Christine McVie BBC 4 Desert Island Disc Int.
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/arti...s?preview=true

11 things we learned from Christine McVie’s Desert Island Discs
Christine McVie is a British musician who is best known as the keyboardist and co-lead vocalist of Fleetwood Mac. She joined the band in 1970 and has written many of the group’s signature songs – penning hits such as You Make Loving Fun, Don’t Stop, Oh Daddy, Little Lies, Everywhere and Songbird.

In a rare and remarkably honest interview, Christine speaks to Kirsty Young about the origins of her career as well as describing the highs, lows and excesses of rock superstardom. Here are 11 things we learned from her Desert Island Discs...

1. A sleepless night led to one of her best-loved songs
Songbird was written in half an hour at 3am when she couldn’t sleep. She says: "Fortunately, I had a piano in my room [but] nothing to record it on, but I had to play this song. The whole song [came out] complete: chords, words, everything within half an hour. I couldn’t go to sleep in case I forgot it, so I had to play it all night long."


"I had no idea where I was going, but it was better than being a window dresser"
2. Her mum held séances
Christine’s mother belonged to a psychic society in Birmingham and held séances with a group of friends. Once, while in a trance, she painted her spirit guide, "Silver Shadow" – she wasn’t usually a painter. Christine says: "That side of her life, I didn’t really want to hear about, I just wanted her to be an ordinary mum."

3. The origin of her "boogie left-hand" on the piano was Fats Domino
Christine’s father was a professional violinist, and she studied classical piano when growing up. "I was practising one day and there was a book of Fats Domino music… I hadn’t seen it before, so I picked it up and started sight-reading… I think that’s where my boogie left-hand has come from and that’s stayed with me throughout all my song writing years. There’s always been a little bit of that boogie bass."


Christine McVie: ‘The chemistry flowed’
Christine McVie on her fellow Fleetwood Mac band members.

4. She wrote her first song when she was 16
Christine didn’t think she was "any good" at writing songs and she didn’t have any confidence in songs she had written for her first solo album. It was bandmate Mick Fleetwood that encouraged her to continue writing music.

5. She used to be a window dresser, but quit to join Chicken Shack
While working for a London department store, she was invited to join a band. Despite claiming she wasn’t able to play blues piano, she listened to "tons and tons of blues records", "stole a few licks here and there" and, armed with her new repertoire, joined Chicken Shack. "I had no idea where I was going [but] it was better than being a window dresser".

6. She fled the stage during a solo show
During a solo performance in Nottingham, Christine left the stage. "The solo thing wasn’t for me – I’m part of a group – I’m comfortable in a two and I’m very happy within the framework of Fleetwood Mac."

7. It was love at first rehearsal when Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined the band
During their very first rehearsal as the classic line-up that would go on to record the best-selling Rumours album, Christine brought a song she had written called Say You Love Me and both Lindsey and Stevie immediately chimed in with perfect harmonies. "We all just got goose bumps. It was a thrill. That first album we made, I remember [it] being the most fantastic time."

We all just got goose bumps. It was a thrill. That first album we made, I remember [it] being the most fantastic time."
8. She hid in a cupboard at an Everly Brothers concert
While at college, Christine and a friend managed to sneak in to an Everly Brothers show in Birmingham: "Somehow we managed to get backstage and hide in a cupboard. Finally, we decided we couldn’t take it, we got out and just mingled with a bunch of people… and there was Phil Everly standing there… years later I met him when I was Christine McVie from Fleetwood Mac and we did a duet together."


Christine McVie: ‘We hid in a cupboard’
Fleetwood Mac's Christine McVie on meeting Phil Everly.

9. Rumours bought her a Rolls Royce
When the money for the chart-topping Rumours finally made its way to the band, Christine called up her business manager and told him that she wanted to use one of the "big whopping cheques" to buy a Rolls Royce and drive it out of the showroom that day. "The first half hour was terrifying, I was afraid I was going to crash the thing. It was totally over the top, I didn’t need a Rolls Royce – I ended up getting rid of it and getting something smaller – but it was just the fact that I could."

10. When she left Fleetwood Mac, she moved from California to rural Kent
Christine had been living in America as a successful rock musician for almost 30 years when her father fell seriously ill in 1998. She returned to England to see him and settled in a manor house in Kent, leaving the band in the process. "I think I had some kind of wild image in my mind that I was going to become a country lady – the complete antithesis of somebody in the rock and roll world".

11. After leaving Fleetwood Mac she "barely looked" at a piano
Despite studying music from the age of 11 and writing such hits as You Make Loving Fun, Don’t Stop, Everywhere and Songbird, when she returned to England, Christine was reluctant to keep playing. "I had a beautiful piano in my study… but I never played it." She returned to the spotlight in 2013, after a 15-year break, when she began playing with Fleetwood Mac again. Her luxury item? The baby grand piano that she used to take on the road with her: "I don't know what happens when it goes out of tune though!"


Listen to Christine McVie's Desert Island Discs

I love when she sings a verse from her very first song, "I'll Never Stop Loving You."

The Everly Brothers story is really funny, too!!

A much better story than the "Dreams" one! :lol::lol:

I wish I could have been there playing it all night. That would have been amazing!! :D

As with just about everything involving Christine, this interview was a delight. I've listened to it twice now. :lol:

Loved the Everly Brothers story, and I found the remarks about drug use (specifically in the writing of Songbird) refreshingly honest.

I'm sure I'm not alone, but when I listen to her talk these days, I can't help but wish someone had been able to talk her out of walking away in 1998. I understand she needed time away, but it's clear from her description of that time period that, at some point, her isolation was doing more harm than good.

Wow, I'm behind.. I've only listened to it once. I agree with everything.

I think she needed only a 10 year break. She could have come back around the 2009 tour. That would have been the ultimate. But, yea... being alone, booze, pills... She got herself in some trouble.

The band begged her to stay. She mentions this in the interview. The Dance was such a success that they even begged her to do a European leg before she left. She declined. She got so tired of the band members begging that she confronted them and told them DONT ASK ME ANYMORE.
The title of Say You Will is about Stevie begging Christine to stay. She even uses the line..."if I could get you to Dance" meaning continue the Dance tour. IMHO Christine looked miserable during the Dance. She could not wait until it was over.

I loved this interview. I could listen to Chris talk all day. My only pet peeve is the usual ignoring the Bob Welch era. When the interviewer says the band made a decision to go to the USA and make it there it was with Bob Welch. The interviewer alleges it was not until Stevie and Lindsey joined. It just annoys me because I love the Bob Welch era and want to know more from her on this era.

This annoys me, too. It is such a glaring omission.

They gave up their fame in England to make it in America. Bob was so instrumental in making the band a success. He changed the band and they had success in the USA while their success diminished in England. Bob transformed the band with more harmonies and gave them a very mystical vibe. He also put in the groundwork for Lindsey and Stevie to join the band. If there was never a Bob Welch in Fleetwood Mac, there would never have been a Stevie and Lindsey. It's probably the most pivotal era of the band IMHO.

Back to the interview:
Good gosh, thank goodness Christine did not fall for Peter Green instead of John. She could have ended up as crazy as him. She mentions she had eyes for Peter.
Christine is so stable and secure to welcome another female into the band. Very rare.
I love the stories about her mother as a healer and medium. The story of her telling Chris that someday she would find something life changing in an Orange Grove is so fascinating to me. To think Stevie and Lindsey lived on Orange Grove. You cant make any of this stuff up.
Christine is so freaking cool. I love her to death.

About the drugs and staying up writing Songbird. Cool stuff. Don Henley answered this question perfectly. The Eagles definitely indulged in the 70s like the other bands but they all stopped rather quickly because they saw how it was becoming more about the party than the music (except Joe Walsh of course). Don was asked once, did the drugs make the creativity explode with all those great songs. Don responded the best way possible. He said after huge success of Hotel California the band actually believed drugs helped them write great songs. But that suddenly changed because then they saw drugs getting in the way. The drugs just helped them stay up and work longer. It was a false illusion that drugs helped them write good songs. But because they would be up all night working so hard it assisted in the writing songs. But its a very short window before the drugs have the opposite effect and stifles creativity. I see this really with Stevie's solo work. The crazier she got the worse her solo albums became. RAL is a disaster IMHO.

Yep, FM would've probably died in the early 70's if they hadn't had Bob. And now they sweep him under the rug like he's trash.:mad:

I think Christine is too stable to put up with crazy for too long...but then again, how long were she and Dennis together?

I think Henley was always the most sober guy in the band. Have y'all seen History of the Eagles(3 DVDs)? I got it probably 6 months ago, and I've watched it at least 50 times! Glyn Johns(Rolling Stones, The Who, etc...) produced their first couple of albums, and he had a strict rule about no partying in the studio, and Henley says(claims now, at least) that he fully supported Glyn, that "we'd get more work done, and it would be better work".

But I also think the drugs were a big reason why they broke up for 14 years. My other reason(only in my mind) is that it was Glenn's band...and he'd really taken a back seat on Hotel and Long Run. Don sang lead on nearly everything, and I think that fact caused resentment on his part. That, coupled with the drugs, created an unworkable situation.

Did she mention anything about the upcoming tour?

I think so... very briefly..