“The Lost Boys: Hard-To-Find ’80s LPs” gives you exactly what the title implies: a rare or out-of-print album or EP from the ’80s in its entirety. Some will be from CD, but most will have been lovingly transferred from pristine vinyl culled directly from the Analog Kid’s vast collection. Whatever album I choose, it will be one that you can’t easily find for sale on Amazon or in the iTunes store. Death…by stereo!
Pipes Of Peace certainly isn’t Paul McCartney’s proudest moment, but the fact that it is currently out of print boggles the Analog Kid’s brain. How can a Paul McCartney album produced by George Martin be unavailable on CD, especially one that contains a song that spent six weeks at #1?
Of course, that song is “Say Say Say,” the second duet between McCartney and Michael Jackson. A year earlier, Paul had appeared on “The Girl Is Mine,” the first single (really!) off of Michael’s Thriller album. “The Girl Is Mine” went as high as #2, but its impact was miniscule compared to the success of “Say Say Say.”
In retrospect, Paul probably rushed the release of Pipes Of Peace to capitalize on the goodwill he created with 1982’s Tug Of War. Some of the songs on Pipes Of Peace were actually leftovers from the Tug Of War sessions, and as a result the album simply wasn’t as good as its predecessor. Still, there are some really good tunes on the record– the title track is an underrated gem (it went to #1 in the UK), and I also really like the quirky “Keep Under Cover.” “So Bad” was released as a single in the United States, and it’s a typically catchy McCartney ballad.
I’m sure Pipes Of Peace will eventually be reissued on CD, but in the meantime you can always listen to it here on the Analog Kid blog. You can go ahead and skip “Say Say Say” if you want– I won’t tell anyone.
Paul McCartney: Pipes Of Peace
Columbia Records, 1983
1. “Pipes Of Peace” (McCartney)
2. “Say Say Say” (McCartney/Jackson)
3. “The Other Me” (McCartney)
4. “Keep Under Cover” (McCartney)
5. “So Bad” (McCartney)
6. “The Man” (McCartney/Jackson)
7. “Sweetest Little Show” (McCartney)
8. “Average Person” (McCartney)
9. “Hey Hey” (McCartney/Clarke)
10. “Tug Of Peace” (McCartney)
11. “Through Our Love” (McCartney)
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Bonus Tracks!
The first rule of The Analog Kid blog is that if you write about a song on the Analog Kid blog, you share the song on the Analog Kid blog.
Paul McCartney: “Ode To A Koala Bear” (McCartney)
From the U.K. 12″ single Say Say Say
Parlophone Records, 1983
Paul McCartney: “Pipes Of Peace” [Single Version] (McCartney)
From the 7″ single Pipes Of Peace
Parlophone Records, 1983
Pipes of Peace [Single Version]
Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney: “The Girl Is Mine” (Jackson)
From the album Thriller
Epic Records, 1982
The Analog Kid 
My wheelhouse! Unabashed Beatles and Macca nut. I do have this on cassette, which will have to suffice for now (and to be honest, I do have it on MP3 downloaded long ago from one of those Rooskie sites…). I can find great little pop moments in just about every tune on this album, the lyrics really, really stink though. Truly painful. I think Sweetest Little Show/Average Person have some great moments, and “Through Our Love” sounds better with the semi-acoustic treatment in the beginning, no need to bombast it up. And being a 10cc nut, I love hearing Eric Stewart’s harmonies on “So Bad” (as I did on “The Pound is Sinking”, my head perked up, “whoah, that sounds like 10cc!”). OK, skimming through these now, gonna be honest, can’t find anything good to say about “Tug of Peace”. Unfortunately a foreshadowing of the crappy disco version of “No More Lonely Nights” at the end of Broad Street and “Spies Like Us”. Pretty low point for Macca, but like a true fighter he clawed his way out.
I love 10cc! I got this on CD in 1989 and I played it a ton that year– “Press,” too (another one that’s out of print. Will have to feature that one soon!).
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