Venus and Mars

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For other uses, see Venus and Mars (disambiguation).
Venus and Mars
Studio album by Wings
Released 27 May 1975 (US)
30 May 1975 (UK)
Recorded January - April 1975 at Sea Saint, New Orleans and Wally Heiders Studio, Los Angeles
Genre Rock
Length 43:11
Label Capitol
Producer Paul McCartney
Wings chronology
Band on the Run
(1973)		 Venus and Mars
(1975)		 Wings at the Speed of Sound
(1976)

Venus and Mars is the fourth album by Wings. Released as the follow-up to the enormously successful Band on the Run, Venus and Mars continued Wings' string of success and would prove a springboard for a year-long worldwide tour.[1] It was Paul McCartney's first post-Beatles release under the Capitol Records label.

Contents

[edit] Context

After recording Band on the Run as a three-piece with wife Linda and guitarist Denny Laine, McCartney added Jimmy McCulloch on lead guitar and Geoff Britton on drums to the Wings line-up in 1974. Having written several new songs for the next album, McCartney decided upon New Orleans, Louisiana as the recording venue, and Wings headed there in January 1975.[1]

As soon as the sessions began, the personality clash that had been evident between McCulloch and Britton during Wings' 1974 sessions in Nashville became more pronounced, and Britton — after a mere six month stay — quit Wings, having only played on three of the new songs.[1] A replacement, American Joe English, was quickly auditioned and hired to finish the album.[2]

The sessions themselves proved to be very productive, not only finishing the entire album, but also several additional songs including two future McCartney B-sides: "Lunch Box/Odd Sox" and "My Carnival".[1] McCartney also decided to link the songs together much like The Beatles had on Abbey Road to give the album a more continuous feel.[3]

John Lennon, often in a nostalgic mood while in Los Angeles, had told May Pang (his then girlfriend) that he planned to visit the McCartneys during the recording sessions for Venus and Mars, but this was not to be. Lennon's planned visit would be permanently postponed due to his reunion with Yoko Ono.[4]

[edit] Releases

Preceded by the single "Listen to What the Man Said" in May, Venus and Mars appeared two weeks later to decent reviews and brisk sales. The album reached #1 in the United States, the United Kingdom and worldwide (as did "Listen to What the Man Said" in the US) and sold several million copies during the 1970s, with sales now pitched at over 10 million, even if the reaction was less than what had greeted Band on the Run a year earlier.

Two additional singles, "Letting Go" and "Venus and Mars/Rock Show" were released, though to less success. Although the latter almost reached the US Top 10, it didn't chart at all in the UK.

By September, Wings kicked off what would be their year-long Wings Over the World tour in the UK, with Australia, the US and Canada penciled in for the coming months; Venus and Mars material would be heavily featured.

In 1983 it was first issued on compact disc by Columbia Records, although early 1983 pressings were pressed in Japan by CSR Compact Disc which was etched in the inner ring. This CD was one of the first pressed at CBS/Sony's Digital Audio Disc Plant in Terre Haute, Indiana CD pressing plant. The Columbia McCartney Discs are prized by audiophiles for their mastering. In 1993, Venus and Mars was remastered and reissued on CD as part of "The Paul McCartney Collection" series with "Zoo Gang" (a UK television theme that was the UK B-side of "Band on the Run" in 1974), "Lunch Box/Odd Sox" (B-side of "Coming Up" in 1980), and "My Carnival" ("Spies Like Us"' B-side in 1985) as bonus tracks. In 2007, Venus and Mars was reissued in digital form on iTunes with these bonus tracks plus the 6-minute-plus "party mix" of "My Carnival".

Wings' interpretation of the theme to Crossroads, a British soap opera, was sometimes used to end the show in place of the regular theme tune, usually when there was a cliffhanger ending with a hint of sadness involved.

The album was also originally released in 4-channel quadraphonic. In 1996 the quadraphonic version of the album was released on Compact disc in the DTS 5.1 Music Disc format.

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3/5 stars.... link
Robert Christgau (B+) [5]
Rolling Stone 3.5/5 stars.... link
MusicHound 2/5 stars....[6]

[edit] Track listing

All songs written and composed by Paul & Linda McCartney (listed as "McCartney") except as noted. 

Side One
No. Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Venus and Mars"     1:20
2. "Rock Show"     5:31
3. "Love in Song"     3:04
4. "You Gave Me the Answer"     2:15
5. "Magneto and Titanium Man"     3:16
6. "Letting Go"     4:33
Side Two
No. Title Writer(s) Length
7. "Venus and Mars (Reprise)"     2:05
8. "Spirits of Ancient Egypt" (lead vocals by Denny Laine)   3:04
9. "Medicine Jar" (lead vocals by Jimmy McCulloch) Jimmy McCulloch, Colin Allen 3:37
10. "Call Me Back Again"     4:58
11. "Listen to What the Man Said"     4:01
12. "Treat Her Gently/Lonely Old People"     4:21
13. "Crossroads Theme"   Tony Hatch 1:00

[edit] Additional tracks

All songs written and composed by Paul & Linda McCartney. 

Bonus Tracks for 1987 CD edition & 1993 The Paul McCartney Collection edition
No. Title Notes Length
14. "Zoo Gang"   Theme from the UK TV series The Zoo Gang 2:01
15. "Lunch Box/Odd Sox"   Previously released as B-side of a single "Coming Up" in 1980 3:50
16. "My Carnival"   Previously released as B-side of "Spies Like Us" in 1985 3:57
iTunes exclusive track
No. Title Notes Length
17. "My Carnival" (12" Party Mix) (Remixed by Gary Langan) Previously released on 12" maxi-single of "Spies Like Us" 6:02

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Additional personnel

[edit] Charts

[edit] Chart positions

Chart (1975/76) Position
Australian Kent Music Report Chart[7] 2
Canadian RPM Albums Chart[8] 1
Dutch Mega Albums Chart[9] 5
French SNEP Albums Chart [10] 1
Italian Albums Chart[11] 11
Japanese Oricon LP Chart[12] 9
New Zealand Albums Chart [13] 1
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[14] 1
UK Albums Chart [15] 1
U.S. Billboard 200 [16] 1
West German Media Control Albums Chart [17] 11

[edit] Certifications and sales

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[18] Platinum 100,000^
Japan (Oricon Charts) 152,000[19]
United Kingdom (BPI)[20] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[21] Platinum 1,000,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

[edit] Year-end charts

Chart (1975) Position
Australian Albums Chart[7] 8
Canadian Albums Chart[22] 5
French Albums Chart[23] 66
Italian Albums Chart[11] 33
Japanese Albums Chart[24] 33
UK Albums Chart[25] 5
U.S. Billboard Year-End[26] 57
Chart (1976) Position
U.S. Billboard Year-End[27] 45

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Venus And Mars Album
  2. ^ Wingspan, 2001
  3. ^ McCartney & Wings - Venus And Mars
  4. ^ Original US release LP includes 2 posters, and 2 stickers (1 strip and 1 round)
  5. ^ "Robert Christgau: Album: Wings". http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=4101&name=Wings. Retrieved 2011-10-17. 
  6. ^ Gary Graff & Daniel Durcholz, MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide, Visible Ink Press (Farmington Hills, MI, 1999), p. 731.
  7. ^ a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0646119176. 
  8. ^ "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 23, No. 22, July 26, 1975". RPM. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.3994a&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=c6btf3r8hs459qqt5ln3o3dcv5. Retrieved 2011-10-03. 
  9. ^ "dutchcharts.nl Wings - At The Speed Of Sound" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. MegaCharts. http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Wings&titel=Venus+And+Mars&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-09-12. 
  10. ^ "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste : Wings" (in French). infodisc.fr. http://infodisc.fr/Album_W.php. Retrieved 2011-09-12. 
  11. ^ a b "Hit Parade Italia - Gli album più venduti del 1975" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. http://www.hitparadeitalia.it/hp_yenda/lpe1975.htm. Retrieved 2011-10-03. 
  12. ^ a-ビートルズ "- Yamachan Land (Archives of the Japanese record charts) - Albums Chart Daijiten - The Beatles" (in Japanese). 2007-12-30. http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/~yamag/album/al_beatles.html a-ビートルズ. Retrieved 2011-09-14. 
  13. ^ "charts.org.nz - Wings - Venus and Mars". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Wings&titel=Venus+And+Mars&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-09-12. 
  14. ^ "norwegiancharts.com Wings - Venus and Mars". http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Wings&titel=Venus+And+Mars&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-09-12. 
  15. ^ "Chart Stats - Wings - Venus and Mars". UK Albums Chart. http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=37913. Retrieved 2011-09-12. 
  16. ^ "allmusic ((( Venus and Mars > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r12646/charts-awards. Retrieved 2011-09-14. 
  17. ^ "Album Search: Wings" (in German). Media Control. http://www.charts.de/search.asp?search=wings&x=0&y=0&cat=a&country=de. Retrieved 2011-09-12. 
  18. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Wings – Venus and Mars". Music Canada. http://www.musiccanada.com/GPSearchResult.aspx?st=Venus+and+Mars&sa=Wings&smt=0. 
  19. ^ Oricon Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970-2005. Roppongi, Tokyo: Oricon Entertainment. 2006. ISBN 4871310779. 
  20. ^ "British album certifications – Wings – Venus and Mars". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx.  Enter Venus and Mars in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Go
  21. ^ "American album certifications – Wings – Venus". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22Venus%22.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  22. ^ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1975". RPM. http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?file_num=nlc008388.6489a&brws_s=&type=1&interval=20&PHPSESSID=c6btf3r8hs459qqt5ln3o3dcv5. Retrieved 2011-10-03. 
  23. ^ "Les Albums (CD) de 1975 par InfoDisc" (in French). infodisc.fr. http://www.infodisc.fr/B-CD_1975.php. Retrieved 2012-01-29. 
  24. ^ 1975年アルバム年間ヒットチャート "Japanese Year-End Albums Chart 1975" (in Japanese). Oricon. http://entamedata.web.fc2.com/music/music_a1975.html 1975年アルバム年間ヒットチャート. Retrieved 2011-10-03. 
  25. ^ "The Official UK Charts Company : ALBUM CHART HISTORY". Archived from the original on 12 July 2010. http://web.archive.org/web/20071216084346/www.theofficialcharts.com/album_chart_history_1975.php. Retrieved 16 December 2007. 
  26. ^ "1975 Year-end Albums - The Billboard 200". http://www.classof76.bt76.com/1976bb.html. Retrieved 11 November 2010. 
  27. ^ "Top Pop Albums of 1976". Archived from the original on 2 August 2011. http://web.archive.org/web/20070926234354/http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=855691. Retrieved 26 September 2007. 
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