1982-1987

[michelej1]

Lindsey started publicly saying he was leaving in 1987, but from 1982-1987 he didn't want to tour and I guess he knew that if they did an album, they'd have to tour, so he wasn't keen on doing an album, especially if it was going to be an album he didn't like. Finally, Mick told him that the band had to go forward and kind of pushed him into TITN.

Here's some stuff around that 1982-1987 era.

Stevie said iin 1987 about Lindsey saying he was quitting:

"Every time he says that, the rest of us look at each other and go, 'We've heard this before.' It's kind of like a romance, when someone is always saying, 'I'm going to leave you' and never does."

Christine just did a solo album to pass the time. I don't think she would have, if FM had been active. Of the time lapse between Mirage and Tango, Christine said:

"I was never too keen on the idea of a solo thing. I do not enjoy the pressure of being the only one up there who everybody looks to for leadership. I like being part of a group. But the time was trickling on by and in 1983 I could see Fleetwood Mac was not going to be happening for awhile, so I did an album and a tour. That was hard work. I had to do my own makeup and the whole bit. My makeup used to run down my face and by the end of the night it was horrific. So no, I would not want to tour solo again. My life, musically speaking, has always been Fleetwood Mac, at least for the last 20 years, and I have enjoyed it thoroughly."

Lindsey said in 1984 about his solo record:

LB: Yeah. And when I’m all done . . . If it were totally up to me, I would love to jump back in and start another record, cuz I have a whole bunch of new ideas-I feel like I’m sort of on a roll. But whether or not I’ll be able to is another question. There’s still a thing called Fleetwood Mac, and we have to sit down and talk about that. I don’t feel ready to totally disregard the needs of the whole at this point, but I’m not sure what the needs of the whole are yet. I’m not sure what the collective direction of the group is. For years, I tried to get Mick and everyone to listen to the Talking Heads and groups that I thought were interesting at that time, and no one was interested. I think that they were totally threatened by it. So, now, I have no idea what Mick or any of the people like. That scares me a lot, because you can only do so much!

Interesting, I was looking at interviews and Mick was saying that even though he was the leader, he and the Zoo members all get paid the same and that makes people feel like they're really a part of something. He says that's the situation he got into with FM as well.

In 1983, Mick says,

"I feel that we will tour ," Fleetwood says. "I talked to Lindsey the other night and he's not a particularly avid roadmonger--John McVie and I would jump at it--and he surprisingly enough said we should talk about ideas for the next album and maybe augmenting our live show with extra musicians and percussionists, trying something a little bit different. If we make a record, I'm sure we'll go out and tour."

Lindsey in 1984 interview:

Although it appears he'd like to devote all his energy to his solo career, Buckingham stops himself short as soon as he starts talking about his plans for his next record.

"I'm speaking so hypothetically here," he cautions. "I'm almost speaking as if there were not Fleetwood Mac, working on the premise that things are simpler than they really are . . . There will be a lot of pressure in the next few months to do another Fleetwood Mac album, and I would like to do another if we can make another major statement."

He pauses, "We're going to have a meeting this month, and I'm very curious to see what the group's overall sensibility is at this point. I think back to all the times when I tried to play Mick the Clash or something, and he just didn't want to hear it. I don't know why, but they didn't want to hear anybody new and interesting. Maybe it was threatening to them."

Oh, I thought this was funny Lindsey saying he didn't want to smoke pot anymore. I guess he backtracked.

MC: Do you still swim?

LB: I do laps, but I don’t go crazy with it. You’ve gotta do something to keep the juices flowing, especially the older you get. For years I didn’t exercise at all, and now I’m finding that I don’t even want to smoke weed anymore. You sort of have those lapses, but all that stuff that seemed to work in the music-making process-it seems like it’s starting not to work. In fact, the opposite seems to be working for me now. More ideas are coming to me when I’m getting a lot of rest and exercising, just taking care of myself.

MC: It’s funny how widespread that attitude is becoming in the musical community these days. The same people who would stay up all night snorting coke, smoking pot, and drinking two six packs of beer while making a record-

LB: Well, I’ve done that. (laughs)

MC: --would now be frightened of reliving that experience, which in retrospect seems nightmarish. People are starting to appreciate getting up early in the morning rather than looking at the morning from the other end.

LB: I know. God, that’s really ugly. The physical and mental are so interlocked that if you are physically depressed, you’re gonna be mentally depressed as well. And I just don’t want to be mentally depressed myself. I don’t know that I would’ve chosen that kind of lifestyle had I not gotten into a group whose collective will dictated that. And there’s not much you can do. You can either say, "I’m not gonna play," or you can pretty much play ball. In that situation, you really have to jump in . . . . Maybe I would’ve anyway, but I really doubt it.

Lindsey in 1985 article:

Go Insane has more to do with dealing with all the greys that there are to deal with in situations you find yourself in where your reality is sort of severely tested. A lot of the subject matter on this album just deals with having broken up with somebody and having someone who exhibits behavior that is hard to deal with daily. Not that things should be black and white, but if all the blacks and whites are gone, and everything is grey --- you know, where does love stop and start.....gets hard to function, sometimes, in this world."

All right, Lindsey, I cruelly chortled, what's all this about "politics," and how would YOU define "insanity?" "I think insanity is fairly relative as a term, fairly political as a term.....Acceptable behavior within the world of a rock band may be enough to get yourself committed if you worked in a bank," he explained, while I wondered to myself, 'How DOES he do ti? Keeps on answering coherently, politely.....'

"If the majority thinks something is wrong, then that's what's wrong. That's politics, right? I mean, how can you use that collective perception to manipulate a situation? I mean, people who are being put away are doing so because they're being a nuisance.....to somebody else."

Getting off the subject, I asked him his favorite color, and what he looked for in a girl. He then volunteered (!) his fave food ("anything but sushi") and drink ("martini"). In girls, LB looks for "inner beauty --- soul," and he supposes that his fave color is white --- "but that's not really a color."

[michelej1]

March 1985, asked about the band, Lindsey says:

Buckingham: No. We’re still together.

FACES: Speaking of the band, do you consider their songs to be your songs?

Buckingham: To some degree, Stevie’s song’s are my songs . . . Christine’s songs are my songs. If I had to choose one function or contribution that I have brought to the band, the most important one, I think, is not as a writer or a guitarist but someone who creates records and who has a certain way of making records, and a certain vision of doing that. In a sense to be able to take a raw song of Christine’s or Stevie’s and to be able to arrange it properly, to make it into a finished product, is pretty much what I’ve always done for the band.

FACES: Would you feel unhappy by limiting yourself to studio work and not touring?

Buckingham: No. I don’t think so. I have a good time on stage but the challenge of being on the road, the repetition of being on stage every night, is to try to appear fresh. Being in the studio is far more of a growing process or a creative process.

I enjoy working on my own as well. When you’re playing all the instruments like I do, it’s a far more intimate relationship than a band situation. I think in a couple of years I’ll be producing more. I think the recording studio is just like another instrument . . . if you play it properly. It’s just like what Phil Spector was dong. He understood that. It’s very important to have that sensibility, in pop anyway. I’m a studio animal.

FACES: Was that the reason for an experimental album?

Buckingham: I consider myself to be a colorist. I use a Fairlight CMI all the time. I was using the colors that were there. I play guitar but I approach the music as the guitar is just one tool. It’s like a painting. Hopefully, you know when to stop.

FACES: By having solo projects outside of the band is the bond strengthened between you?

Buckingham: You spend eight years with four other people and you’re constantly thinking of the needs of the whole rather than the needs of the individual. It’s like being married to four other people. The pressures of that can be pretty immense. I don’t know if solo works strengthens the bond but it does let off some of the steam, take some of the pressures off. It’s a safety valve in a sense. I think it helped to keep the band going.

Thanks to Lesley Thode for the submission.

[michelej1]

Lindsey Detroit Free Press 11/14/1984

http://www.fleetwoodmac.net/bla/inde...x_v2&id=66&c=9

"Go Insane" has solidified the feeling. In putting the painful breakup of his six-year relationship with Carol Ann Harris on vinyl ("I could be flip about it and say it was cheaper and more fun than going to a shrink," he said, "and probably had better results."), Buckingham broke completely free of the Fleetwood Mac camp for the first time in nine years.

For starters, he played all the instruments himself, and produced "Go Insane" without longtime Mac producer and close friend Richard Dashut, who was "completely burnt out" from working on Fleetwood's last project.

"The whole thing of punching out of the Fleetwood Mac microcosm was very cathartic," Buckingham explained. "I came away feeling very good, not only for having addressed the things that were going on in my life, but having gotten into a different working situation that I found quite healthy."

OF COURSE, that leads into the question of whether Buckingham -- having found happiness outside of Fleetwood Mac -- can bring himself back into the band again.

"That's a very good question," he said. "The whole idea of that is very odd to me right now; I feel so far away from it. I always feel I have approached the whole thing altruistically, putting the needs of the whole above the needs of the individual. But I'm approaching things slightly less altruistically at the moment.

"Like a lot of people, I suspect, I'm real interested to see how it works out," he added. "Because to tell the truth, I've got a whole other album worked out in my head. The best thing I could do, really, is to go back in the studio and do another album on the heels of this."

[michelej1]

Rolling Stone on Lindsey's uniform in 1984

He's the kind of millionaire who wears the same black shirt, blue denims and scruffy gray cowboy boots for days on end, and who mixes those jeans with an expensive black-and-white striped sport coat.

Lindsey's assessment of his lyrics matches Stevie's, I guess.

For Go Insane, Lindsey played all the instruments, sang all the parts. I thought I'd heard Stevie and Christine on the record, but no --- just good ol' Lindsey and a V.S.O. singing up a storm, even though he insists "I hate singing. I do it a lot because I have to. A lot of the reason's lyrics, too --- they're my weak point, although I'm getting better."

[michelej1]

Lindsey in 1987

http://www.fleetwoodmac.net/bla/inde...x_v2&id=74&c=9

Buckingham's decision to leave the band he and Miss Nicks joined in 1975 is a result of both his solo work and a lack of desire to re-create the music that he has helped shape and that has sold about 27 million copies of six Fleetwood Mac albums.

"I'm not a big fan of touring," he said during a recent telephone interview from his Los Angeles home. "I would love to put together an outrageous theatrical-type show and go out on the road again solo, but the idea of going out and doing our hits again is not appealing to me.

"I feel like I'm coming to the most creative time of my life, " he said. "There's got to be a point where I can say, `This has been fun, guys,' and get on with something else."

Buckingham, a 37-year-old California native, has released two solo albums and was at work on a third when he shelved it to help with the band's 16-week-old album, "Tango in the Night," which is No. 20 on Billboard's pop chart and has sales of more than 1 million.

"I was about halfway through my solo work, and I put that down to do this, because the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few at that point. We ended up using some things that were going on my solo album . . .," he said.

Mrs. McVie, Mick Fleetwood's ex-wife, had responded by joking that she'd "break his arms" if Buckingham refused to tour but then admitted that the realization there was little chance Buckingham would tour was "quite a shock."

"But that doesn't mean there won't be a Fleetwood Mac," she said during a telephone interview from her Los Angeles home.

Unlike Buckingham, Mrs. McVie and the other members believe touring is vital to continued airplay and sales of "Tango in the Night." " I think we absolutely must tour," she said. "People must follow up an album with a tour."

Buckingham scoffs at that theory. "That's record companies doing that kind of talking," he said. "There's no reason you can't put out an album and let it speak for itself."

It's doubtful that "Tango in the Night" will match the success of "Rumors," the second album recorded by the band after guitarist- singer Bob Welch left and was replaced by Buckingham and Miss Nicks, who were then lovers. "Rumors," released in early '77, has sold more than 20 million copies - a figure since matched only by Michael Jackson' s "Thriller," Carole King's "Tapestry" and the "Saturday Night Fever" sound track.

In addition, "Rumors" was No. 1 on Billboard's album chart for 31 weeks - a run exceeded only by Jackson's "Thriller" - and it produced four No. 1 singles en route to winning a Grammy for Best Album of the Year.

Its predecessor, "Fleetwood Mac," also went to No. 1, but sales stopped at about 6 million. After "Rumors," the band released "Tusk" in '79, "Live" in '80 and "Mirage" in '82. "Mirage" had sales of more than 3 million, but it didn't please the band members, all of whom but McVie were working on or planning solo records.

"I will say that I did not want to leave this situation on the note struck by `Mirage,' " Buckingham said in the telephone interview. "It was kind of ambiguous, but I would feel comfortable leaving having struck this `Tango'note."

He noted, too, that Fleetwood Mac, a blues band fronted by Peter Green when it made its debut in London in '67, has never been a model of stability. "As far as the band going on," Buckingham said, "Mick and John go back to the '60s when Fleetwood Mac began. They'd been through God knows how many incarnations before Stevie and I joined.

"For them to keep it going doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility."

With the possible exception of Fleetwood, who declared bankruptcy in the early '80s, money no longer is a motivation for the band. "No one is going to kick money out the door," Mrs. McVie said, "but I can say that, because I'm very so lvent."

Buckingham says he can easily afford to wait for "Tango in the Night" to run its course before releasing his solo album next year. "I've got the luxury of spending eight or 10 months before I think about putting out a solo album," he said. "This album's going to have a nice long run, and there's no reason for me to compete with myself.

"Hey, I've been a team player. I've concentrated on things that were supportive and contributions that were valid in the context of the group. I haven't hurt anybody, and I've done my best for the group."

[elle]

Originally Posted by michelej1

L
Here's some stuff around that 1982-1987 era.

Stevie said iin 1987 about Lindsey saying he was quitting:



Christine just did a solo album to pass the time. I don't think she would have, if FM had been active. Of the time lapse between Mirage and Tango, Christine said:



Lindsey said in 1984 about his solo record:

In 1983, Mick says,



Lindsey in 1984 interview:



Oh, I thought this was funny Lindsey saying he didn't want to smoke pot anymore. I guess he backtracked.



Lindsey in 1985 article:

thanks so much for all these! i saw your post in the other thread and then it disappeared... makes sense to have this discussion separately, sorry for starting it there!

i'm looking fw to reading all this!

[Macfan4life]

This era was a bitter pill for Fleetwood Mac fans, although we did get ample solo work. 5 years between records is a LONG time and to make it worse the tour did not include Lindsey.
In Mick's first book he alleges that Stevie's people purposely kept her away from the band because she was such a successful solo artist. Stevie did not even socialize with band members that much during this era. It was sad to read Christine's 1984 Rolling Stone article where she said she was not close with Stevie anymore and they had not spoken in well over a year.

[elle]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

In Mick's first book he alleges that Stevie's people purposely kept her away from the band because she was such a successful solo artist. Stevie did not even socialize with band members that much during this era. It was sad to read Christine's 1984 Rolling Stone article where she said she was not close with Stevie anymore and they had not spoken in well over a year.

yeah reading quotes in this thread including Christine's 1984 interview, and looking at the years of all the solo albums and tours that followed them, i could see how Stevie seemed to have been the one that had nothing to do with the band for years at the time, whether of her own volition or because of following her record company "commercial gods" as she likes to say.

quotes from Lindsey, such as this one from 1984 that is stated in several different ways in interviews posted above, seem to imply that while he wanted to do solo projects because FM was somewhat stifling to his creative side, he was always putting being a team player and potential for band's album first:

"There will be a lot of pressure in the next few months to do another Fleetwood Mac album, and I would like to do another if we can make another major statement."

so in 1984 Lindsey thought FM should do another album, and Christine says she has been working with all FM members except hasn't heard from Stevie in well over a year. sounds familiar?

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by elle

yeah reading quotes in this thread including Christine's 1984 interview, and looking at the years of all the solo albums and tours that followed them, i could see how Stevie seemed to have been the one that had nothing to do with the band for years at the time, whether of her own volition or because of following her record company "commercial gods" as she likes to say.

quotes from Lindsey, such as this one from 1984 that is stated in several different ways in interviews posted above, seem to imply that while he wanted to do solo projects because FM was somewhat stifling to his creative side, he was always putting being a team player and potential for band's album first:

"There will be a lot of pressure in the next few months to do another Fleetwood Mac album, and I would like to do another if we can make another major statement."

so in 1984 Lindsey thought FM should do another album, and Christine says she has been working with all FM members except hasn't heard from Stevie in well over a year. sounds familiar?

She was flying high on Wild Heart and doing lots of coke..

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

She was flying high on Wild Heart and doing lots of coke..

I posted an interview quote from Lindsey in the Lindsey forum in the Christine and Lindsey thread where he said sometimes when he and Christine play instruments together, it's like they have one brain. I liked that.

Michele

[WayOfTheDragon]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Richard Dashut, who was "completely burnt out" from working on Fleetwood's last project.

I didn't know that Richard was "completely burnt out" after Mirage. I don't remember reading anything to that effect on his blog. Interesting.

[WayOfTheDragon]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Rolling Stone on Lindsey's uniform in 1984

He's the kind of millionaire who wears the same black shirt, blue denims and scruffy gray cowboy boots for days on end, and who mixes those jeans with an expensive black-and-white striped sport coat.

So, not much has changed since 1984.

[vivfox]

The thing that strikes me the most odd and still baffles me to this day is why Lindsey never released his next solo album until 1993. He says in one of those articles he intended to release a solo record in 1988. I wonder what he was doing in all that time?

[bombaysaffires]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Lindsey in 1987

http://www.fleetwoodmac.net/bla/inde...x_v2&id=74&c=9

Buckingham's decision to leave the band he and Miss Nicks joined in 1975 is a result of both his solo work and a lack of desire to re-create the music that he has helped shape and that has sold about 27 million copies of six Fleetwood Mac albums.

"I'm not a big fan of touring," he said during a recent telephone interview from his Los Angeles home. "I would love to put together an outrageous theatrical-type show and go out on the road again solo, but the idea of going out and doing our hits again is not appealing to me.

how times have changed......

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by michelej1

I posted an interview quote from Lindsey in the Lindsey forum in the Christine and Lindsey thread where he said sometimes when he and Christine play instruments together, it's like they have one brain. I liked that.

Michele

Yet, there's so many people that don't want them to have any connection, or deny that it exists. I think these two had the strongest connection in the band, at least musically. Sexually .. ewww.. no..