Positive about LB ouster from FM?
 

I am tired. Tired of people yelling at me from all over the intewebs that somehow I need to be positive! positive! positive! about what happened. That I need to be happy about LB being unceremoniously thrown out of FM, band he loves and helped shape into a huge success that it was. Happy that band members are lying about it, something completely transparent to anyone with even half of brain cells, unless one is blinded by some weird celebrity worship.

So what are the positives?

• He will finally stop wasting his time trying to push FM classic era new music that will never happen.
• He won’t be wasting his time on endless world tours of greatest hits with the legacy dinosaur band.
• He will have time to spend on new solo endeavors and interesting collaborations.
• He can start his own company supporting new interesting artists instead of being stuck with old business models.
• Hi wife seems to have a very viable and lucrative business model now so he should worry about being the main money-maker anymore – so see previous point.

How about negatives?

• 2018 was going to be a spectacular year for LB fans. Even more than 2017 was. We were gonna get a new album in march and solo tour (finally! first since 2012!) starting in april. Then in the fall we will be able to see our man with the Mac, hopefully performing some more interesting songs than usually, maybe Carnival Begins and On with the Show. None of this will happen now.
• First bad news we got was at the beginning of January – new solo album has been pushed back. which means LB’s solo tour has also been pushed back, so that he can arrange a Best Of album instead of already-done new music solo album. Which means his solo tour might be cutting into FM tour dates now. Concurrent Mac and LB solo tours are being considered by LB and the band. While this means no new solo music release in the near future and no spring solo tour, at least we will get solo LB in the fall, in between Mac dates. And maybe – just maybe – this could mean fans on other continents can get some LB solo dates too! So ok, not so bad, we can live with that.
• First week of February – rumors of LB being ousted from FM started circulating. What? Why? He was so looking forward to this year, and talked so warmly about FM during BuckVie tour dates. Seem impossible that he’d want to leave the band. Maybe they are trying to figure out those intermingled tour dates. But surely they can work it out, these people have been adults for a long long time now. They are old. One last tour and then everyone can go their own favorite way.
• April 2018 – yes it’s true. FM fired LB. Huh?? That doesn’t even make any sense! Even if he wanted to postpone the tour, how many times has SN done that just in recent years, that we know about?
• There seems to be some legal wrangling. LB might legally still be in FM, but now on this tour. Legal issues may prevent him from doing anything in the near (or far?) future.
• He doesn’t seem to have management anymore, after being dropped by FM corporation.
• LB solo tour promoters have been intertwined with Mac corporation. Any solo stuff that has been worked out seems to be void now.
• His Atlantic (WB) contract for Best Of might be void now if he’s not with FM anymore. Is Best Of work that he’s done now in jeopardy and will never happen?
• Is Atlantic still behind LB now when he exists just as non-commercially viable solo artist? Who owns the masters to his new music? Is that now stuck with Atlantic and he has to wrangle it back from them if he wants to release it on his own?
• The man has been betrayed by people whose lives and livelihoods he saved numerous times and who he considered his family.
• The man has a tendency to go into hiding instead riding a wave when something like this happens. OOTC took 5 years. GOS don’t even get me started (how many times has he put this band first again??).

So to summarize –

• We were gonna have a new album, a solo tour and a Mac tour from LB in 2018.
• As of right now, looks like this year we will have none of these 3 things.

Tell me why again would I need to be positive about this year as far as my LB musical interest goes??

Positive
 

One positive is that there has been a groundswell of support for Lindsey by true fans of his work - fans like us as well as “experts.” This will help cement his legacy as the artistic genius behind the Rumours era success. This may be enhanced further if the FM “cover” band is not as successful as the “promoters” predicted.

I bet he owns his masters... that seems to be a key negotiating point for him in any deal.

haha so positive for LB supporters is the fakewood band ultimate negative!

no wonder people over in the other forums think anyone in LB's corner is a hater. :laugh:

I don't think you "need" to be positive about this.
But there's good cause for you to be positive.

What he's probably going through right now could
be the inspiration for some great new songs. And
even better concert performances.

I wish his new album and tour would coincide with
the Mac's tour dates. Doesn't it start October 3?
His birthday no less. Use the Mac's tour to promote
his own.

I don't like what they did to him. But if that's what
it took to get him away from them - I THANK THEM.

If this stunt has effected his livelihood ( and I don't just mean money in the bank) and craft beyond not being part of FM tour (i.e. solo tour/album delays/mgt BS) there is a special place in hell for this crew that we haven't even touched upon.
I am definitely excited for any solo potential, he's unbelievably down to earth and appreciates the fans and the support he gets from them, and any touring that goes along with it. However, I also LOVE FM--the energy these 5 people bring to the stage is incomparable. I am sad we may never see the 5 of them together again. I think it sucks they couldn't get their acts together in the twilight of their lives. I want to twirl around my living room and be happy too (for the record--I don't really twirl)
I totally get why fans are not happy--this truly is a sh*t sandwich.

i know my post is very very long.... because i just had to vomit it all out. but i touched on both things you say here - yes about the inspiration and no time wasting - but we don't know whether he can or will do anything in the near future. he is 68! he doesn't have much time. and OOTC came out 5 years after he left the band. i don't want to wait 5 years when i was supposed to have it all this fall the latest!

yes. that's what i'm worried about. i know he wants to tour this fall. i just hope he actually can and there's no bs as what you list preventing him.

and if there is - as you said here and Sasja in another thread - well, karma.

Same here. That's my worst fear. Everybody said he looked ok in that pic during Stella's bday. I'm sorry but I saw sadness, dissappointment, defeat.

I really hope the love of his family, his real friends and his true fans put him where he belongs: recording and touring. :thumbsup:

I also would have loved to see all 5 live one more time but if they did all we know they did to him, yeah, I think I'm better not seeing them ever again. :mad:

Great post, Elle! This year is not exactly how I planned it would be. I know I shouldn't be complaining because there are worst things in this world, but this was my escape from reality and they have truly ruined it. :mad:

I suspect Lindsey recorded with Mick, John, and Christine to keep his options open as to how it could be released. GOS could have been a solo album or a Fleetwood Mac from the outset. It was entirely up to Lindsey, and he was encouraged to release it as Fleetwood Mac. There were changes at the label, namely the departures of Mo and Lenny in 1994, that weren’t favorable to him or the band.

Look at the complete lack of promotion for Street Angel and Time, especially compared to OOTC. So, the only way any of them could survive is by getting back together. Time came out 10/10/95. By February, 1996, Mick had broken up Fleetwood Mac and was working with Lindsey, with John and Christine soon to follow. And, there was Twisted. In May, 1996, Mick, John, Christine, and Stevie were at the Kentucky Derby, but Lindsey didn’t go, with Steve Winwood being his the substitute (kind of ironic, considering they’d just fired Dave Mason). As it happened, it rained and only Mick, Stevie, and Steve performed, since Christine and John were too scared to play.

So the Mac was already back.

yes to all that. but that's not what i'm talking about - although he shouldn't have shelved GOS as a solo and make it into Mac, imo. he should have started from scratch with the Mac, like Nicks did.

what i'm talking about is this - in 1997-98 they had a HUGE comeback. they were cool again. what should have happened then is turn LB's GOS into Mac album immediately (his tracks were ready to go!) add a few Stevie tracks and put it out in 1999 to capitalize on the moment.

why that didn't happen? Stevie Nicks put her solo career ahead of the band - again.

she went into studio and started recorded a new SOLO album - from scratch. they were all huge, and the band could have profited greatly if they put new album out then. or LB could have put GOS out then and become the huge name possibly, because he got so much publicity over rejoining. instead, Stevie Nicks made sure her solo name gets ahead. and made the band wait more than 5 years to release an album, because she had to record and tour her solo album first, riding on coattails of FM renewed coolness and success. she may have not have the power in the band she has today if instead LB did that, with his already done album. or if they just went ahead as a band. but Stevie Nicks always puts Stevie Nicks first. never Fleetwood Mac. and she delivered a final stab now. while pretending like she's preserving the band.

Look, I really hate that I have to defend Stevie here, but TISL came out in 2001, four years after The Dance. Enchanted was just a box, and the tour was short. They could have easily had an album out by 1999-2000 if they wanted. Lindsey could have easily released it as a solo album in 1998-99. But between fatherhood and feeling out the developments at the label, the album was delayed for reasons that had nothing to do with the band itself.

exactly! instead of going to the studio with the mac right after the Dance.

right, her tour was short? unlike LB solo tours which are usually 2 months. but FM could wait then right?

yet now - even if lies Mick and Stevie are spewing were the truth - they don't justify them not waiting for him, considering how many years mac has been waiting for Stevie.

Was that even on the table? Lindsey was still talking about it as if it was a solo album, he became a father, and they were waiting to see if Christine was really retired. Maybe Stevie waited as long as she could. TISL was her first album of new material since 1994.

Once it was decided GOS would become a Fleetwood Mac album, she got on board.

They have a 75 year old and a cancer survivor in the band. It’s perhaps a little more urgent than even seven years ago?

wait, where is this pic?