"Pipes of Peace" | ||||
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Single by Paul McCartney | ||||
from the album Pipes of Peace | ||||
B-side | "So Bad" | |||
Released | 5 December 1983 | |||
Recorded | 10 September 1982 [1] | |||
Studio | AIR, London | |||
Genre | Pop | |||
Length | 3:56 (album version) 3:24 (7" version) | |||
Label | Parlophone | |||
Songwriter(s) | Paul McCartney | |||
Producer(s) | George Martin | |||
Paul McCartney singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
”Pipes of Peace” on YouTube |
"Pipes of Peace" is a song written by the English musician Paul McCartney and the title track on his 1983 studio album of the same name. It was released in December 1983 as a single and reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks and No. 1 on the Irish Singles Chart for two weeks in January 1984. [2] [3]
In the United States, "Pipes of Peace" was issued as the B-side as its British B-side, "So Bad", was the A-side. [4] "So Bad" reached number 23 at the US Billboard Hot 100 [5] and reached number 3 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. "So Bad" peaked at 18 on the Canadian RPM Chart (and two weeks at No. 2 AC). [6] [7]
The song was included on the UK and Canada version of the 1987 compilation All the Best! , the 2001 compilation Wingspan: Hits and History and the 2016 compilation Pure McCartney .
The basic track was recorded on 10 September 1982 at AIR Studios, [8] with orchestral overdubs added later. McCartney plays piano, bass and knee-percussion, while tabla was added by James Kippen, who tried "something like 20–30 takes" before McCartney was satisfied. [9] A special session was organised to have the Pestalozzi Children Choir adding their voices.
At Chobham Common, Surrey, a video was shot for "Pipes of Peace", depicting the famous 1914 Christmas truce between British and German troops. [10] It portrays a British and a German soldier, both played by McCartney, who meet up in No Man's Land and exchange photos of their loved ones while other soldiers fraternise and play football. When a shell blast forces the two armies to retreat to their own trenches both men realise that they still have each other's pictures. [11] The video was produced by Hugh Symonds, featured more than 100 extras and, for added realism, McCartney had his hair cut short especially for the shoot.
In November 2014, the British supermarket chain Sainsbury's, in partnership with the Royal British Legion, produced a Christmas advert [12] whose look and narrative were widely recognised [13] as being based on McCartney's "Pipes of Peace" video. As in "Pipes of Peace" the British and German soldier return to their trenches to discover that they have inadvertently swapped their gifts from home.
Argentine singer-songwriter Sergio Denis recorded a Spanish version of the song re-titled "Pipas de la paz" on his album La Humanidad (1984).
In 2017, the American indie pop band Muna covered the song for Capitol Music Group’s compilation Holidays Rule Vol. 2. [15] [16]
The discography of British musician Paul McCartney consists of 26 studio albums, four compilation albums, ten live albums, 37 video albums, two extended plays, 111 singles, seven classical albums, five electronica albums, 17 box sets, and 79 music videos. Before his career as a solo artist, McCartney enjoyed success as a member of the rock band the Beatles.
Wings at the Speed of Sound is the fifth studio album by the British–American rock band Wings, released on 26 March 1976. Issued at the height of the band's popularity, it reached the top spot on the US album chart—the band's fourth consecutive album to do so—and peaked at number 2 on the UK album chart. Both singles from the album also reached the top 5 of the UK and US singles charts, with "Silly Love Songs" reaching number 1 in the US.
London Town is the sixth studio album by the British–American rock group Wings. It was released in March 1978, two years after its predecessor, Wings at the Speed of Sound. The album had a long and tumultuous gestation during which the band's tour plans for 1977 were cancelled, due to Linda McCartney becoming pregnant with her and Paul McCartney's fourth child and two members of Wings having departed, leaving the band as a trio comprising Paul, Linda and Denny Laine. Recording sessions were held intermittently over a period of a year, mainly at Abbey Road Studios in London and aboard a luxury yacht in the Virgin Islands.
"No More Lonely Nights" is a song written and performed by Paul McCartney, first released on 24 September 1984 on the album Give My Regards to Broad Street.
Pipes of Peace is the fourth solo studio album by English singer-songwriter Paul McCartney, released on 31 October 1983. As the follow-up to the popular Tug of War, the album came close to matching the commercial success of its predecessor in Britain but peaked only at number 15 on America's Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart. While Pipes of Peace was the source of international hit singles such as "Say Say Say" and the title track, the critical response to the album was less favourable than that afforded to Tug of War.
Give My Regards to Broad Street is the fifth solo studio album by Paul McCartney and the soundtrack to the film of the same name. It features covers of Beatles' songs, Wings and solo tracks by McCartney, as well as a few new songs. The album reached number 1 on the UK chart. The lead single, "No More Lonely Nights", was BAFTA and Golden Globe Award nominated. It was also to be his final album to be released under Columbia Records, which had been his US label for over five years.
Press to Play is the sixth solo studio album by English musician Paul McCartney, released on 25 August 1986. It was McCartney's first album of entirely new music since Pipes of Peace in 1983, and his first solo album to be issued internationally by EMI following a six-year alliance with Columbia Records in the United States and Canada. Keen to re-establish himself after his poorly received 1984 musical film Give My Regards to Broad Street, McCartney enlisted producer Hugh Padgham to give the album a contemporary sound.
"Ebony and Ivory" is a song that was released in 1982 as a single by Paul McCartney featuring Stevie Wonder. It was issued on 29 March that year as the lead single from McCartney's third solo album, Tug of War (1982). Written by McCartney, the song aligns the black and white keys of a piano keyboard with the theme of racial harmony. The single reached number one on both the UK and the US charts and was among the top-selling singles of 1982 in the US. During the apartheid era, the South African Broadcasting Corporation banned the song after Wonder dedicated his 1984 Academy Award for Best Original Song to Nelson Mandela.
Tug of War is the third solo studio album by the English musician Paul McCartney, released on 26 April 1982. It is his 11th album overall following the break up of the Beatles in 1970, his first album released after the dissolution of his band Wings the previous year, and his first album following the murder of his former songwriting partner John Lennon. The cover features an abstract oil painting by the artist Brian Clarke, a frequent McCartney collaborator, incorporating an overpainted transparency of a portrait of Paul taken by Linda McCartney.
"Mull of Kintyre" is a song by the English-American rock band Wings. It was written by Paul McCartney and Denny Laine in tribute to the Kintyre peninsula in Argyll and Bute in the south-west of Scotland and its headland, the Mull of Kintyre, where McCartney has owned High Park Farm since 1966.
"Silly Love Songs" is a song by the British–American rock band Wings that was written by Paul and Linda McCartney. The song first appeared in March 1976 on the album Wings at the Speed of Sound, then it was released as a single backed with "Cook of the House" on 1 April in the US, and 30 April in the UK. The song, which features disco overtones, was seen as being written in response to music critics accusing McCartney of predominantly writing "silly love songs" and "sentimental slush"; however, McCartney has since clarified that the song was actually directed to John Lennon who accused him of writing such songs.
"Fields of Gold" is a song written and performed by English musician Sting. It first appeared on his fourth studio album, Ten Summoner's Tales (1993). The song, co-produced by Sting with Hugh Padgham, was released as a single on 7 June 1993 by A&M Records, reaching No. 16 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 23 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song also reached No. 2 in Canada and No. 6 in Iceland. In 1994, it was awarded one of BMI's Pop Songs Awards. The music video for the song was directed by Kevin Godley, featuring Sting as a gold silhouette.
"Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" is a song by Paul and Linda McCartney from the album Ram. Released in the United States as a single on 2 August 1971, it reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 on 4 September 1971, making it the first of a string of post-Beatles, Paul McCartney-penned singles to top the US pop chart during the 1970s and 1980s. Billboard ranked the song as number 22 on its Top Pop Singles of 1971 year-end chart. It became McCartney's first gold record after the breakup of the Beatles.
"Listen to What the Man Said" is a hit single from Wings' 1975 album Venus and Mars. The song featured new member Joe English on drums, with guest musicians Dave Mason on guitar and Tom Scott on soprano saxophone. It was a number 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US the week of July 19, 1975 and reached number 1 in Canada on the RPM National Top Singles Chart. It also reached number 6 in the UK, and reached the top ten in Ireland, Norway and New Zealand and the top twenty in the Netherlands. The single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over one million copies.
"Goodnight Tonight" is a song by the British–American rock band Wings. Written and produced by Paul McCartney, it was released as a non-album single on 23 March 1979 by Parlophone in the UK and Columbia Records in the US. It was recorded during the sessions for the band's 1979 album Back to the Egg and is notable for its disco-inflected sound and spirited flamenco guitar break.
"We All Stand Together" is a song by Paul McCartney and the Frog Chorus.
"The World Tonight" is a song by Paul McCartney and is the second track on his 1997 album Flaming Pie. This song and Young Boy were featured in the 1997 movie Fathers' Day.
"Wonderful Christmastime" is a Christmas song by English musician Paul McCartney. Recorded during the sessions for his solo album McCartney II (1980), it was released as a single in November 1979 following Wings' final album Back to the Egg earlier that year. It was McCartney's first solo single in over eight years since "Eat at Home" in 1971. "Wonderful Christmastime" has charted within the top 10 in Austria, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom as well as the top 20 in Canada, Slovakia, Sweden, and Switzerland. It is a lauded song during Christmas and has been covered throughout the years by numerous artists.
"Say Say Say" is a song by Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson, released in October 1983 as the lead single from McCartney's 1983 album Pipes of Peace. Produced by George Martin, it was recorded during production of McCartney's 1982 Tug of War album, about a year before the release of "The Girl Is Mine", the pair's first duet from Jackson's album Thriller (1982).
"So Bad" is a song written by Paul McCartney that was first released on his 1983 album Pipes of Peace. It was also released as a single in the US, with the album's title track as the B-side and reached #23 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the UK, "So Bad" was released as the B-side of the "Pipes of Peace" single. A version of "So Bad" was later released on McCartney's 1984 album Give My Regards to Broad Street and it was used in the accompanying film.