Tonight's song is from Paul McCartney, but so few seem to know of it. It's not from Ram or Band on the Run. It's from an album called Venus and Mars, where the cover featured two spheres, and the most noteworthy single was "Listen to What the Man Said." I listened mostly to classic rock through high school, so I was familiar with many of McCartney's songs, but when WZLX celebrated the 2002 "Back in the US" tour, I noticed that this Beatle was singing about Magneto.
Yes, that Magneto. It turned out that Sir Paul was (is?) a comics fan! Thanks to Bryan Singer's 2000 superhero movie, I had gotten really interested in X-Men comics. What I was hearing is something that we geeks call "fanfic", short for "fan fiction." The whole story is about Paul McCartney hanging out with Magneto, Titanium Man, and Crimson Dynamo. He learns from these three Marvel Comics characters that the woman he's singing to is a criminal, and that they're planning a bank heist. McCartney's in disbelief, but his buddies explain it to him. They go out to meet her precisely at quarter of three at the bank on Main St., and there she is coming through the doorway. Following Magneto's orders, they gather their forces and speed away, but something is wrong for the group. It turns out that that the bank robbery was a sting, and Paul's lady friend's an undercover cop. Magneto, Titanium Man, and Crimson Dynamo were angry about the reveal, and Paul's wondering how he could've ever thought this woman was a bank robber.
Yes, this a real song by a real Beatle. It's got a happy little romp to the music and sort of fits with what was the "silver age" comics of the 60's. X-Men comics had been on a 5 year hiatus that was just ending as Venus & Mars was released. At the point when McCartney was writing the song, how was he to know that more grittier X-books were coming?
The Venus and Mars story got even more fan-tastic when Wings toured the US in 1976. Jack Kirby (a legendary comic book illustrator who had co-created Magneto) was now living and working out of his new home in California. Two brothers (Gary and Steve Sherman) were able to bring Jack, his wife, and their daughter to one of Inglewood shows, where the five sat in complimentary front row seats. McCartney dedicated the show to the guests and they met backstage afterwards. Kirby even gave Paul and Linda a signed pencil drawing that featured Magneto and Wings!
I've referenced my geekdom blog in my post for Sarah McLachlan's "Answer," but I think that this could be the ultimate crossover. So excuse me for having gushed.
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