
Cover revealed for Sir Paul McCartney's upcoming Wings book
Based on dozens of hours of interviews with Sir Paul, Wings: The Story Of A Band On The Run, edited by American historian Edward 'Ted' Widmer, details the journey of the band, from its inception to the group's dissolution in 1981.
Following his success with The Beatles, the Liverpool-born musician co-founded Wings in 1971, with his late wife Linda one of the members.
A picture, taken by Linda in Spain in 1972, and which is to be used as the book cover, shows her alongside Sir Paul, and former band members Denny Laine, Henry McCullough and Denny Seiwell.
Sir Paul, 82, has written a foreword for the book, which is being published in November, and says: 'Suddenly Wings has found its moment. We have a generational shift at work, and it's like being transported back on a magic carpet.
'Working on the book has awakened so many beautiful memories of our times back then.'
The book is compiled from hours of new and historical interviews, as well as newly discovered and previously unheard interviews from Sir Paul's personal archive.
It features more than 150 photographs, some unseen, capturing the band through the years and which were taken by Sir Paul, Linda, Sir Paul's younger brother Mike, and photographers Clive Arrowsmith, Henry Diltz and Robert Ellis.
The book will also feature some of Sir Paul's diary entries from the time and handwritten lyrics.
Singer and songwriter Sir Paul has had a career spanning more than six decades as one of the most famous stars the UK music industry has produced.
In July 1971, Sir Paul and Linda teamed up with The Moody Blues' Laine and drummer Seiwell to start working on a Wings debut album.
Titled Wild Life, it took just two weeks, according to Sir Paul's official website, with opening track Mumbo recorded in one take.
The next year, in 1972, Sir Paul embarked on a Wings tour with the University of Nottingham the first venue on February 9.
That same year, Wings performed a concert tour of Europe, notable for the eye-catching double-decker bus which was used, with its psychedelic colour scheme ensuring nobody missed it along its travels.
Wings went on to have hits with songs including Mull Of Kintyre, James Bond film theme Live And Let Die, Band On The Run and more, before they disbanded in 1981.
From the 1973 album of the same name, Band On The Run went on to win a Grammy in 1975 for the best pop vocal performance by a duo, group or chorus and peaked at number three in the UK singles chart in August 1974.
Laine's death at the age of 79 was announced by his wife Elizabeth Hines in December 2023, who said he had 'passed away peacefully' following a battle with lung disease.
In 2022, Sir Paul, then aged 80, delivered a history-making Glastonbury headline set as he became the festival's oldest solo headliner.
In December 2024, he played songs by Wings and The Beatles to a packed crowd at London's O2 Arena in a performance that saw him welcome his former Beatles bandmate Sir Ringo Starr to the stage.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Time Out
3 hours ago
- Time Out
Major US pizza chain Chuck E. Cheese is finally opening in Australia – but you'll never guess where
Forget Vegas – Australia's about to score its very own 'casino for kids', complete with flashing lights, arcade games and plenty of cheesy pizza on the side. In January 2024, mega American franchise Chuck E. Cheese announced it was heading Down Under – and it's finally revealed where and when! Chuck E. Cheese is just one of a growing number of American fast food giants popping up in Australia, with Wendy's, Wingstop and Auntie Anne's all having opened here in the past 12 months. With almost 600 locations in 18 countries worldwide, this will mark the franchise's first Aussie outpost, with its flagship set to open in Joondalup, Perth, on September 6. Founded in 1977 in California, the family entertainment chain has become a global sensation thanks to its winning combo of cheesy pizza combined with impressive arcades and next-level kids' parties. And its Western Australia venue will be no different. Located 25 minutes north of Perth's CBD, the 1,622-square-metre Joondalup store will be centred around the Adventure Zone – a huge multi-storey indoor playground featuring a six-metre interactive rock climbing wall, ball pit with inflatable boats, spider climb, giant spiral slide and Ninja Warrior-style obstacle course. Australia's first Chuck E. Cheese will also feature a Game Zone, boasting more than 100 arcade games, a light-up dance floor to bust a move and VIP party rooms where kids can score all-you-can-play access – plus surprise appearances from Chuck E. himself. And don't worry, parents – there are dedicated recharge zones just for you. After burning off all that energy, your little ones are bound to work up an appetite. Luckily, there's a full-service restaurant dishing up crispy wings, fresh salads, fruit and veggie platters – and of course, Chuck E. Cheese's signature cheesy pizzas. Really want to raise their sugar levels? Treat them to warm giant cookies, unicorn churros, Dippin' Dots and fully loaded milkshakes, too. Chuck E. Cheese's Australian debut is being brought to us by Royale Hospitality Group, which also franchises burger joint Milky Lane and steakhouse Outback Jacks. The Perth store will open on September 6 at Unit 3/7 Winton Rd, Joondalup. Doors will open daily from 9am, with closing times of 9pm from Sunday to Thursday and 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays. You can find out more here.


Spectator
4 hours ago
- Spectator
A mafia drama like no other
The Kingdom is a mafia drama like no other. It's directed by Julien Colonna whose father was a Corsican mob boss who died in 2006 (officially in a car crash although it's generally believed he was 'whacked'). And it's told through the eyes of a young girl. Think of it as The Godfather from the point of view of a teenage Connie Corleone. Or The Sopranos from the perspective of Meadow. Or just take it for what it is, which is tense, brilliant and rivetingly convincing. The film is set in Corsica in 1995 at a time when the island was experiencing deadly mob feuds as well as intense conflicts between nationalist groups. Colonna has deployed locals rather than professional actors which adds to that believability. The cast is led by Ghjuvanna Benedetti who is stunning in every possible way. She plays 15-year-old Lesia – roughly the age Colonna would have been in 1995 – and she's our point of view. She lives with her aunt in a village where school is out for the summer. (I'm a sucker for what I call 'the one long hot summer' film.) She flirts with a handsome boy. She heads to the beach with her friends. After a hunt she field-dresses a strung-up boar. Blood splatters her face. It's expected. It's the Corsican way. Violence is customary, always in the air. Her summer changes when she is whisked away to stay with her father Pierre-Paul (Saveriu Santucci). He's a crime boss, holed up in a villa, on the run from the police as well as rival gangsters. Their tit-for-tat killings appear to have been going on for ever. He adores her but he does not know her. Lesia isn't a talker. She is quietly watchful and sullen but he promises her a week of fishing and swimming. It's all change again, however, when Pierre-Paul and assembled 'uncles' gather round the television and watch a report on a car bomb that may well have been intended for him. From now on it's all safe houses, disguises, overheard conversations, glimpses of Pierre-Paul sending his lieutenants out in bullet-proof vests with guns. He tries to return her to the village but she smuggles herself back. At some level she comprehends that she has a limited time in which to bond. They're on the run together and she must now face the dangerous realities of his world and 'the kingdom' that he has created and that she will inherit. Or will she? Will she be able to break the cycle of retribution? (Colonna's father's father was also murdered by the mafia. Not a 'car crash'. Shot dead.) The film is understated, naturalistic, sultry, intimate, with a pervasive undercurrent of dread while Lesia and her father's relationship grows deeper. Pierre-Paul treats his daughter tenderly and with affection yet she knows, as do we, that he is capable of truly brutal acts elsewhere. How do you love a man like that? It certainly doesn't make being a mobster look like any fun, even though the fabulous cinematography makes Corsica looks stunning. You want to tell them: 'Pack it in and go for a nice swim, fellas!' It's not, I should have said, an especially bloodthirsty film. Most of the 'whackings' take place off camera, although it does ramp up at the end. The performances are terrific – as is the chemistry between the two leads. And I doubt you'll be able to take your eyes off Benedetti for a single second. It's Colonna's first major film and I hope there are many more. He may get to live a long life.


Spectator
4 hours ago
- Spectator
A precocious protagonist: Vera, or Faith, by Gary Shteyngart, reviewed
It's impossible not to love Vera Bradford-Shmulkin, the whip-smart Jewish-Korean- American child narrator of Vera, or Faith, Gary Shteyngart's sixth novel, which is a masterclass in the author's sardonicism, set in a frighteningly realistic near future. School is awful and Vera's world is on the brink of imploding because 'Daddy and Anne Mom', her stepmother, aren't getting on, what with Igor's evening 'mar-tiny' habit and crumpling status as a 'leftist intellectual'. The wider American world is in similar turmoil, with an escalating campaign for the Five-Three amendment. This calls for 'exceptional Americans' who can trace their roots to before the Revolutionary War to get added voting weight, heightening tensions. Vera, whose half-brother Dylan would be an exceptional American, is desperate to trace 'Mom Mom', her mysterious birth mother, who she thinks has cancer. It's no wonder Vera's paediatrician and her psychologist think she suffers from intense anxiety, despite presenting as a very bright ten-year-old. Admittedly, this all makes for a precocious and pretentious protagonist, but Shteyngart knows that readers will relate to Vera because 'many of them were Vera', as he told one interviewer. Her 'Things I Still Need to Know Diary' is full of lists of words and phrases such as 'neoliberal frog-march of the damned'. The super-sharp child narrator is a trope beloved by authors who want to look at the world sideways. Miriam Toews uses it in her latest novel Fight Night, which sees nine-year-old Swiv try to track down her missing father, as did Henry James many decades ago in What Maisie Knew. Here, sticking to Vera's close third-person perspective emphasises the crazy geopolitics. The one flaw is that children are repetitive, and so are some of Vera's lines, such as how Igor gets her to check people's bookshelves to see if the spine has been cracked on an enormous book called The Power Broker. The action takes place over a couple of months, mainly in Manhattan, where Vera and Dylan attend a highly selective public school. Given the joy that comes from the girl's unique take on the world, it would be a shame to give too much away in such a slim novel; but Kaspie the AI-powered chess computer and Stella the talking car deserve special mention. Shteyngart apparently wrote the novel in 51 days, and pays homage throughout to Vladimir Nabokov's 1969 novel Ada, or Ardor. It makes an ideal entry point for anyone new to Shteyngart's world because it's all there, from the stand-in for the author himself to prophecies of where the world is headed. An enjoyable if somewhat alarming read.