"Spies Like Us" | ||||
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Single by Paul McCartney | ||||
B-side |
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Released | 18 November 1985 | |||
Recorded | September 1985 | |||
Genre | New wave | |||
Length | 4:48 | |||
Label |
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Songwriter(s) | Paul McCartney | |||
Producer(s) |
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Paul McCartney singles chronology | ||||
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"Spies Like Us" is the title song to the 1985 Warner Bros. motion picture of the same name, starring Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, and Donna Dixon. It was written and performed by Paul McCartney, and reached number 7 on the Billboard singles chart in early 1986, making it McCartney's last US top ten hit until 2015's "FourFiveSeconds". [1] It also reached #13 in the UK. [2]
Multiple releases were issued in the UK: a regular 7" single, a 7" shaped picture disc, a regular 12" single featuring extended mixes and the B-side "My Carnival" (a Wings track from the Venus and Mars sessions) and a 12" picture disc.
The minute-long outro is uptempo while the title is being sung repeatedly. When the movie Spies Like Us hit the theaters, producers opted to play the outro first in the closing credits before playing the entire song.
"Spies Like Us" was released on CD in 1993, as part of the release of The Paul McCartney Collection , as a bonus track on the album Press to Play . The B-side, "My Carnival", was released as a bonus track on Venus and Mars, and the 12" single was an exclusive to iTunes. The "Alternative Mix" was included on the deluxe edition of the Art of Noise album In No Sense? Nonsense! released in 2018. [3] It was also included on The 7" Singles Box in 2022. [4]
Cash Box said that it is "playful and danceable" with "innate tunefulness," "an ambitious arrangement and a classic resonant and melodic verse line are highlights." [5]
Director of the film John Landis has stated that he thought it was "a terrible song", but couldn't say no to McCartney and Warner Bros. [6]
The video for the song, directed by John Landis (who also directed the film), was not aired by the BBC because Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase appeared in it playing instruments. British labour rules at the time prohibited non-musicians from performing in videos, and Aykroyd and Chase did not actually play on the record, though both have worked as professional musicians. The video ends with McCartney, Chase, and Aykroyd walking across Abbey Road, parodying the famous album cover. A second version of the video, which is very rare, also includes Donna Dixon and Vanessa Angel singing the outro alongside Paul McCartney and Dan Aykroyd.
The video was however played on the long running BBC show Top of the Pops on 2 January 1986 having already briefly featured in its Top 40 Breakers section during December 1985.
7" single (R 6118)
12" single (12R 6118)
Spies Like Us
My Carnival
Chart (1985–1986) | Peak position |
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Australia (Kent Music Report) [7] | 55 |
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [8] | 26 |
Irish Singles Chart [9] | 8 |
UK Singles (OCC) [10] | 13 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [11] | 7 |
US Mainstream Rock ( Billboard ) [12] | 31 |
Chart (1986) | Position |
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US Top Pop Singles (Billboard) [13] | 92 |
"With a Little Help from My Friends" is a song recorded by English rock band the Beatles for their 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was written primarily by Paul McCartney with contributions from John Lennon, and is sung by drummer Ringo Starr, his lead vocal for the album. As the second track on the album, it segues from the applause on the title track.
"Let It Be" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, released on 6 March 1970 as a single, and as the title track of their album Let It Be. It was written and sung by Paul McCartney, and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The single version of the song, produced by George Martin, features a softer guitar solo and the orchestral section mixed low, compared with the album version, produced by Phil Spector, featuring a more aggressive guitar solo and the orchestral sections mixed higher.
Spies Like Us is a 1985 American spy comedy film directed by John Landis, and starring Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Steve Forrest, and Donna Dixon. The film presents the comic adventures of two novice intelligence agents sent to the Soviet Union. Originally written by Aykroyd and Dave Thomas to star Aykroyd and John Belushi at Universal, the script went into turnaround and was later picked up by Warner Bros., starring Aykroyd and Chase.
Venus and Mars is the fourth studio album by the British–American rock band Wings. Released in May 1975 as the follow-up to Band on the Run, Venus and Mars continued Wings' run of commercial success and provided a springboard for a year-long worldwide tour. The album was Paul McCartney's first post-Beatles album to be released worldwide by Capitol Records rather than Apple.
"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.
Off the Ground is the ninth solo studio album by Paul McCartney. It was released on 1 February 1993, through Parlophone in the UK and Capitol Records in the US. The record was produced by McCartney with Julian Mendelsohn. As his first studio album of the 1990s, it is also the follow-up to the well received Flowers in the Dirt (1989).
"Coming Up" is a song written and performed by the English rock musician Paul McCartney, released as the opening track on his second solo studio album McCartney II (1980). Like other songs on the album, the song has a synthesised sound, featuring sped-up vocals created by using a vari-speed tape machine. McCartney played all instruments.
"Helen Wheels" is a song by the English-American rock band Paul McCartney and Wings. The song was named after Paul and Linda McCartney's Land Rover, which they nicknamed "Hell on Wheels".
"Band on the Run" is a song by the British–American rock band Paul McCartney and Wings, the title track to their 1973 album Band on the Run.
"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 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.
"Letting Go" is a song credited to Paul and Linda McCartney and originally released by Wings on their 1975 album Venus and Mars. The song was remixed and released as a single on 4 October 1975 in the United States, and on 18 October 1975 in the United Kingdom. The song peaked at number 41 in the UK, 41 on the Cash Box Top 100 and number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Let 'Em In" is a song by Wings from their 1976 album Wings at the Speed of Sound. It was written and sung by Paul McCartney and reached the top 3 in the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. It was a No. 2 hit in the UK; in the U.S. it was a No. 3 pop hit and No. 1 easy listening hit. In Canada, the song was No. 3 for three weeks on the pop chart and No. 1 for three weeks on the MOR chart of RPM magazine. The single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over one million copies. It can also be found on McCartney's 1987 compilation album, All the Best! A demo of the song, featuring Denny Laine on lead vocal, was included as a bonus track on the Archive Collection reissue of Wings at the Speed of Sound.
"Press" is a song by the English rock musician Paul McCartney. It was released as the lead single from his sixth solo studio album, Press to Play (1986), being McCartney's 37th single. The single has "It's Not True" as its B-side, which was only included on CD releases of Press to Play.
"Hope of Deliverance" is a song by English singer-songwriter Paul McCartney, released in December 1992 by Parlophone as the lead single from his ninth solo studio album, Off the Ground (1993). The rock and Latin song was written by McCartney and produced by him with Julian Mendelsohn. It reached number 18 on the UK Singles Chart and became a top-five hit in Austria, Canada, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Switzerland. The accompanying music video was directed by Andy Morahan. The song was recorded during sessions for Off the Ground, which took place on 17 July 1992. The overdub session is described in detail by Italian percussionist Maurizio Ravalico in the book Paul McCartney: Recording Sessions (1969–2013).
Back to the Grindstone is the twentieth studio album by American country music artist Ronnie Milsap, released on March 12, 1991. The album produced four singles, three of which reached the top ten on the Billboard country singles chart, including "Are You Lovin' Me Like I'm Lovin' You," "Since I Don't Have You," a cover of The Skyliners' 1958 standard and "Turn That Radio On." The fourth single, "All Is Fair in Love and War" peaked at number 11. Milsap produced the album with Rob Galbraith, with further assistance from Richard Landis on "Since I Don't Have You".
"Figure of Eight" is a song from Paul McCartney's 1989 album, Flowers in the Dirt.
"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).
"Toss It Up" is a song by rapper Tupac Shakur from his fifth studio album, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory (1996). Released under the stage name Makaveli, the song served as the lead single to the posthumous album. It was first released in the United States just under two weeks after his death, peaking at number thirty-three on the R&B singles chart. The song is known for including a diss toward Dr. Dre and instrumentally being very similar to the production on the song "No Diggity". It features vocals and singing from Aaron Hall, Danny Boy, and K-Ci & JoJo.
"All Day" is a song by American rapper Kanye West. It features Trinidadian-American rapper Theophilus London, Canadian rapper Allan Kingdom, and English musician Paul McCartney. The song was produced by West and ten others, including Puff Daddy, French Montana and Travis Scott. Having initially leaked in August 2014 after being announced for release as a single by West, he premiered the song on March 2, 2015 via Power 106 and Hot 97. The following day, it was released for digital download and streaming as a standalone single, through GOOD Music and Def Jam. The song contains a re-recorded sample of "When the Wind Is Blowing" by Paul McCartney and Wings and an interpolation from "Dance with Me" by Jamaican singer Noel Ellis. It includes elements of industrial and drill music, alongside synthesizers. Rapping in a fast flow, West's lyrics center around his success in life and the music industry.
"FourFiveSeconds" is a song recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna, American rapper Kanye West, and English musician Paul McCartney. It was written and produced by McCartney, West, Mike Dean, Dave Longstreth and Noah Goldstein with additional writing from Kirby Lauryen, Ty Dolla Sign, Dallas Austin, Elon Rutberg and Rihanna. Previewed by West at the iHeartMedia Music Summit on January 21, 2015, it was digitally released on January 24. "FourFiveSeconds" is a folk-pop and soul song with an instrumentation consisting of an acoustic guitar, organ and bass guitar.