Yeh, That's it! ;D
I'm sure Denny will be diplomatic in his answers to our queries.
An interview with Mr. Laine?
I would say to keep the questons rather general in nature. Never ask anything about PWR too directly-my god do we actually want him to answer directly? NO! There is no point in getting to the end of our quest too soon, I say let's draw it out long like a soap opera. If we get our answer tomorrow, the mystery will be over, and then our carreers as PWR analysts will be done, the hobby done and over with, and what good is that? Without the suspense of never really knowing, we'll be out of a "job" (which only pays from the wells of curiosity)--and then we return to the ho-hum life from before.
The secret to happiness is nursing a good urban secret along for decades and decades. It's something we can leave to our children, and our chldren's children. Let THEM figure it out. ('Cause, you know they will.)
One could say, "So Denny. You've known Sir Paul so MANY years. Gee. What's he like? Hs he always been the same? Or did he sort of evolve over the years?"
or instead
"Say, Denny, you know, about the Beatles and such, actually, well maybe, McCartney--we notice a lot of variety in his singing and writing over the years. And what do you think of this amazing diversity?"
or, best yet
"Say, Denny. You were certainly around the scene and knew the Beatles personally in the 60's. Gosh! What was that like? Hasn't Paul gone through a lot of different (*wink-wink*) musical phases?
This will draw him unsuspectingly into a conversation close enough to the topic whereupon he just might slip and drop a clue or two about the replacement. Most likely not, but all we have is straws, people, so let's grasp.
Like, he might answer that last question:
"Oh, yes, the Beatles were great in the 60's and, (fill-in British regional cliche rejoinder here),
and, yeah mate, he has certainly evolved a lot musically (*wink-wink*) since the earliest days."
This won't help our case much, but it's a start. Let's take it a little bit a time.
In the next interview, we may for instance, be able to pull out of him something about
maybe one day, Paul strangely smoked a cigarette in his right hand, or an ear fell off back-stage after a Wings concert in '74, or that Linda kept calling out for some guy named "Bill O. Whupz" but that clown never showed up to a gig.
Or, maybe, he'll quote the time that Paul turned to him during a concert and said "'Denny, Yesterday' is next. I forgot how the d*mn thing goes. Hum the first line?"**
Maybe he'll know something about wigs, or contact lenses, or even the night on tour when Paul was handed a jarring telegram addressed to "Bill" saying "Sonny boy, is that you? Please come home" and signed "Your Doting Mother, Mary Shepherd Shears."***
Or, he may stand there and freeze, and begin to fume and stammer, and be at a total loss for words.****
*I have done this exact thing myself. Thank God none of you were there.
**I have done this exact thing myself. Thank God none of you were there.
***I have done this exact thing myself. I am such a practical joker.
****I have done this exact thing myself. Thank God none of you were there.