Poll: Ricky

[David]

Originally Posted by Dr.Brown

Can you imagine what the public/critics would have thought if this track had not only been included on the Tango in the Night album but was released as the first single (shades of Tusk anyone?)

The public & the critics rarely experience the same shock. The public is usually shocked when bands try something new; the critics are generally shocked (or at least sickened) when bands don't. On those few occasions that Fleetwood Mac tried to épater le bourgeois, the critics mostly loved it.

I know I'll draw a lot of flak here but IMHO Stevie's creative juices with the Mac went nowhere fast in the 80's after Gypsy so I wouldn't have minded seeing just Mick, John, Christine, and Lindsey on TITN with Ricky, Down Endless Street, You and I Part I replacing Stevie's tracks.

Okay by me ... Stevie's material on "Tango" should be looked at in terms of its trackness rather than in terms of songwriting acument. In that light, Seven Wonders & When I See You Again are both noteworthy & satisfying for Fleetwood Mac. With Fleetwood Mac, it doesn't matter who writes the song; it's what's done with it that counts.

I think with the change in band dynamics Lindsey would have stayed on and we would have seen another great Mac album follwing TITN featuring the best of Christine from Behind the Mask (plus Love Shines and Heart of Stone) and Lindsey from Out of the Cradle.

See, I feel that Mick had a bigger influence on Lindsey's departure than Stevie did. Lindsey had been fighting his Stevie demons for many years by that point, but Lindsey's aggravation factor with Mick was more recent & had actually hit crisis point in 1986 & '87.

Maybe the band's success without her might have motivated Stevie to detox sooner and we would have seen her rejoin them clear-eyed and healthy for the Mac's triumphant 25th anniversary tour/album.

Yeah, but you still gotta figure some time in there for detoxing Mick & John. Mick especially was a major mess during the making of "Tango."

[TheWILDheart]

Originally Posted by macfan 57

Well, you won't get any flak from me because I agree with most of what you said. I LOVE both "Ricky" & "Down Endless Street", especially. I've actually burned a new Tango CD, getting rid of Stevie's songs & replacing them with those 3 songs you mentioned. When I listen to Tango In The Night, I always play my "revised" CD. I haven't played the original Tango CD in quite a few years. The only thing I would disagree with you is releasing "Ricky" as the first single. I think that song is a bit too quirky for that, even more so than "Tusk" in my opinion.

WHAT!? OMG!!! No Seven Wonders? I love 'Seven Wonders' but When I See You Again and WTTRS SUCK!!!!

[SteveMacD]

Let me begin by saying that I don't like "Ricky," but I like the idea of a Lindsey-Christine only album. Though, I would change the name of the album to "You And I." I'd also add "Can't Help Falling In Love" from the "Fine Mess" soundtrack. And, while we're at it, let's kill off "Family Man."

As for Stevie's stuff, I like "Seven Wonders" and WTTRS. But, Stevie would have been better, for her own sake, just being a solo artist at that point. She wasn't bringing her "A" game to Fleetwood Mac, which continued into BTM. So, why even bother? She had to work a lot of things out in her life at that point, and being in a band like that probably didn't help.

You & I, Pt. I
Everywhere
Big Love
Isn't It Midnight
Caroline
Mystified
Tango In The Night
Little Lies
Down Endless Street
Can’t Help Falling In Love
You & I, Pt. II

[macfan 57]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Let me begin by saying that I don't like "Ricky," but I like the idea of a Lindsey-Christine only album. Though, I would change the name of the album to "You And I." I'd also add "Can't Help Falling In Love" from the "Fine Mess" soundtrack. And, while we're at it, let's kill off "Family Man."

You & I, Pt. I
Everywhere
Big Love
Isn't It Midnight
Caroline
Mystified
Tango In The Night
Little Lies
Down Endless Street
Can’t Help Falling In Love
You & I, Pt. II

Hmm...I had forgotten about "Can't Help Falling In Love", which I love. I may have to revise my "revised" Tango CD again.

[David]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Let me begin by saying that I don't like "Ricky," but I like the idea of a Lindsey-Christine only album. Though, I would change the name of the album to "You And I."

Better would be "You & Me."

I'd also add "Can't Help Falling In Love" from the "Fine Mess" soundtrack.

That one's rather tepid, rather watered-down. Nothing terribly special about that track.

As for Stevie's stuff, I like "Seven Wonders" and WTTRS. But, Stevie would have been better, for her own sake, just being a solo artist at that point. She wasn't bringing her "A" game to Fleetwood Mac, which continued into BTM. So, why even bother?

Because the band at that point was still arranging & producing good tracks. It didn't matter whether the song itself was any good or not. All that mattered was whether the treatment was interesting. "Seven Wonders" got a helluva treatment, for those who choose to actually pay attention to it.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by David

"Seven Wonders" got a helluva treatment, for those who choose to actually pay attention to it.

I love this arrangement...

[seekerj]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

As for Stevie's stuff, I like "Seven Wonders" and WTTRS. But, Stevie would have been better, for her own sake, just being a solo artist at that point. She wasn't bringing her "A" game to Fleetwood Mac, which continued into BTM.

Stevie said in an interview (I don't remember from which era) that she brought in other songs to the Tango sessions, like "What Has Rock And Roll Ever Done For You", but that Fleetwood Mac for some reason opted to use her "stranger" songs instead. (I don't know if she used the word "stranger", but it was something like that.) Anyone remember which interview this is from?

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by Dr.Brown

...I wouldn't have minded seeing just Mick, John, Christine, and Lindsey on TITN with Ricky, Down Endless Street, You and I Part I replacing Stevie's tracks.

Stevie's collaboration on TITN was definitely more than weak. But if she hadn't been there, I'm sure this wouldn't have been the band's second-biggest-selling studio album, much to the record company's regret, and someone else

[aleuzzi]

“Ricky”—I hate it. I don't hate it as much as I hate “Skies [sic] the Limit” but I still hate it. It goes on and on and on and yet nowhere at all. The backing track might be interesting as trance music. Or something.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by aleuzzi

“Ricky”—I hate it. I don't hate it as much as I hate “Skies [sic] the Limit” but I still hate it. It goes on and on and on and yet nowhere at all. The backing track might be interesting as trance music. Or something.

Ricky IS really bad. It's nothing more than a song idea, that never really got fleshed out properly. What we're stuck with is awful.

I like Skies, though.

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

Ricky IS really bad. It's nothing more than a song idea, that never really got fleshed out properly. What we're stuck with is awful.

I like Skies, though.

Yeah, Skies is a personal disgust, but I could see how someone else would enjoy it, whereas Ricky...well, it’s not home and it’s not Tara.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by aleuzzi

Yeah, Skies is a personal disgust, but I could see how someone else would enjoy it, whereas Ricky...well, it’s not home and it’s not Tara.

Ricky is a turd.

[DownOnRodeo]

It may not be single material, but Ricky is perfect for that album. Refine the mixing/engineering a little, flesh out the backing vocals a bit, and slip it right in there, perhaps in place of the non-sequitir and ungrammatical You and I Pt II if need be.

[jbrownsjr]

The problem is that no one looks and no one sees.

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

The problem is that no one looks and no one sees.

Oh, look! It’s the voice of a pretty girl 😆