Breaking the Band episode on Reelz

[tabruns]

Not sure if this has been discussed before, but I caught an episode of the series "Breaking the Band" on Reelz. This one covered Fleetwood Mac from the 1977-1987 era, so the focus was on Buckingham leaving the band in 1987.

The episode chronicles the tensions rising over the FLEETWOOD MAC/RUMOURS/TUSK eras leading to the TANGO blowout.

Interesting tidbits from the episode included how difficult it was to get good vocals from Nicks at the time. According to the episode, she was already on klonopin at the time, and klonopin being a relaxant actually takes away some of the vocal chord tension needed to sing well.

I can't imagine the frustration that Buckingham must have felt when Nicks went off about TANGO sounding like she wasn't on the record after he wasn't able to get good vocals from her in the first place. Might also explain the warbling on "When I See You Again".

The episode covers Fleetwood's partying at the same time, and John McVie being largely absent during the recording sessions (not nearly as absent as Nicks though). It essentially gives the impression that TANGO is effectively Buckingham carrying the rest of the band across the finish line to get the album done. It's not surprising at all that by the time the album was done Buckingham was really just over it with the rest of Mac.