Why did Paul McCartney and Wings split up?
Despite what their detractors might say, Paul McCartney and Wings were a brilliant band. In their ten years of life between 1971 and 1981, Wings released seven albums and produced many classic moments, from the theme tune of James Bond’s Live and Let Die to the epic ‘Band of the Run’. However, as with many prominent outfits, Wings had an expiry date, and after ten years, they were done. Unsurprisingly, numerous familiar factors caused this end, yet it is still a fascinating tale.
The beginning of Wings’ final chapter came when the McCartney family arrived in Japan on January 16th, 1980, for the planned 11-date tour of the country. However, things did not go as planned for anyone involved. The former Beatles man was arrested immediately upon arrival at the New Tokyo Airport for having 219 grams (7.7 ounces) of marijuana hidden in his luggage.
Unsurprisingly, this serious legal issue put the tour on hold. Wings also suffered commercially in Japan because of it, with their music banned from all radio and television in the country. This also had a terrible knock-on effect on the promoters, who reportedly claimed that they had sold nearly 100,000 tickets for the relatively short run. This meant that they posted a loss of 100 million yen – roughly £548,000 today – as they had no other option but to cancel the entire tour after McCartney was detained.
Following the arrest, Wings band members Denny Laine, Laurence Juber, and Steve Holley left the country and returned to England on January 21st. The only member who stayed in Japan was McCartney’s wife, Linda. Famously, the former Beatle spent a whole ten days in jail before being released without charge on January 25th and deported.
Upon returning home to England, McCartney released his second solo, McCartney II, a wildly experimental album that would become a cult favourite. This move was a sign of things to come from McCartney in that he was starting to become bored of Wings. It wasn’t just the Liverpudlian who was moonlighting, though. Denny Laine released the album Japanese Tears in December 1980 and formed the Denny Laine Band, a short-lived outfit with Steve Holley.
By the onset of 1980, McCartney was growing tired of Wings as his personal life started to take a different path. He and Linda’s three children were now of school age, and they had moved out of London to the East Sussex countryside to give Mary, Stella and James as normal a life as possible. As his family started to take more precedence, McCartney became increasingly dissatisfied with the group’s performances on their 1979 UK tour. Compounding feelings, McCartney also thought that his latest batch of songs wasn’t a good fit for the band.
These news numbers would eventually become McCartney’s third solo album, 1982’s Tug of War, which was recorded between December 1980 and the following year. Due to McCartney doubting the compatibility of Wings with the tracks, he and the album’s producer George Martin opted against using the band for the recording. Instead, they hired prominent session musicians and other famous guests.
In November 1980, Laurence Juber and Steve Holley were informed they were not needed for the new record, and other than the January 1981 sessions for the unreleased outtakes album Cold Cuts, no future Wings activities were planned. Speaking to Day Trippin’ in 2010, Juber said that at this point, he could see the “writing on the wall” for Wings. In response, he moved to New York and looked for new career opportunities.
As for Denny Laine, the former Moody Blues guitarist and founding member of Wings, he stayed for the Tug of War sessions in February 1981. However, he and McCartney’s relationship had long been on the rocks. Business and personal matters were causing tension, with Laine feeling that he wasn’t adequately remunerated for his role in Wings’ success. He was particularly aggrieved at the fact that he was hired as a contract writer for the 1977 hit ‘Mull of Kintyre’, which he co-wrote alongside Paul McCartney, and was the band’s greatest commercial success. He was paid a flat fee for his work, so when the song became a triumph, as 1977’s Christmas number one and one of the UK’s best-selling singles of all time, he did not get his share of the royalties.
Laine was also angry at McCartney for the arrest in Japan, which meant a loss of income, and put future tour plans in doubt, meaning further losses. Not done there, Laine’s marriage was troubled, with his wife and the McCartney’s not getting along, which caused additional conflict in Wings.
Accordingly, after the stress became too much, in April 1981, Laine decided he’d had enough and announced his departure from the group. He cited the lack of tour plans as his reason, but as is evident, various factors underpinned his decision. Regardless, his exit proved to be the final nail for Wings, despite a McCartney spokesman maintaining at the time that they were still an active project. Nobody was fooled, though. Following the release of Tug of War the following year, McCartney finally announced they were no more.
