‘Zoo Gang’ was the b-side of Wings’ 1974 single ‘Band On The Run’ in the United Kingdom.
Before that, though, it was the theme tune of a UK TV drama series, The Zoo Gang, that ran for six episodes in 1974. It was made by Sir Lew Grade’s ATV, who asked Paul McCartney to write the theme.
The Zoo Gang also included incidental music by Ken Thorne, who had provided a similar score for Help!, The Beatles’ second film.
‘Zoo Gang’ was recorded at EMI Odeon Studios in Paris, France, in April 1973. The main purpose of the session, which featured guest drummer Davy Lutton, was to record some of Linda McCartney’s songs
The release
Wings’ ‘Band On The Run’ single, with ‘Zoo Gang’ on the b-side, was released in the UK on 28 June 1974. It peaked at number three on the UK singles chart.
In the USA, ‘Band On The Run’ was issued with ‘Nineteen Hundred And Eighty-Five’ on the flipside. It was a bigger hit there, topping the US Billboard Hot 100.
‘Zoo Gang’ was also recorded by Jungle Juice, a group of session musicians, who released it as a UK single on 25 May 1974.
The 2010 Special Edition of Band On The Run contained two CDs and a DVD. The first CD featured the remastered album, while the second contained bonus audio tracks: ‘Helen Wheels’, ‘Country Dreamer’ and ‘Zoo Gang’, plus six performances from the One Hand Clapping documentary.
