"This One" by Paul McCartney

Song#:  4026

Date:  09/09/1989

Debut:  95

Peak:  94

Weeks:  3

Genre:  Pop

Pop Bits:  After the disappointing results of his '86 album Press to Play, McCartney put more focus on his next effort Flowers in the Dirt. He even found a writing partner in Elvis Costello for some tracks including the first single "My Brave Face," which cracked the Pop Top 30. The hit along with the hype surrounding the other Costello collaborations helped the album get to #21 and go gold. It was a minor comeback for McCartney and to try and keep things moving forward this next single was released. Written solely by McCartney, the tune floundered on the Pop chart spending a short three weeks near the bottom. It would do a bit better at AC reaching #28. A third single, "Figure of Eight," would be issued out early in '90 and while it did well at Rock reaching #8, it tanked at Pop (#92) and AC (#47). A final single, "Put It There," would get to #11 AC.

ReduxReview:  While Flowers in the Dirt found McCartney more engaged in his work, it didn't necessarily contain a lot of contenders for singles. Several tracks were highly listenable, but didn't have a lot of commercial viability. This single made for a lovely listen, but there was nothing about it that screamed Top 40, so it wasn't surprising it faltered on the chart. The "Bluebird"-ish "Put It There" was a well deserved hit at AC, yet it wasn't a tune for late 80s pop radio. Still, the album brought a lot of fans back on board and it provided McCartney with a bump in popularity.

ReduxRating:  5/10

Trivia:  While McCartney's output would slow down after Flowers in the Dirt, his albums continue to sell well. His two regular studio albums of new material in the 90s would both go gold while his three in the 2000's would also reach that level. A live album in 2002, Back in the U.S., would end up at #8 and go triple platinum. Still, he wasn't able to score a significant single on the Pop chart. That changed in 2015 when McCartney surprisingly earned his 23rd Pop Top 10 hit (not including his hits with the Beatles) with "FourFiveSeconds," a collaboration with Rihanna and Kanye West. The one-off song would get to #4 and bring a lot of attention back to McCartney. Then in 2018, McCartney's album Egypt Station would become his first to hit #1 since 1982's Tug of War.

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