Paul McCartney Said He Felt Vindicated Over ‘Temporary Secretary’
Paul McCartney‘s “Temporary Secretary” was not well-liked by fans in the beginning. Paul shared an anecdote about why he thinks the song has been vindicated with time. Here’s a look at what Rolling Stone had to say about “Temporary Secretary” in recent years.
What Paul McCartney thought when he heard a DJ playing ‘Temporary Secretary’
Paul’s experimental electronic album McCartney II received negative reviews upon its release in 1980. Perhaps the most infamous track from the album was the avant-garde track “Temporary Secretary.” During an interview with Loud and Quiet, Paul was asked about the way that McCartney II‘s reputation has improved.
“That’s a great thing for me, because you do these records and the spirit you do them in is very optimistic,” he said. “You think, this is great, it’s a record, and you’re pleased with it. And then you get the reception, which is, ‘Oh no, bloody hell. What’s he doing?’ So it’s disappointing when it doesn’t go down well, and it doesn’t sell well — you just think, nobody likes that.
“And then a few years ago, someone said to me, “Ere, there’s this DJ in Brighton and he’s playing ‘Temporary Secretary,'” he said. “I said, “Get out.” And he said, “It’s going crazy over there. “I thought, well, I can see that — it sounds very modern with the sequencer and stuff. And that’s a great thing.”
Paul McCartney compared the reception of ‘McCartney II’ to another 1 of his albums
Paul compared the reception of McCartney II to the reception of his earlier record Ram. “I mean, Ram has become something that people talk about,” he said. “At the time it got some scathing reviews.
“So you just have to put up with it and think, ‘I dunno, I liked it,'” he added. “Suddenly it comes through and you think, ‘Great! Vindication!!!'”
What ‘Rolling Stone’ had to say about ‘Temporary Secretary’ in 2020
Nothing speaks more to the growing following for “Temporary Secretary” than a Rolling Stone article from 2020. In it, the magazine ranked “Temporary Secretary” as the 36th best track from Paul’s post-Beatles career. The track appeared on the list alongside more widely recognized classics such as “Live and Let Die,” “Band on the Run,” and “Maybe I’m Amazed.” Rolling Stone praised “Temporary Secretary” for being “oddly catchy.”
“Temporary Secretary” is nowhere near as good as Paul’s best Beatles songs or Wings songs. It doesn’t hold a candle to “Helter Skelter,” “Jet,” or “Hey Jude.” However, it embodied a weird, robotic era of synth-pop music. Its lyrics also give it a lot of novelty value and make it more memorable than a lot of the classier pop songs of the early 1980s. At the very least, “Temporary Secretary” is worth a listen to see how much Paul can think outside the box, even if that means discarding the expectations of his fans.
Paul said that “Temporary Secretary” and McCartney II have been vindicated by history and an article from Rolling Stone is prime evidence that he’s right.
