10 Songs That Prove Paul McCartney’s Solo Career Is Better Than You Think
7. Coming Up
McCartney spent most of The Seventies in Wings, a band that survived a rocky start to become one of the decade’s biggest attractions, touring the world to bigger audiences than he ever played to in The Beatles.
Burned out after a decade in a rock juggernaut, not to mention tired of constantly having to find new drummers, Paul began experimenting with synthesisers alone in his home studio.
The resultant album McCartney II was quite the departure from anything he had done previously, amongst the most experimental McCartney music to ever see official release. Coming Up was the most accessable track and undoubted highlight.
The most distinctive feature of this hook laden track is a high pitched vocal created using a varispeed tape machine to change the pitch of McCartney’s voice.
American listeners may be familiar with the more traditional sounding live version. It was a number one hit in the states, while the studio version reached number two in the UK charts. Both versions are well worth your time.
Coming Up has even been credited with impressing John Lennon so much it dragged him out of retirement and back into the recording studio.