Welcome to the Beatles Rarity of the Week. Disco began to have a major influence on the music scene by the late 1970s. Many bands that you would have considered hard core rock and roll acts were at least somewhat affected by the disco movement. The Rolling Stones came out with Miss You in 1978, and if that isn’t a disco-influenced drum beat in Pink Floyd’s Run Like Hell from The Wall, then my mother wears bright orange combat boots to bed. The 12 inch vinyl single came into existence with the advent of disco music. With only one or two songs on a side of a record the same size as a standard longplay record (LP), the grooves could be spaced farther apart. This not only allowed for a broader dynamic range in the sound, but it also made the break between songs (if there was more than one track on a side) more easily seen by DJ’s spinning the records in the discotheques, thus making the cueing process less fallible. By the late 70′s, it became standard practice to release 12 inch singles with an expanded version of a track heard on a standard single or LP. The first Paul McCartney 12 inch single release was Goodnight Tonight, a song he recorded in December 1978 with his band Wings. The 12 inch single was released on March 26, 1979, about a week and a half after the standard mix came out on a 7 inch single. The 12 inch single included an expanded mix of the track, clocking in at about 7:16, a good three minutes longer than the regular single version. Much of the additional material was instrumental and beat driven to add to the ‘dancibility’ of the record. This was the first in a long series of 12 inch singles released by Paul throughout the 80s, 90s and even as recent as 2005 when he released the Really Love You/Lalula 12 inch single (UK release). Really Love You is a dance mix of the track from Paul’s Flaming Pie album and is also part of his Twin Freaks album (only released on vinyl). Not surprisingly, all 3 of the other Beatles have 12 inch singles in their release history, such as one of the earliest 12 inch singles, Drowning In The Sea Of Love (Ringo, 1977), I’ve Got My Mind Set On You (George, 1987) and (Just Like) Starting Over (John, 1980). Goodnight Tonight in expanded form has not been officially issued on CD, but you can have a listen to it here any time you like.

Goodnight Tonight 12 inch single picture sleeve, 1979

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? If so, I will do my best to deliver, so let me hear from you. To browse for ideas, check out this search-able listing of thousands of Beatle-related recordings to choose from. Then let me hear from you here.

Here are some Amazon links to read more on, or purchase, some music related to this post:

1) McCartney II – 1993 remaster of McCartney II album featuring original version of Goodnight Tonight as a bonus track (currently out of stock but available from 3rd party sellers at this link)

2) Wingspan (Hits & History) – 2 CD Hits compilation of Wings music, includes original version of Goodnight Tonight

3) The McCartney Years – 3 DVD collection of Paul McCartney videos and concert footage w/5.1 mixes, includes original version of Goodnight Tonight

4) More Amazon links for any of your favorite Beatles-related music: The Beatles, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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Welcome to the Beatles Rarity of the Week. I’ve decided to let this post be in celebration of my trip to Nashville, TN to see Sir Paul tonight. Since he hasn’t been to Nashville since 1974, when he recorded Junior’s Farm and Sally G there with Wings, I was even hoping he might modify his set list, and at least throw Junior’s Farm in for the occasion (it’s such a good rocker). We’ll see…but hey! I’m getting off track here.

On June 1, 2008, Liverpool, UK had one of it’s greatest concerts in history when Paul showed up in celebration for his birth-city’s year as the European Capital of Culture. The pre-show music was from his obscure UK Twin Freaks album and also some remixes of the Memory Almost Full track, Nod Your Head. Then Paul and band hit the stage and surprised everyone by opening with something he hasn’t performed live in nearly 50 years – The Hippy Hippy Shake. The Beatles used to cover this little rocker when they played in Hamburg Germany from 1960-1962.

The Hippy Hippy Shake was written by Chan Romero but The Beatles were probably more familiar with the version by Italian rocker Little Tony, because that is the version that made it big in the UK around 1959. The Beatles can be heard on some of the releases of the Hamburg, Star Club recordings, covering the song. The Beatles also performed it 5 times for the BBC radio programs in the early 60′s and one of these recordings (from July 10, 1963) is on the Live At The BBC Beatles release on Apple. Paul sang lead on all accounts, as he does with equal energy here.

So if the set list was modified for Liverpool, might it be for Nashville too? Again, we’ll see…

Paul McCartney & Brian Ray on stage, Liverpool, 2008

Want to make a suggestion for a future Beatles Rarity of the Week? If so, I will do my best to deliver, so let me hear from you. To browse for ideas, check out this search-able listing of thousands of Beatle-related recordings to choose from. Then let me hear from you here.

Visit www.thebeatlesrarity.com for a new Beatles rarity each week, plus lots more!

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