Wings Wonderful Christmas Time

Wings Gets You in the Holiday Spirit

"Having a wonderful Christmastime."

Yes, it's a Wings Christmas-time! Paul McCartney and Wings are in fine form. This is from 1979, the last incarnation of Wings. It is around the time of "Wonderful Christmastime," which isn't really a Wings song, though they did the video for it. Just a corny old picture that will bring back memories, perhaps.

Linda McCartney hard at work

Here is the video, which is quite good, especially for pre-MTV:




Is "Wonderful Christmastime" a "Wings" song? Only sort of. Paul wrote it and performed it alone while doing the same with "McCartney II." He just used the other Wings members for this video, almost like a hired crew of extras. They filmed it at an inn somewhere in West Sussex, England.

Keeping the rights completely to himself was a shrewd business move, as "Wonderful Christmastime" became a seasonal that still gets airplay to this day during the holiday season. It has earned him a ton of money. It did not appear on any Wings albums until the 1993 reissue of "Back to the Egg." That is a weird choice, since by rights it should go on "McCartney II." However, because of the Wings band members in the video and the fact that this was released well before "McCartney II," people naturally associate "Wonderful Christmastime" with Wings material. In that sense, it is in the same boat as early hits like "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey," which had absolutely nothing to do with Wings, but which many people always consider a Wings tune.

Either you enjoy "Wonderful Christmastime" or you don't. Many prominent artists have covered it, including Amy Grant, Demi Lovato, Kelly Rowland and Chicago, so it can't be that bad. It is just a fun song, nothing profound. The general public enjoys it, so it continues to be played every year, starting at Thanksgiving and ending on Christmas.

2014