CLUB SANDWICH 80

MINING THE FILM AND VIDEO ARCHIVE

The sixteenth of June 1986 was a hot and humid day in London town so Paul went underground for the making of a very effective video. Mark Lewisohn puts in the VHS and presses to play

PRESS

            Aware that promo videos were becoming too extravagant and unrealistic for viewers, and that, often, the message was becoming swamped by the medium, Paul came up with a great idea when planning how to promote his new single 'Press' (from the album Press To Play) in 1986. He went Underground.
            For millions of Londoners, the Underground (or Tube) railway system is a part of everyday life. It may seem different to tourists, but for those who live or work in the capital, it's nothing special, just a means of getting about. For Paul McCartney, Very Famous Person, to be seen on the Tube is a very different crush of sardines altogether, though. The resulting video, while inexpensive to make, was a real talking point in the music industry ten years back: Paul McCartney, on a train, mixing with Ordinary People? Quelle horreur.
            But Paul has always wanted to keep his feet on the ground. Right back in 1964, when the Beatles could scarcely move about for screaming fans, the Fab Four were asked what they missed most by being famous. Paul replied that he regretted not being able to ride on a bus. The other three could scarcely believe that something so apparently humdrum could mean so much to him. (Later on, Let It Be time, when things had quietened down a little and he wore a heavy beard, Paul used to go into the Apple office by Tube and bus. Also, around that time, Linda took one of her earliest photos of Paul, sitting on a Bakerloo Line train. So he definitely got his wish.)
            All the same, 1986 was only six years after a so-called "fan" had murdered John Lennon, and so nothing was left to chance. As well as taking everyone by surprise - the filming of the video was a closely kept advance secret - a man with a radio telephone (an early "mobile") was posted outside one of the stations, and taxis were paid to wait at several