B-side "I'm Carrying" Format 7" Genre Soft rock | Released 26 August 1978 Recorded February – March 1977 | |
Label Parlophone/EMI (UK)
Capitol (US) | ||
"London Town" is the title and opener track from Wings' 1978 album London Town. It was the third of three single releases from the LP.
Writing, recording and release
The song was written by Paul McCartney and Denny Laine in Perth, Australia during the Wings Over the World tour and features a lead vocal by Paul McCartney and backing vocals by Linda McCartney and Laine. A top 40 hit in the United States (number 39 on the Billboard Hot 100), the single topped out at number 43 in Canada and number 60 in the UK. Author Chris Ingham praised the song as one of the best on the album, stating it was "full of the most sensitive pop synthesizer touches." cCartney biographer Peter A. Carlin called the song "a pleasantly spaced-out perspective on city life." Tom Waseleski of the Beaver County Times regarded "London Town" as having "more substance" than other of McCartney's soft rock tracks. Author Tim Riley calls it "willfully sulky". Beatles biographers Roy Carr and Tony Tyler regard "London Town" as an "anachronism," with several Beatle-esque touches, including opening chords that sound like "Blackbird" and a chord progression similar to that in "The Fool on the Hill".