Listen To What The Man Said by Wings – UK Single Release, 16 May 1975
Friday 16 May 1975 | Paul McCartney, Release, Wings
On 16 May 1975, Wings released 'Listen To What The Man Said' as a single in the United Kingdom — the lead single from their fourth album Venus and Mars. The US release followed on 26 May 1975, and the album itself later that month. The single topped the charts in the United States and Canada, and reached the top ten in Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, and the UK, where it peaked at number six.
Venus and Mars
Venus and Mars was Wings' fourth studio album, recorded primarily at Sea-Saint Studios in New Orleans between November 1974 and January 1975, with additional sessions at Wally Heider Studios in Los Angeles and Abbey Road in London. It was the first Wings album to feature the mark II lineup: Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney, Denny Laine, Jimmy McCulloch, and Joe English — though Geoff Britton, who had been recruited as drummer in May 1974, had recorded some tracks before leaving in January 1975 and being replaced by English.
The album followed Band on the Run (1973), which had been a critical and commercial landmark for McCartney's post-Beatles career. Venus and Mars was released on 30 May 1975 and reached number one in both the UK and the US — making McCartney one of the few artists to have consecutive number one albums on both sides of the Atlantic in the mid-1970s.
Listen To What The Man Said
'Listen To What The Man Said' was written by Paul McCartney and recorded during the Venus and Mars sessions. The track features a saxophone solo by Tom Scott, the American jazz musician who had worked with Joni Mitchell and George Harrison among others. Scott's contribution — warm, melodic, and immediately distinctive — was one of the defining elements of the single's sound and a significant factor in its commercial success.
The song is characteristic of McCartney's approach to pop songwriting in the mid-1970s: melodically generous, rhythmically buoyant, and built around a hook that rewards repeated listening. Its optimism — "love is fine for all we know" — was a deliberate contrast to the more introspective material elsewhere on Venus and Mars.
The B-Side: Love In Song
The B-side was 'Love In Song', another track from Venus and Mars, recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London in 1974. It appears as the opening track on the album — an unusual choice for a B-side, given its prominence on the LP, but consistent with McCartney's practice of using album tracks rather than exclusive recordings for single B-sides during this period.
Chart Performance
'Listen To What The Man Said' was one of the most successful Wings singles of the 1970s. It reached number one in the United States — Wings' third US number one after 'My Love' (1973) and 'Band on the Run' (1974) — and topped the charts in Canada. In the UK it peaked at number six, and it reached the top ten in Ireland, New Zealand, and Norway.
The single's success helped establish Venus and Mars as a major commercial release and set the stage for the Wings Over the World Tour, which launched in September 1975 and became one of the largest concert tours of the decade.
Compilations
The popularity of 'Listen To What The Man Said' ensured its inclusion on both of McCartney's major Wings compilations: All the Best! (1987) and Wingspan: Hits and History (2001). It was notably omitted from Wings Greatest (1978) — an absence that has puzzled fans given its chart performance, and which may reflect the complexities of the Capitol/EMI catalogue split at the time of that compilation's release.
Key Facts: 16 May 1975
- UK release date: 16 May 1975
- US release date: 26 May 1975
- Album: Venus and Mars (released 30 May 1975)
- B-side: 'Love In Song' (recorded at Abbey Road, 1974)
- US chart position: Number one
- Canada chart position: Number one
- UK chart position: Number six
- Also top ten in: Ireland, New Zealand, Norway
- Saxophone solo: Tom Scott
- Included on: All the Best! (1987); Wingspan: Hits and History (2001)
- Omitted from: Wings Greatest (1978)
Frequently Asked Questions
When was Listen To What The Man Said released?
It was released in the UK on 16 May 1975 and in the United States on 26 May 1975. The parent album Venus and Mars followed on 30 May 1975.
Did Listen To What The Man Said reach number one?
Yes — it reached number one in the United States and Canada. In the UK it peaked at number six, and it was also top ten in Ireland, New Zealand, and Norway.
Who played saxophone on Listen To What The Man Said?
Tom Scott, the American jazz musician who had also worked with Joni Mitchell and George Harrison, played the saxophone solo on the track.
What was the B-side of Listen To What The Man Said?
'Love In Song', another Venus and Mars track recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London in 1974. It appears as the opening track on the album.
Why was Listen To What The Man Said left off Wings Greatest?
Despite its strong chart performance, 'Listen To What The Man Said' was omitted from Wings Greatest (1978). It was later included on both All the Best! (1987) and Wingspan: Hits and History (2001).
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