McCartney Hints He May Tour Again

The Rolling Stones may not be the only legendary rock act touring this year.

Paul McCartney is also thinking about going on the road for the first time in more than a decade.

A source who works with McCartney in the United States confirmed on Friday a casual suggestion about touring made by the ex-Beatle during a 55-minute appearance this week on a “live phone-in” show produced by the British Broadcasting Corp.’s Soviet service.

More than 1,000 Soviets tried to get through to the BBC’s London studio Thursday to speak to McCartney--about five times the number who tried to reach British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher during a similar phone hookup last summer, according to the BBC.

Speaking to a 12-year-old fan from Frunze in the central Soviet Union, McCartney joked about doing the Beatles’ “Back in the U.S.S.R.” live there.

“Other people go to Russia (including Elton John and Billy Joel) and they sing ‘Back in the U.S.S.R.’,” he said. “I think it’s about time I went and sang it.”

McCartney, 46, added that he is “hoping” to go out on tour this year. “If that transpires, then I’d love to come to Russia. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” he added.

The source, who asked not to be identified, said that McCartney is, indeed, putting together a new band and plans to go into the recording studio shortly to begin work on an album. If everything falls into place, the tour would coincide with the album’s release.

A spokeswoman for Capitol Records said the company has been told to expect a McCartney album this year, but hasn’t been given even a tentative release date. A spokesman for the Stones announced earlier this week that the classic British band also hopes to record a new album and launch its first tour since 1981.

Brian Murphy, president of Avalon Attractions, Southern California’s leading concert booking firm, said Friday he thinks 1989 would be an ideal time for McCartney to tour.

“There are so many radio stations these days with a classic rock format that McCartney would get enormous air play to support the dates,” he said. “Stations would play yesterday-and-today medleys, pairing a song from the new album with one of his old hits.”

Though he has not heard any reports of McCartney representatives contacting concert promoters around the country, Murphy said there have been “rumblings of a tour for about two years--everything from a stadium tour to a more intimate, 25-30 city arena tour.

“I’d rather see him do the arena tour because I think his music is more suited to an arena than a stadium. He could easily do five nights at the (18,000-seat) Forum.”

On his 21-city tour with the band Wings in 1976, McCartney sold out three Forum shows. He was joined opening night here by Ringo Starr, who walked on stage at the end of the concert to hug his former Beatles-mate.

In the radio hookup Thursday, the Soviet fans also asked the inevitable question about a possible reunion of the remaining Beatles.

“It would be too difficult,” said McCartney, whose words were translated into Russian. “George (Harrison), Ringo (Starr) and me could play together and stuff, but to find a replacement for (the late John Lennon) is impossible, really, because there is no one like him.”

During the radio show, McCartney played recordings of several of his hits, including a new album produced exclusively for distribution in the Soviet Union.

The album--believed to be the first Soviet-only album by a U.S. or British pop star--was released in November and contained 11 McCartney versions of ‘50s rock numbers.

While the Beatles were barred from performing in the Soviet Union, the group’s albums were smuggled into the country and reportedly prized by young people.

During the BBC broadcast, McCartney said, “We’d always always heard the young people were buying our records and were interested in the music we made, so that always made me very optimistic about the relations between our countries.”