Remembering when Christine McVie & Fleetwood Mac gave a penguin to the Cleveland zoo
By John Benson, special to cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Christine McVie, who passed away recently at age 79 after a short illness, was known as Fleetwood Mac’s “Songbird” in honor of her 1977 “Rumours”-era hit. But around Cleveland, she’s also remembered for her part in a tale involving another sort of bird.
Former WMMS-FM/100.7 program director John Gorman recounted the tale recently, shortly after learning of McVie’s passing. It goes back 45 years to the time that the Buzzard helped the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band donate penguins to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.
The marketing promotion took place in 1977 when Fleetwood Mac was arguably the world’s biggest rock ‘n’ roll group, a superstar act at the height of its multiplatinum “Rumours” success.
“When ‘Rumours’ came out, we said this is going to be the biggest album of the year,” Gorman said. “There was no doubt in our mind. It was an adult-themed album, musically diverse.
“I remember being told by the Warner Bros. person that they actually alone sold a million copies of ‘Rumours’ in the Greater Cleveland market. It was like, we have to get behind this band, get to know this band and do everything we can with the band. That was one of our goals.”
With Fleetwood Mac booked for two sold-out 1977 September dates at the old Richfield Coliseum, Gorman looked for an edge to put the Buzzard over competitors WGCL and M105.
He asked for ideas from WMMS personnel. That’s when Public Service Director Rhonda Kiefer had an interesting thought.
“It was Rhonda who said, ‘They have a penguin as a logo. We have a buzzard as a logo. What if the Buzzard donated a penguin to the Cleveland Zoo?’” Gorman said.
“I told Rhonda, ‘OK, figure it out and we’ll do it.’ That’s how it came about.”
Kiefer added, “I remember sitting in my office, wracking my brain about what can we do that would be big, that would get Fleetwood Mac’s attention and would be good for the community.
“We knew (Fleetwood Mac bassist) John McVie had a thing for penguins. Honestly, when I got the idea, I didn’t expect it to happen. I thought this was kind of crazy. It was just like a miracle that it all worked out.”
It’s one thing to think up a promotional campaign and another to pull it off. Luckily for Kiefer, she had various ties to the Northeast Ohio nonprofit community, which included the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.
“When we broached the idea with the zoo, they were like, ‘Let’s do this’ and they pursued it,” Kiefer said.
“They were able to get a pair of penguins and John worked through Warner Bros. Records. We kind of pulled it all together.”
Gorman said at the time a penguin was about $800 (roughly $4,000 in 2022 dollars).
In town for the Richfield Coliseum dates, both John McVie and his then-wife, Christine, visited the Cleveland Zoo.
The photo opportunity found the two rock stars presenting a check to the zoo for future Humboldt penguin donations (one of which, a male, would be named Peter after the band’s founder Peter Green).
The pair posed for cameras while holding a Rockhopper penguin named Rocky in the indoor refrigerated Bird Building room.
“I know John was so excited to hold the penguin and Christine was kind of squeamish,” Kiefer said. “John was the one who loved penguins and Christine didn’t want to hold it but she warmed up to the penguin after a few minutes.
“They were both tickled. I don’t think they had come that close to a penguin so it was a good experience for them as well.”
Gorman said the Buzzard milked the penguin donations for the better part of the next year leading up to the band’s iconic World Series of Rock performance in August 1978 at the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
“They absolutely loved it,” Gorman said. “That was something both Christine and John were saying nobody ever thought of before.
“For whatever reason, John McVie loves penguins. He told us he lived near the London Zoo and sometimes he would just go down and see the penguins, chill out and get his head together.”
Considering Fleetwood Mac followed up “Rumours” with “Tusk” a few years later, Kiefer confirmed the station didn’t consider donating an elephant to the zoo.
“No, we did not but I love elephants,” Kiefer said. “They’re probably my favorite.”
As for his memory of Christine McVie, Gorman said in a world of rock stars she was as down-to-earth as they come. She was the band’s keyboardist and one of its three singer-songwriters, writing and singing on many of its biggest hits, including “Songbird,” “Everywhere,” “You Make Loing Fun,” “Don’t Stop,” “Little Lies” and more.
“She was one of the most wonderful people I ever met in my life,” Gorman said. “I can’t say enough good things about her. You would never know she was a rock star.
“I think Christine was probably like the den mother of Fleetwood Mac. She, as much as anybody, kept that band together.”
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