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WRITE AWAY
Your chance to get questions answered
Q
Whatever happened to the song 'Is It Raining In London?' Is it scheduled for release on Paul's next album? It sounds like a nice song!
Benny Owre, Osterlund, Sweden
Quite a number of readers have asked about this song, following the inclusion of recording studio footage in the 1993 TV documentary Movin' On. The answer is that, at present, the recording is only 80% complete, with the definitive lead vocal from Hamish Stuart (the song's main composer, although it is a joint work with Paul) still to be added. The song will then be issued by Hamish on one of his own albums.
Q
When I recently heard Marianne Faithfull's recording of 'Monday, Monday' I had the impression that I was hearing Paul McCartney's voice in the background. Was I dreaming? Could you please confirm that it was really him?
Pierre Francoeur, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada
Funny you should ask, Pierre, because we've recently come across some photos of Paul that were taken at one of Marianne's Sixties recording sessions, and were wondering what session that was. The only problem is, we've listened closely, several times over, to her cover of 'Monday, Monday' (the hit recording, of course, was made by The Mamas and the Papas) and, try as we might, we cannot hear Paul in the background, or anywhere else for that matter. From the Gered Mankowitz photos (one of which is reproduced on the right) it's clear that Mick Jagger and Glyn Johns were in charge in the control room, but even this knowledge has failed to shed light on the song's title. So, over to you, Sandwich readers: can you find out which Marianne Faithfull recording includes a contribution from Our Paul?
Q
I'm planning a day trip down to Liverpool in September. Could you please tell me which schools Paul went to so that I might make a visit?
Berenice Harkins, Glasgow, Scotland
You'll need a street map to see exactly where these places are, Berenice, but Paul's primary school years were spent first at Stockton Wood Junior School in Stockton Wood Drive, Speke, and then at Joseph Williams Primary School in Naylorsfield Road, Gateacre (pronounced locally as "Gat-er-ka"). His senior years were spent, of course, at the Liverpool Institute - now transformed into LIPA - situated in Mount Street, just a few minutes' walk from the city centre.
Q
I have a vinyl single which I received from a London-based Fun Club member around December 1974 and has puzzled me ever since. The A-side is the same rendition of 'Zoo Gang' as the B-side of the UK single 'Band On The Run', the reverse is a very similar sounding instrumental entitled 'Monkey Business'. The artist name on the disc is Jungle Juice and it is pressed on the Bradley Records label. I think that the recording is definitely Paul McCartney but has never appeared in any discography. Please could you shed some light on this?
Oliver Dziggel, Bethesda, MD, USA
Thanks to your letter, Oliver, we've done some digging and got to the bottom of an issue which has been intriguing collectors for years. The story goes like this: Sir Lew Grade's television company ITC was making a new adventure serial called The Zoo Gang, based on Paul Gallico's book of the same name. Through their then music publishing connections, Grade asked the McCartneys to compose the instrumental theme music to start and close each programme in the six-part series. Paul and Linda duly wrote the piece and recorded it. Good though it is, however, it wasn't really appropriate as the A-side of Wings' next single - it would have followed 'Jet' and been decidedly out of place - so Paul said he'd release it as the B-side of his next British 45, 'Band On The Run'. But this wasn't scheduled until 28 June, by which time the TV series (screened 5 April to 10 May 1974) would have finished, so Sir Lew ordered that some session musicians quickly be recruited to make another recording of the theme. Tony Hiller produced the session and Colin Frechter, a musical arranger of note on the London scene, played the all-important keyboard part. The anonymous band was named - for want of anything better - Jungle Juice and the single, issued on Grade's own label, Bradley's Records, was rush-released on 24 May, still late but five weeks ahead of Wings' own version. The really astonishing part is the great similarity of the two different recordings - they are almost impossible to tell apart -which is why many fans have clamoured for a copy of the Jungle Juice 45 in the mistaken belief that it's really a pseudonym for Paul himself and that it is his recording. It's not.
IF YOU HAVE A QUESTION THAT YOU'D LIKE ANSWERED SEND IT ALONG TO CLUB SANDWICH, PO BOX 110, WESTCLIFF, ESSEX, SSO 8NW, ENGLAND, MARKING YOUR POSTCARD OR ENVELOPE 'WRITE AWAY' IN THE TOP-LEFT CORNER. WE REGRET THAT WE CANNOT RESPOND OUTSIDE OF THIS COLUMN.
INSPIRATION
Seeking out the spark behind the song
This interview with Paul appeared in Club Sandwich in Spring 1980, to coincide with the release of the album McCartney II. The TV series about the blues that, remarkably, inspired Paul to record not one but two songs, 'On The Way' and 'Nobody Knows', was The Devil's Music, presented by the late, great Alexis Korner and screened by the BBC over four weeks in July 1979.
TV billing reproduced by courtesy of Radio Times.
SUMMER CROSSWORD
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ACROSS
1. Heavy fabric for covering floors (6)
4. Easy to understand (6)
7. Form in school (9)
9. Reflected sound (4)
10. Metal pin or tack (4)
11. Person slow to learn (5)
13. Admiration, applause (6)
14. Panty hose (6)
15. Hard, chewy pink or white sweet containing chopped cherries, nuts etc (6)
17. Come to rest or make oneself comfortable (6)
19. Very mean person (5)
20. Nobleman (4)
22. Juicy fruit, narrow at the end where stalk is (4)
23. Dinosaur with an armour of bony plates (9)
24. Finger-shaped cake, cream filled and covered with chocolate (6)
25. Large animal like a seal, with two long tusks (6)
DOWN
1. Light-proof device inside which a light-sensitive film can be positioned (6)
2. Game played on horseback (4)
3. Very thin soft paper (6)
4. Stern, keen on always being obeyed (6)
5. Earth's satellite (4)
6. Birds of prey (6)
7. Ground squirrels with back-striped yellowish fur, and cheek-pouches for storing food (9)
8. Crazy character in Alice's Adventures In Wonderland (3,6)
11. Mental activity during sleep (5)
12. Sea duck with very soft feathers (5)
15. Small lump or knot (6)
16. Stripey friend of Winnie the Pooh (6)
17. Plank balanced as child's plaything (6)
18. Mistakes (6)
21. Active volcano in East Sicily (4)
22. Tug, pluck or attract (4)
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SOLUTION TO THE SPRING CROSSWORD IN CS 77
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Paul with Glyn Johns and Mick Jagger at a Marianne Faithfull recording session. But when was this, and what song was being recorded? See Write Away (up). Photograph from the limited-edition book Masons Yard To Primrose Hill by Gered Mankowitz (Genesis Publications, 9 Pilgrim House, Quarry Street, Guildford, Surrey GUI 3XY Telephone 01483 37431.)
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