The former Beatle accused some contemporaries of using tapes rather than their instruments on stage at concerts. He stopped short of naming the fakers, however.
Sir Paul said his long-time friend and engineer Paul Pablo Boothroyd revealed some artists rely on tapes for the majority of their shows.
“To me the concert experience is at the heart of what music is about. You come to a show and you are in the room so it is the real thing.
“I have been to concerts where I think, ‘Oh, I really am in the room with Tony Bennett and it is like he is in my living room’. That is a great part of the experience.
“I then think, ‘Wait a minute, people must think that about me’.
“When we make mistakes playing live, we always now turn it and say, ‘Tell you what – this proves we are live’.
“Then we tell the stories about artists, not named, that our crew know who aren’t performing live. Our sound guy Pablo used to be on some tours and at one point in the show a little red light would go on and he’d be live, and he would play it out for 30 seconds and the light would go off, and the tape would go on again.
“We are glad at the end five of us take a bow and there is nobody hidden under the stage either which I hear some naughty people do… sorry, I won’t say names.”
Pablo has worked with bands including ACDC, Eurythmics and Marillion, but Sir Paul refused to divulge the offenders.
Cheryl Cole was famously accused of miming during her live performances on the X Factor while Elton John criticised Madonna for lip-synching during her 2004 tour.
Last Updated: 12/31/11 23:25
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SIR PAUL MCCARTNEY BLASTS LIP-SYNCHING MEGASTARS