(record) of the week: Paul McCartney - Temporary Secretary b/w Secret Friend.

Yeah, I’m cheating a bit this week, as this is a maxi-single and not an album. It’s a very, very good one, though. I’ve already featured McCartney II here, and said some words about Temporary Secretary’ there; it’s been a fave ever since I got that album for birthday #5, 45 years ago. My mom had a super cool boyfriend at the time named Troy; not only did Troy drive a black Trans Am (with the screaming eagle on the hood), but he had a massive record collection and was kind enough to give me several duplicates from it.

Paul’s temp in this drawing has an uncanny Joan Holloway vibe, amirite?

Backa to the Macca. Unlike so many legacy artists that tried to enter the world of synths, Paul was one who got it, early on, then got bogged back into the world of what people ‘thought’ he ‘should’ have been doing musically, and as a result floundered thru the 80s and to be frank, most of the rest of his solo career. That’s not to say he hasn’t created a lot of pleasant music that lots of people enjoy (including me), but his days of taking risks (under his own name) ended here, in 1980. The Fireman releases saw some strong glimmers of that spirit, to be fair. IMO those recordings are, by far, the strongest material he’s released in the past 45 years (collaborator Youth/ Martin Glover must really know how to push him.)

‘Secret Friend’ is trance inducing; taking a sequence and simply modulating it (over a wonderful percussion groove), the vocal melody is rich and full of wonder. It’s the missing link between ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ and The Chemical Brothers. Thankfully it’s no longer reserved for those who have this hard to find single, and it can be streamed by all.

Extra props for his frugal nature, as the sweater he’s wearing in this photo (and the sketch) first made an appearance in 1967!