It was 45 years ago this Saturday (May 19th, 1978) that Paul McCartney & Wings hit Number One with “With A Little Luck.” The track was the former-Beatle's sixth solo chart-topper and served as the lead single from his then-recent album, London Town. “With A Little Luck” knocked Yvonne Elliman's Bee Gees-written “If I Can't Have You” from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack out from the top spot.
Driven by the success of “With A Little Luck,” McCartney's London Town album spent 10 weeks in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 albums chart — and remained stuck at Number Two for six of those weeks — unable to displace the then-massive Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.
By the time of “With A Little Luck” and the London Town album, the McCartney family was complete with the birth of son James the previous September. Not long after, McCartney, who was arguably rock's first unapologetic superstar family man, was asked if his growing brood had negatively affected his muse: “I don't think it has, actually. I think things have got to work out right. You've got to be lucky and find the right woman, and stuff. You can't talk about having babies — you've got to have babies. There's a big difference. Talking about it, imagining it and terrorizing is one thing, but actually, having then crawling all over you — and they're yours — makes a big difference.”
“With A Little Luck” remains the only Number One hit of Wings' career that McCartney has never perfored live in concert.