"Wings – Wild Wonders" is a bootleg cassette tape containing songs once claimed to be by Paul McCartney & Wings, but this claim has long been disproven, and the true artists behind the majority of them remain unidentified.
Foreword by Randwolf
"I've been collecting unreleased Beatle recordings since the early 1970s. In the 1980s, I was trading cassettes through the mail. Belmo received the tape and reviewed it in his newsletter, then sent me a copy on TDK hi-bias tape. I made a copy and sent it to LRE King who then mentioned it in one of his books. Years later, I transferred my tapes to CDs, and put the tapes into storage (now they're lost)."
Randwolf2, the original uploader of "Wings - Wild Wonders"
Randy (who goes by Randwolf2 online) explained that a friend of Scott Belmer initially owned an early copy of the Wild Wonders tape and passed it on to Belmer, who then dubbed it onto a high-bias TDK tape and gave that tape to Randy. Randy later made a second copy and gave it to L.R.E. King, who featured it in a 1989 book about Beatles outtakes.
Since then, Randy's copy, along with all known early copies of the tape (including one reportedly obtained by billytheoldhippy at Beatlesfest around 1987), has been lost, and their whereabouts remain unknown. It has been speculated that billytheoldhippy was a friend of Belmer, though this is believed to be unlikely.
History
Circulation and Reviews of Wild Wonders
Starting in 1987, bootleg cassette tapes labeled "Wings – Wild Wonders" began circulating among Beatles collectors in New Jersey and New York. The first documented mention appeared in Scott Belmer's newsletter, "Belmo's Beatleg News".[1][2] The tape consists of ten highly distorted songs of various genres, each performed by a different band or artist, misattributed to Paul McCartney & Wings.
In 1989, L.R.E. King questioned whether the Wild Wonders songs were truly by Paul McCartney & Wings, offering the following statement in their book "Fixing A Hole":[3]
“Some parts sound a little like Paul and co., but the sound quality is abominable and seems to be deliberately distorted, which is certainly a reason to be suspicious. Extremely dubious.”
The First Mentions of Wild Wonders Online
In 1998, Randwolf2 launched his now-defunct website, "The Beatles Tapes". On it, he cataloged and debunked recordings that bootleggers purported were unreleased Beatles material. He categorized the Wild Wonders tracks as "outfakes", (a portmanteau of "outtake" and "fake", meaning a recording falsely presented as a Beatles outtake).[4] He later featured the second song from the tape in his sixth downloadable album, "LIES - VOLUME 6".[5]
From left to right: Volumes 1-6 of the LIES album, showcasing outfake recordings compiled by Randwolf2.
On November 4, 2003, a listing for a Wild Wonders tape appeared on the Russian flea market website Beatles.ru.[6] It was posted by a user seeking to exchange it for other Beatles-related bootleg titles. The email associated with that user is no longer active.
On March 8, 2009, two of the Wild Wonders songs, Shake Up Your Engines and Relax In Bed, were mentioned on the Wikipedia talk page for the Beatles outtake, Peace Of Mind/The Candle Burns.[7]
"Relax In Bed" Identified as "Relax In Red [Demo]" by X-Offender
On March 10, 2013, Randwolf2, along with YouTube users billytheoldhippy and HerbBlake, identified Relax In Bed as "Relax In Red" by X-Offender. Randwolf2 later contacted Louis Portela, the band's lead singer and bassist, to ask why the Wild Wonders version of the song sounded different from the official release. Portela responded that it was an earlier "live" take the band did as a submission for WBAB 102.3's Homegrown Hour show, confirming that it was a demo.
Steve Hoffman Thread, BeatlesBootlegs9's YouTube Upload, and Multiple Restoration Attempts
On May 24, 2018, user TheLazenby created a thread on the Steve Hoffman Music Forum asking whether Shake Up Your Engines was a Jackson Browne outtake, which other forum members dismissed.
On July 13, 2018, user BeatlesBootlegs9 uploaded the first complete version of the Wild Wonders album to YouTube,[8] with all songs sourced from Randy's website.
On February 24, 2023, user Beyond Obscure uploaded a complete audio restoration of Wild Wonders to YouTube, drawing renewed attention to the mystery.[9] Later that year, user Spade released their own restoration of Please Come Home,[10] followed by a complete restoration in November.
"Looking Into Love" and "Shake Up Your Engines" Identified as by Len Rothberg and Neal Ferraro, Featuring Dory Roedel
On July 13, 2023, a lead for Looking Into Love was found in the United States Copyright Office's online catalog, Cocatalog. The song was listed as "Lookin' Into Love", written by Len Rothberg and Neal Ferraro, and registered in 1978. Rothberg died in 2020, while Ferraro was still active and could be contacted. Ferraro later confirmed that the song from the bootleg tape matched the audio of his "Lookin' Into Love" song. He also confirmed that he and Rothberg were the writers of Shake Up Your Engines.
On February 29, 2024, Ferraro provided high-quality versions of both songs and gave permission for them to be uploaded to Q's channel.[11][12]
Lyric Interpretation and Bounty
On June 27, 2024, SpikeyTheCactus uploaded a video featuring his own lyrical interpretation of each Wild Wonders song.[13]
On December 1, 2024, Josh Garcia set up a £10 bounty for The Best Is Yet To Come for whoever can find a high-quality recording of the full song.
"Need A Guarantee Of Love" Identified as "Guarantee [Early Version]" by The End
On February 28, 2025, Need A Guarantee Of Love was identified by rebornjar on WatZatSong as "Guarantee (Early Version)" by The End. The song had been Shazamable for several days after being uploaded to YouTube by a band member who was unaware of its connection to the mystery.
"Jimmy Takes A Ride" Likely Identified as "Ginny, Take A Ride" by The Sheiks
Track List
| Status | Band(s)/Artist(s) | Confirmed/Placeholder Name | Release Year | Upload Date | Solved On | Restoration | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unidentified | N/A | 1. - "Signs Of Love" | N/A | <November 19th, 2001/July 13th, 2018 | N/A | [↗] | [↗] |
| 2. - "Please Come Home" | [↗] | [↗] | |||||
| 3. - "The Best Is Yet To Come" | [↗] | [↗] | |||||
| 4. -"Go For The Beer" | N/A | [↗] | |||||
| Identified | Neal Ferraro & Len Rothberg | 5. - "Lookin' Into Love" | ~1977 | July 13th, 2023/Febraury 28th, 2024 | [↗] | [↗] | |
| 6. - "Shake Up Your Engines" | N/A | [↗] | |||||
| The End | 7. - "Guarentee [Early Version]" (Former placeholder, "Need A Guarente Of Love [If Its Me You're Thinking Of]") | ~1979 | February 28th, 2025 | [↗] | [↗] | ||
| Unidentified | N/A | 8. - "Runaway Teenager" | N/A | N/A | [↗] | [↗] | |
| Nearly Solved | The Shieks? | 9. - "Jimmy Takes A Ride" (Ginny, Take A Ride?) | N/A | N/A | [↗] | ||
| Identified | X-Offender | 10. - "Relax In Red [Demo]" (Former placeholder, "Relax In Bed") | ~1984 | March 12th, 2012 | [↗] | [↗] |
Theories
One theory suggests that in the late 1970s and early 1980s, these songs were featured on WBAB 102.3 and performed by bands based on Long Island, New York. This theory is supported by the fact that three identified songs from the tape were confirmed to be bootleg recordings of demo submissions tied to the station's Homegrown Hour show, which was dedicated to showcasing local talent.[14][15] According to the theory, bootleggers taped these songs directly from the radio onto a cassette, purposefully distorted the audio to conceal that it was not Paul McCartney singing, and then mislabeled the songs as "rare Paul McCartney & Wings studio outtakes".
External Links
- ↑ https://www.amazon.com/Belmos-Beatleg-News-Complete-Anthology/dp/169851011X
- ↑ http://beatlestapes.atwebpages.com/wingswildwonderstape.html
- ↑ https://www.amazon.com/Fixing-Hole-Beatles-Unauthorized-Recordings/dp/0944692028
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110731023422/http://beatletapes.angelfire.com/outfakesg.html
- ↑ http://beatlestapes.atwebpages.com/LIESCDs.html
- ↑ https://www.beatles.ru/fleamarket/flea.asp?id=979&cfrom=4147&categ_id=0&fleamarket_type=0#:~:text=2)%0AViva%20Mexico-,Wild%20Wonders,-1st%20Live%20Show
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3APeace_of_Mind%2FThe_Candle_Burns#:~:text=Relax%20In%20Bed%2C%20Shake%20Up%20Your%20Engines
- ↑ https://youtube.com/@BeatlesBootlegs9
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gcfDN2NGyg
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDHdsMUmuUw
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp8KP4IBjvo
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh8DO9ohCnY
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJJdrM-QvIY
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WBAB_Homegrown_Album#:~:text=%22Homegrown%20Hour%22%20program%2C%20a%20show%20dedicated%20to%20promoting%20bands%20based%20on%2C%20or%20somehow%20tied%20to%20Long%20Island%2C%20New%20York.
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHn0Yh3CAr8&lc=Ugz-eRn9-8lfYfkoJ6l4AaABAg