Venus And Mars
	Produced by Paul McCartney
	Released on May 27, 1975
	UK CHART POSITION #1 . . . US CHART POSITION #1 . . . GOLD RECORD (6/2/75), PLATINUM (11/27/91)
	Find it at GEMM
PC 36801 cover [high resolution photo]

N ote to self. Mention this is a silly record. Mention that maybe Magneto shouldn’t have come along for the ride. Mention how Band on the Run was better, more serious. Mention that this feels more like Red Rose Speedway. On steroids. Mention that Band on the run and Rock show are apples and oranges. That Band looked ahead with defiance where Venus acquiesced to old age. But Band on the Run was an anomaly. Tout Tug of War as much as you want, it’s not the same. Flaming Pie? Please. You can clearly hear the air hissing at the onset of Rock show. Don’t forget to mention that. But also mention how pretty Love in song is. How silly You gave me the answer is. How tempting Letting go is. How redemptive hearing Call me back again can be. And then there’s the hit: Listen to what the man said. Maybe don’t mention that your toes curl a little when Paul says “And then it occurred to me! You couldn’t be bad.” That’ll just freak people out. Mention that this is the first record to feature Jimmy McCulloch and Joe English as members of Wings. They’ll want to know that. There’s a picture of them in the gatefold. Poor Denny, he looks lonely. Mention that George Hardie did the graphics; he’s the same guy who did the artwork for 10cc’s How Dare You! and Bloody Tourists. And mention that people should read Leigh Hunt’s “Rondeau,” since that’s how this whole thing started. But what about a rating? Is Venus and Mars a good album or a bad one? When an album cover whispers its name to a ten-year-old acolyte from dirty department store shelves, how does one answer? One doesn’t, because another already did: “Rock on lovers everywhere, because that’s basically it.”

PC 36801 inner gatefold	PC 36801 picture sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. VENUS AND MARS    1:16
2. ROCK SHOW    5:32
3. LOVE IN SONG    3:05
4. YOU GAVE ME THE ANSWER    2:14
5. MAGNETO AND TITANIUM MAN    3:15
6. LETTING GO    4:36
7. VENUS AND MARS REPRISE    2:03
8. SPIRITS OF ANCIENT EGYPT    3:05
9. MEDICINE JAR    (J. McCullough/C. Allen)    3:37
10. CALL ME BACK AGAIN    4:59
11. LISTEN TO WHAT THE MAN SAID    3:59
12. TREAT HER GENTLY - LONELY OLD PEOPLE    4:24
13. CROSSROADS THEME    (T. Hatch)    1:01
    
    CD reissue bonus tracks
    
14. ZOO GANG
15. LUNCH BOX - ODD SOX
16. MY CARNIVAL
    
    All songs written by Paul McCartney unless noted

CREDITS

JOE ENGLISH --
DENNY LAINE --
LINDA McCARTNEY -- cover photo
PAUL McCARTNEY -- arrangements
JIMMY McCULLOCH --
Afro -- congas (2)
Geoff Britton -- drums
Tony Dorsey -- arrangements
Dave Mason -- guitar (11)
Tom Scott -- saxophone (11)
Allen Toussaint -- piano (2)
Alan O'Duffy -- engineer
Geoff Emerick -- engineer
Hipgnosis -- centrefold po
Sylvia de Swaan -- black and white poster
George Hardie -- graphics

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