London Town Atlanta GA

London Town

Paul McCartney & Wings

Captiol, 1978

REVIEW BY: David Bowling

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED: 07/12/2007

The musical worth of an album can partially be determined by how many times you have actually listened to it in the years it has been out, especially albums well over 20 years old. It's also telling if you can name the songlist without having to look, even after all those years.

In view of those two criteria, London Town disappears into the large catalog of McCartney's post-Beatles material.

London Town ended McCartney’s United States run of No. 1 albums. Band On The Run, Venus & Mars, Wings At The Speed Of Sound and Wings Over America, released between 1974-1977, all reached number one and attained platinum status. London Town did reach No. 2 but did not have staying power and sold poorly. McCartney was so miffed by the lack of support for the LP by Capitol Records that he would leave the label for Columbia for a little while.

There was a lot going on in Paul’s life in 1978. Linda McCartney gave birth to a daughter. Jimmy McCullough and Joe English left Wings, which reduced the group to the trio again. Then there was the odd story of the single “Mull Of Kintyre” backed with “Girls School.” Released in Great Britain before London Town was released, it became the largest selling single in U. K. history and still ranks fourth.