AT last this day has come. The 25th might be another five days away but tonight all my Christmases will come at once when Paul McCartney takes to the stage at the O2 to belt out dozens of hits from his past five decades.

I know it's not cool to say it, but Macca has always been my favourite Beatle in the band that I've adored and worshipped since being introduced to them by my big brother (also Paul) while still in short pants.

In the eyes of many – generally people who haven't a clue as to who wrote what in The Beatles – Lennon has more street cred; his spikey personality and tragically premature death give him an edge and a mystique that McCartney has never had.

But while I loved Lennon and his music, McCartney was always ahead in my affections. Given the amazing back catalogue of McCartney songs, it's funny the incredulous reaction such an admission can invoke – "You prefer McCartney to Lennon?! Really?!"

I can vividly remember the night in November 1992 when Bill Clinton won the presidential election and the chat among a panel of experts in the BBC studio turned to Clinton's musical taste. One of the panelists sneeringly observed that the president-elect's favourite Beatle was Paul which prompted much chortling among the rest of studio guests. God, how naff, preferring McCartney to Lennon – maybe Clinton won't be so different to George Bush senior after all.

It's difficult to know what this surprisingly common viewpoint is based on, except perhaps lack of knowledge. It's not sufficient to prefer Lennon – a perfectly legitimate position to hold given his obvious genius – but dismissing McCartney's obvious brilliance seems also to be required.

The standard line is that Lennon was a rebel who wrote more hard hitting, soulful music, while McCartney was great at melody and writing ballads. The 'Frog Chorus' is also inevitably brought up, ignoring the point that it was a song written for children and also the fact that Lennon had his fair share of turkeys over the years (the truly dreadful 'Luck of the Irish' and the syrupy 'Beautiful Boy' to name but two).

McCartney of course did write beautiful melodies and ballads ('Yesterday' and 'The Long and Winding Road' for example) but he also wrote the likes of 'Eleanor Rigby', 'For No One', 'She's Leaving Home' and 'Carry that Weight' which were genuinely soulful and deep. He wrote stonking rock songs ('Helter Skelter', 'Live and Let Die' and 'Back in the USSR') and he was the brains behind the Sgt Pepper concept and the idea of turning side two of 'Abbey Road' into a medley, which makes it for many fans, the best Beatles album ever. (In all Paul wrote 14 of their 27 No 1s. John wrote seven). McCartney also produced the best post-Beatles album of any of the four group members, including Lennon, by some distance in 'Band on the Run'. And while some of the later Wings and solo stuff around the late 1980s and '90s fell short of the insanely high standards he has set, McCartney's last two studio albums have been seriously good.

When the song-lists of Lennon and McCartney are placed alongside each other, both sets are so jam packed with excellence, it's simply ridiculous to dismiss one and laud the other. It would be like trying to argue that not only was Pele a better footballer than Johann Cruyff, but the Dutch master wasn't much use in the first place. Yet for some reason people regularly do that in relation to McCartney.

Lennon was certainly 'cooler', more 'rock 'n' roll' and had more of a whiff of sulphur than the more genial, thumbs-up approach of McCartney. But, if that's the yardstick for musical greatness, then Pete Doherty would be ahead of both in the music hall of fame. And for all his 'hipness', Lennon could also talk a fair amount of embarrassing and ill-informed nonsense about world peace, while his interventions on Northern Ireland are definitely best forgotten.

It does seem, however, that over the past few years, there has been a change in attitudes towards McCartney. Perhaps it's because of the critical acclaim his two recent albums have received, or the rave reviews his wonderful live show has got, or maybe it's just because people have finally wised up, but McCartney's status as the senior figure in pop music appears to have been reaffirmed.

I have to admit to mixed feelings at him performing on the final of X-Factor, but McCartney has always understood the importance of promotion in the music business. Rock journalists give accounts of him working the room after the concerts, shaking hands, posing for photos and patiently doing numerous of those 'Hi this is Paul McCartney, you're listening to such and such FM' promos. Give me that any day ahead of the pretentious, preening 'I want to be alone' prima donnas that populate much of highbrow pop music today.

There's an old cliché about never meeting your heroes but, while I'll never meet him in the flesh, it will be a privilege to be re-introduced to McCartney's live show tonight. He played here back in 2003 and gave a wonderful performance in the RDS, but it will be something different to see him in the more intimate surroundings of the O2. At the very least, he's one of the two greatest songwriters ever. Bring it on.

scoleman@tribune.ie