(Links)

PHIL: Passed thru your site ... falls nicely into the "plenty of time on your hands" category. Regarding: For those of you keeping score, John and Paul each have had 7 solo hits so far.
... One can only assume you feel that Mr. McCartney slept though the years 1972 to 1980 and did not write, record, produce, or chart those releases.

MUSIC GUY: Although I get some who would argue, he wasn't asleep during most of the 1970s. Officially, he was with "Wings", and hits from that time don't count as solo hits.

PHIL: AHH..but they DO count as solo hits, that's why Billboard lists for Wings: "see Paul McCartney."

MUSIC GUY: ahh backatcha...
When you do look at "Paul McCartney" you see there are several catagories...
Paul McCartney,
Paul & Linda McCarthy
Wings,
Paul McCartney & Wings
Paul & Stevie Wonder
Paul & Michael Jackson

Paul had 7 top forty hits with just his name listed as the Artist.
What is credited with Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Wings, Linda McCarthy, or anyone else is not a "solo" hit. I'm sure Paul had a significant amount of input, but it was a team effort.

Same With John. I counted only his "solo" top forty songs. If the Yoko or the Plastic Ono Band were credited with him, they aren't counted as solo hits by John.
I'm sure that John had a significant amount of input, but it was a team effort.

Mick Jagger & David Bowie did not each have a "solo" hit with Live Aid's "Dancing In The Streets". It was a team effort. If there is an "and" or a plural word for an Artist's name, it just ain't solo*!
*unless someone is attempting a clever play on words... I know bands like "Nine Inch Nails" are just one guy....

PHIL: If you go by "team" effort, you must discount all "solo" efforts with the exception of perhaps Bobby McPherran and Enya.

MUSIC GUY: I'm just going by the name on the label.
If your name is credited as the artist, you're in. Otherwise, you're a hired hand.

PHIL: My turn...
The prevailing name, however, is still Paul McCartney.
You're turn.

MUSIC GUY: I agree.
There are many devout religious people who say the prevailing name is or should be "God" or "Jesus". Maybe Shakespeare, for creating the language. If Paul (or anyone else) shares the creative credit on the label, it is no longer solo.
Ted Nugent was the driving force with the Amboy Jukes. The one hit they had doesn't count as his.

That guy who headed "Boston" was the driving force, and did most of the work, but the band gets the credit. Many of us don't even know his name. Gene Simmons drives KISS. Kiss gets the credit. If Gene forms another band, called "Fins", it'll be a group effort, NOT solo.

What Bruce Springsteen does without the "E-Street Band" is solo stuff.
Many aren't even aware that he has a band, a tad tighter than Paul's Wings, but a fully credited backing group nonetheless. Bottom line is, the artist or artists headlined on the single (or album) is who I give the credit to. If there is more than one name, BY DEFINITION, it can't be solo.
:-)

PHIL: By YOUR definition, point taken.

However, when dealing with the Beatles or any of them individually, they have always been exceptions to the rules, since they made most of them. Tell any McCartney fan that Silly Love Songs is a Wings song or a Denny Laine song and not a McCartney song, then you're asking for trouble.

When talking about his 70's contributions with anyone who is half knowledgeable about music, they will refer to it as McCartney and not Wings, since he is the CHIEF contributor to their creation. His albums, both Wings and McCartney, are always under McCartney. Find me a Wings section in a music store. You cannot say that with artists such as Sting and Police, Peter Gabriel and Genesis, Phil Collins and Genesis, Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones, even George Michael and Wham. (Hell, Police stuff just may be under Sting.)

My point is that the Wings songs are considered hits more so for Paul McCartney than for Wings and therefore should be credited to his post-Beatle catalog as you will find in ANY discography. Including the one at the Official McCartney website. (I'm not sure if Wings has a website.) Not so with the aforementioned examples.

There. And I don't like your tie.

MUSIC GUY: I thought you would... I got from your wife!
As a webmaster, I just have to have rules, because without rules, there'd be chaos!

If I used any other criteria, I'd get dozens of e-mails every day saying that "Happy Xmas" was by the Plastic Ono Band, NOT JOHN LENNON "they can can prove it. they have the original 45. should they send me a picure of it." That doesn't count all of the people who personally blame me for leaving "Christ" out of Christmas when listing that particular song.

How can you compare "Sting" and the "Police" ?
One was a cool rock band.
The other is a vocal instrument that needs two guys to beat him into some kind of melodic control.

I got Paul McCartney's greatest hits LP under the "Wings" section back in the day when I used vinyl! Wham! is about 50/50, and will probably go the record store route of Wings, with time. I think that the best "Zombies" material are on Rod Argent's greatest hits! The best "Animals" songs are on "Eric Burdon's Greatest Hits". The Jackson 5 can often be found under "Michael Jackson".

Then again, perhaps you and I both expect too much out of the typical music store clerk! Like I said before, if Paul or John share credit on the album to a band or another artist, it doesn't count as SOLO.

You'll have to take my word for it, but as a webmaster for several popular sites, I know what's acceptable to the majority of my visitors. I go that route to avoid the long winded e-mails. You are one guy, after over 25,000,000 visitors. The first to question the "credit" on solo hits.
If I went the other way, I'd have gone through hundreds, if not thousands of letters telling me that if somebody was with a FULLY CREDITED band, or another FULLY CREDITED artist, it wouldn't be "SOLO".

A Group or Duet just don't qualify as "SOLO".

PS: I'm thinking of making a list of truly bad songs by truly great artists, starting, coincidentally, with Paul McCartney's "Freedom". Have any suggestions?

PHIL: LOL... I guess as a webmaster, you can stray from the norm...

I will continue to give Mr. McCartney credit for Wings material since he was the only member to last through all the band changes. Unless you count Linda, and why would you.

But thank you for the lovely banter, even if it accomplished nothing for either of us, save for the next time you're in the music store looking for a McCartney/Wings selection you'll think of the tie I gave my wife to give you.

And thanks for taking the time to waste on one of your 15,000,000 visitors. Keep up your jaded view of life. The world needs guys like you and me to keep them on their toes.

MUSIC GUY: Jaded?
I think of life as a half full barrel of cherries!