Give My Regards to Broad Street

Infobox Album | Name = Give My Regards to Broad Street
Type = Soundtrack
Artist = Paul McCartney


Released = 22 October 1984
Recorded = November 1982 -
July 1983
Genre = Rock
Length = 61:10 (CD)
57:05 (cassette)
45:19 (LP)
73:54 (1993 CD)
Label = Parlophone, EMI Columbia Records (US) Capitol Records (US, 1990-)
Producer = George Martin
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|2|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:40nsa9qgb23h link]
Last album = "Pipes of Peace"
(1983)
This album = "Give My Regards to Broad Street"
(1984)
Next album = "Press to Play"
(1986) |

"Give My Regards to Broad Street" is the name of a film and soundtrack album, masterminded by Paul McCartney. They were both were released in 1984, following the success of McCartney's previous albums "Tug of War" and "Pipes of Peace". The film of "Broad Street" proved to be a financial disaster, but the soundtrack album sold well. The title is a pun on George M. Cohan's classic show tune "Give My Regards to Broadway", making reference to London's Broad Street railway station, which closed in 1986.

Filming and recording of "Broad Street" began in November 1982, after "Pipes of Peace"'s completion. Production on the album and film continued until July the following year. In the interim, "Pipes of Peace" and its singles were released, and the film project was thus scheduled for an Autumn 1984 release once an appropriate amount of time had passed.

Film history

Starring McCartney, his wife Linda, Ringo Starr and his wife Barbara Bach, as well as Bryan Brown, Ralph Richardson, and Tracey Ullman, the film details a day in the life of McCartney (somewhat like The Beatles' "A Hard Day's Night"). The master tapes to McCartney's new album are suspected of being stolen by an employee with a shady past (who has also disappeared), and amid much searching (and music), the tapes are found in the possession of the man in question, who had accidentally locked himself in a shed in a railway station; both are discovered by McCartney. After a sensational media build-up, the film—with its less-than-exciting plot—was savaged by critics upon its November unveiling and "Give My Regards to Broad Street" ended up as one of 1984's most notable cinematic flops. Despite the film being a flop, "No More Lonely Nights" was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Film Award for Best Original Song-Motion Picture.

A Video Game of the film was released for the commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum.

oundtrack album

Preceded by "No More Lonely Nights (Ballad)", a worldwide top 10 hit featuring guitar work by David Gilmour, "Give My Regards to Broad Street" entered the UK charts at #1 while going gold with a #21 peak in the United States (selling under expectations there). It would also mark the end of McCartney's brief alliance with Columbia Records in the US which had started with the final Wings album "Back to the Egg" in 1979. McCartney would re-sign with EMI worldwide (where he remained until 2007) with his Columbia output reverting back to his new - and original - label in the US.

The majority of the album - which is sequenced in the order of the songs' appearance in the film - features re-interpretations of many of his past classics of The Beatles and Wings: "Good Day Sunshine", "Yesterday", "Here, There and Everywhere", "Silly Love Songs" (the only Wings song included), "For No One", "Eleanor Rigby" and "The Long and Winding Road" (without the heavy strings courtesy of Phil Spector that McCartney had so loathed in 1970). There were also interpretations of songs from McCartney's more recent albums; "Ballroom Dancing" and "Wanderlust" from Tug Of War and "So Bad" from Pipes Of Peace. Besides "No More Lonely Nights" (also heard in a dance version), the only previously-unheard tracks were "Not Such A Bad Boy", "No Values" and a symphonic extension of "Eleanor Rigby" entitled "Eleanor's Dream". The scope of the album was so immense that when it saw release that October, its vinyl issue had specially edited versions of its songs. The cassette and the later CD edition preserved the tracks' full lengths, while the CD went one further by including a bonus 1940's-styled piece called "Goodnight Princess".

Simultaneously with the film's premiere in November McCartney's Rupert Bear recording "We All Stand Together", started back in 1980 and credited to 'Paul McCartney and the Frog Chorus', was released and became a hit single in the UK, reaching #3.

"Give My Regards to Broad Street" was remastered in 1993 and reissued on CD as part of 'The Paul McCartney Collection' series with two extended dance mixes of "No More Lonely Nights (playout version)" as bonus tracks.

Track listing

All songs by Paul McCartney, except where noted.

#"No More Lonely Nights (ballad)" – 5:13
#* "Features David Gilmour on lead guitar"
#"Good Day Sunshine/Corridor Music" (John Lennon/Paul McCartney)/ (Paul McCartney) – 2:33
#"Yesterday" (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) – 1:43
#"Here, There and Everywhere" (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) – 1:43
#"Wanderlust" – 4:07
#"Ballroom Dancing" – 4:51
#"Silly Love Songs/Silly Love Songs (reprise)" – 5:27
#"Not Such A Bad Boy" – 3:29
#"So Bad" – 3:25
#"No Values" – 4:12
#* "No More Lonely Nights (ballad reprise)" is incorrectly listed as being segued with "No Values" on the 1993 CD remaster"
#"No More Lonely Nights (ballad reprise)/For No One" (Paul McCartney) / (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) – 2:12
#"Eleanor Rigby/Eleanor's Dream" (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) / (Paul McCartney) – 9:10
#"The Long and Winding Road" (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) – 3:57
#"No More Lonely Nights (playout version)" – 5:03
#"Goodnight Princess" – 3:58

* "All songs now segued onto one track on CD were originally listed separately on the 1984 release of Give My Regards to Broad Street"

1993 edition also includes:
*"No More Lonely Nights (extended version)" – 5:03 (wrong labeled 6:56)
*"No More Lonely Nights (special dance mix)" - 4:21

LP version

Due to the length of the recording, the 1984 LP omits "So Bad" and "Goodnight Princess", edits out about 6 minutes of "Eleanor's Dream", and also sections of "Good Day Sunshine", "Wanderlust" and "No More Lonely Nights (playout version)".

On the LP cover a remark alerts the listener:
*"This record is longer than usual but due to the available playing time on a vinyl disc some editing of the sound track has been necessary in order to retain full volume and dynamic range. Even longer versions exist on cassette and compact disc."

Track lengths on album notes don't include spoken sections between songs and so don't match CD timings. On the list below these sections are included at the beginning of each track, as on the 1984 release, while on the remastered 1993 CD (listed above) they are mostly included at the end of the tracks.

ide 1

#"No More Lonely Nights (ballad)" – 4:58
#"Good Day Sunshine" – 1:59
#"Corridor Music" – 0:19
#"Yesterday" – 1:43
#"Here, There and Everywhere" – 1:45
#"Wanderlust" – 2:48
#"Ballroom Dancing" – 4:35
#"Silly Love Songs" – 4:31

ide 2

#"Silly Love Songs (reprise)" – 0:57
#"Not Such A Bad Boy" – 3:19
#"No Values" – 4:43
#"No More Lonely Nights (ballad reprise)" – 0:30
#"For No-One" – 2:11
#"Eleanor Rigby" – 3:07
#"Eleanor's Dream" – 1:01
#"Long and Winding Road" – 3:47
#"No More Lonely Nights (playout version)" – 4:26

Credits

Chart positions and certifications

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0087337|title=Give My Regards to Broad Street

succession box
before = "Steeltown" by Big Country
title = UK number one album
years = November 3, 1984 – November 9 1984
after = "Welcome to the Pleasuredome"
by Frankie Goes to Hollywood