Today is Sir Paul McCartney’s 70th birthday, so in tribute I want to share one of my favorite tunes from Macca’s post-Beatles career. It’s a live version of “Magneto and Titanium Man,” from a 1976 concert at the Kingdome in Seattle. The original cut can be heard on the excellent Venus and Mars album from Wings. This take made it onto a 1980 McCartney home video release, Rockshow, which hasn’t seen a proper DVD issue as far as I know.

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• Madame Tussauds Unveils Beatles Waxworks In Honor Of McCartney’s 70th (wcbsfm.cbslocal.com)
• Weller records McCartney tribute (bbc.co.uk)
• Happy Birthday Macca! 70 classic pictures to mark Sir Paul McCartney’s 70th birthday (mirror.co.uk)

I hope you enjoyed the first gallery of neat record labels from old LPs and 45s, because here’s another one! All images courtesy

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Today’s listening booth is inspired by a recent posting on Popdose, which highlighted Denny Laine’s gems during his solo career and his time with Paul McCartney’s Wings. One of the gems mentioned was “The Note You Never Wrote,” which is indeed one of the best cuts from Wings at the Speed of Sound. But I’d like to focus on a non-Laine number now.

Tucked away on the lesser second side of the album is a rather doleful pop ditty called “Must Do Something About It.” Although Macca wrote it, he handed lead vocal duties over to drummer Joe English, whose less polished delivery lent the song the extra bit of pathos it needed. English, who had joined Wings in 1975, left the group during the recording sessions for 1978’s London Town.

So anyway, enjoy “Must Do Something About It.” I sure do.

Oh, and if you really are curious to hear what this song would sound like with Paul singing, wonder no more. Here’s an outtake of the track, which feature’s his original guide vocal.

Related articles

• Here’s Something Else!: What if Denny Laine had fronted Wings? (popdose.com)
• The 12 Most Memorable Paul McCartney Solo Songs (Sound Affects) (popmatters.com)

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Radio stations across America started playing Christmas (sorry, holiday) music at least a few weeks ago, but I refuse to acknowledge any of it until Thanksgiving dessert is done.  So now that it’s officially safe to enjoy some holiday tuneage, I thought I’d pass along some of my personal favorites to you.  Because not all Christmas music is crap.

Let’s just get this one out of the way now.  I defy anyone to hear any part of “Skating” or “My Little Drum” and not be instantly transported back to their childhood.  I can’t say anything that hasn’t been said a million times about A Charlie Brown Christmas, so I’ll just implore you to add this to your collection even if you hate Christmas music.  Just be careful what version you purchase, as a 2006 remaster edition released by Concord Records has been met with much scorn (details on that here).

Los Straitjackets, for those not familiar, are a modern-day surf rock revival band known for their wild live shows and their penchant for wearing Mexican wrestling masks.  ‘Tis the Season for Los Straitjackets! is basically their surf-tinged take on a baker’s dozen of holiday standards like “A Marshmallow World” and “Sleigh Ride.”  It’s fun without being silly, and offers a fresh perspective on some very old songs.

The Christmas line of the uber-retro Ultra-Lounge series is definitely an example of the law of diminishing returns, but the first entry is splendid.  While the presence of gold standard yuletide tunes like Nat King Cole’s “The Christmas Song” and Dean Martin’s “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm” lend this set the appropriate amount of suave ’50s hipness, it’s the offbeat period pieces like “Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer Mambo”, “Holiday on Skis”, and “Jingle Bells Bossa Nova” that will keep you coming back for more.

For those who like a little less schmaltz and a little more soul with their holidays, you can’t go wrong with The Jackson 5 Christmas Album.  Wait until you’ve downed a few egg nogs before listening to this, however — you’ll still look like a dumbass while dancing to “Up on the House Top” but at least you won’t care.

You’ve probably heard “Little Saint Nick” at least 20 times, so why not make it 21?  Not everything on The Beach Boys’ Christmas Album is a keeper, but the highlights (“The Man with All the Toys”, “Frosty the Snowman”, and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” among them) are well worth the price of admission.  Newer editions of this LP contain the group’s a capella rendition of “The Lord’s Prayer.”  While it’s not a holiday song per se, the harmonies are to die for and it’s worth hearing.

What could be more classy and timelessly hip during the holidays than unwrapping presents while A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra plays in the background?  Nothing, pally, that’s what.  So don’t give me any of that bunk about how those new holiday albums are where it’s at.  You haven’t experienced Christmas until you’ve heard Ol’ Blue Eyes croon “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” or “Silent Night.”  Ring-a-ding-ding, indeed.

You’ve heard Tchaikovsky’s immortal work countless times, so isn’t it time to mix things up a bit?  Nutcracker Suite for Guitar is the 1985 debut of the extremely talented classical guitarist, Stevan Pasero.  You may have a hard time tracking this down, but it’s worth it if you can.  It’s a very mellow and relaxing take on the Nutcracker — perfect for any moments of down time you can get during the holidays.

— various artists

Hey, why not?  Hawaiin slack key guitar may not be your cup of tea, but Ki Ho’alu Christmas: Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar is not without its charms. Most of the songs here are tastefully done instrumentals, and can lend some much-needed tranquility to your Christmas proceedings.

GFS Bonus: Christmas songs you need to own

• Pretty much anything featuring Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters
• “Wonderful Christmastime” — Wings
• “Blue Christmas” — Elvis Presley
• “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)” — The Chipmunks
• “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” — John Lennon
• “Jingle Bell Rock” — Bobby Helms
• “Little Drummer Boy” — Low
• “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” — Andy Williams
• “A Holly Jolly Christmas” — Burl Ives
• “Christmas at Ground Zero” — “Weird Al” Yankovic
• “Jungle Bells” — The Four Seasons
• “Frosty the Snowman” — Jimmy Durante
• Just about anything by Louis Armstrong, but particularly “Christmas in New Orleans” and “‘Zat You, Santa Claus?”
• “The Christmas Song” — Mel Tormé
• “Christmas in Hollis” — Run-D.M.C.
• “Thank God It’s Christmas” — Queen
• “Christmas Wrapping” — The Waitresses
• “Peace on Earth / The Little Drummer Boy” — Bing Crosby and David Bowie

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I’m not sure what the origin of the whole “desert island” thing is when referring to music, movies, and other stuff you really like. Why not a tropical island? That one Tom Hanks got stuck on in Cast Away seemed pretty nice, didn’t it?

Oh right, the point. So apropos of nothing, I recently participated in a fantasy draft on a favorite message board of mine. But instead of drafting a sports team, we picked from a list of every song that has ever reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, now in its 50th year. The only catch was that each team had to select at least two songs from each decade (’58 – ’69 was lumped together). That made things interesting, because the pickings for truly good #1 songs started to get real slim starting in the 1990s.

Overall I’m pleased with my team, which is as follows (in order of selection):

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