Paul McCartney-Pipes of Peace (1983)

October 07, 2026

Artist: Paul McCartney

Title: Pipes of Peace

Label: Columbia/MPL

Format: Cassette

Catalog Number: QCT 39149

Year of Release: 1983

Country and Year of Edition: US 1983

Sell Price: $2.84

Sell Date: 9/11/26

Condition: VG+/VG+

Discogs Last Sold: 5/4/26 VG+/NM $2.84

Low: $0.99

Median: $2.12

Average: $2.77

High:$5.99

Current low price: $1.98 VG/VG

Curren Number on Sale at Discogs: 12

Have/Want: 249/36

Where Sold: Villenueve, D'Ascq, France

Time It Took To Sell: 2 years

Where and When Bought: Facebook marketplace lot

Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: C-

Sad To See It Go: No

I don't think I've ever been more disappointed with an album than I had with Pipes of Peace when it came out. There were 2 records that were brand new that week that I was equally excited about. The other one was Motley Crue's Shout At The Devil after their debut became a mainstay out of the bargain bin. Pipes of Peace, however, had been a follow-up to Tug of War, which I loved from the get go and consider top 3 for McCartney solo. This was supposed to be a continuation of sorts, thematically and also session-wise some of the tracks were from the Tug of War 81-82 period.

In George Martin's mind, he thought Pipes required a different music approach. In reality, it was a pop approach and Rock radio ran away from it. Considering Tug of War had half the album in heavy rotation, this was a stylistic about face. Gone was Stevie Wonder and his pop abberation duet (as well as a tougher funk track). In Stevie's place was Michael Jackson, who contributed his effort in 1981 before Thriller came out. For his album there was of course "The Girl Is Mine" ballad. On Pipes of Peace, McCartney got "The Man" which sounded like a throwaway even if it opened the second side. However, "Say Say Say" struck paydirt and becaame McCartney's longest running #1 single in the US. I couldn't stand that song, in part due to overexposure and in part due to it's middle of the road light R&B underpinnings. Upon later review after hearing it a few times recently I stated wondering if it was Paul that played bass on the track. It seemed out of character for him. Sure enough, it was Stevie Wonder's bass player on Songs In The Key of Life, Nathan Watts. McCartney played guitar, keyboard, synths and percussion, but liked the demo version Nathan played down by feel so much he kept it. Paul knows his business.

The song that went through my head today inpiring me to finally write about this after a month is "Average Person." This was one of the earliest tracks of the overlapping Tug Of War sessions from 1980-1. Sure enough, it is the closest that sounds something like a regular McCartney rock filler track. "Sweetest Little Show" has that same sort of Wings filler feel. On Pipes of Peace, they might be the only tracks approaching the 70's style. The other inescapable pop hit on here was "So Bad" with Ringo guesting on drums and the "buh-buh-bum" the video cutely honed in on.

In 2015, there was an interview from James Dean Bradfield, the singer of the Manic Street Preachers, did an interview focusing on this album, his first exposure to McCartney's music. When he first told Paul how much he loved it, Paul thought he was taking the piss on it and said as much. This was one of those records that altered Paul's audience in terms of album rock for a long time period. He was always a pop singles artist with Rock with a capital "R" underpinnings since the Beatles were such a foundation, check that THE foundation of the genre which all things eminate from. In Paul's mind Rock and Pop are the same thing and by extension Tug of War and Pipes of Peace are one giant release. Music was heavily balkanized racially in the commerical media and McCartney's records around that period (as did the Stones) made an effort to address that in keeping with the Beatles initial love of American R&B that came via the Liverpool docks from another world. For someone liked McCartney, it was a stance that worked commercially. He could do what he wanted. Whether it worked as a RECORD you wanted to LISTEN to START TO FINISH multiple times, is another question.

For 43 years that answer has been a resounding No.

FOR FURTHER REVIEW:

Paul McCartney-McCartney (1970)

Paul & Linda McCartney-Ram (1971)

Wings-Wild Life (1971)

Paul McCartney & Wings-Band On The Run (1973)

Wings-Venus and Mars (1975)

Wings-Wings At The Speed of Sound (1976)

Wings-Mull of Kintyre b/w Girls School (1977)

Wings-London Town (1978)

Wings-Back To The Egg (1979)

Paul McCartney-McCartney II (1980)