paul mccartney 1980 tour

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In 1975 and 1976 Paul McCartney and Wings undertook the epic Wings over the World tour, the largest scale tour they would ever undertake as a band. From this tour came both the legendary "Wi... Read all In 1975 and 1976 Paul McCartney and Wings undertook the epic Wings over the World tour, the largest scale tour they would ever undertake as a band. From this tour came both the legendary "Wings over America" triple live album and the concert film "Rockshow". Although filmed on th... Read all In 1975 and 1976 Paul McCartney and Wings undertook the epic Wings over the World tour, the largest scale tour they would ever undertake as a band. From this tour came both the legendary "Wings over America" triple live album and the concert film "Rockshow". Although filmed on this tour at the enormous Kingdome in Seattle, "Rockshow", originally a cut down version of ... Read all

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• Trivia In 2013, the movie was restored from the original 35mm negative and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on June 11, 2013. The film itself was originally released in the 1980s on home video cassette.
• Alternate versions The 1997 VH-1 broadcast version had edited out 2 songs: "Spirits of Ancient Egypt" and "Magneto and Titanium Man" but added 7 songs that were cut from the original theatrical release, including "Call Me Back Again," "Lady Madonna," "The Long and Winding Road," "Picasso's Last Words," "Richard Cory," "Blackbird" and "My Love". The 1997 VH-1 broadcast's running time is 113 minutes plus the film's frame speed was made faster in order to squeeze the film into a 2 and a half-hour running time including commercials.
• Connections Featured in Sneak Previews: Rockshow, The Final Conflict, Thief, The Trials of Alger Hiss (1981)
• Soundtracks Venus and Mars (uncredited) Composed by Linda McCartney / Paul McCartney Performed by Wings

User reviews 13

• StreamingEagle
• Mar 3, 2020
• April 8, 1981 (United Kingdom)
• United Kingdom
• Paul McCartney & the Wings Rockshow
• Kingdome - 589 Occidental Avenue South, Seattle, Washington, USA
• Eagle Rock Entertainment
• MPL Communications
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

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• Runtime 1 hour 42 minutes

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Film Details

Release date:, distributor:, running time:.

Tom Priestly & Richard Dunford

Jack Priestley

TRACKLISTING Venus And Mars Rock Show Jet Let Me Roll It Spirits Of Ancient Egypt Medicine Jar Maybe I'm Amazed Live And Let Die Bluebird I've Just Seen A Face Yesterday You Gave Me The Answer Magneto And Titanium Man Go Now Listen To What The Man Said Let 'Em In Time To Hide Silly Love Songs Beware My Love Letting Go

In 1976 Wings undertook an epic world tour that brought their music to a live audience of two million people in ten countries, an experience captured on the Wings over America triple album. The climax of that tour was their performance at the mammoth Kingdome in Seattle, Washington, where 67,000 fans listened to Paul et al perform a setlist full of classic songs, including ‘Venus And Mars’, ‘Band on the Run’, ‘Let Me Roll It’, ‘Jet’, ‘Bluebird’, ‘The Long And Winding Road’, ‘Maybe I'm Amazed’ and ‘Yesterday’. The remarkable tour was brought to life in 1980 with this memorable concert film. Famed for the precision and quality of its sound (the amplification system used was the first of its kind, capable of 15,000 watts, compared with previous systems of only 1,000 watts) and spectacular light show, Rockshow is regarded by many as one of the best live videos of all time.

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This Day In History : January 25

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Paul McCartney is released from a Tokyo jail and deported from Japan

Paul McCartney’s arrival at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport on January 16, 1980, marks his first visit to Japan since the Beatles tour of 1966. The occasion was a planned 11-city concert tour by his band Wings. Instead, Paul’s visit was limited to a nine-day stint in the Tokyo Narcotics Detention Center, which ended on January 25, 1980.

McCartney was found to be carrying nearly half a pound of marijuana in his baggage upon arrival at Narita—an amount Paul would later assure Japanese authorities was intended solely for his personal use. The amount was large enough, however, to warrant a smuggling charge and a potential seven-year prison sentence. Given Japan’s reputation for rigorous enforcement of its strict anti-drug laws, it was by no means a foregone conclusion that McCartney would escape trial and possible imprisonment, yet he was released and quickly deported from Japan on January 25, 1980, prior to making any appearance in court.

That a celebrity of McCartney’s stature would avoid the consequences that a less-famous drug smuggler might have faced was hardly surprising. After all, who could blame Japanese authorities for applying a double standard to a prisoner whose sing-alongs inside the jailhouse and screaming fans outside threatened to create a significant distraction from the normal workings of the justice system?

The question that troubled the minds of observers at the time was, “What was Paul thinking?” Half a pound of marijuana was a prodigious amount for one man to carry around for personal use—particularly a man who had had reason to expect especially close examination of his person and his baggage by Japanese customs officials. After all, Paul had been denied a Japanese entry visa just five years earlier due to his numerous earlier drug arrests in Europe.

Twenty years after his 1980 arrest, Paul would opine that his psychological motivation may have been to find an excuse to disband Wings, which he in fact did immediately following his return to England. In another interview, however, Sir Paul offered an explanation that may be the more compelling for its simplicity: “We were about to fly to Japan and I knew I wouldn’t be able to get anything to smoke over there,” McCartney said in 2004. “This stuff was too good to flush down the toilet, so I thought I’d take it with me.”

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Paul McCartney: Nine Days In a Tokyo Jail

“When the fellow pulled it out of the suitcase, he looked more embarrassed than me,” McCartney recalled. “I think he just wanted to put it back in and forget the whole thing, you know, but there it was.

“I didn’t try to hide it. I had just come from America and still had the American attitude that marijuana isn’t that bad. I didn’t realize just how strict the Japanese attitude is.”

A senior customs official ordered McCartney detained and radioed the Narcotics Control Bureau.

“It’s all a mistake,” McCartney protested, as the NCB agents handcuffed him. He was taken to the Drug Supervisory Center for interrogation. Within 11 hours, the Wings tour was canceled and McCartney found himself squeezed into a 4-by-8 cell in a Tokyo prison.

He was soon visited by the British vice-consul, who told the former Beatle that the sentence could be up to eight years.

“My first night was the worst,” McCartney said. “I couldn’t sleep. I was frightened about the possibility of not seeing my family for years.”

While behind bars, Inmate #22—as Paul was known—impressed the guards with his politeness. He wasn’t allowed a guitar or writing implement, so he passed his time by exercising and talking to other prisoners. Paul later said that overall, he was treated very well, except for the morning interrogations.

“I made a confession on the night I was arrested and apologized for breaking Japanese law, but they still wanted to know everything. I had to go through my whole life story—school, father’s name, income, even my medal from the Queen.”

In the 2000 TV special Wingspan , McCartney reflected to his daughter Mary, “I don’t know what possessed me to just stick this bloody great bag of grass in my suitcase. Thinking back on it, it almost makes me shudder.”

Since returning to Japan for a tour in 1990, McCartney has performed in the country several times without further incident.

There are two noteworthy footnotes to this tale, the first one tragic. A few days into Paul’s jail stay, a 29-year-old man named Kenneth Lambert turned up at a Miami Airport reservation counter and demanded a ticket to fly to Japan to “free Paul.” He had no money or identification. An argument ensued, with Lambert pulling a realistic-looking toy gun from his pocket. A policeman on the scene shot the young man dead.

The second has to do with John Lennon’s reaction to his former partner’s imprisonment. According to a housekeeper who worked for him at the Dakota, upon hearing the news John supposedly said, “If he really needs weed, surely there’s enough people who can carry it for him. You’re a Beatle, boy, a Beatle. Your face is in every damn corner of the planet. How could you have been so stupid?”

—By Bill DeMain

From Performing Songwriter Issue 94 article: Rock Stars Behind Bars

Photos © Life and Corbis

Category : Best of PS

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• Do celebrities and other wealthy people usually fly commercial? - Page 3 - FlyerTalk Forums | January 6, 2012

John Lennon called the Tokyo police about Paul McCartney’ weed. This is why John “didn’t live to see 1981”

Well,I am not sure if he really settled down. Impossible to know for sure. But I love him anyway.

I love Paul with a hot passion, but even I know that this was way, way stupid. I’m glad that he’s settled down these days.

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1980 Japan Tour

From RollingStone:

On January 16th, 1980, Paul McCartney arrived in Tokyo for Wings’ 11-date tour of Japan, his first visit to the country since the Beatles had performed there in 1966. But thanks to the nearly eight ounces of marijuana that he’d foolishly tried to conceal in his luggage, he wound up spending 10 days in jail instead. The former Beatle’s ganja gaffe not only forced the entire Japanese tour to be canceled, but also caused McCartney to drop his plans for Wings’ summer 1980 tour of the U.S., which would have been the band’s first stateside jaunt since 1976. The band unraveled from there without playing another gig, officially coming to an end when founding Wings member Denny Laine left in the spring of 1981.

Albums, EPs & singles

Japan Rehearsals

By Wings • Unofficial live

Steve Holley interview

Feb 10, 2015 • From Glenn Williams

Meeting The Beatles : Exclusive Interview with Howie Casey

Jun 01, 2018 • From Beatles Magazine

Paul McCartney: Ten Days in the Life

Feb 20, 1980 • From RollingStone

Paul McCartney arrested and jailed in Japan

Jan 16, 1980

Wings '80 Japan tour cancelled

Jan 17, 1980

Other Wings members leave Japan

Jan 21, 1980

Paul McCartney released from Japan prison

Jan 25, 1980

Paul McCartney back in Europe after 10 days jailed in Japan

Jan 26, 1980

Paul McCartney writes his “Japanese Jailbird” memories

February - April 1980

Japan Tour Rehearsals

January 2nd - 10th, 1980