CLUB SANDWICH 75

WE OOBU'd
WE JOOBU'd

AND WE HAD A GREAT TIME

In the Spring Sandwich we previewed the unveiling of Paul's Oobu Joobu, his unique foray into the world of radio. Now that the series is done and dusted (in America, at least), Eddy Pumer, its producer, looks back at how it went. Take it away, Eddy

            It was about nine o'clock in the evening on 29 May - I was with my wife Roberta, sitting in our hotel room in New York City waiting to hear the Memorial Day premiere of Oobu Joobu, scheduled for ten o'clock transmission on the Big Apple's classic rock station WXRK [K-Rock]. This was a two-hour special, with Paul talking for the first time about Oobu Joobu, how it came about and why - and, of course, entertaining us with its delights.
            I was impatient to hear how Oobu Joobu would sound on a US rock station. American radio is very segmented: rock, soul, C&W, world music and classical. Until now no one programme, indeed no one radio station, had attempted to cross over all these boundaries.
            Ten o'clock and Oobu Joobu. The station gave the show a beautiful set up, and as the programme began it was definitely "something completely different".
            Our celebrations drew complaints from the neighbours - to turn down the volume, but -when the hotel manager called up he became so excited about the show that he said he'd return to his office and switch on to "wide-screen radio" himself. It was a good sign.
            Next morning we met with MPL's Bill Porricelli, the man behind the US marketing and syndication of Oobu Joobu. Already the phones were ringing in his office - calls from listeners and from other radio stations.
            Forty stations were broadcasting the show at first but word quickly got around and in just two more weeks some 160 stations, representing 44 of the 52 states, were beaming out Oobu Joobu.
            Paul and Linda were in NYC at the same time as all this was going on - for Linda's photo show. Great exhibition uptown at the Boni Ben Rubi Gallery. Mary, their daughter, took them out for the evening to see a hot band that she rated. At the club a bunch of people called out to Paul "Hey - just love your Joobu Oobu"!
            Back in the UK there were eight shows in the can and seven more to produce, so I was to carry on recording with Paul. He brought with him an incredible selection of reggae records - a terrific Coasters-like track called 'Apology', a great song called 'Feel No Pain' by Jacki Brown, and humour too: 'Goldfinger' by Everton Blender, and that well-known duo Lloyd and Devon singing 'Bum Ball'. Thanks to the skills of Peter Mew, our man with the mouse, the shows were then edited at Abbey Road Studios using the state-of-the-art Apple Mac-driven Sonic Solutions system.
            Oobu Joobu also took part in the 30th birthday celebrations for 'Yesterday'. A special programme was produced, with people like Christopher Reeve, Meg Ryan, Duane Eddy, Human League and Ringo Starr reminiscing about when they first heard the song. Duane even took time out of his studio sessions for a new album to record a twangy 'Yesterday' for Paul. And then there was Little Richard, singing the song in his own special way - he cropped up throughout the series. Besides a lot of messing around with "scrambled eggs" Paul gave a magical live version of his song.
            To finish off the series there was a two-hour Labor Day special and Paul's guest was Brian Wilson - two artists with a great respect for one another's work. So much so, in fact, that Brian sent Paul a couple of songs from his new album which were premiered in Oobu Joobu: 'Red Crate Art', the album title song with full harmonies, and a bluesy rock number titled 'San Francisco'. During a Beach Boys session in the 1967 Paul played 'She's Leaving Home' and Brian's wife loved the song so much that she cried and Paul had to play it for them three more times. In Oobu Joobu Brian sang this song too, plus 'Hey Jude'.
            So that's all folks, except to tell you that Paul McCartney's Oobu Joobu became the number one syndicated radio show in the USA. Yeah!

“Oobu Joobu is clearly the most riveting radio special ever made"
BILLBOARD

"The perfect treat for a summer day"
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

“Oobu Joobu is the best thing that happened to radio since Marconi!"
GREG RAPPA, FUN CLUB MEMBER, NEW YORK