Song#: 3915
Date: 05/27/1989
Debut: 72
Peak: 25
Weeks: 10
Genre: Pop
Pop Bits: Following the weak showing of '86's Press to Play (#30), his first studio album to miss going at least gold, McCartney made a conscious effort to right the ship. Based on a suggestion from his manager, McCartney reached out to singer/songwriter Elvis Costello to see if they could come up with some songs. The pair got together and out of their work came a set of songs that would find their way to albums by the artists. Costello was first out of the gate with one of the collaborations when "Veronica" (#19 Pop) got released in April of '89. Then about a month later, McCartney would issue out the co-write "My Brave Face." It would serve as the first single from his album Flowers in the Dirt. It would do well at AC reaching #4 while getting to #12 Rock. On the Pop chart, the single didn't fully ignite and it halted at #25. Yet despite the result, the Costello pairing along with some favorable reviews of the album calling out a revitalized McCartney helped the album get to #21 and go gold.
ReduxReview: This was a good song from the McCartney/Costello pairing and I think it did about as well as it could. I didn't find it as engaging "Veronica," but the Costello influence on the tune fit McCartney well. It has been sadly ignored in McCartney's catalog. Even his compilations including 2016's Pure McCartney have not included the track (actually nothing from Flowers in the Attic made that 4-disc collection). Although the original goal was to just come up with songs together, it was kind of too bad that the pair just didn't do a full-on album together. That could have been sensational. However, from what I've read, the two didn't necessarily become the best of friends, so doing the album together might have been too much. At least a few good songs resulted from the pairing.
ReduxRating: 7/10
Trivia: This single and Flowers in the Attic were good returns McCartney. However, in the long run the song would be the one to cap off an era. It would end up being McCartney's last regular solo billed Pop Top 40 hit. Not only that, it would also be the last Top 40 entry by any Beatle listed as the sole main artist. McCartney would end up back in the Top 40 three times beginning in 2014, but those efforts would be in collaboration with other artists including Kanye West who would appear on all three. The biggest of these would be the #4 hit "FourFiveSeconds," which featured McCartney, West, and Rihanna. Then in 2021, McCartney's 1979 holiday tune "Wonderful Christmastime" would find itself back on the Pop chart again (thanks to rule changes a couple years prior) and get to #28.
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This is the kind of song I would hear a lot in retail stores but not so much on the AC/Classic Hits stations, while I wouldn't rank this song in the same league as Paul's best work with the Beatles or Wings but I do find it to be a very enjoyable song to listen to.
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