Forgotten No. 1 Songs By Wings

Paul McCartney may not have soared to the same sky-shattering heights with Wings as he did with the Beatles, but the follow-up band enjoyed its share of success. The Beatles' final performance served as something of a launching pad for him to head in a new, yet not entirely unfamiliar, direction. Wings had a style of its own, wrapping its sonic stylings around classic McCartney sounds. It signaled new maturity for the guy labeled "the cute one" — a nickname McCartney hated and did his best to shed as the new decade rolled out.

Wings ended up launching some highly catchy songs, and many rose to the top of the charts. Sadly, lots of those songs are overlooked by nostalgia and classic rock aggregators, leaving them off the "Best of '70s" playlists that should clearly feature them in the mix. Classics like "Band on the Run" and "My Love" capped their chart runs at the No. 1 spot in the U.S. and countries around the world, demonstrating the lasting power of McCartney's musical prowess on a global scale.

Members of this seminal '70s band have long since flown their separate ways. But the forgotten No. 1 songs Wings unleashed during the band's run deserve some appreciation regardless, even more than 40 years after their demise. Here are a few of the sadly overlooked hits that we think have earned a more coveted spot in music history.

Wings' most successful hit, 1974's  "Band on the Run," describes a band committing a highly symbolic jailbreak. It's composed in three acts, giving it the structure of a small rock opera or theatrical piece, a device McCartney wasn't shy about using during his Beatles days.

Each section gets its own musical motif, based on the situation "The Band" is in. The slower opening finds them in jail, but the tempo picks up as the main character starts making plans, swearing that "If I ever get out of here / thought of giving it all away to a registered charity / All I need is a pint a day." Finally, the sun breaks through with a rocking guitar pattern after a decision is made. "Well, the rain exploded with a mighty crash / as we fell into the sun / and the first one said to the second one there / 'I hope you're having fun.'" The band is now thoroughly on the run, and they don't seem the least bit uneasy about it.

The song pulled influences from McCartney and the Beatles' trouble with their record company, Apple Records, as well as a few run-ins with the law. When Wings was held up at knifepoint in Lagos, Nigeria, while recording, "Band on the Run" was among the demos stolen, which forced McCartney and crew to start everything from scratch. Luckily, they were able to recreate the eventual No. 1 tune from the album of the same name.

One of the most haunting singles to come from the Wings oeuvre was "My Love," a simple ballad professing the complicated feelings of someone grateful for having a romantic partner who sticks around no matter what. McCartney wrote the tune with his beloved wife Linda, a sweetheart team who defied the conventions of the rock 'n' roll marriage with a romance for the ages.

"My Love" is exactly what it seems, a heartfelt tribute to Linda McCartney that exalts her for her patience and enduring love. Any other songwriter would be labeled schmaltzy or too on the nose with such an honest and straightforward delivery. But McCartney leading Wings transforms it into something stirring and resonant, similar to the simplest yet most affecting Beatles tunes like "Yesterday" and "Here, There, and Everywhere." One of the most tragic details about Paul McCartney that everyone forgets is the loss of Linda to cancer after a decades-long marriage. Hearing this tender love song after realizing that they wrote it together adds an extra shade of sadness and longing to the lyrics.

The song was a No. 1 for four weeks in 1973, proving that listeners were as moved hearing the song as the McCartneys were creating it. It was an auspicious chart-topper that hasn't lost any of its magic. It's heart-rending today in digital format as it was when it first hit the world on vinyl and tape, a sure sign of a modern masterpiece.

"Listen to What the Man Said" is an upbeat slice of sugary pop, with legendary session player Tom Scott adding the blasting sax solo that helped the song's otherwise laid-back lilt reach a sharper peak. This is another tribute to the all-encompassing power of love — a defining theme for McCartney as a songwriter. It's fertile ground the ex-Beatle never seems to tire of tilling.

This time, McCartney revisits the essence of the emotion as seen through a series of images that cut to the heart of the matter. There are mentions of people who consider love to be both blind and kind (McCartney admits to being the latter); a soldier who finds hope in his sweetheart's kiss; and an anonymous man who could be a minister or just a wise soul advising that "love is fine for all we know, for all we know our love will grow."

Apparently, everyone was listening to what this man said; the tune crested the No. 1 spot on Billboard's Hot 100 in July 1975, giving Wings another hit amidst "the wonder of it all, baby." It proved that Wings could go the distance as a stand-alone band, thanks to the strength of its leader and his proven songwriting prowess, with a little magic sprinkled on by his true love, Linda.

One of Wings' most Beatles-esque singles, "Let 'Em In" offers a playful rhythm while rolling off lyrics that sound like a failed nursery rhyme. It was an unconventional move for a '70s rock band, but not entirely unforeseen; McCartney had experimented with musical forms throughout his tenure with the Beatles, predicting that something unusual would eventually pop up with Wings. The fact that the song went all the way to No. 1 on any chart is more than a little surprising, however.

The list of characters sounds like a peanut gallery from some sort of children's TV show: "Sister Suzy, brother John / Martin Luther, Phil and Don / Brother Michael, Auntie Jin." It conjures visions of a holiday celebration where endless family members show up one by one — and apparently, that's all it is: a straightforward rundown of real figures appearing at the door for various visits. There's very little in the song that fits the pop-rock paradigm of the era, but fans treated "Let 'Em In" favorably, proving McCartney's knack for making even the goofiest of songs successful.

Even with the archaic-sounding fife-and-drum military sections breaking up the chorus from the bridge, the irresistible charm of "Let 'Em In" was enough to propel the song all the way to the pinnacle of pop music success. While it topped out at No. 3 on the Hot 100, it nudged up to No. 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart in 1976.

It may be a little mawkish in its Hallmark-esque sentiment, but "Silly Love Songs" was a solid entry from Wings, reminding an increasingly cynical world that there was still value in romantic tune-smithing old and new. In poking fun at the love song genre, McCartney and team refreshed the concept and created a self-aware love song that delivered the message loud and clear: Being sappy is A-OK.

There's a playful sense of self-awareness in McCartney's tone as he sings, as if he's all too cognizant that he himself has put a number of so-called silly love songs into the world, though he finds that audiences aren't tired of them after all. Then he turns on his heel and admits, "Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs / And what's wrong with that? / I'd like to know / 'Cause here I go / Again ... I love you." It's a musical valentine that reasserts McCartney's timeless belief that all you need is love. And love in musical form is as eternally valid as any other. 

This one was a No. 1 with staying power, spending five weeks non-consecutively at the peak of the Billboard Hot 100 in 1976. Whether they were listening because they loved the ex-Beatle's music in all its forms or because they appreciated Wings on its own, fans kept the band aloft far into a decade where disco loomed large — a major score for a "silly love song"-singing rock band.