Live And Let Die – Paul McCartney & Wings

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Live And Let Die – Paul McCartney & Wings

After the Beatles, Paul McCartney went on to form the band Wings with his wife Linda, I had obviously heard of the band, they had some huge hits, Band on the Run and Jet being the ones I was most familiar with. They also did this James Bond theme, this is epic even as Bond theme's go, really punchy and you get the real sense of excitement and drama that's going to unfold in the film. The list of artists that have done the films themes over the years is like a who's who of popular music. So why not get an ex Beatle to trump them all.

But I've only recently learnt that Paul McCartney help to launch Wings by going on an open top bus tour of Europe doing free gigs at places like universities. He and the band would rock up and just perform off the top deck, that must have been some spectacle especially when you see the paint job on the side of the bus. They lived and traveled on the bus throughout, I thought it was only Cliff Richard that had done that in his film Summer Holiday. This story came to my attention through a recent contacts, there is a current project to refurbish the bus and get it back out on the road, the hope is to use it again as a stage to launch new music acts and spread a theme of peace wherever it goes. Find out more here : 1972wingstourbus

Back to this song, I'm not a huge Bond fan but do love some of the themes, Goldfinger, Thunderball and View To A Kill being just some of my favs. I also remember Guns and Roses did a huge version of this song, rocked it right up. The subject matter like any theme is hard work as you need to reference the franchise while making your theme about this films story-line, no easy feet. Plus your up against a back catalogue of big hits, you don't want to be the one that doesn't make the grade.

Favourite Lyric : When you were young and your heart / Was an open book

Location: Rayleigh, UK

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