Happy New Year to the multitudes of Retro Roundup devotees out there. We begin 2026 with the landmark 50th instalment of Retro Roundup's look at the hits of the 1970s that did not scale the heights of the Billboard pop charts to reach top-10 status.
And since this Retro Roundup is of the landmark variety (Part 50), what better way to mark it than to delve into the 1970s output of the solo Beatles that did not match the chart status of their former group.
We begin with Paul McCartney, who I have indulged in bookwise lately much as I have been delving into Elvis Presley's more obscure studio and live recordings, the former thanks to the two volumes (so far) of The McCartney Legacy and the McCartney-authorized story of his 1971-1981 group Wings.
So we begin with Paul, to be followed by solo John, solo George and solo Ringo.
Give Ireland Back to the Irish (#21)- It's a tribute to Paul McCartney's name recognition that such a topical single, recorded after the Bloody Sunday incident in which British soldiers killed several protesters in Northern Ireland during The Troubles, charted as high as it did. It's not a bad song, but not up there with McCartney's best musically. It's been pointed out that there were similarities or links between Paul and John Lennon's solo careers in the 1970s, and this was especially the case in 1972, when Lennon went topical for record 1 of the 2-LP set, Some Time in New York City, derided by critics at the time of its release but now getting a bit of a re-evaluation due to a re-release as part of box sets assembled and curated by John's son Sean Ono Lennon.
Mary Had A Little Lamb (#28)- Some writers of McCartney lore said he made a single out of a well-known nursery rhyme in reaction to the above single being banned (no surprise there) by the BBC, in terms of airplay. But Paul says he was inspired by his daughter of the same name, the lambs on his Scottish farm and a desire to record a song for kids. Again, it's not near McCartney's best musically, but it shows how effortless he made it seem to come up with a great melody in his repurposing of an old children's favourite.
By the way, the two above singles and the next one, Hi, Hi, Hi, which will not be discussed here because it hit the top 10 on the U.S. charts, were non-LP singles. Paul, as did John and Ringo to lesser extents, continued the tradition of 1960s artists like the Beatles and other UK artists of not always plucking singles from their latest LPs. an admirable trait and a great way to fill a later greatest hits collection like Wings Greatest, which included neither of the above lower charting singles.
Sally G (#17)-The two lower charting singles were followed by a series of top-10 hits that were more befitting of a most talented Beatle, such as the timeless classic but critically derided My Love, the dynamic James Bond movie theme Live And Let Die and the singles from McCartney's best post-Beatles album Band On The Run. It's especially admirable that this very obscure song, the B-side of the top-10 non-LP Junior's Farm, which broke in the second incarnation of Wings in 1974, hit as high as it did. It's a country song inspired by the band's stay in Nashville (as was the A-side) that is little known today, but is very charming. It would have been most interesting if Paul made a whole country album as Ringo Starr did four years earlier with Beaucoups of Blues.
Next time: More Paul McCartney lower charters.
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