The Bonus Discs - Wings Over America

In the CD age, an entire concert can usually fit comfortably onto a double live album, so it’s easy to forget that in 1976 the idea of releasing an entire set as a live album, rather than edited highlights, was a pretty lavish to begin with. It’s like a relic from a different age. Could be.

This expanded and boxed edition is the most sumptuous release in the McCartney Archive Collection yet, making the earlier deluxe editions of Band on the Run, McCartney and McCartney II look positively humble by comparison. The whole package is arranged much more sensibly than RAM’s box of tricks. The box itself is a slipcover, housing four(!) books: a short history of Wings and the US tour written by David Fricke, an album of Linda’s photographs taken on the tour, a book of drawings by Humphrey Ocean and a replica itinerary of the tour including dates, lyrics, insurance details, replica programme, passes and tickets and it also happens to house the discs. 

The discs themselves are presented in miniature reproductions of the inner sleeves of the original LP and the disc labels are replicas of the custom labels of the LPs. (Sides 4 and 5 are the ones that were left out).

The remasters definitely have more clarity and crispness than the previous CD release. However, the album has not been remixed, so the bass is still at the front of the mix as it was on the original album.  While it’s refreshing to hear those classic McCartney basslines so clearly, it becomes a little disconcerting to have the bass dominating the mix as much as it does. 

And so to the bonus discs, of which there are two – a short CD of songs from the show at San Francisco’s Cow Palace, and a DVD of the television special Wings Over the World and a(nother) collections of photos called Photographer’s Pass. Unlike the McCartney and RAM DVDs, there is plenty of visual material connected with Wings Over America to make a decent length DVD. Wings Over the World is not so much a documentary as a bit of a travelogue where the music does the talking most of the time and there are short quotes from Paul as voiceover between the songs. Most of the concert footage is taken from what would eventually become Rockshow, but it also includes a song each from San Francisco and Melbourne. There are also some amusing pieces with Australian media and snippets of the infamous Norman Gunston interview, which Paul and Linda excelled at because they got the humour. 

As with the previous deluxe edition DVDs, the vision has not been restored and the audio has not been remastered so the quality of both is exactly what you would expect from a late 70s television special. (The copyright date at the end says 1979, so it may have originally been released to promote either Wings’ 1979 tour or possibly the Rockshow film). While this may have added some charm to the short programs on the previous DVDs, it’s a bit disappointing that more effort wasn’t made on such an expensive release. The Photographer’s Pass segment features many photos that are also included in the books, set to the live versions of Band on the Run and Soily. 

The bonus audio disc features only eight songs. Why only eight and why these eight remains a mystery. These versions were clearly never candidates for the main album as there a couple of noticeable mistakes and a few wobbly harmonies. The mix is considerably drier than the main album which gives the set a more intimate sound even though the venue was as large as any other they played on the tour. 

As with the other deluxe editions, the box comes with a voucher to download all the music in high-resolution audio.

Worth paying extra for?

Well, that all depends on what you’re buying. If you want the full package with photos, coffee table books and a box that could actually double as a small coffee table, then it’s quite reasonable. Nothing approaching a bargain, but reasonable. However, if all you want is the extra music and DVD, then no way on earth is it worth paying over $100 extra for. And frankly folks, this is why people download. It makes sense for record companies to entice people back to buying real, physical music by value-adding on the packaging side, but this goes way too far. It’s not that the packaging isn’t brilliant. Indeed, it’s probably the most beautiful package ever released by a Beatle, and that’s saying something. It’s just that what people want most is the music. As I’ve said in reviews of other deluxe editions, there are more than enough cashed-up completists to make this boxed set sell handsomely even if all the audio and visual content were made available for less than the cost of a five-star dinner for four. 

I really hope they go back to the single book packaging for the next round of reissues, but the way things are going, Venus and Mars is going to come with five hardcover books housed in a replica billiard table and cost about $250.

Venus and Mars/Rockshow/Jet - Initial CD release

Venus and Mars/Rockshow/Jet - 2013 remaster

Venus and Mar/Rockshow/Jet - Hi-res 2013 remaster

How to do damage control

This week provided a study in contrasts of how to manage an embarrassing story from the Liberal Party and the Australian Defence Force.

When news broke of a menu from a Liberal Party fundraising dinner which made offensive sexual references to the prime minister, the member who the dinner was raising funds for, Mal Brough, apologised and Liberal leader Tony Abbott condemned it. Rightly so.

Then, that evening, the restaurant owner claimed that the menu was an in-house joke that was never distributed to attendees. That set Brough up to deny on Thursday ever having seen the menu which he apologised for the day before and which, as Latika Bourke tweeted, he was aware of when she asked him about it. Tony Abbott then said it was time for everyone to move on, despite the fact that the Liberals' story of the menu never making it out of the kitchen just doesn't add up. It's also despite the fact that Tony Abbott had a fit of the vapours last year over sexist text messages sent by Peter Slipper, who Mal Brough is running against. It was Abbott's opportunistic outburst about Slipper's texts that led directly to Julia Gillard's misogyny speech. Whether it was distributed or not, was this menu a window into the Liberals' minds?

So the opposition is left looking like a bunch of headless chooks. That's how not to do it.

Here's how to do it:
A video made by army chief Lieutenant General David Morrison went viral last night. It's a response to new allegations of sexual abuse in the defence force. In it, he tells any serving soldier who would participate in, or even tolerate sexual and sexist abuse to get out and find another job. He didn't try to deny the problem. He didn't try to rationalise or minimise the problem. He spoke directly to the perpetrators and told them they were not welcome in his organisation.

And today, everyone loves the ADF. By confronting the situation and not insulting our intelligence by telling us it isn't happening, or accusing critics of playing gender politics, he did far more for the ADF's image than a year of weaseling and spin from Tony Abbott could do for his party. Australians know when someone is bullshitting. Lt Gen Morrison knows this. Mr Abbott still doesn't.

Watch and learn, Tony

   

  

ROCKSHOW – Wings (1980/2013)

When I reviewed The McCartney Years I said that it partially explained why Rockshow hasn’t been released on DVD until now and suggested that it might be because it doesn’t really stand up to modern concert films.

I. Was. Wrong.

I realise now that the main reason that the tidbits of Rockshow included on The McCartney Years were unsatisfying is because they were taken out of the context of the whole film.

It’s not that Rockshow is without its flaws. Indeed, it’s defined by them. The camera angles are either off to the side, looking down from a distance or pointing right up the band’s noses. These angles are sometimes blocked by mic stands, miss bits and are frequently out of focus. 

In other words, it’s just like being there. 

In the newly recorded introduction to the film, Paul claims that Wings started from nothing. This is true, if by “nothing,” you mean having only one ex-Beatle and an ex-Moody Blue. Still, something that defined Wings was a habit of dropping themselves into a situation without a plan - from an ad-hoc tour of any uni bar that would have them, to deciding to record Band on the Run in a half-built studio in Nigeria (what could possibly go wrong?) - and muddling through thanks to a combination of enthusiasm, showmanship and a musical talent that people would kill just to have just one tenth of. Rockshow is really no different. It was filmed over several nights at the end of the 1976 Wings Over America tour with seemingly no provision made for the filming or for continuity. At one point, Denny Laine manages to turn a black Precision Bass into a Blonde Telecaster bass, and Jimmy McCulloch changes it back a few songs later. There are a couple of other points where Jimmy’s fingers are clearly playing different licks to the ones being heard. 

What is really interesting about the set list is that although they were promoting the Wings at the Speed of Sound album at the time, it’s the previous album, Venus and Mars that is drawn on the most heavily. It actually came as a surprise to me when they played Band on the Run near the end of the set because I really hadn’t missed it. Naturally, the few Beatles songs that are dropped into the set draw huge cheers but the show is by no means built around them. Wings had no need to lean on the Beatles connection at this point, but Macca has always been a crowd-pleaser and knew that people would want at least a couple of Beatles numbers.  Also, there’s a real, live, 4-piece horn section. Remember how good that sounded, Paul? 

The new 5.1 mix is restrained, with the surround channels being used only for audience noise. I usually consider this a pretty lazy use of a surround mix but in this case, along with the photography, it complements the simulation of the concert experience.  The rest of the mix is a traditional rock and roll arrangement with guitars left and right, as it should be.

Of course, there’s plenty of 70s dagginess included as well. Mullets abound and Paul looks for all the world like he is wearing pyjama pants. Despite its flaws – indeed, probably because of them – Rockshow really is the perfect record of Wings at the height of their powers in what was a pretty high-tech show in its day. 

Highlight:  The segue of Rockshow to Jet. We all know it’s coming now, but it still sounds great.

Feature:  * * * * ½ 

Extras:  TBC

Audio:  TBC

    

Reading between the lines, Part 3 – It’s not you, it’s us

In the world of ‘odd spot’ news (which is all some outlets do these day), nothing last week could top the story of three men deported from Saudi Arabia, allegedly for “too handsome.”

While it seems unlike the Saudis to let someone down gently, something about this just screams “cover story.”  Whether it is or it isn’t, this is something Australia could learn from, and perhaps utilise.

For example…
“It’s not that we have anything against your refreshingly novel ideas on Islam and multiculturalism Mr Wilders, or your right to present those views to the most humble of our countrymen.  It’s just that with your glowing locks and beaming, boyish face, we have real concerns that you may cause our women to lose interest in our local men and possibly even turn some of those men gay for you.  I’m sure none of us want that.  I’m sure you understand.”

How easy would that be?
 

Reading between the lines, Part 2

The latest line from the Liberal party and their leader is that, should they win the election, Tony Abbott expects to “grow into the job,” of prime minister.  They back this up by reminding us that John Howard grew into the job.

Translation:
1:  After nearly four years as opposition leader, Tony Abbott is still not ready to be prime minister and he knows it.
2:  John Howard was a naïve git before he became a cynical arse.
 

Clive for Canberra? Why not?

Clive Palmer, the Queensland mining entrepreneur and until recently, major Liberal party donor announced yesterday that he is forming his own political party and wants to become the next prime minister.  The announcement has received derision from both major parties and their supporters but here’s my question:
Why not?

There are a lot of positive aspects to this.
For a start, comparisons are already being made with the Joh for PM campaign of 1987. In fact, it’s being referred to now as the “disastrous” Joh for PM campaign, which is nonsense. It was disastrous for John Howard.  It was great for Labor.  And for Bjelke-Petersen himself, it was neither here nor there.  For him it was just a massive ego trip which ultimately never became a real campaign anyway.  So if Palmer’s actual campaign manages to bugger up Tony Abbott’s then I’m all for it.

Lest people get the idea that this is going to be partisan, I’ve said before that I’m a swinging voter and I’ve also said I’d love to be able to vote against Labor this election, but I honestly believe an Abbott government would be dangerous.  Anything that mitigates that risk is something I see as a positive.

Palmer has said that the policies of his rebooted United Australia Party would be very similar to the Liberal Party’s.  That should be instantly attractive to people who naturally swing Liberal but can’t abide the race-to-the-bottom antics of Tony Abbott – and there are plenty of them around.  The major difference Palmer has laid out between his party and the two majors is treatment of indigenous people and asylum seekers.  That won’t be enough to counter the natural suspicion progressives have of the big business interests Palmer clearly represents, but it’s a start.

The most notable aspect of Palmer’s campaign is that it’s another massive rebuke of the Liberal party from someone who should be (and until very recently has been) a natural ally of the party and someone the Liberals would claim to represent.  If someone like Palmer, who was previously one of the Liberal party’s chief benefactors, has decided they’re not worth the money and that he could do a better job himself, then that should cause a rethink for anyone who was considering voting Liberal on the grounds of their economic management skills and business-friendliness.

What Palmer is really doing here is cutting out the middle-man.  Mum & Dad party donors may do so because they think it’s for the greater good, but when billionaires donate to parties, they want a return on their investment.  This means that they are buying influence over government or potential government.  If Palmer is prepared to bypass that system, put his policies to the people and be accountable to the people, then that is to be commended whether you agree with him or not.  More people who demand a say in the political process, from mining operators to talkback radio hosts to columnists to ’bloggers should do this.

I’m not here to cheer for Palmer – I’m sure I’ll be able to find lots to disagree with him on. I’m just trying to look beyond the knee-jerk, “he crazy,” reactions.  There’s little joy for Labor here.  The UAP will doubtlessly preference the Liberals and in the event that they end up holding the balance of power in the lower house, then they will surely support a Liberal/National government.  Of course, Tony Abbott is on record saying that minority governments don’t work.  He will jettison that comment like so much of the other drivel he comes out with if it means he can become PM.  The media will also completely fail to call Abbott a liar for making compromises in order to form a stable and functioning government.

This perhaps unlikely scenario offers some hope for progressives. Given Palmer’s stated positions on indigenous affairs and asylum seekers, the UAP may force any potential minority Abbott government to be less disgraceful on those issues in a similar way to how the Greens and independents managed to arrest Labor’s lurch to the right, for a time at least. In the really unlikely event that the UAP forms government and Palmer becomes prime minister, then if we have to have government by and for big business, then better to have the real thing than a bunch of opportunistic political hacks doing their masters’ bidding.

Yes, it’s all conjecture but either way, this election just got a little less depressing.
 

News from the future…

[some time between May and September, 2013]

Last night, Tony Abbott appeared on the ABC’s 7:30 programme for his second interview with Leigh Sales this year and his first live, in-studio interview of the year.

Mr Abbott was part way through answering a seemingly innocuous question about how the Coalition plans to pay for abolishing the carbon and mining taxes without reducing the tax-free threshold to pre-2012 levels, when Ms Sales leapt across the desk, drove her fist clean into Mr Abbott’s chest, tore out his heart and showed it still beating to his dying eyes.

Sales then calmly resumed her seat and turned to camera to introduce a report on the human cost of the drugs in football scandal.

The following morning, social media was abuzz with accusations from the left and hardcore Labor that Sales and the ABC had sold out and become puppets of Rupert Murdoch and the IPA for allowing Tony Abbott to prove that he had a heart.