Dennis Dunstun interview

[sleepless child]

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4Ys...TkODnCnxyAN46Q

[sleepless child]

I just listened to this podcast and it is very informative. Dennis was with FM for many years and helped manage the band til 1997. He has great stories to tell from past and present, plus a lot of great info about the music business in general. The most surprising thing and there are several, was that Mick went to Australia to visit Dennis 6 months before letting Lindsey go and asked his advice about Neil Finn. Mike Campbell had already been tapped by Stevie. Which is much earlier than I thought. Dennis was told Lindsey wanted to delay the tour to work on a solo project and that with Lindsey nothing gets done quickly. Also that Stevie didn't want to work with him anymore, which we already knew.

[Macfan4life]

Thanks for posting. Dennis was very close with the band. I can only imagine the stories he could tell. Not that it matters but his interview reveals Buckingham's termination was crafted much earlier than we thought.
Did not Stevie say she never hired Mike or suggested him in some defense of the Buckingham firing debacle? No one believed that anyway.
Witchy woman sowed those seeds early on she was out unless Lindsey was gone.

My favorite Dennis scene is the Red Rocks RAL concert where Stevie is running around slapping hands back stage and he is trying to get her on stage. He has to grab her and point where the stage is.

[BigAl84]

It was over for Lindsey the minute he and the rest of the band decided to release the BuckVie project without Stevie. Before Christine's return, Lindsey/Mick/John could jam all they want and ask Stevie to participate until the cows came home, but they really didn't have a Fleetwood Mac project unless Stevie decided to join. Those dynamics completely changed the minute Christine returned and I personally think Stevie knew what was coming from the minute Christine returned and knew what she wanted to do.

Also...nothing gets done quickly with Lindsey? As if Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood are the king and queens of productivity. Those two can eat sh*t in a dog bowl.

Bless Christine for choosing to return, what a treat for fans. She had to have been rolling her eyes to realize the shear amount of drama still going on within the band upon her return.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by BigAl84

It was over for Lindsey the minute he and the rest of the band decided to release the BuckVie project without Stevie. Before Christine's return, Lindsey/Mick/John could jam all they want and ask Stevie to participate until the cows came home, but they really didn't have a Fleetwood Mac project unless Stevie decided to join. Those dynamics completely changed the minute Christine returned and I personally think Stevie knew what was coming from the minute Christine returned and knew what she wanted to do.

Also...nothing gets done quickly with Lindsey? As if Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood are the king and queens of productivity. Those two can eat sh*t in a dog bowl.

Bless Christine for choosing to return, what a treat for fans. She had to have been rolling her eyes to realize the shear amount of drama still going on within the band upon her return.

I'd like to buy you a beer and a shot, sir.

[David]

After the band put him in charge of security for the 1979 tour, Dennis said that he fired most of the existing security crew — except Greg Thomason (Christie’s then-husband). So who were the guys who were fired? Wayne Cody continued to work for the band through the eighties. Security for 1979 should be listed in the TUSK tour book.

I bet Dennis would do a Q&A on this site if he could market his HSCC tribute group (who have dozens of videos on YouTube). For this podcast, he was forced to share more industry practice than band stories. But if we got him for a Q&A, we could all monetize HSCC videos.

[WatchChain]

Originally Posted by BigAl84

It was over for Lindsey the minute he and the rest of the band decided to release the BuckVie project without Stevie.

Do you think Stevie was jealous of OR resented the Buckingham McVie album? Did Lindsey do the BuckVie project out of spite for Stevie? How did Chris feel about being caught in the crossfire?

In addition, I always wondered why Stevie, Mick, John, and Lindsey could be called "Fleetwood Mac" -- but Christine, Mick, John, and Lindsey could NOT be called "Fleetwood Mac".

Poor Chris. Selling the English countryside home, coming out of retirement, and then to be reeled back into the same old toxic drama.

[jmn3]

Originally Posted by WatchChain

In addition, I always wondered why Stevie, Mick, John, and Lindsey could be called "Fleetwood Mac" -- but Christine, Mick, John, and Lindsey could NOT be called "Fleetwood Mac".

Because Mick and John allowed Stevie to call the shots and her threat of not touring with them again was used to ensure BuckVie was not Fleetwood Mac despite literally including Fleetwood, two Mac’s, and a Buckingham. They knew she put the asses in seats and with that album basically capitulated to her (and Irving) that she is Fleetwood Mac.

I guarantee Stevie not only had no material to contribute, but she had no interest because of how horrible she’s spun the recording of Say You Will years prior. And the audacity that Lindsey and Chris had to release their silly little album without her and turn her own interviews into questions about their album and “premise” further infuriated her. Then add in that she feels some odd ownership of Lindsey and is on record of being jealous of his “musical partnership” with Christine going back to the first days of their time in Fleetwood Mac. This set her off. In 2014-15, the dynamic had shifted and there was less and less focus on the Stevie and Lindsey show. Who got the biggest cheers on that tour? It was Christine. IMO all of this further fueled Stevie’s resentment and anger and finally using Christine being back to stick it to Buckingham once and for all. You can tour Fleetwood Mac without Chris. You can tour it without Lindsey. But she knew damn well they would never at this point give up the high life that touring with her allowed. Hearing that this goes back long before 2018 is the least shocking thing I’ve heard in the last five years.

[BigAl84]

Originally Posted by WatchChain

Do you think Stevie was jealous of OR resented the Buckingham McVie album? Did Lindsey do the BuckVie project out of spite for Stevie? How did Chris feel about being caught in the crossfire?

In addition, I always wondered why Stevie, Mick, John, and Lindsey could be called "Fleetwood Mac" -- but Christine, Mick, John, and Lindsey could NOT be called "Fleetwood Mac".

Poor Chris. Selling the English countryside home, coming out of retirement, and then to be reeled back into the same old toxic drama.

Considering Lindsey recorded material in the specific keys that work best for Stevie, I don’t think any of it was resentment. He bent over backwards to accommodate her and she wanted none of it.

It’s really something when you think about what she did. She denied Christine the opportunity to make one last album with the group as a whole, she denied Lindsey and final farewell tour with Christine, she dragged the entire band into a major conflict that was largely between her and Lindsey.

She also screwed over Brett Tuggle in the middle of her power tantrum as well. A touring musician simply trying to make a living. Rest in peace, Brett.

Oh and the best part ? All in the name of a greatest hits tour that wound up starting well after Lindsey’s initial delay period. All for absolutely NOTHING.

[sleepless child]

Originally Posted by BigAl84

It was over for Lindsey the minute he and the rest of the band decided to release the BuckVie project without Stevie. Before Christine's return, Lindsey/Mick/John could jam all they want and ask Stevie to participate until the cows came home, but they really didn't have a Fleetwood Mac project unless Stevie decided to join. Those dynamics completely changed the minute Christine returned and I personally think Stevie knew what was coming from the minute Christine returned and knew what she wanted to do.

Also...nothing gets done quickly with Lindsey? As if Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood are the king and queens of productivity. Those two can eat sh*t in a dog bowl.

Bless Christine for choosing to return, what a treat for fans. She had to have been rolling her eyes to realize the shear amount of drama still going on within the band upon her return.

I agree. I think Chris coming back to the band was the beginning of the end. And it was not hing she did, it was a power struggle between Stevie and Lindsey.

[mylittledemon]

Originally Posted by BigAl84

It was over for Lindsey the minute he and the rest of the band decided to release the BuckVie project without Stevie. Before Christine's return, Lindsey/Mick/John could jam all they want and ask Stevie to participate until the cows came home, but they really didn't have a Fleetwood Mac project unless Stevie decided to join. Those dynamics completely changed the minute Christine returned and I personally think Stevie knew what was coming from the minute Christine returned and knew what she wanted to do.

Also...nothing gets done quickly with Lindsey? As if Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood are the king and queens of productivity. Those two can eat sh*t in a dog bowl.

Bless Christine for choosing to return, what a treat for fans. She had to have been rolling her eyes to realize the shear amount of drama still going on within the band upon her return.

All of this

What I truly don't understand is... why wouldn't Stevie want to do a record with the fivesome upon Christine's return? It just seems to me that's immediately what you'd want to do. Forget her being pissed at the record industry. None of them needed whatever pennies comes from record sales nowadays. Why not do it just for the joy? Do it for one another? Do it for the "fans"? *siiiigh*

[BigAl84]

Do it for the fans…..haha this is the woman who refuses to sign autographs and if you happen to get past Karen she insists that it’s inscribed because she got pissed about people making a buck off her autograph on eBay.

[jmn3]

Originally Posted by mylittledemon

All of this

What I truly don't understand is... why wouldn't Stevie want to do a record with the fivesome upon Christine's return? It just seems to me that's immediately what you'd want to do. Forget her being pissed at the record industry. None of them needed whatever pennies comes from record sales nowadays. Why not do it just for the joy? Do it for one another? Do it for the "fans"? *siiiigh*

She had nothing to contribute. It would have been all old stuff and that would’ve been known and In contrast to Chris and Lindsey who, IMO, had some
Of their best songs in decades. She has spun such a horrible tale about recording Say You Will and she simply has refused to record with Lindsey ever again. You could probably trace a ton of this back to that stupid Bob Dylan comment if we’re being honest. Sounds stupid but she’s been carrying a major grudge for over 20 years now with her varying stories of woah is me

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by BigAl84

It was over for Lindsey the minute he and the rest of the band decided to release the BuckVie project without Stevie. Before Christine's return, Lindsey/Mick/John could jam all they want and ask Stevie to participate until the cows came home, but they really didn't have a Fleetwood Mac project unless Stevie decided to join. Those dynamics completely changed the minute Christine returned and I personally think Stevie knew what was coming from the minute Christine returned and knew what she wanted to do.

Also...nothing gets done quickly with Lindsey? As if Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood are the king and queens of productivity. Those two can eat sh*t in a dog bowl.

Bless Christine for choosing to return, what a treat for fans. She had to have been rolling her eyes to realize the shear amount of drama still going on within the band upon her return.

From everything I've heard thru different channels, this is all pretty spot on.
Don't know about the **** in the dog bowl, but I'll take your word for it.

[SteveMacD]

I had several phone interactions with Dennis. Class act personified. I think I high-fived him at a Zoo show as I was leaving the venue. He even did a follow-up call after I sent Mick a VHS of Peter playing with Kolors at Rockpalast in 1985 (which also included the Rock Concert with Bob Welch).

Got some fan club stuff as a gift.