80s Flashback: Paul McCartney “Spies Like Us”… Fun Or Unforgivable?
It’s no “Hey Jude.” But as an 80s kid, this was my first Paul McCartney song I knew word for word. (Sorry, The Beatles were before my time. I didn’t appreciate their music until adulthood.) Paul McCartney’s “Spies Like Us” is still a guilty pleasure song over 30 years later. It’s goofy. It’s poppy. It doesn’t get more 80s than this.
MTV was just starting to hit its stride and Paul McCartney was tasked with delivering the vocals in a purely money-making venture for the Warner Brothers movie “Spies Like Us.” The music video features clips from the movie as well as cameos by Spies Like Us stars Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase. This is probably not a shocker, but the instruments are props. Dan and Chevy didn’t play on the record. This ended up being Paul’s last Top 10 hit in the U.S. and he probably wishes you forgot it. Sorry Paul. YouTube will never let us forget!
Twitter has yet to forgive Paul for this song!
Spies Like Us, as well as being possibly the worst single Paul McCartney has ever released in over half a century of recorded works, is also a rip-off of Adam Ant's "Apollo 9". #TOTP #TOTP86
— Baron of Haringey (@darren_haringey) July 13, 2018
Wonder why Spies Like Us didn't feature in McCartney's Carpool Karaoke? š¤ #TOTP
— Ian C (@IAmAnIanIAm) July 13, 2018
Final gig of the year for me tomorrow night and it's Paul McCartney. Have checked recent setlists and he's not doing Spies Like Us. What's that all about? It was easily his biggest hit of 1985.
— Darryl Wilks (@dgwilks) December 15, 2018
Remember when Paul McCartney actually had a head full of grey hair, back 32 yrs ago, in that wretched āSpies Like Usā video?#TOTP
— Lee Thompson (@leethommo) July 13, 2018
Anytime I do a piece of art Iām not satisfied with, I try to remember that Paul McCartney did the song for āSpies Like Usā. Nobody is perfect.
— ChrisWaltonhammer30,000 (@Cwalton73) January 22, 2018
Hey it’s Geno. I’m a big Lightning fan and Tampa Bay’s junk foodie. I grew up in Westbrook, Maine but Florida will always be home. Hook up with me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.Ā Catch me weeknights on Q105 or on the Q105 Saturday Night Dance Party!
