Little Lies 35 Years Ago

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by bwboy

I remember finding out Lindsey quit when I read about it on the front page of USA Today’s Entertainment section. It got a ton of press in the papers, probably shows like Entertainment Tonight, and certainly it was talked about on MTV and VH 1. MTV even had a weekly ‘news’ program dedicated to news about music. And everytime a Vee Jay (remember that term lol) introduced Little Lies, his departure was mentioned. Even pre-internet, it was big news.

We lived in the land of no cable, so the 3 major networks(and one independent station) were all we could see. So I didn't know.

And, they dressed Billy like Lindsey, so from 500' away(or however far it is to the back of an arena), it wasn't easy to tell, at first.

And as I've mentioned before, I'd walked away from being obsessed with FM at that point(people in college thought they were a dinosaur band, even back then), so I wasn't hanging on every word about them, like I was in the Tusk/Mirage era. But I still didn't want to miss the show(and not tell my cool friends about it).

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

And, they dressed Billy like Lindsey, so from 500' away(or however far it is to the back of an arena), it wasn't easy to tell, at first.

Even made him play a white Gibson Les Paul Custom Lite.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Even made him play a white Gibson Les Paul Custom Lite.

No doubt Slimy Mick's slimy idea.

[Villavic]

No doubt Lindsey's departure was huge new in radios and MTV. But still, I don't think that was fully noticed by everyone. I remember that when Benjamin Orr died, some friends confused him with Rick Ocasek, they did not distinguish which songs were sung by one or the other, I mean not watching the videos by just hearing the names.

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by Villavic

But still, I don't think that was fully noticed by everyone.

But that’s a disingenuous standard. I’m saying that it generated more interest in and curiosity about the band, which led to more sales. I’m saying it made a song that would have been a top 10-15 hit into a top 5 hit.

I don’t see how that’s remotely controversial.

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by Villavic

No doubt Lindsey's departure was huge new in radios and MTV. But still, I don't think that was fully noticed by everyone. I remember that when Benjamin Orr died, some friends confused him with Rick Ocasek, they did not distinguish which songs were sung by one or the other, I mean not watching the videos by just hearing the names.

Exactly. The bulk of the people taken with Little Lies weren’t typical Mac fans. They were the general public.

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by aleuzzi

Exactly. The bulk of the people taken with Little Lies weren’t typical Mac fans. They were the general public.

Exactly my point, though. The story was big news and it was everywhere in the music press. The Mac fans already bought the album by that point. It was people like me who might have been curious about the band but didn’t know the back story that bought the album around that time. The guy who’d recently had a massive hit with Fleetwood Mac just quit. Gotta check that out!

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Exactly my point, though. The story was big news and it was everywhere in the music press. The Mac fans already bought the album by that point. It was people like me who might have been curious about the band but didn’t know the back story that bought the album around that time. The guy who’d recently had a massive hit with Fleetwood Mac just quit. Gotta check that out!

Not my point at all. The opposite actually. People heard the song, hummed along with it and thought it was cool. Lindsey’s quitting wasn’t exactly what we would today call viral. It was underplayed by the band and the news outlets tread carefully. So, to quote Dave Mason, we just disagree.