Wingspan

While his first band were a ridiculously hard act to follow, (unless your name is Gallagher, that is) judging by the string of cracking hits on CD 1, Wings were criminally underrated. ‘Listen To What The Man Said’, Band On The Run’, Live And Let Die’, ‘Silly Love Songs’ and even ‘Jet’, (despite the now-inescapable mental image of a leather-briefed Alan Partridge bouncing on a motel bed) are all excellent, though ‘Say, Say, Say’ is a curious omission. Not so surprising is the non-inclusion of ‘Give Ireland Back To The Irish’, (though it probably wasn’t a real rebel song), and ‘Hi, Hi, Hi’, also banned by the Beeb for its supposed drug reference.

CD 2 features some classic Wings as well as later works, much of these heavy with the legacy of McCartney’s late wife, Linda, herself an integral part of the outfit, as much for her muse as her musicianship.

If, like me, you never quite forgave the Beatles for calling it a day and consequently, like a spurned lover, never allowed yourself to get to know them properly ever afterward this is what we were missing.

But you know, he was the same guy all along… Thanks Paul. Welcome back.