"Pretty Little Head" is a song by

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

, cowritten by McCartney, and 10cc guitarist

Eric Stewart Eric Michael Stewart (born 20 January 1945) is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer, best known as a founding member of the rock groups the Mindbenders with whom he played from 1963 to 1968, and likewise of 1 ...

. The track is on his sixth solo studio album ''

Press to Play ''Press to Play'' is the sixth solo studio album by English musician Paul McCartney, released on 25 August 1986. It was McCartney's first album of entirely new music since ''Pipes of Peace'' in 1983, and his first solo album to be issued interna ...

'' (1986). The track was McCartney's 38th single, and his first which failed to chart, so, in an attempt to boost sales, he released his first ever

cassette single A cassette single (CS), also known by the trademark cassingle, or capitalised as the trademark Cassette Single, is a music single supplied in the form of a Compact Cassette. The cassette single was first introduced in 1980. History The debut ...

. It still failed to reach the top 75.

Release

The single was released at a length of 3:50 on the 7" release (remixed by Larry Alexander), and as a 6:56 remix (mixed by John Potoker) on the 12" release on the same day, 27 October 1986, and an extra track, "Angry", was added to the 12". A cassingle was also issued with the same track listing as the 12", and was released on 17 November 1986. Both of these lengths are different from the album version, which has a length of 5:14. (See ''

''). "Write Away", the single's B-side, is included only on the CD release of the album, resulting in the back of the single listing the

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

as "From the album" and the B-side as "From the compact disc".

Music video

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

, directed by Steve Barron, was recorded for the song, which features a girl running away from home after she witnesses her parents in an argument; she then finds herself in a big city. The girl is actress

Gabrielle Anwar Gabrielle Anwar is a British and American actress. She is known for her television roles as Sam Black in the second series of ''Press Gang'', as Margaret Tudor in the first season of ''The Tudors'', as Lady Tremaine in the seventh season of '' ...

. Her father is played by

Roger Lloyd-Pack Roger Anthony Lloyd-Pack (8 February 1944 – 16 January 2014) was an English actor. He is best known for playing Trigger in ''Only Fools and Horses'' from 1981 to 2003, and Owen Newitt in '' The Vicar of Dibley'' from 1994 to 2007. He later st ...

, by then a familiar face in Britain for his role as

Trigger Trigger may refer to: Notable animals and people ;Mononym * Trigger (horse), owned by cowboy star Roy Rogers ;Nickname * Trigger Alpert (1916–2013), American jazz bassist * "Trigger Mike" Coppola (1900–1966), American gangster ;Surname * Bru ...

in the sitcom ''

Only Fools and Horses ''Only Fools and Horses....'' is a British television sitcom created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas ...

''. McCartney appears only in a short

cameo role A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

, which he filmed in London on 18 October 1986. The beginning of the video contains an excerpt from "

She's Leaving Home "She's Leaving Home" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and released on their 1967 album ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. Paul McCartney wrote and sang the verse and John Lennon ...

," a Beatles song written and performed in 1967, for the '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' album.

Critical reception

Reviews of the song, and the album as a whole, were mixed. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' magazine described it as "dreamily abstract".

Track listing

All songs written by Paul McCartney and Eric Stewart 7" single (R 6145) # "Pretty Little Head" – 3:50 #* Remix by Larry Alexander # "Write Away" – 3:01 12" single (12R 6145) # "Pretty Little Head" – 6:56 #* Remix by John 'Tokes' Potoker # "Angry" (Remix) – 3:36 #* Remix by Larry Alexander # "Write Away" – 3:01

References

External links

* {{Paul McCartney 1986 singles Paul McCartney songs Songs written by Paul McCartney Songs written by Eric Stewart Song recordings produced by Paul McCartney Song recordings produced by Hugh Padgham Music videos directed by Steve Barron Music published by MPL Music Publishing