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Post by Joe Karlosi on Mar 17, 2012 6:54:51 GMT -5
C'mon, put down those tired old Beatles records and join in for something different! Even if you don't know this song, play it and come back and discuss it and/or vote:
4=Exceptional/Great 3= Good 2= Average 1= Crap
This time it's "Pretty Little Head" -- Paul McCartney, PRESS TO PLAY (1986)
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Post by Joe Karlosi on Mar 17, 2012 6:59:46 GMT -5
3 ("Good") -- I don't really like PRESS TO PLAY much as a whole, but after DRIVING RAIN I can now appreciate this album much more. I think "Pretty Little Head" is an interesting sound for Paul in the 1980s, and I like how he makes something current and of the times here. He's "hip" with this unusual song.
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Post by mikev on Mar 17, 2012 7:15:51 GMT -5
2.
Phil Collins is actually on this LP but strangley enough not on this song where I'm waiting for Crocker and Tubbs to arrive.
I do like Paul's Love is Long/I've Got a Feeling voice, but here it is a little weird.
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Post by ursamajor on Mar 17, 2012 7:26:27 GMT -5
4 - This is an absolute masterpiece and IMO, Paul's greatest 80's song.
The single version and 7 minute extended remix are equally brilliant and I prefer them both to the album version.
It seems this version is a combination of both but with the altered Paul vocal.
This song in particular sowed the seeds for Paul's deeper experimentation with the ambient and electronic sounds of Fireman.
And if you don't know by now, my moniker Ursa Major comes from this song.
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Post by vectisfabber on Mar 17, 2012 7:50:48 GMT -5
I don't understand this song, but I love it. For me it works on a level which is different to my conventional appreciation of music. Sure, it has a pleasing melody (as is so often the case with McCartney), and the words are not obviously great. But their weirdness is part of the way the song reaches me - the music is insistent, withe terrific variety and imagination in the percusion, and there is an unnerving element to it. It feels prehistoric (perhaps I am equating hillmen with cavemen). This is a one-off - there is nothing else quite like it in McCartney's catalogue.
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Post by vectisfabber on Mar 17, 2012 7:54:49 GMT -5
I don't understand this song, but I love it. For me it works on a level which is different to my conventional appreciation of music. Sure, it has a pleasing melody (as is so often the case with McCartney), and the words are not obviously great. But their weirdness is part of the way the song reaches me - the music is insistent, withe terrific variety and imagination in the percusion, and there is an unnerving element to it. It feels prehistoric (perhaps I am equating hillmen with cavemen). This is a one-off - there is nothing else quite like it in McCartney's catalogue. If I were Janice I would say "Oi'll give it foive," but in the circumstances I'll give it four. Incidentally, Joe, I haven't been ignoring these, it's just that I've been at home this week and my laptop won't play youtubes. I have had records/CDs with Old Dirt Road, The End Of The End, and the George one on, and can't remember what they sound like, so clearly they left no impression.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2012 8:01:01 GMT -5
The Lyrics...
Hillmen, hillmen, hillmen, hillmen, Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh. Hillmen come down from the lava, Forging across the mighty river flow, oh-oh. Always forever, Only so you don't worry Your pretty little head.
Ursa major, ursa minor, Ursa major, ursa minor.
Hillmen, hillmen, hillmen, hillmen, Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh. Hillmen bring garments, spices, Carrying trinkets, silk and precious stones, oh-oh. Exotic legends, Only so you don't worry Your pretty little head.
Hillmen, hillmen, hillmen, hillmen, Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh. Hillmen are sworn to allegiance, Living a life of silent dignity, oh-oh. For your protection, Only so you don't worry Your pretty little head.
Ursa major, ursa minor, Ursa major, ursa minor. Ursa major.
Ursa major, ursa minor, Ursa major, ursa minor. Ursa major, ursa minor, Ursa major, ursa minor. Ursa major, ursa minor, Ursa major, ursa minor. Ursa major, ursa minor.
Ursa major, ursa minor.
The hillmen, Living in higher reaches.
Ursa major, ursa minor.
I think a fellow board member got their name from this tune
Not the normal production with this song for Paul...i don't like it much...It's a 2 for me.....
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Post by debjorgo on Mar 17, 2012 8:31:00 GMT -5
I was, and am, a big fan of Press to Play. There's always the fear with Paul that he will embarrass you with some soft, over the top pop that will make you sorry you ever said you liked him in the first place. This is good stuff here, not Zeplin or Floyd hard and heavy, but good stuff.
This was a product of Paul's colaboration with 10cc frontman, Eric Stewert. I'm a big fan of 10cc as well. Some of their stuff is pretty out there.
I think the album would had done better had he not led it off with the Press single, but with this version of this song. Ursamajor, we agreed up to a point on this until we got to which version of the single is best. The album version is best.
I'll give it a 4.
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Post by Joe Karlosi on Mar 17, 2012 8:40:54 GMT -5
Well, vectis, if you can ever get to a computer where you can hear the songs I would be interested in your opinions!
By the way, I am very surprised (pleasantly) that you like PRETTY LITTLE HEAD as much as you do. I would have thought it was too "out there" for you (no offense there).
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Post by Joe Karlosi on Mar 17, 2012 9:08:57 GMT -5
4 - This is an absolute masterpiece and IMO, Paul's greatest 80's song. The single version and 7 minute extended remix are equally brilliant and I prefer them both to the album version. It seems this version is a combination of both but with the altered Paul vocal. This song in particular sowed the seeds for Paul's deeper experimentation with the ambient and electronic sounds of Fireman. And if you don't know by now, my moniker Ursa Major comes from this song. Yes, I know. That's why I chose the song. Wonder what Bob Dylan thinks of it? ;D
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Post by coachbk on Mar 17, 2012 9:14:52 GMT -5
This is a song I can admire more than I actually like. Paul has often been accused of "playing it safe" and this song certainly shows him trying to do something different-almost a bit of an early techno sound. That said I never really enjoyed the song much. It is a little too weird and goes on too long. PRESS TO PLAY is one of Paul's albums I never got into big time. I liked the single "Press" and "Only Love Remains" but nothing else grabbed me. Frankly if this is what Paul comes up with for "experimenting" then I'd rather he "play it safe"! On overall balance of the pluses and minuses I will give it a 2.
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Post by John S. Damm on Mar 17, 2012 11:30:23 GMT -5
The single version and 7 minute extended remix are equally brilliant and I prefer them both to the album version. I love whatever version has parts where Paul sings in his more normal voice but I love the electronically altered voice too. In some ways this song is very un- Postulate but in more other ways it is right there in Postulate-land! The extended version of "Pretty Little Head" sometimes gets added to the tape loop during a Mumbo Stomp session because any song that is about "hillmen" is perfect for an outing where middle aged men dance naked around a fire and the pulsating beat works too! I give this a 4 for "Exceptional/Great." P.S. Joe, was it really necessary to slam Driving Rain in the lead-in to this song?
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Post by anyoneanyhow on Mar 17, 2012 12:22:55 GMT -5
I love Press to Play, but this song is just kinda ok. Fits in well on the LP but on its own it's a 2- average.
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kc
Beatle Freak
Posts: 1,085
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Post by kc on Mar 17, 2012 15:52:15 GMT -5
Some posters have a very high opinion of this song. I think it's pretty good too. Not quite exceptional: 3 (good).
Fabfour, it's very useful how you provide the lyrics for all of these songs.
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Post by stavros on Mar 17, 2012 16:04:44 GMT -5
I seem to recall back in the mid 80s it was very uncool to like Paul McCartney amongst people of my generation. It was a time of great changes in our society. Britain had a new generation of bands and sounds (most who ultimately faded before that decade was out). Shiny CDs and slickly produced rock and pop music, with washes of synthesizer sounds blasted out of the radios and personal stereos. The Beatles just seemed a bit old hat at this time of my life. I'd grown up with them but I'd moved on to more contemporary sounds.
I remember receiving "Press to Play" as a birthday present and feeling totally underwhelmed by it. I never really gave it another chance. Not for a long time.
So I can now remove the context of this songs lack of impact on me around 1987 and say.... This is actually a little gem of a track. Experimental but also very 80s sounding. Probably because Hugh Padgman produced it.
I can't quite give it a 4 but it's a very big 3.
There are number of mixes of the song out there this being another one. I think it was the video for the original UK single.
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Post by ursamajor on Mar 17, 2012 18:02:50 GMT -5
4 - This is an absolute masterpiece and IMO, Paul's greatest 80's song. The single version and 7 minute extended remix are equally brilliant and I prefer them both to the album version. It seems this version is a combination of both but with the altered Paul vocal. This song in particular sowed the seeds for Paul's deeper experimentation with the ambient and electronic sounds of Fireman. And if you don't know by now, my moniker Ursa Major comes from this song. Yes, I know. That's why I chose the song. Wonder what Bob Dylan thinks of it? ;D I figured that
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Post by ursamajor on Mar 17, 2012 18:11:23 GMT -5
I was, and am, a big fan of Press to Play. There's always the fear with Paul that he will embarrass you with some soft, over the top pop that will make you sorry you ever said you liked him in the first place. This is good stuff here, not Zeplin or Floyd hard and heavy, but good stuff. This was a product of Paul's colaboration with 10cc frontman, Eric Stewert. I'm a big fan of 10cc as well. Some of their stuff is pretty out there. I think the album would had done better had he not led it off with the Press single, but with this version of this song. Ursamajor, we agreed up to a point on this until we got to which version of the single is best. The album version is best. I'll give it a 4. It is my favourite Paul album even though both Paul and RTP don't rate it much and I guess most Paul fans but I love it. Paul's look in the Press video was so 80's but I liked the whole London Underground ride. As for this version, until I heard the other two the single remix and the extended remix I thought this was the be all and end all but the other versions had abit more going on, the single had the Paul only vocal and was abit faster and on the extended remix just cuts loose with the bass riff.
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Post by ursamajor on Mar 17, 2012 18:12:48 GMT -5
The single version and 7 minute extended remix are equally brilliant and I prefer them both to the album version. I love whatever version has parts where Paul sings in his more normal voice but I love the electronically altered voice too. In some ways this song is very un- Postulate but in more other ways it is right there in Postulate-land! The extended version of "Pretty Little Head" sometimes gets added to the tape loop during a Mumbo Stomp session because any song that is about "hillmen" is perfect for an outing where middle aged men dance naked around a fire and the pulsating beat works too! I give this a 4 for "Exceptional/Great." P.S. Joe, was it really necessary to slam Driving Rain in the lead-in to this song? I would say this song and album are non-organic so woud not fit with the JSD-Postulate, maybe if the video had a lamb or sheep in there ;D
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2012 20:34:11 GMT -5
Some posters have a very high opinion of this song. I think it's pretty good too. Not quite exceptional: 3 (good). Fabfour, it's very useful how you provide the lyrics for all of these songs. I'll keep doing it...i think it helps when rating the song...
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Post by John S. Damm on Mar 17, 2012 23:41:33 GMT -5
I seem to recall back in the mid 80s it was very uncool to like Paul McCartney amongst people of my generation. It was a time of great changes in our society. Britain had a new generation of bands and sounds (most who ultimately faded before that decade was out). Shiny CDs and slickly produced rock and pop music, with washes of synthesizer sounds blasted out of the radios and personal stereos. The Beatles just seemed a bit old hat at this time of my life. I'd grown up with them but I'd moved on to more contemporary sounds. I remember receiving "Press to Play" as a birthday present and feeling totally underwhelmed by it. I never really gave it another chance. Not for a long time. So I can now remove the context of this songs lack of impact on me around 1987 and say.... This is actually a little gem of a track. Experimental but also very 80s sounding. Probably because Hugh Padgman produced it. I can't quite give it a 4 but it's a very big 3. There are number of mixes of the song out there this being another one. I think it was the video for the original UK single. Great post, great video, stavros! That is the version I love of "Pretty Little Head." I think that version is better than "Hey Jude," "Yesterday," or "Let It Be." Seriously. Paul cranks it up a notch on that video version. Not the album version but that one on the video. Damn that is hot stuff.
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Post by Steve Marinucci on Mar 18, 2012 23:31:59 GMT -5
This sounds so artificial and un-Paul-like compared to his recent music. I'll give it a 2 to be generous.
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gloi
Very Clean
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Post by gloi on Mar 19, 2012 4:02:42 GMT -5
I liked this when it came out and I like it more now. I'll give it 4.
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Post by ReturnToPepperland on Mar 19, 2012 18:01:41 GMT -5
This is probably my favorite track from PTP along with Move Over Busker, Only Love Remains and Press. It is really brilliant and has aged very well. There are some even more kickass outtakes of this song as Ursamajor knows. Its too bad the other songs on the album were so weak and he didn't replace them with some of his 1987 unreleased songs.
If only Paul would have waited until the summer of 1987 and added a couple songs he did with Elvis including Back on My Feet and included the single Once Upon A Long Ago and a couple other tracks lying around and called it Return To Pepperland. He would have had his best album in years.
Return To Pepperland (It was 20 years ago today) (June 1987)
1. Return To Pepperland 2. Pretty Little Head 3. Move Over Busker 4. Press 5. Back On My Feet 6. Once Upon A Long Ago 7. Love Mix 8. I Love This House 9. Lindana 10. Love Come Tumbling Down 11. Christian Pop 12. Only Love Remains
Bonus Tracks 13. Spies Like Us 14. Tough On A Tightrope
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Post by mikev on Mar 19, 2012 18:23:51 GMT -5
This is probably my favorite track from PTP along with Move Over Busker, Only Love Remains and Press. It is really brilliant and has aged very well. There are some even more kickass outtakes of this song as Ursamajor knows. Its too bad the other songs on the album were so weak and he didn't replace them with some of his 1987 unreleased songs. If only Paul would have waited until the summer of 1987 and added a couple songs he did with Elvis including Back on My Feet and included the single Once Upon A Long Ago and a couple other tracks lying around and called it Return To Pepperland. He would have had his best album in years. Return To Pepperland (It was 20 years ago today) (June 1987) 1. Return To Pepperland 2. Pretty Little Head 3. Move Over Busker 4. Press 5. Back On My Feet 6. Once Upon A Long Ago 7. Love Mix 8. I Love This House 9. Lindana 10. Love Come Tumbling Down 11. Christian Pop 12. Only Love Remains Bonus Tracks 13. Spies Like Us 14. Tough On A Tightrope you forgot the "brilliant" Big Day. ...hmmmm I dood it!!!
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Post by debjorgo on Mar 19, 2012 18:47:10 GMT -5
Press to Play was perfect until you got to Press. It was a little too pop and the Oklahoma line didn't help. Move Over Busker was a low point for me. The album was better without the original bonus tracks. I'll skip Tough On A Tightrope, thank you.
I've never heard of most of Pepperland's tracks. I didn't like I Love This House at the time, but I love it now. I was a b-side of a Flaming Pie single. From Pepper's post, I assume it was recorded earlier. Does anyone know when the First Stone was recorded? I just recently dubbed it down from a cassette. It sounded real slow and well, dubbed from a casstte. But the version on youtube sounds the same way. It could easily be one of my favorite Paul songs.
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Post by ReturnToPepperland on Mar 20, 2012 12:28:10 GMT -5
Press to Play was perfect until you got to Press. It was a little too pop and the Oklahoma line didn't help. Move Over Busker was a low point for me. The album was better without the original bonus tracks. I'll skip Tough On A Tightrope, thank you. I've never heard of most of Pepperland's tracks. I didn't like I Love This House at the time, but I love it now. I was a b-side of a Flaming Pie single. From Pepper's post, I assume it was recorded earlier. Does anyone know when the First Stone was recorded? I just recently dubbed it down from a cassette. It sounded real slow and well, dubbed from a casstte. But the version on youtube sounds the same way. It could easily be one of my favorite Paul songs. First Stone is from those sessions in 1987 along with I Love This House. I should have included it in my list.
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Post by ursamajor on Mar 20, 2012 17:36:39 GMT -5
RTP I would have included the alternate version of Stranglehold and Feel the Sun, they're both better than the album versions as is the Angry version with the horns.
I have not heard the RTP demos/tracks except for I Love This House but what about Atlantic Ocean was that from same period ?
There was a better album for Paul in 1986 , I think he and his producers just had too much fun doing the mixes and they lost themselves and couldn't decide which ones to put on the album.
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Post by Joe Karlosi on Mar 20, 2012 17:41:13 GMT -5
I love
BACK ON MY FEET SPIES LIKE US ONCE UPON A LONG AGO
If those three songs would have... could have?.... been put on PRESS TO PLAY, they would have improved the album significantly to me.
But as it is, I like those songs as odd singles too.
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Post by mikev on Mar 20, 2012 20:00:09 GMT -5
I love BACK ON MY FEET SPIES LIKE US ONCE UPON A LONG AGO If those three songs would have... could have?.... been put on PRESS TO PLAY, they would have improved the album significantly to me. But as it is, I like those songs as odd singles too. I dunno- I think Spies like the movie itself was a complete dud- yet it was Paul's last top ten single in the US.
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Post by Joe Karlosi on Mar 20, 2012 20:22:36 GMT -5
I didn't like SPIES either at first, took me some time. I got to think it really rocks, especially at the end. It sounds hard-edged, even though the words are lame.
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