Paul McCartney : Press To Play (Expanded Edition)

YOU WANT A LOVE

TO LAST FOREVER

ONE THAT WILL 

NEVER FADE AWAY

I WANNA HELP

WITH YOUR PROBLEM

STICK AROUND , I SAY

 Press to Play

 is the sixth

 solo 

studio album 

by the

 British musician

Paul McCartney

released on 

 August,25th 1986.

 It was McCartney's

 first album of 

entirely new music

 since

 Pipes of Peace

 in 1983, 

and his first 

solo album

 to be issued

 internationally 

by EMI 

following a

 six-year period

 with 

Columbia Records

 in the United States

 and Canada. 

Keen to

 re-establish himself

 after his 

poorly received

 1984 musical film 

Give My Regards to Broad Street, 

McCartney 

enlisted producer

 Hugh Padgham

 to give the album a 

contemporary sound.

On release, 

Press to Play 

received a

 mixed critical reception

 and was 

McCartney's 

poorest-selling

 studio album 

up to that point. 

Although it failed

 to make the top 20

 in the US, 

the album peaked

 at number 8 

on the

 UK Albums Chart 

and achieved 

gold status

 from the BPI 

in September 1986.

Four singles

 were issued from

 Press to Play: 

"Press",

 "Pretty Little Head",

 "Stranglehold"

 and

 "Only Love Remains"

 "Press" 

was a minor success, 

peaking at number 21

 in the US.

 The music video

 for the song

 featured

 McCartney 

walking around 

Bond Street 

and

 Charing Cross

 tube stations 

in London, 

catching a tube train 

and speaking with

 members of

 the general public.

After completing

 the basic tracks

 and the first round 

of overdubs, 

the Press to Play sessions 

resumed in 

July 1985. 

Guesting on the album

 were

 the Who's

 lead guitarist,

 Pete Townshend,

 Genesis' 

drummer 

and lead vocalist

 Phil Collins, 

Split Enz's 

keyboardist

 Eddie Rayner 

and backing vocalists

 Ruby James 

and

 Kate Robbins.

 Carlos Alomar 

also overdubbed

 electric guitar 

on several tracks,

 including

 "Press",

 "Good Times Coming/Feel the Sun",

 "It's Not True",

 "Tough on a Tightrope",

 "Write Away"

 and

 "Move Over Busker", 

according to his 

recollections included

 in the book 

Paul McCartney:

 Recording Sessions

 (1969–2013).

One of the tracks

 that had been recorded

 during the 

March sessions 

with Martin Chambers, 

"Angry", 

was completely redone

  July 20th 

with 

Pete Townshend 

and

 Phil Collins,

 although only

 the backing vocals

 from the

 original recording

 were kept

Cover Artwork

The album's cover 

features 

Paul McCartney 

and his then-wife,

 Linda McCartney. 

The photograph 

was taken by

 George Hurrell, 

using the same

 box camera

 that he used in

 Hollywood 

in the 1930s 

and the 1940s.

 Hurrell was renowned 

for his photographs

 of movie stars 

of the 1930s

 and 1940s 

like Clark Gable

 and Greta Garbo,

 to which

 the album's cover

was meant to 

pay homage.

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