“Venus and Mars/Rock Show” by Paul McCartney

"Venus and Mars" and "Rock Show" open Wings' Venus and Mars album as one continuous run, and late in 1975 they went out together as a single: 27 October in the US, 28 November in Britain, with "Magneto and Titanium Man" on the flip. Paul and Linda McCartney wrote both halves, and the medley plays like curtain-up at the arena, the dreamy title song setting the scene before "Rock Show" comes barrelling through the doors.

The single chopped more than three minutes out of "Rock Show" and still made 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. Britain shrugged: it missed the UK chart altogether, the first single McCartney had written to do so. In The Rough Guide to the Beatles, Chris Ingham later praised both parts, calling one atmospheric and the other barnstorming, which about sums up the trip.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.