The Top 9 of '09

18.02.2011
18 February 2011

So here at McCartney HQ we've been spending the past few weeks clearing the decks in anticipation of what the new year and new decade is bringing us. And since we can't give you an inkling just yet of what's on the agenda for 2010, we thought we'd do a little recap of our favourite things from last year. We love a little list.

THE TOP 9 OF '9

1. Good Evening People. Yes, the concert film from last summer's Citi Field shows was amazing. And yes, we would say that. But have you seen the bonus disc? Good Evening People is an 8-minute snapshot of the show from the fan's perspective, us watching them rather than them watching us for a change. It's by far the coolest little bit of film we've seen in a long time. Honestly. It's so good, we're not even going to spoil it for you by telling you any more about it. While you are at it, check out Paul's performance from the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York on the bonus disc too. Those people at Letterman really know what they are doing. Beautifully shot, and although, yes, we've heard the songs before, they really sound super-fresh here. For the hell of it, we've thrown in some of our own behind the scenes stuff as well.

2. And the prize for the longest track subtitle for 2009 goes to'A Highway' (Electro Dynamo Lemon Sherbet Sunrise Dubstep Remix). We couldn't get enough of this 6-minuter in glorious hi-res from the deluxe edition of Electric Arguments. The track itself is going down an absolute storm at the live shows too with vivid backdrops based on artwork for The Fireman project designed by Paul and Youth.

3. Meat Free McCartneys bring you Meat Free Monday. What do Kate Bosworth, Sam Taylor-Wood, Yoko Ono and Moby have in common? They are all supporters of our environmental campaign to raise awareness of the climate-changing impact of meat production and consumption. We don't do things by halves when we take on a cause, Paul took himself off to Brussels to make his point heard on a European scale. And we've even got a song about it.

4. Dazzled by 222. A video for this bonus track from Memory Almost Full was made for us by Marco Sandeman and was an instant hit with the online world when we uploaded it to our YouTube page in January 2009. NME.com voted it one of the best videos of that week, and Entertainment Weekly's site featured it as their 'clip du jour'. Marco's idea was to make a firework display where every instrument was represented by a different type of animated light, he spent four days filming in a barn in France (trying to make sure the fireworks didn't hit the camera), before editing and animating in London.

5. Amoeba Not So Secret. Ok, yes, this wasn't really available until 2010. But we put it together in 2009 so we're counting it for '09. With two Grammy nominations under our belt for the Amoeba Secret EP that was released in the US, we got a notion in late 2009 that maybe fans in on the other side of the pond might like to hear this too. And then we got a bit carried away, and before we knew it we'd upped the tracklist from four to twelve songs and we were putting it in the hands of 2.4 million people across the UK & Ireland under the title Live In Los Angeles. Exclusive and limited edition, of course ‚ but on a McCartney scale. And if you didn't get one? Well you're too late now.

6. On A Slow Boat To Broadway. There are very few things that Paul McCartney has not done in his life. And up until 26th October 2009, performing on Broadway was one of them. The audience at New York’s Minskoff Theatre were wowed by his tribute to Frank Loesser at the benefit for The Actors Fund where he performed the classic 'On A Slow Boat To China'. Noteworthy too as the first time since we can remember that we've seen the man on stage without a bass, guitar or piano.

7. A Great Day for Funny People. So we had a new song in a movie with Robert De Niro, but we also had a not-so-new one in a movie with Adam Sandler. The Flaming Pie track was used by director Judd Apatow over the opening scenes of his 2009 film 'Funny People'. Get the song absolutely free with our little PM.com widget. The keen-eared amongst you will also spot another McCartney tune amongst the film (ok, ok, it's In Private from Memory Almost Full). And if you've been watching TV over the past year, you might have seen Dance Tonight crop up during Entourage, and Nothing Too Much Just Out Of Sight in Crash too.

8. Linda McCartney Diary. An exquisite hardback diary for 2010, lovingly overseen by Paul, Mary and Stella. Simply stunning.

9. From Joel to Grohl, we've had some of the biggest and best names in music on our stage in 2009. But the guests that made the biggest impact? Well, let's just say that there was a veritable frisson of excitement in the air amongst the ladies at McCartney HQ the day that the Take That boys popped round for a quick rehearsal round the office piano ahead of the Children In Need show. All that and we haven't even mentioned Rockband...