Not Such A Bad Boy

‘Not Such A Bad Boy’ is a song on Paul McCartney’s soundtrack album Give My Regards To Broad Street.

McCartney recorded the song at AIR Studios in London in December 1982.

A song written for the film. It’s a line Harry says, claiming he’s just manipulated. It nearly didn’t make it into the film, but Linda and Ringo really loved it and requested its reinstatement. So I said to Peter Webb that we would try it and if it didn’t work we would drop it. It worked out well in the end. All the stuff about lawyers and jails and teachers and women – it’s all sort of experiences of mine, slightly inflated.

‘Not Such A Bad Boy’ and ‘No Values’ were performed by a band featuring Linda McCartney on keyboards, Dave Edmunds and Chris Spedding on guitars, and Ringo Starr on drums. Although short-lived, Paul McCartney said the experience made him want to perform live again.

Yeah, it really whetted my appetite. The next thing on my agenda is writing new songs and making a new album, but in truth, I think at some point I probably will get back out there again. That Spedding-Edmunds-Ringo lineup wasn’t a bad little band, for example – not bad at all.

The vinyl edition of Give My Regards To Broad Street contained an edit of ‘Not Such A Bad Boy’ lasting 10 seconds less than the CD and cassette version. Since the LP omitted ‘So Bad’, that version crossfades from ‘Not Such A Bad Boy’ to ‘No Values’.