TV Cream

Macca

The Macca Video Jukebox: part two

SONG:
COMING UP

DEFINITION:
Paul achieves his ultimate dream: performing in a band entirely made up of himself. Oh, and Linda.

THINGS TO KNOW:
a) This was Macca’s first single of the 80s.
b) It was only kept off the number one spot by Blondie’s dreary shoutathon, ‘Call Me’.
c) It was, however, top of the charts in the United States.
d) Which was where John Lennon heard it, specifically inside a taxi cab, upon which he exclaimed “Fuck a pig – it’s Paul!” and (for what it’s worth, which isn’t much) professed it to be one of the best solo songs his erstwhile cohort had ever done.
e) The amiable army of Pauls in the video was dubbed, by the man himself, The Plastic Macs.

THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR:
a) The Maccalikes. How many can you spot? There’s (at the very least) Buddy Holly, Ginger Baker, Frank Zappa, Ron Mael out of Sparks, and (best of all) Beatlemania Paul.
b) The fact even Linda looks like she’s enjoying herself.
c) The bit where Paul points at the band just before he starts singing.
d) The bit where the Beatlemania Paul does a thumbs-up.
e) Macca’s ace moves. They’re all here: bopping, head jiggling, eye rolling, weird arm gestures, doing a peace sign, the works.

VERDICT:
Toppermost of the poppermost


BONUS FEATURE

Here’s Paul and co doing the song live in 1979. It’s an absolutely storming version, topped off with some textbook Maccalese of the kind that would later bedeck his live gigs from start to finish. “C’mon, don’t be shy, give your bums a quick rub, ooh yeah!”

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. FeedbackReport

    February 26, 2007 at 11:00 am

    As much as I love Coming Up, I can’t let that description of Call Me as a ‘dreary shoutathon’ go unchallenged…

  2. Ian Jones

    February 26, 2007 at 11:38 pm

    It’s a dirge! For starters you’ve got that endless music that just goes on and on and never builds into anything, plus Debbie Harry at her most whining and, to top it off, a bunch of drunk blokes shouting in the background.

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