Records, CDs and Music:

Ah, the Fall of 1984, I remember it well. 

It was a time of transition for Paul McCartney career wise, and it truth be told it was a major time of transition for me as well.

You see I had graduated from high school in May of 1984 and I was kind of floundering. What to do? Where to go? What to be?

I wanted to go to college but I had no idea of what to study or what to do with my life. That long ago Fall I remember working part-time and taking a couple of classes from an area trade school in hope of finding out what I wanted to do.

As usual I was my Beatle loving self and was anxiously waiting the new Paul McCartney movie and soundtrack “Give My Regards to Broad Street”.

I was a major Paul McCartney fan at the time, still am as you can see if you read this blog, and I was particularly fond of McCartney’s last two albums produced by George Martin – “Tug of War” and “Pipes of Peace” – so I was beside myself thinking about how good the movie and soundtrack surely would be when they arrived.

Of course, as all Paul McCartney fans know both the soundtrack and the film of “Give My Regards to Broad Street” were not greeted warmly and in fact kind of derailed McCartney’s career for a few years.

It started off great with the lead single “No More Lonely Nights”, a superb song and Top Ten hit on both sides of the Atlantic, which which is still considered one of McCartney’s better ballads. The song not only contains a great McCartney vocal but also includes some lovely guitar work from David Gilmour of Pink Floyd.

Then as the Fall progressed and McCartney did a massive amount of press to boost the pictures fortunes it was becoming apparent that the film of “Give My Regards to Broad Street” was not only not liked it was roundly panned by most critics.

While the soundtrack wasn’t loved it wasn’t quite as hated as the movie. Because McCartney decided to re-record some of his most famous Beatles songs the soundtrack was dismissed as good in spots but overall it was deemed a lackluster affair and written of as too slick and bland.

Now I couldn’t have disagreed more at the time. I loved the soundtrack particularly the two new songs “No Values” and “Not Such a Bad Boy” (which was performed live in the film) and the lovely new longer version of “Eleanor Rigby/Eleanor’s Dream” which to this day is one of my favorites.

Yes the remakes of “Yesterday”, “For No One”, “Good Day Sunshine” and “Here, There and Everywhere” didn’t improve on the originals (how could they?) but they were nonetheless very enjoyable and I still rate the soundtrack as a whole a solid 8 out of 10.

I really do love the remake of “The Long and Winding Road” though as I really like how George Martin produced it with some lovely horns and strings which is not nearly as bombastic sounding as the Phil Spector version from 1970.

Anyway, as I said I was kind of floundering at the time and this soundtrack album always takes me back to that feeling of uncertainty and it illustrates just how much Paul McCartney’s music meant to me as it gave me a lifeline when I needed it most and that feeling remains with me to this day.

It’s those memories I feel every time I listen to this album and the reason it remains one of my all-time favorite McCartney albums as it means more to me than just a dismissive review, it was then and is now a portal to another place and time as well as a bridge over some weighty decisions and angst that leads to calmer waters.

It’s also simply a lovely collection of great music.

And of course though it did kind of derail McCartney’s career a bit at the time it was one of the first times since The Beatles split that he openly celebrated his Beatles past and I think in way it kind of saved him as the commercial and critical disappointment of “Give My Regards to Broad Street” gave him the impetus to work his way back to his muse which opened up his later career to a second wave of superb work that rivaled his Beatles days.

I’m sure a lot of folks will disagree but to me it felt as if subconsciously McCartney was trying to reconnect to his past to propel him forward.

So that leads me to the eight routes of Broad Street.

I have eight, yes eight (I know, crazy but true) different CD variations of the “Give My Regards to Broad Street” soundtrack on CD and thought I’d share photos of all of them here today.

The Broad Street film and soundtrack have not been a part of McCartney’s Archive Collection of the past sixteen years and I’m guessing it may never be as I’m sure the whole affair of bad press and reviews from the period have majorly tainted both the film and soundtrack in McCartney’s mind.

That’s too bad as an Archive release of “Give My Regards to Broad Street” could really be fantastic but we may never have the chance to experience it but who knows, weirder things have happened.

Anyway, below is a list of all eight CDs of Broad Street that own as well as photos above and below for folks to are interested in seeing them.

I also threw in some newspaper clippings of the local showing of the film that eventually did land in a theater near me though it took a bit of time to get to my city. I believe the film was released in late October of 1984 but didn’t land here until about a month later.

I still quite enjoy the film but I see it more a s long form video ala “Thriller” than as a film on the level of The Beatles “A Hard Day’s Night”. I think critics at the time were constantly comparing it to the universally acclaimed Beatles film but really if you look at it as a long form music video with a bare bones plot but lots of well filmed music videos it holds up much better.

All of My Broad Street CDs (see photos above and below):

Give My Regards to Broad Street – 1st issue US Columbia CD Made in Japan

Give My Regards to Broad Street – US Columbia CD Made in USA