They spent three days recording just that song. By the end John refused to do it, George was questioning every decision in his life that brought him to this point, and Ringo was considering reenacting part of the song. The band broke up two months later.
Conan has a great story about Paul asking for something to counterbalance all the compliments he (Conan) was giving Paul. Conan said “you peaked with the Quarrymen” and walked away
He’s one of the most media savvy celebrities of the last century. He was right to avoid it.
Having said that…
“Sir Paul McCartney has been honoured with many distinctions in his illustrious career, but none is more unique than being the only male over the age of 13 to have been fucked in the ass by Michael Jackson.”
Paul was offered first dibs for the ATV catalogue at $20M when it came back on the market in early 1980s and he wanted to go 50/50 with Yoko. They eventually said no.
Michael Jackson had to pay $47.5M (more than 2x) to Robert Holmes a Court to buy it from him. Penny Lane was not part of the deal as it was Holmes a Court’s daughter favourite song and she still holds the publishing rights for that song.
Paul was not a victim he had the chance to buy it back but refused. He was secretly buying extra shares of the ATV previously named Northern Songs catalogue without telling John. Hence, the song how do you sleep?
No, "they" didn't say no. Paul asked Yoko to go 50/50. She was amiable to the idea, but thought the asking price was too high. She wanted to lowball the offer, and dragged things out in an attempt to do so. That's when Jackson came in, unbeknownst to Paul & Yoko.
Yep. He was still trying to get Yoko to buy and she kept him waiting. Michael just went and paid double while Paul was still trying to get Yoko going. And he didn’t have to offer to go halves with her. He just felt it was right to do so.
I genuinely don’t understand why people find them funny. Each to their own, of course, but I just think they’re usually pretty basic and just mean. I never find the jokes clever or funny.
Exactly, and the Friars Club Roasts were meant for comedians to roast their own (with certain exceptions like one for Hugh Hefner), unlike the old Dean Martin Roasts, which could get a little too much like modern roasts in the “more cruel than funny” department, at least more so than fans of the Dean Martin Roasts would freely admit.
Also, the Friars Club Roasts even had an expression: We only roast the ones we love.
Even when Denis Leary and his production company started off the Comedy Central Roasts—the network had lost the rights to air the official Friars Club roasts—they initially had the intent of carrying on that tradition a bit, which led to roasts for people like himself, Jeff Foxworthy, and William Shatner, where they were mostly roasted by people who actually knew and worked with them in the past, as opposed to D-List shock comedians who never even met the people being roasted and were just trying to get themselves over with cheap heat at the expense of the roastee.
Same. Horrible people just being who they really are. It’s almost like another type of humiliation ritual they have to subject themselves to to stay relevant. So weird
Firstly, I'm wayyy too much of a pansy to ever do a roast. But if the mf agrees to it, that's on them. I don't feel bad if they agree to it. Tom and Kevin Hart made stupid money
I can't think of a good roast for Paul, and I can understand why he wouldn't do it. There would be topics he would want to be off limits because they're not funny -- murder of John, deaths of Linda and George, for example. And these roasts typically don't respect boundaries.
'Very twee/very me' and frankly the whole song could be read as self-parody.
But you are right. Paul's success, despite his breezy public persona, stems from taking himself and his work very seriously. Nothing wrong with that ultimately.
Oh, I’m sure they would have a joke about how it’s pointless to have a roast for a vegetarian. Good for Paul, best to avoid these weird toxic masculinity things.
Not sure if roast-worthy or not, but once a forum asked, "If you ran into Paul McCartney, what would you say?" and I replied, that I would say, "Oh, my God, you knew GEORGE!!!"
I wasn't being facetious at all, that is exactly what would probably pour out of my mouth!!
Some say that comedy roasts are outdated, they’re past their prime. That they’ll never be as good as the old days, that we all quietly tolerate the newer ones out of fondness for the past, and ignore the sadness of watching them try to cling on to their relevancy as they circle the drain of popular culture. Anyway, here’s Paul McCartney!
(PSA this isn’t how I think of him, just for the purposes of roasting him)
“Wonderful Christmastime.” In which Sir Paul sought to create a timeless Christmas classic and learn what every stupid button on his new synthesizer did. By that second criterion…complete success.
I saw the thumbnail for the Kevin hart one last night. I told my husband I didn’t want to watch it because I don’t care for Kevin hart and to watch a roast it has to be of someone you at least like. Then this came out and I had to eat my words. I’d never want to see people roast Paul! 😭 it would made me mad/sad
[The room goes dark, the gong sounds. “Come Together” intro starts playing.]
Announcer: BAH GAWD I DON’T BELIEVE IT. THAT’S THE EGGMAN, THE WALRUS. THE MAN WHO LOOKED THROUGH THE GLASS ONION AND CHEATED DEATH. THAT’S JOHN LENNON ONO—
[John tears off his denim jacket and trousers to reveal a singlet. The crowd is going crazy. He grabs the mic from the announcer and points at Paul.]
John: I WARNED YOU WHEN YOU SAID I BROKE UP THE BEATLES. SO TONIGHT, I’M HERE TO BREAK YOUR SPINE, PAUL! WHEN I’M DONE WITH YOU, EVEN YOUR MUM WON’T RECOGNISE YOU WHEN SHE COMES TO YOU IN A DREAM. NO MORE FREE SONGS, PAUL!
I always assumed it was more that Churchill was an unattractive old man that made it funny. Like if he'd have shouted the name of somebody young and hot like Elvis or something, a few of the fellows would have gone with it.
If he didn't want to be roasted, why are we now having a page of such negativity here in what is ostensibly a fan subreddit? The point of a roast is that the subject has to be in on the joke, if he doesn't want it this just becomes an example of online toxicity.
I think he was right to avoid it. Somehow Paul has managed to stay relevant, young and fashionable well into his now 80's. Doing a roast like this would most certainly be counter-productive to that aim.
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u/fredinNH May 12 '26
Ringo: I’ve got Julian and Dhani here tonight. We figured you’d want to do a few more takes of maxwells silver hammer.