Mike "McGear" McCartney

Born Peter Michael McCartney (January 7, 1944), Mike McCartney (also known as Mike McGear ) is a British performing artist and rock photographer and the brother of Paul McCartney. He had several hit records in the 1960s and 1970s He decided on a stagename, using the Liverpudlian equivalent of "Fab", so as not to generate undue influence from his family connections.

In 1968, with Roger McGough, he released an album (McGough & McGear) that entailed lyrics, poems, and comedy. The duo worked together, along with John Gorman, as The Scaffold, recording a couple of UK hit singles.
The trio added other members and later released two more albums (both in 1973) as Grimms.

McGear released a solo album entitled Woman in 1972, which included many tracks co-written with McGough.

In 1974, McGear released McGear in which he collaborated with his brother Paul. He is also a photographer, and has published pictures he took of The Beatles backstage and on tour and has recently brought out a limited edition book of photos he took spontaneously backstage at Live8.

He married and divorced Angela Fishwick, and later married Rowena Home. McGear has six children, including Josh McCartney who was drummer in the band The Famous Last Words (formerly known as Trilby).

Hhm..yeah, remember him posing at the Gayton Primary School summer fayre in Heswall in the 70's when I was a nipper. Think he had a daughter in the year below me. He still lives in Heswall I think.

Got himself into some sort of bother recently I believe. Went to court over it:shock: ....

I wonder if he ever told the secret of what "Aintree Iron" meant.

I've got his autograph on a footy programme when I was a nipper at a Mighty Redmen v West Brom match. He's also a cracking photographer.

Any of you in the know on this one?

I recently read that Sir Paul McCartney's kid brother Mike has a completely different personality from Paul. In what ways do they mean? The passage didn't go on further to elaborate.

I know from photos I've seen of him he doesn't bear much family resemblence to Sir Paul. First off, he's a redhead who looks more like the Irish-American comedian Denis Leary than he does Paul McCartney. I think he looks more like Sir Paul's mother's side of the family, the Monin's.

Any insights into Mike's personality?

I don't know much about Mike's personality, or if he's a lot different to Paul, but I think as the two have got older they have started to look a bit more alike.

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Originally Posted by bdm

Any of you in the know on this one?

I recently read that Sir Paul McCartney's kid brother Mike has a completely different personality from Paul. In what ways do they mean? The passage didn't go on further to elaborate.

I know from photos I've seen of him he doesn't bear much family resemblence to Sir Paul. First off, he's a redhead who looks more like the Irish-American comedian Denis Leary than he does Paul McCartney. I think he looks more like Sir Paul's mother's side of the family, the Monin's.

Any insights into Mike's personality?

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Hello bdm

I don't know about Mike McCartney being a redhead. I have met him and I believe he has brown hair like his famous brother. He made his name with the satirical pop group The Scaffold, along with John Gorman and poet Roger McGough. Most recently his photographs have been in the news and have been exhibited worldwide. See the following Google search.

Chris

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Originally Posted by shytalk

I wonder if he ever told the secret of what "Aintree Iron" meant.

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Hi Shy

I don't think it has ever been revealed what the term meant, although there was a lot of speculation. Roger McGough in his autobiograph, Said and Done, mentioned that one suggestion was that it referred to Beatles manager and entrepreneur Brian Epstein -- "Aintree Iron" designating horseshoe and "hoof" being rhyming slang for "poof." That explanation seems a stretch to me though! :PDT_Xtremez_12:

All the best

Chris

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Originally Posted by ChrisGeorge

Hi Shy

I don't think it has ever been revealed what the term meant, although there was a lot of speculation. Roger McGough in his autobiograph, Said and Done, mentioned that one suggestion was that it referred to Beatles manager and entrepreneur Brian Epstein -- "Aintree Iron" designating horseshoe and "hoof" being rhyming slang for "poof." That explanation seems a stretch to me though! :PDT_Xtremez_12:

All the best

Chris

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There was a company called Aintree that made domestic appliances. They also made a gas smoothing iron. The song was on about random nostalgic things.

At the re-opening of the Woolton Picture House.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/220/4...cf146830_o.jpg

Nice photograph, Philip. Thanks! :snf (41): :handclap:

By the way, Mike's hair does look red in that pic. Maybe he's dyeing it? :PDT_Xtremez_12:

Chris

I seem to remember reading something that as a kid Mike had a much more aggresive, combative personality that used to drive older brother Paul's best pal John Lennon nuts. Maybe he was tougher than Paul, so the teenage John couldn't bully him--I don't know. But like I said, I read this a long time ago, so there's a chance I could be getting something mixed up. If any of you have some insight into this I'd be curious to know what he's like.

On a similar note, I see where George Harrison's older brother Pete passed away recently. All who knew Pete said he was very outgoing, friendly, and rather humourous fellow. He looked a lot like George, but was nowhere near as shy. They both looked like their mother's dark Irish side of the family, the ffrench's I thought.

I googled "Aintree Iron" and found this:

AS I actually wrote "Thank U very much for the Aintree Iron" for Scaffold, I trust that I'm the best judge as to the authenticity of your readers' answers. Stephen Bold says that he once heard me define the Aintree Iron as "iron hoof: poof", ie Brian Epstein, "a resident of Aintree". I suggest he buys a hearing aid! I have never commented on Brian's sexuality, and I could never have said that he was a resident of Aintree, as he didn't live there. As for Neil Burgess, who says the Iron was a railway "gravitational marshalling yard" . . . what a load of grid iron! Sorry, Neil, you're light aeons away. As it's now coming up to 30 years since I created this mischievous little monster, I'd like to thank U all very much for your continuing curiosity, and look forward to the next 30 years of miles-off guesswork.

Mike McCartney, (ex-McGear, ex-Scaffold), Liverpool

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Originally Posted by PhilipG

I googled "Aintree Iron" and found this:

AS I actually wrote "Thank U very much for the Aintree Iron" for Scaffold, I trust that I'm the best judge as to the authenticity of your readers' answers. Stephen Bold says that he once heard me define the Aintree Iron as "iron hoof: poof", ie Brian Epstein, "a resident of Aintree". I suggest he buys a hearing aid! I have never commented on Brian's sexuality, and I could never have said that he was a resident of Aintree, as he didn't live there. As for Neil Burgess, who says the Iron was a railway "gravitational marshalling yard" . . . what a load of grid iron! Sorry, Neil, you're light aeons away. As it's now coming up to 30 years since I created this mischievous little monster, I'd like to thank U all very much for your continuing curiosity, and look forward to the next 30 years of miles-off guesswork.

Mike McCartney, (ex-McGear, ex-Scaffold), Liverpool

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I'm pretty sure he meant the Aintree gas iron. The Aintree iron, as people called items by the brand name - Hoover for vacuum cleaner, Kleenex for tissues, so an Aintree iron. I'm sure he and Paul McCartney ironed their shirts and pants with one. Aintree also made over the sink gas water heaters, with Aintree written on a chrome badge on the case. Aintree were not a big company and never sold that many appliances.

I bet he was shocked that few identified what an Aintree iron was, and were asking what it was.

Money talks and he was released from his case at Chester Crown Court.

Er, couldn't he just have been innocent?