Brussels, August 2004 -- For the first time ever, the interviews Sir Paul McCartney gave to Flemish Public Radio and Television in 1989, 1993 and 2003 are available on a double CD+DVD set – complete and uncut. Spanning a period of 15 years, these unique conversations are complementary to each other in content and approach, offering a fascinating insight in the world of Paul McCartney and the way he handles media interviews.
In this exclusive double set, hear and see Paul McCartney speak about
• his "Russian Album" and Glasnost
• his greatest moments and disappointments
• his ambitions as a film maker and as a painter
• the first Wings tour and touring the world in 1989, 1993 and 2003
• the musicians in his bands
• warming up before a concert and being nervous on stage
• his crusading for vegetarism, animal rights and the environment
• (not) showing his vulnerable side
• the Belgian painter Magritte as an inspiration for the Apple logo
• collaborating with John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr... and Elvis Costello
• performing Here Today and Something live
• the burning of Beatles records in the Bible Belt
• playing the Hofner bass on stage
• McCartney-Lennon versus Lennon-McCartney
• … and his personal Top 3 of McCartney songs.
You will also see him being taught to say "Ik ben Paul McCartney en ik kom op tegen kanker" (“I am Paul McCartney and I’m fighting against cancer”) in Dutch for a Flemish fund raising campaign in favour of cancer research - and illustrating the sleeve of the My Brave Face CD single.
Furthermore, McCartney's explanation of why he changed the lyrics to Here, There And Everywhere for the Give My Regards To Broad Street movie and CD has been unseen footage until this day.
This CD+DVD set is an absolute must for anyone interested in Paul McCartney's work and the history of popular music. Available soon via MACCA-Central.com through www.belgian-beatles-society.com .
The story behind the DVD
On Thursday, 18 May 1989, Andrй Vermeulen called his friend and ex-colleague Johan Ral to ask if he would come along the following Monday to Hilversum, The Netherlands, where he was going to interview Paul McCartney for the TV-news of the VRT, the Flemish Public Radio and Television network. McCartney was coming to the Concordia TV Studios to participate in Veronica's Countdown, then hosted by Wessel van Diepen, to promote Flowers In The Dirt and the latest single taken from it, My Brave Face.
During the Countdown show, which was broadcast on 24 May 1989, Paul McCartney and his band performed some live improvisations and mimed to the songs How Many People and My Brave Face.
At the time, Johan was working for Kredietbank (now called KBC), in charge of Internal and External Communication. He decided he'd go along and try to persuade Sir Paul to dedicate the sleeve of the CD single to an auction in favour of Kom Op Tegen Kanker, a cancer research project that was sponsored by both the VRT and Kredietbank, which he kindly agreed to do so in the end.
What you see on this DVD is the result of these encounters – uncut.
With Andrй Vermeulen, Sir Paul speaks about his "Russian Album", Glasnost and talking to Russian fans on the BBC World Service, as well as his upcoming world tour, Flowers In The Dirt and working with Elvis Costello. They also discuss the difference between being a Beatle in the sixties and being Paul McCartney in 1989, Yesterday, McCartney’s greatest moments and disappointments, his film projects (announcing what would become Daumier's Law), his ambitions as a painter and his definition of "good music".
Andrй Vermeulen's interview was broadcast the next day, on 23 May.
McCartney's promoting of Kom Op Tegen Kanker was used in the Kom Op Tegen Kanker Journaal on 23 and 24 May.
The short discussion between Sir Paul and Johan Ral on why McCartney changed the lyrics to Here, There And Everywhere for the Give My Regards To Broad Street movie and CD, even leaving out a whole verse (!), has been unseen footage until this day.
The DVD
• TV News Interview by Andrй Vermeulen (11:48)
• Kom Op Tegen Kanker with Johan Ral (02:25)
• Paul McCartney in conversation with Johan Ral on Here, There And Everywhere (01:16)
• Extra: Arrival at the Countdown studio, Paul chatting with Dutch fans and entering the studio (01:07)
• The story behind this DVD
• Biographies of the interviewers
Double-sided DVD: PAL + NTSC
ALL REGIONS
Language: English
Duration: approx. 17 minutes
Colour
Picture format: 4:3
Disc format: DVD-10
The Radio Interviews
1 Johan Ral for Studio Brussel (33:19)
• 17 October 1993, Flanders Expo, Ghent, between the sound check and the New World Tour concert.
• Edited version broadcast on 5 November 1993 on the occasion of the launch of Paul Is Live
2 Evert Venema for Radio Donna (09:16)
• 1 April 2003, Telephone Interview, before the first Antwerp concert of the Back In The World Tour
• Edited version broadcast on the same day
3 Jan Leyers for Radio 2 (14:21)
• 2 April 2003, Sportpaleis, Antwerp, between the sound check and the second Antwerp concert of the Back In The World Tour
• Edited version broadcast on 3 April on Radio 2 (and also on 6 April in Classic Rock on Classic 21)
Total Time: approx. 57 minutes
Produced by Johan Ral
on behalf of The Belgian Beatles Society
www.belgian-beatles-society.com
KairosRecords KR004
www.kairos-communications.com
© 2004 Kairos Communications BVBA
For further information:
Johan Ral
Telephone + 32 16 76 77 23
Mobile + 32 475 24 32 74
j.ral@cs-brussels.com
http://www.macca-central.com/macca-news/MoreNews.cfm?ID=1594
