Throwing back to the week of November 19, 1983, we find Lionel Richie on top of Billboard’s Hot 100 with ‘All Night Long (All Night).’
I’ve featured that song already, however, so I’m moving on to #2, a hit duet between Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson. ‘Say Say Say’ was the first collaboration the duo recorded, but the second they released. ‘The Girl is Mine’ showed up on Jackson’s Thriller the year before.
They never told us in the Terminator and Matrix movies that, before the machines destroyed humanity, they performed classic songs in the voices of different artists. That seems to be the trajectory we’re on, anyway.
This week I will feature five songs reimagined by AI to feature new singers. I’d love to hear my readers’ thoughts on the artistic and ethical implications of this practice.
Throwing back to the week of June 2, 1973, we find Paul McCartney and Wings at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 with their song ‘My Love.’ The track would spend four weeks at #1 and 18 weeks in total on the chart. This was the first of six #1 tracks McCartney recorded with Wings.
This song sounds like it took McCartney about ten minutes to write, and not in the “genius strikes” sort of way. It’s a simple love ballad with an uninspired melody and pedestrian lyrics.
It’s funny how fast new music comes and goes. I remember buying and enjoying Paul McCartney’s 2013 album, New, his first collection of original material in six years. I played it a lot that year. I don’t think I’ve played it once since.
At the time, the album was hailed as McCartney’s best in years. I haven’t listened to much of his solo work, so you won’t get an argument from me. But even McCartney’s best album in years isn’t quite good enough to break into my regular rotation.
It’s appropriate coming off three weeks dedicated to 1973 that today’s Random Weekend selection appears on another album from that year.
Band on the Run was the third album by Paul McCartney & Wings and their most successful. It is also the top-selling album of McCartney’s career outside The Beatles, reaching the #1 spot in five countries.
Meet Me In Montauk 