Paul McCartney might give off the impression of youth, what with his dyed moddish haircut and freakish predisposal to larking around with a mandolin like a little twit, but the fact is that Paul McCartney is getting on in years.

And with age comes inevitable health problems, which explains why Paul McCartney had a sly coronary angioplasty recently. According to reports, Paul McCartney had the routine heart operation in secret at a private London hospital in the autumn after consulting his doctor, and has since recovered well. That'll be good news to everyone except for Ringo Starr, who must accept that Paul McCartney's refusal to die means that he has to shelve his plans to remaster the life out of all the old Beatles albums until all that's left is some drumming and a 15-hour selection of out-takes from the seminal Octopus's Garden sessions.