineering
Eddie Klein -- additional engineering, spoken word
Julian Mendelsohn -- mixing (12)
Peter Mew -- additional engineering
George Hurrell -- photography

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