3 bands Paul McCartney said he liked in the 80s

Alongside George Harrison, John Lennon and Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney helped start a huge revolution not only in Rock and Roll but also in Pop culture through his compositions. The Beatles changed the course of music, and McCartney was fortunate enough to witness firsthand the evolution of what he and his bandmates started, seeing many incredible bands emerge and rise to fame.

Unlike many artists of his generation, Paul never focused solely on the past musically. He paid attention to what was happening in the music scene and also thought about the future. Over the decades, he has spoken about many bands he admired and he praised 3 great ones that he particularly liked in the 1980s.

3 bands Paul McCartney said he liked in the 80s

Tears For Fears

The first one is Tears for Fears, the British duo formed by Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal, which was even compared to The Beatles when they released their classic album “The Seeds of Love” in 1989. At the time, Paul was questioned during a press conference about how he felt about Tears for Fears “borrowing” his sound. “I think it’s quite nice, really. I mean, when I first heard it, it was a bit of a shock. It was like ‘Who are they kidding, you know?’ But I see it as a tribute. They could have been doing a Doors take-off, could have been doing a Rolling Stones take-off and stolen that style.”

“But they’re quite honest about it, they’re quite open that it is a tribute to The Beatles and it’s purposely that kind of 67 ‘Sgt. Pepper’ style. It’s quite funny, you know, it’s a tribute, I’m honored. This is two contemporary guys, one of them is being John, the other one is being me. So, I mean, I’m going to put in for a royalty (laughs). No, I haven’t got the album yet. But I’ve seen the single everywhere,” Paul McCartney said (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).

He already was a fan of the band

But Paul was already a fan of the band before that as he mentioned them in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine in 1986, as one of the bands he liked from that decade. “I think they’re into pretty good music, actually,” he said.

That same year he worked with the drummer Jerry Marotta on his album “Press To Play”, who had previously worked with the famous duo. At the time he told Sound on Sound magazine that he invited him to be part of the record because of his previous work with Tears For Fears and Peter Gabriel.

“I really wanted a drummer to do the whole album, not just one or two tracks. I knew Jerry’s work from Peter Gabriel and Tears For Fears records. Hugh recommended him as a good thwacker of a skin!” he said.

Dire Straits

The second band mentioned by Paul was Dire Straits, the famous British band which was led by the singer, main songwriter and guitarist Mark Knopfler. Although they achieved fame in the late 70s with the two first records, Dire Straits really became one of the biggest bands in the world with their 80s records. They had the chance to share the stage a few times during charity concerts. Talking to Rolling Stone in 1989, Paul even mentioned him alongside other famous artists he had the chance to perform with. “I’m thinking of getting a band together myself. I know the Beatles used to say, ‘We won’t be rock & rollin’ when we’re forty,’ but I still love it.”

“The Prince’s Trust benefit just zonked me out: looking around and seeing Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler, Bryan Adams, Elton, Tina. There was such a buzz on that stage. I think they were glad to see me sort of vaguely gettin’ it on. I sang ‘I Saw Her Standing There’ and ‘Long Tall Sally,’ too – in the original key! It really felt great. I could do that every night. So I’d like to get a band. I don’t know if I’ll call it Wings – maybe some new incarnation,” he said at the time.

Although Dire Straits’ music was more influenced by other artists, Knopfler said The Beatles were a huge influence on him in the early days. He said he could not believe he had the chance to become friends with Paul.

He said:

“Oh, (they were) huge! ‘Please, Please Me’ was one of the first records that I bought. It’s funny now, because while I’ve been working with Aztec Camera at Ayre Studio (in London). I’ve been playing Asteroids about every other day with Paul McCartney. It’s slightly strange to think, ‘Oh, that’s him” (laughs).”

“But I also liked the Rolling Stones, and I absolutely loved the Kinks. I got into trouble for writing Le Kinks on notebooks and desks in school. I loved songs like ‘Where Have All the Good Times Gone’, ‘Waterloo Sunset’ and ‘You Really Got Me.’ I enjoyed that period and then a few years later, when I was 18 or 19, I got into a lot of the American bands, like the Doors. (Also) some of the English bands that didn’t necessarily make it as big, such as Head, Hands & Feet (with Albert Lee). I never really got into deep record collecting, because I was always moving around and was too impoverished,” he told Guitar Player magazine in 1984.

Simple Minds

The third band mentioned by Paul McCartney was the Scottish band Simple Minds, fronted by Jim Kerr. The group released their first album in 1979 but really achieved worldwide fame with “Once Upon a Time” in 1985. In an interview with Countdown in 1987, he talked about Pop music at the time and mentioned Simple Minds as one of the bands he liked.

When he was asked if his kids liked his music, he mentioned them again. “I’m very lucky, actually, because I always expected them to hate it. You know, you always think that they’re teenagers. So they will just say: ‘Oh, I hate what he does, but we like Simple Minds or something’. But I’m very lucky that they actually like what I do and I didn’t expect that. So it’s taken me by surprise, they’re nice kids. At least that’s what they tell me, maybe is just to get pocket money,” he said (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage).

Simple Minds was formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1977 and since then has released 21 studio albums. The only two musicians who were part of all their releases are Jim Kerr (Vocals) and Charlie Burchill (Guitar). Their biggest hits are “Don’t You (Forget About Me), “Alive and Kicking”, “Someone Somewhere (In Summertime)” and “Belfast Child”.