Wings Mix ‘Zoo Gang’ at AIR Studios, London – 14 May 1973
Monday 14 May 1973 | Mixing & Editing Session | AIR Studios, Oxford Street, London
On 14 May 1973, Paul McCartney and Wings gathered at AIR Studios on Oxford Street in London to mix ‘Zoo Gang’ — a track that would serve two distinct purposes: as the theme tune for a major ITV drama series, and later as the B-side of one of the most celebrated singles in McCartney’s solo career.
The session produced both mono and stereo mixes of the track, with the mono version then edited into two formats for television use: a 30-second version for the end credits and a longer edit for the title sequence.
The Track: ‘Zoo Gang’
‘Zoo Gang’ is an instrumental piece — brisk, melodic, and immediately memorable — written by Paul McCartney at the request of Sir Lew Grade’s ATV television company. Grade, the powerful impresario who controlled ATV and had a long and complicated relationship with McCartney (ATV had acquired the Northern Songs catalogue, which included the Lennon-McCartney songwriting output), commissioned McCartney to write the theme for a new drama series he was producing.
The backing track had been recorded on 25 April 1973. An accordion overdub — which gives the track its distinctively jaunty, slightly continental character — was added on 7 May. The mixing session on 14 May completed the production process.
The Recording Timeline
- 25 April 1973 — Backing track recorded
- 7 May 1973 — Accordion overdub added
- 14 May 1973 — Mixed in mono and stereo at AIR Studios; mono version edited for TV use
The Zoo Gang: The TV Series
The Zoo Gang was a six-episode ITV drama series that aired in 1974, produced by Sir Lew Grade’s ATV. The series starred Brian Keith, John Mills, Lilli Palmer, and Barry Morse as a group of former French Resistance fighters who reunite in the south of France to fight crime — a premise that gave the show its slightly exotic, sun-drenched atmosphere and made McCartney’s breezy, accordion-inflected theme an ideal fit.
The series was based on a novel by Paul Gallico and was filmed partly on location in the south of France. It was a prestige production for ATV, and Grade’s decision to commission McCartney for the theme reflected both the show’s ambitions and the commercial logic of attaching a Beatle’s name to a major television project.
McCartney’s theme was used in two edited forms: a shorter version for the end of each episode, and a longer version for the opening title sequence. The mono mix made on 14 May 1973 was the version prepared for these television edits.
AIR Studios, Oxford Street
AIR Studios — Associated Independent Recording — had been founded by George Martin in 1969, following his departure from EMI. Martin had produced every Beatles album from Please Please Me to Abbey Road and was, by 1969, one of the most sought-after producers in the world. AIR gave him and his associates an independent base from which to work outside the EMI system.
The original AIR Studios was located at 214 Oxford Street in London — above the shops at Oxford Circus, in a building that has since been redeveloped. It was a state-of-the-art facility for its time, and became one of the most important recording studios in London during the 1970s. McCartney used it regularly during this period, and it was the natural choice for the Wings sessions of 1973.
(AIR Studios later relocated to Lyndhurst Road in Hampstead, where it operates today as a world-class orchestral recording facility.)
The Lew Grade Connection
Sir Lew Grade was one of the most powerful figures in British television and entertainment in the 1960s and 1970s. As chairman of ATV, he controlled one of the ITV network’s major franchises and had a track record of producing internationally ambitious drama and variety programming.
His relationship with McCartney was not straightforward. ATV had acquired Northern Songs — the publishing company that owned the Lennon-McCartney catalogue — in 1969, in a takeover that McCartney had fought unsuccessfully to prevent. The fact that Grade then commissioned McCartney to write the Zoo Gang theme was a measure of both men’s pragmatism: business was business, and a McCartney theme tune was worth having regardless of the history.
McCartney later bought ATV Music (and with it the Northern Songs catalogue) in 1985 — though he was outbid for the Beatles’ own songs by Michael Jackson, who acquired the catalogue that year. The Lennon-McCartney songs remained outside McCartney’s control until Sony/ATV was restructured decades later.
‘Zoo Gang’ as a Single B-Side
The track’s second life came in 1974, when it was released as the B-side of ‘Band on the Run’ in the United Kingdom. ‘Band on the Run’ — the title track of Wings’ third studio album, recorded in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1973 — was one of the defining records of McCartney’s post-Beatles career: a sweeping, multi-part composition that demonstrated, definitively, that he remained one of the most gifted songwriters in popular music.
Pairing it with ‘Zoo Gang’ gave the B-side an unusual character — an instrumental television theme on the flip of a rock epic — but it was a logical choice given that both tracks had been produced in the same period and shared a certain melodic confidence.
Key Facts: 14 May 1973
- Date: Monday 14 May 1973
- Studio: AIR Studios, 214 Oxford Street, London
- Session type: Mixing and editing
- Track: ‘Zoo Gang’
- Producer: Paul McCartney
- Backing track recorded: 25 April 1973
- Accordion overdub: 7 May 1973
- Mixes produced: Mono and stereo; mono edited into 30-second and longer TV versions
- TV use: Theme for The Zoo Gang, ITV, 1974 (6 episodes, ATV/Lew Grade)
- Single release: B-side of ‘Band on the Run’ (UK), 1974
Frequently Asked Questions
What is ‘Zoo Gang’ by Wings?
‘Zoo Gang’ is an instrumental track written and produced by Paul McCartney, originally composed as the theme tune for the 1974 ITV drama series The Zoo Gang. It was later released as the B-side of ‘Band on the Run’ in the United Kingdom.
What was The Zoo Gang TV series?
The Zoo Gang was a six-episode ITV drama series produced by Sir Lew Grade’s ATV in 1974, starring Brian Keith, John Mills, Lilli Palmer, and Barry Morse. It followed former French Resistance fighters reuniting in the south of France to fight crime. McCartney wrote the theme at Grade’s request.
Where was ‘Zoo Gang’ recorded and mixed?
The backing track was recorded on 25 April 1973, with an accordion overdub added on 7 May. The mixing session took place on 14 May 1973 at AIR Studios, 214 Oxford Street, London — the original location of George Martin’s independent recording facility.
What is AIR Studios and who founded it?
AIR Studios — Associated Independent Recording — was founded by George Martin in 1969 after his departure from EMI. The original studio was at 214 Oxford Street, London. It later relocated to Lyndhurst Road in Hampstead, where it operates today as a world-class orchestral recording facility.
Why did Paul McCartney write a theme for Lew Grade?
Sir Lew Grade commissioned McCartney to write the theme for The Zoo Gang through his ATV television company. The commission was notable given that ATV had acquired the Northern Songs catalogue — which included the Lennon-McCartney songs — in 1969, in a takeover McCartney had opposed. Both men were pragmatic enough to work together regardless.
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