What did Charles Shaar Murray do to earn Paul McCartney’s undying hatred as the Beatles legend told the audience of BBC Radio 4’s Mastertapes series this week? He wrote a hilarious piece about his 1975 interview with ‘Venus and Mars’ for the NME, published in his collection, Shots From the Hip – now out as an Aaaargh! Press e-book – and titled ‘No, not really in a way actually as it happens’.
The NME reports Macca as saying:
“… you still remember the names of the people who gave you really bad, vicious reviews: Charles Shaar Murray [former NME journalist] shall ever be hated!”
From Ultimate Classic Rock:
McCartney’s memories, as it turns out, also extend to the reviews he’s received over the years — particularly the bad ones. “You still remember the names of the people who gave you really bad, vicious reviews,” he said, half-jokingly singling out longtime NME writer Charles Shaar Murray — who described Wings’ 1975 effort Venus and Mars as “terrible” and “one of the worst albums I’ve ever heard from a so-called ‘major artist’” — as someone who “shall ever be hated.”
CSM says: “All I did was transcribe verbatim after I realised that if I removed the contradictions and incomplete sentences, there was nothing left to quote. So I ran it as was.”
Get Shots From the Hip here.
