I think there are loads of candid interviews with him around. Of course, there are probably many more with the canned answers, but I've seen plenty of gems too.

I love the Wrong video and I love Lindsey fighting the two sides of himself. But actually, that's a theme that two of his other videos have as well, Double Buckingham. I see him battling within, between what's right and what's expedient -- or WRONG.

I loved how Lindsey conceded the term Rockcock could allude to Mick and Mick said, "I'm very flattered."

As for BTM, I think one of the best things to come out of that tour and Cage is their live rendition of Isn't It Midnight. That remains a live highlight for Christine.

Michele

Isnt it Midnight is probably in my top 5 of all time FM songs and Christine songs both solo or with the Mac. Must give Lindsey credit for the brilliant guitar work and his vocals at the end are so much riveting than what Stevie can do live. If they tour again, I sure hope they would play it live. It would blow everyone away.

I get a kick out of everyone listing their favorite BTM songs. It goes to show how different we all are because some songs I could never care to hear again and its someone's favorite on the album and vice versa.

Ha ha
You scared me for a minute because I thought you were talking about me with Skies the Limit in spelling. I had to go check the album to make sure I was alright :eek:

Please please go back and listen to In The Meantime one more time. I think its some of Chris's best work. I don't think she ever wrote a bad song. You are is so romantic it almost makes me cry :eek:
Sometimes it takes a second look to fall in love :)

I put the songs "Behind the Mask" and "Heart of Stone" in the same category. A little edgier than Christine's usual fare and very good.



Michele

I think Mask is just an OK LP. I do recall waiting for this release myself back in the day. I'd only been collecting Fmac/Stevie stuff since about '88 but I was kinda bummed that Lindsey had left the band than. I did see them for the first time on this tour. It was a good show. Of course compared to all the old video's I'd seen it wasn't the Mac that I'd really loved. At least I did get to see them for it though so I do appreciate it for that alone. I did see them with Lindsey on the Dance tour '97 and SYW '03 tour only 3 times , Stevie saw from 94-08 solo shows (1) tour each. Not as many as some have but its better than not at all. Of course I did miss all the 'hey-day' shows cause well in the 70's I was only like 8 /9 yrs old. I didn't even know about them back in the day. I have my memories. Anyway, back to Mask, I have never cared for the LP cover photo. I think it would've had better promotion if they'd used a really nice 'band' photo esp. with the new guys on it. I know they had the promo posters but at that time consumers remembered images on LP covers so I do think more people would've noticed because that cover is forgettable. Same for the green GH with the flower (Ugh!!) and the Fmac Live with the ugly blurry photo. I don't understand that either. There choices make no sense sometimes really. So its an OK LP not too many favorite songs on this one for me. Stevie's are just OK --I probably recall Christine's songs more than anything from this LP. Now if this lineup had made a 2nd LP , I often wonder how that would've turned out?? guess we'll not ever know will we. Than yet it might have been the same kind of LP???:shrug:

Rather harsh regarding In The Meantime. I think her songs on ITM are great. The problem with ITM as with BTM in general is the production. I agree with how necessary Lindsey is. Its not necessarily his songwriting, musicianship or singing that's missing its his overall presence as a producer.

I never got to see either of those shows so I am only going on the Tango In The Night concert video- I always felt Isn't It Midnight just chugs along a bit. There's something not quite right with the drumming. I think possibly Isaac Asante didn't add a great deal to the rhythm to a lot of the songs but particularly Isn't It Midnight.

Regarding BTM- I agree with the comment In The Back of My Mind was like The Chain. I get the feeling that was kind of the intention. It was the standout song but its such a shame they had to put that ridiculous intro onto the album. That really gave it something of a false start and killed the flow of the record.

Good: In The Back of My Mind
Fairly good: Skies the Limit, When it Comes to Love, Do You Know
So-so: Behind The Mask, Affairs of the Heart, Hard Feelings, Save Me
Not so good: Love is Dangerous, Stand on the Rock, The Second Time, When the Sun Goes Down, Freedom

Mick has said "piggy in the middle" is him. And the line "the man just got it wrong" was about Mick's version of the meeting where LB and SN fought and Lindsey left the band.

Behind the Mask is the only FM record I don't own. I simply can't bear to hear it. I remember being so disappointed by its generic glossiness when it came out. Over the years, I've tried several times to reconcile myself with the record, but I just can't. With the exception of "Save Me," nothing moves or impresses me.

It's not solely the absence of Buckingham that is a problem. I DO think the Mac could have rebounded from his quitting with a very fine record. It's just that somehow that new combination of people never really sparked together.

I don't blame anyone in particular. Vito is a GREAT guitar player who I enjoy listening to in other contexts (including on Stevie's solo work). Burnette is a clever songwriter with enough charm to forge ahead as a solo artist. But these guys just don't mix with the other two songwriters/singers. And, often, the worst parts of the record are from the veteran contributors. "Skies the Limit" is an all-time McVie low. I cringe when I hear it. Nothing from Stevie sounds genuine or inspired.

Ironically, the much-loathed Time is, in my view, a far-better effort. There, Bekka and Billy work great together, and Christine's material fills out their sound nicely. Only Dave is the disappointment, and even he can be easily ignored--on the album at least.

Stevie's songs on BTM are so horrible that you'd think she was the new member, learning her way.

Michele

Mick has not only referred to himself as "piggy in the middle" just like in the song, but he named one of his book chapters that.

When asked about Wrong and Mick, Lindsey said,

Michele

The band made a lot of mistakes with this lineup. First, they released the Greatest Hits album, which was a mistake because the box set and subsequent abridged version were only about four years out. ALAYF and NQA would have been better served on BTM. Second, for some reason, they didn’t use the best songs Billy and Rick submitted for the album. If they had used the new GH songs and the better songs by Billy and Rick, BTM would have been a much, much better album.


Skies The Limit
Victim Of Love (Billy Burnette)
Freedom
Got No Home (Rick Vito)
Do You Know
Save Me
In The Back Of My Mind

Behind The Mask
Intuition
Affairs Of The Heart
When The Sun Goes Down
As Long As You Follow
No Questions Asked
The Game Of Love

That cover is kind of genius, really.

Per Richard Dashut, they (Stevie, Lindsey, and Richard) were living in an apartment called Orange Grove when Lindsey got the call to join Fleetwood Mac.

(And, I'm sure it's less than coincidental that the background is Green...)

Yes, I would love to hear Christine's version of the story about her mum. Stevie said the mother said, "you will find it on Orange Grove" and that Christine assumed that she would be in Florida around orange groves when something momentous happened. Little did she know.

Regarding As Long as You Follow, I'm not sure it's better than Skies the Limit. At any rate, the two of them should not be on the same album, so if they swapped ALAYF in, they'd have to omit Skies.

I'm not sure what I think about the ALAYF video. On one hand, I like the band being inside of a small apartment with all of their large instruments playing away. Certainly, the neighbors should call the police on them for noise pollution. But I suppose the neighbors were preoccupied with their romantic problems.

I just couldn't get into having strangers appear at the heart of the video story. Although, I know there are lots of great music videos where the artists aren't at the center or don't even appear in them.

But you know ... that's just it, the 1975 line up of FM had such a magnetic appeal. They really look so good together. You know that shot of them on the beach with their winter coats. I was so drawn to it. Those 5 were made for video. I wish they'd done more conceptual videos together. It's not too late though, no matter what their age.


Michele

Behind the Mask is an excellent album. "Save Me" is very good. "Affairs of the Heart" should have been released as a single.

I agree completely about the "glossiness" of this record. It's an album that I simply refuse to really listen to (or accept) for this reason. Yes, there are hints at the "rock" nature of the band, but by and large BTM is a Adult Contemporary record. I suppose you could argue that Mirage and Tango have a glossiness as well (after all, they were from the 80s), but even the poppiest tunes on those records were arranged and produced in a slightly off-kilter manner that made those records for more intriguing listens than Behind the Mask.

I don't really blame Rick and Billy for this, nor do I think that Christine and Stevie's songs are horrible - as songs. But the way everything was produced on the album is such a disappointment. I get the feeling when I hear those songs that the intention was to dominate the AC market as the bands marketing team knew it was a long shot to maintain any relevance on rock radio.