Is Rumours an album of catchy pop tunes

[Hawkeye]

Someone on the Lindsey tusk songs thread brought this up So i thought I'd make it an actual poll question Lux said that she thought Rumours was just an album full of catchy pop tunes. And I have a feeling alot of people feel this way about it. But really if you look at Rumours, I feel it's not even close. There's alot of catchy pop out there and I just don't see that in Rumours. The only songs I'd consider catchy pop tunes are Second Hand News, Don't Stop and Dreams. GDW sounds moe experimental then any of Stevie's Tusk songs. The Chain is not like any song I've ever heard by another artist. There's nothing catchy about Oh Daddy, Songbird, or NGBA. I Don't Want to Know is very country. I can see calling GYOW a catchy pop tune, but how can you with that scorching guitar solo. You Make Loving Fun is ctchy in some ways but it's so very bluesy and different. And like I said that leaves SHN, Dreams, and Don't Stop.

[shackin'up]

I voted Yes. But you made it difficult for me, because the question is : Is Rumours JUST a catchy popalbum? Because if I answered that literally I would say No. It's a catchy popalbum that appealed to the whole world, and still does. That's not JUST a catchy popalbum, that's a catchy popalbum that changed lifes, or at least sticks to a lot of lifes as an anchor of memories. It still hasn't lost it's vibration.

[Mari]

it was that "just"word that made me vote No.

[strandinthewind]

Having been alive at the time Rumors was released and having been a radio buff years before then, I can say that although Rumors became the standard for pop music, the actual songs were trendsetting it design and execution. Radio had never heard anything exactly like GYOW and GDW, esp. the percussion parts. Although Dreams is very popular to this say, Stevie's spacey and trippy execution of those brilliant lyrics was not really done before except perhaps by Heart. Don't Stop and YMLF are pop, but CM is/was a pop favorite and I love her for it. Havinmg said that, Oh Daddy is FAR from pop, esp. then when the whole Mid East vibe was nowhere on the radio. Interestingly, I think the only exact homnages to pure pop are IDWTK, which is straight Everly Brothers esq. two part harmony from the late 60's, and SHN which although brilliant, borrowed heavily from the Bee Gee's pop standard Jive Talking. Finally, Silver Springs was not pop in the sense that nothing that sounded like it was on the radio at the time. So, while yes, Rumors became the pop standard, it was different in design and execution than pretty much what was being played on the radio at the time. Thus, I vote no.

[stefan]

Come on now folks, being a fan is one thing, being objective a different thing.
You like Rumours- fine. But please now- it's not a catchy pop album? :rolleyes:

[CarneVaca]

Having been alive at the time Rumors was released and having been a radio buff years before then, I can say that although Rumors became the standard for pop music, the actual songs were trendsetting it design and execution. Radio had never heard anything exactly like GYOW and GDW, esp. the percussion parts.

This is an important point. "Dreams" picked up where the band had left off with "Rhiannon." The voice that had already enthralled millions was coming back in song that was just as mysterious and catchy, backed by the same rhythm section, and propelled into the sublime by the interplay of Stevie's voice with Lindsey's beautiful guitar licks. "Go Your Own Way," the first single, became a hit in spite of itself. "You Make Loving Fun" and "Don't Stop" are the true unabashed pop entries that were released as singles.

No question that Rumours is catchy pop; even the more obscure-sounding songs like "The Chain" and "Gold Dust Woman" had a palpable pop sensibility. But I wouldn't say it's "just" a catchy pop album. Not by a long shot. It's a lot more than that.

[MacMan]

I voted yes, not because it's JUST a pop album, but like someone said earlier, you'd have had to have been there in the 70's when this thing was unleashed to know exactly what the difference was between what was out there considered as pop and then Rumours... It was a pop album, but it changed the direction of music, or was a great part of that change in music....

It's a great Pop album from its generation and holds up today.. I think!!

[dontlookdown]

one of the reasons why i love the songs is because they were written in a minor key - with minor chords.
it's the same reason why i love neil young.

not exactly the recipe for "catchy pop" tunes....

[HomerMcvie]

Sting once said it's much easier to write songs in minor keys, than major keys.

[mylittledemon]

Sting? Or "Stink" as I like to refer to him. He's hasn't been creating good music since he left the Police. No further comment necessary there.

Rumours is "just" a pop album? For sure. But it's also got more going on underneath the surface. If it were just a pop album of catchy tunes, it wouldn't have had the longevity its enjoyed. There are many, many catchy pop albums that are released every day. You won't be hearing songs from them 20 years from now on FM radio.

[David]

one of the reasons why i love the songs is because they were written in a minor key - with minor chords.I'm not sure I understand. The album seems to me mostly a major-key bath: "Second Hand News," "Dreams," "Never Going Back Again," "Don't Stop," "Songbird," "I Don't Want to Know" are all predominantly in major keys. As are the verses of "Go Your Own Way" & the beautiful cascading wash of the chorus on "You Make Loving Fun."

I think "Rumours" is definitely a pop album, insofar as that category has (or had) any meaning. In fact, I think that just about every album with Buckingham on it & quite a few Mac albums without Buckingham are pop albums. The Beatles made some pop albums, too. It shouldn't be denigrating to call an album "pop" -- except maybe nowadays, when people think they're too "cool" for pop. (There is good pop & ****ty pop, by the way, which everyone knows.)

To me, pop is all about the song: as a distinct whole & piece by piece, fashioned (sometimes painstakingly) into a whole in which each element plays a key role, balanced against & complementing the other elements. In other words, "pop" as opposed to genres with other concerns, namely metal & prog.

[sodascouts]

Yes, the word 'just' is kind of manipulating.

I agree. It's obvious what you're "supposed" to answer because voting "Yes" to that question automatically limits Rumours, regardless of whether its tunes are catchy or not, and pigeonholes it into a perjorative space.

[sodascouts]

But that's not always true, Sgt Pepper went down well, so did Dark Side of the Moon. Maybe it's a conspiracy against Lindsey. That is the logical conclusion.

I think that was Lindsey's goal - make experimental popular. As much as he says he doesn't care about such things, I think in his dreams more people would eat up "Tusk" than ever bought Rumours. Nothing wrong with that, but would it then become "pop" and be something he had to get away from when making the next album? lol

[CarneVaca]

one of the reasons why i love the songs is because they were written in a minor key - with minor chords.
it's the same reason why i love neil young.

not exactly the recipe for "catchy pop" tunes....

Hmm... I'm not sure it's that straight forward. I Don't Wanna Know, Go Your Own Way, Don't Stop, Never Going Back Again, Second Hand News and You Make Loving Fun are in major keys. And that's half the songs right there. Then you have songs, such as Dreams and The Chain, which fall somewhere in between major and minor.

[strandinthewind]

Well, Tusk was accessible in the sense that the song Tusk, although very different a la GYOW two years earlier, was a hit and the song Sara was a huge hit and still receives a relative ton of air play to this day. So, Tusk definitely had pop qualities to it in that regard :shrug: I think the double record aspect of it allowed the quirkier stuff (about 1/2) to get released.

[stefan]

I still can't get over the fact that the majority thinks the album is not a pop album. I mean it`s not like namecalling or cursespelling or something like that. You don't have to chew soap after saying this word. Here we go: Pop pop pop pop pop- see nothing happens to me. Pop pop pop- still I am alright. You still can like Rumours after someone says it`s pop. Pop pop pop- you still like it? Good. Still I think it`s pure pop. See I like pop albums. Although Tusk is my FM favourite (which I don't regard as a pure pop album) TITN is an example for a clear and pure pop album that I love. So nothing is wrong about pop albums in general imo. Now please admit that Rumours is a pop album. Would you all please do that? :laugh:

[strandinthewind]

I still can't get over the fact that the majority thinks the album is not a pop album. I mean it`s not like namecalling or cursespelling or something like that. You don't have to chew soap after saying this word. Here we go: Pop pop pop pop pop- see nothing happens to me. Pop pop pop- still I am alright. You still can like Rumours after someone says it`s pop. Pop pop pop- you still like it? Good. Still I think it`s pure pop. See I like pop albums. Although Tusk is my FM favourite (which I don't regard as a pure pop album) TITN is an example for a clear and pure pop album that I love. So nothing is wrong about pop albums in general imo. Now please admit that Rumours is a pop album. Would you all please do that? :laugh:

I do not think people are saying pop = bad music. I certainly am not. What I am saying is that when released, Rumors had some main stream stuff on it (SHN, IDWTK, and DS), but the remaining songs were not pop because they were very different than what was being played on the radio at that time. The album was a huge success. So, those different sounding songs became emulated and, thus, pop. In other words, the success of Rumors defines Rumors as pop even though the majority of it was not in the scheme of the times.

[strandinthewind]

Wait, does that mean that if it's different to the majority of what's on the radio that it isn't pop?

Well, yes :laugh: As noted earlier "pop" means what is popular. At the time Rumors was released, the vibe of music was turning from heavy 70's guitar crunching bands to disco. There was some in between stuff, but that was mainly it. So, in that sense Rumors broke new ground. I believe the press of the day called it a fresh California pop-rock sound. So, Rumors was pop in the sense that it defined radio for a long time. But, it was not pop in the sense that it was merely a restatement of the sounds currently playing on the radio at that time. In other words, it definitely set a trend and was a leader not a follower.

[glitter_fades]

Having been alive at the time Rumors was released and having been a radio buff years before then, I can say that although Rumors became the standard for pop music, the actual songs were trendsetting it design and execution. Radio had never heard anything exactly like GYOW and GDW, esp. the percussion parts. Although Dreams is very popular to this say, Stevie's spacey and trippy execution of those brilliant lyrics was not really done before except perhaps by Heart. Don't Stop and YMLF are pop, but CM is/was a pop favorite and I love her for it. Havinmg said that, Oh Daddy is FAR from pop, esp. then when the whole Mid East vibe was nowhere on the radio. Interestingly, I think the only exact homnages to pure pop are IDWTK, which is straight Everly Brothers esq. two part harmony from the late 60's, and SHN which although brilliant, borrowed heavily from the Bee Gee's pop standard Jive Talking. Finally, Silver Springs was not pop in the sense that nothing that sounded like it was on the radio at the time. So, while yes, Rumors became the pop standard, it was different in design and execution than pretty much what was being played on the radio at the time. Thus, I vote no.

I agree completely. With respect to it's time, it was not typical am radio pop. Disco and one hit wonders were the songs all over am radio in '77. Songs penned and produced by musical hit factories using paid songwriters and session musicians were thought of as pop. Back then am was pop music and fm including "FM" (the band) was album oriented rock. People listening to FM were looking for new sounds and harder sounds (especially harder guitar like we'd think of as metal today) Rumours crossed over both audiences as the singles propelled interest among the masses, but the early fans of Rumours were fm listeners who were more hard rock fans (fans of the blistering guitar, GYOW, DS) and what we called acid rock (freaky, head trip music you listened to while getting stoned, GDW, Oh Daddy) . The fact that Rumours was a whole concept, intentional or unintentional, and the songs ran the table in a variety of music styles, is the key reason it was the best selling album to that time. It was not considered just pop when it was first released. It became the standard of what I like to call classic rock. I still have a hard time calling it pop since those of us who were big radio listeners then, we didn't consider it pop when we first heard it.

[strandinthewind]

I still have a hard time calling it pop since those of us who were big radio listeners then, we didn't consider it pop when we first heard it.

EXACTLY!!!!!

[dissention]

Sting once said it's much easier to write songs in minor keys, than major keys.

Good thing Jake isn't around, you'd have to run and hide for bringing up Stink's name. :wavey:

[stefan]

Pop music is accessible music. That's why they called the FM sound California pop rock. Of course there are slight variations between pop, rock, pop rock, soft pop and so on. Every child gets a name. But just because Lindsey adds a guitar solo here and there Rumours is not groundbreaking weird experimental stuff. And it never was. This is not the Tusk discussion thread. And of course is Oh daddy pop music (and a dragging one imo but that`s a different discussion)
Otherwise stuff like Scooter or other Eurotechno stuff would be pop music which it is clearly not although it receives heavy airplay over here.

[strandinthewind]

. . . But just because Lindsey adds a guitar solo here and there doesn't make Rumours groundbreaking weird experimental stuff. And it never was.

No song I had ever heard sounded like GYOW - the percussion and guitar work (esp. the countering acoustic) were very experimental for the time. As Carne has said, it was a big risk for GYOW to be a single because it was so relatively quirky when compared to what was on the radio at the time. Dreams as well. No one had had a voice dance around a bass line like that. Then The Chain (esp. the extended bass line bridge) and GDW (the shattering glass, the shieks, the moans, the heavy heavy lyrics) were all experimental for the times. As I said before, GDW could have been on Tusk and I think was a foreboding wave to the genre of Tusk. Then Oh Daddy with is Middle Eastern flavor, a genre that was nowhere on the radio at the time. So, I conclude Rumors was a fresh breath of creative influence that defined the late 70's California sound (with a little help from The Eagles of course :laugh: ).


But, yes, Rumors became and in fact defined pop for a long time.

[dissention]

Then Oh Daddy with is Middle Eastern flavor, a genre that was nowhere on the radio at the time.

Doesn't it just piss you off that they didn't use the version on the Rumours bonus disc? I mean, talk about bad decisions. That version chills me to the bone, man. What an amazing song.

[strandinthewind]

Doesn't it just piss you off that they didn't use the version on the Rumours bonus disc? I mean, talk about bad decisions. That version chills me to the bone, man. What an amazing song.

Yes. I always thought Stevie and the brilliant CM should have done a duet. That version of Oh Daddy is the closest thing to that we are ever gonna get. When I first heard that version I just stopped what I was doing and stood there and listened to it - mouth agape. I think that version is a perfect example of Stevie's incredible ability to use her voice as an instrument and her inate sense of harmony. Not to mention CM is never wrong IMO.

[face of glass]

To me, pop is all about the song: as a distinct whole & piece by piece, fashioned (sometimes painstakingly) into a whole in which each element plays a key role, balanced against & complementing the other elements. In other words, "pop" as opposed to genres with other concerns, namely metal & prog.

Oh indeed. But then again that comment seems to ignore the intricacies that the most well-known prog bands put into their arrangements. Isn't the best, timeless pop music about that too? (think ABBA, Burt Bacharach's productions, the Beach Boys, the Beatles, the Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac, etc.)

I agree with Jason on this, pop music does not equal bad music. I think it's far more difficult to craft the perfect pop song than just to grab that old battered acoustic guitar and be confessional for the billionth time in one's career. Neil Young does that and yet he still has more integrity than many pop musicians, even the greatest. Damn 'em rules of coolness.

If catchiness equals bad then I don't agree with that sentiment either. Rumours is a catchy album almost throughout (I say the songwriting in "Dreams" doesn't have a coherent hook in it, when those guitars and harmonies appear then it finds its important #1 hook). "Gold Dust Woman" is one of Stevie's catchiest songs in the traditional sense and yet it's performed in a way that could get anyone disturbed in their sleep. The songwriting provides the accessibility, the performance comes directly from the Patti Smith book.

And everything on Tusk is as memorable as on Rumours; the writers didn't change their way of writing, they (or HE) changed the recording approaches.

Rumours isn't just a pop album, it's a song cycle, relative to the '60s classic albums. Compared to the seemingly random post-modernism of Tusk, it's no wonder it's more appealing. But I still won't say that the other is more artistic and the other is more superficial. Tusk may have its layers of emotions spreaded out here and there and might thush suffer in some people's eyes. Rumours speaks to people more directly and still avoids the banal trappings. 'S a great album, no matter how overplayed it is in the rest of the world. In Finland I can pretend it's the greatest underground album ever and complain how Peter Green is overrated in peace. ;)

(and sorry for the redundancy).

[dissention]

Yes. I always thought Stevie and the brilliant CM should have done a duet. That version of Oh Daddy is the closest thing to that we are ever gonna get. When I first heard that version I just stopped what I was doing and stood there and listened to it - mouth agape. I think that version is a perfect example of Stevie's incredible ability to use her voice as an instrument and her inate sense of harmony. Not to mention CM is never wrong IMO.

:nod:

I put it on repeat and listened to it ten times in a row. I think it's the best thing on the reissues (next to Planets and Brushes). If they had such good stuff, just imagine what could've been on in place of Mic the Screecher. :rolleyes:

[strandinthewind]

:nod:

I put it on repeat and listened to it ten times in a row. I think it's the best thing on the reissues (next to Planets and Brushes). If they had such good stuff, just imagine what could've been on in place of Mic the Screecher. :rolleyes:

LOL - I think the screeching noise is the amplified noise of a razor lining up coke on a mirror :laugh: :laugh:

I also think the SHN news alt. version is better than the album cut.

[stefan]

To me the success of Rumours is based on the uncommon fact that there are 3 different songwriters and also singers, male and female, in one band and on one record. They grabbed first attention with a good success on the predecessor and so there was something to build on. Then you have the popular drama story we have heard about often enough as I guess. Honestly I would be glad never to hear about it again in any interview of the band. Never. But O.K. And then you have extremely catchy songs like GYOW and Don`t stop. Or Dreams-Stevies uncommon voice and the fact she was very pretty- that grabbed a lot of peoples attention. I couldn't name a lot of bands with 3 prominent front people- so that is a really extraordinary. You have got all you need here:
A story behind the music
A beautiful female star
Catchy pop tunes
3 different voices and songwriters

Strand I guess we can discuss it until we turn blue and green, seems like we have to state that we simply disagree. Completely disagree to be precise. I will go on stating that Rumours is a pure and plain pop album because it contents catchy pop and pop rock songs everyone could be familiar with at once. And I too lived back in 77 and listened a lot to the radio even though I was a child. I did not fall from the chair after hearing GYOW, which received a lot of airplay.

[face of glass]

There's bits where the homogenous harmony works fine and bits where you'd rather hear Stevie.

The album version of "GYOW" should be closer to the live versions in that Stevie should be allowed to be more prominent.

But then again, even though I think SN is one of the best harmonizers in rock (in that she doesn't blend in, she DEMANDS attention), the harmonies in the alternate "Oh Daddy" don't really add anything more to it than what the final cut has.

Why don't you just get a time machine and go kick LB's, KC's and RD's butts and tell them which takes they should use? ;)

[strandinthewind]

Why don't you just get a time machine and go kick LB's, KC's and RD's butts and tell them which takes they should use? ;)

Oh if I could :laugh:

[glitter_fades]

even though I was a child. I did not fall from the chair after hearing GYOW, which received a lot of airplay.


Different generations have different definitions of music. My kids liked Backstreet Boys and NSYNC when they were little but didn't fall off the chair hearing KORN. They're older teens now and know the difference. They also don't like any of those groups now either. :lol:

[Hawkeye]

Are you trying to make an example of me? Perhaps I should not speak up, seems that whenever I do I'm either told I'm wrong or simply clinically insane.
..
No I'm not amkign an example of you. Your coments in the other thread just kind of spaked an idea in my hjead for this poll. You should be proud really.

[Hawkeye]

it was that "just"word that made me vote No.

Man what a comotion one word can make. It seems many didn't like the word just. MAybe I should've should Is Rumours Mainly a Catchy Pop Album.

[Hawkeye]

Having been alive at the time Rumors was released and having been a radio buff years before then, I can say that although Rumors became the standard for pop music, the actual songs were trendsetting it design and execution. Radio had never heard anything exactly like GYOW and GDW, esp. the percussion parts. Although Dreams is very popular to this say, Stevie's spacey and trippy execution of those brilliant lyrics was not really done before except perhaps by Heart. Don't Stop and YMLF are pop, but CM is/was a pop favorite and I love her for it. Havinmg said that, Oh Daddy is FAR from pop, esp. then when the whole Mid East vibe was nowhere on the radio. Interestingly, I think the only exact homnages to pure pop are IDWTK, which is straight Everly Brothers esq. two part harmony from the late 60's, and SHN which although brilliant, borrowed heavily from the Bee Gee's pop standard Jive Talking. Finally, Silver Springs was not pop in the sense that nothing that sounded like it was on the radio at the time. So, while yes, Rumors became the pop standard, it was different in design and execution than pretty much what was being played on the radio at the time. Thus, I vote no.

You put it better them me or anyone else has.

[Hawkeye]

Come on now folks, being a fan is one thing, being objective a different thing.
You like Rumours- fine. But please now- it's not a catchy pop album? :rolleyes:

Oh I'm VERY objective, very very objective. I just don't believe that Rumours is like the definition of a catchy pop safe album and Tusk is like the definition of risk taking. Lindsey is moe guilty of this then any of us fans here. He seems to think that Rumours was like the safest possible thing they could've done.

[dissention]

Man what a comotion one word can make. It seems many didn't like the word just. MAybe I should've should Is Rumours Mainly a Catchy Pop Album.

No, it's just that some people are so uncomfortably anal that they're determined to make everyone else just as uncomfortable. Don't sweat it, man. If people want to quarrel over a word, just sit back and laugh.

[Hawkeye]

TITN is an example for a clear and pure pop album that I love.

I agree that TITN is much more then Rumours what I'd consider a catchy pop album.

[face of glass]

Lindsey is moe guilty of this then any of us fans here. He seems to think that Rumours was like the safest possible thing they could've done.

In ChiliD's words: "Rumours was pop experimentation that became mainstream".

Rumours wasn't the safest thing they could have done but it was the safest thing they could have replicated. That's what I think Lindsey has always referred to.

[Mari]

No, it's just that some people are so uncomfortably anal that they're determined to make everyone else just as uncomfortable. Don't sweat it, man. If people want to quarrel over a word, just sit back and laugh.

:rolleyes: now who's being anal... can't stand it if 'some people' have a different opinion, maybe? :p

[dissention]

:rolleyes: now who's being anal... can't stand it if 'some people' have a different opinion, maybe? :p

I have no problem with differing opinions, I just think it's ridiculous to get in a huff over the use of the word "just." Big deal. ;)

[CarneVaca]

Now please admit that Rumours is a pop album. Would you all please do that? :laugh:

Stefan, I agree with you. Nothing wrong with pop, as long as it's good pop. I think you're seeing people answer No because of the "just" in the question. Saying it is "just" a pop album ignores that there's a lot more to Rumours than just a bunch of catchy pop tunes.

[CarneVaca]

Yes. I always thought Stevie and the brilliant CM should have done a duet. That version of Oh Daddy is the closest thing to that we are ever gonna get. When I first heard that version I just stopped what I was doing and stood there and listened to it - mouth agape. I think that version is a perfect example of Stevie's incredible ability to use her voice as an instrument and her inate sense of harmony. Not to mention CM is never wrong IMO.

What version is this of which you speak? Do you mean that there is an alternate take of this song different from the snoozer in the album?

[dissention]

What version is this of which you speak? Do you mean that there is an alternate take of this song different from the snoozer in the album?

The one on the Rumours bonus disc, dude. It's fantastic.

[CarneVaca]

He seems to think that Rumours was like the safest possible thing they could've done.

Careful with the over-interpretations. He has never said that. He actually looked quite proud of the work in the Making of Rumours.

[CarneVaca]

The one on the Rumours bonus disc, dude. It's fantastic.

Damn, why don't I remember that? I'll have to play it on the way home.

[dissention]

Damn, why don't I remember that? I'll have to play it on the way home.

The biggest difference is that there are more vocals from Stevie and those vocals are brought up right up front into the mix. Great harmony!

[glitter_fades]

Man what a comotion one word can make. It seems many didn't like the word just. MAybe I should've should Is Rumours Mainly a Catchy Pop Album.

It's not only "just" that makes a difference to me. It's the word "pop" I have trouble with. To me, pop music in the 70's was a very different sound than I first heard on Rumours. If pop is simply an abbreviation for popular music, ok maybe I'd say that Rumours is seen as pop today.

I still think of pop as a style/genre of formula music made by record companies to cash in with the average listener. The Mac was not in that category with Rumours. Music driven by individual artists who were mostly singers, not rock bands like FM, fit that image in my mind. Also, phantom groups like the Partridge Family and the Archies, even the Beach Boys music recorded by studio players, comes to mind when I think of pop. People who grew up in the 60's and were teens or adults in the 70's probably know what I mean.

Music written and performed by rock bands of players/singers/songwriters were not considered pop then. Another aspect for me, to borrow from Courtney Love, "rock has to have a guitar in it." Pop music was usually absent any electric guitar except rhythm. Today the boy bands and entertainers like J Lo and Britney are pop. Even MJ and JJ were/are pop. With pop and rap dominating the radio it's hard for me to say who's rock now because I don't listen to much new music, but I'd call Evanescence rock like the Mac (not just for the girl.)

Does this make sense to anyone but me? :shrug:

Older and younger fans see it differently and probably so do Europeans and Americans, though I don't see how. To illustrate, when the first single (GYOW) from Rumours was released in Feb '77 it charted at #40 in Britain, while the top 5 singles of that week in the UK were:

#1 When I Need You -Leo Sayer (a real rock star :laugh: )

#2 Don't Cry for Me Argentina (show tune) Julie Covington (who? :confused: )

#3 Don't Give Up on Us Baby - David Soul (U.S. TV personality, one hit wonder :eek: )

#4 Boogie Nights - Heatwave (Disco :nod: )

#5 Don't Leave Me This Way-Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes (Soul/Disco:nod: )

The closest to anything like GYOW in the top 40 is way down the list with Boston at #22 More than a Feeling. That's a classic rock single now but back in the day it was considered quite an earful. It eventually got played to death but the people buying Leo Sayer were not listening to Boston or the Mac. By the end of the year when Rumours was #1 on the album charts some of the Leo Sayer and David Soul fans were also buying Rumours but so were the Boston fans.

In the US the top 10 singles of 1977 were:

"You Light Up My Life" - Debby Boone (First chart appearance: 9/17/77; Highest position: #1)
"I Just Want To Be Your Everything" - Andy Gibb (5/28/77; #1)
"Evergreen" - Barbra Streisand (1/8/77; #1)
"Undercover Angel" - Alan O'Day (5/7/77; #1)
"I Like Dreamin'" - Kenny Nolan (12/11/76; #3)
"Dancing Queen" - Abba (1/22/77; #1)
"Torn Between Two Lovers" - Mary MacGregor (12/25/76; #1)
"Higher And Higher" - Rita Coolidge (6/11/77; #2)
"Best Of My Love" - The Emotions (7/2/77; #1)
"Southern Nights" - Glen Campbell (3/5/77; #1)

The entire list from '77 is music of singers not rock bands.

Finally, the fact that Rumours only had one single make it to #1 means it was not simply an album filled with just a bunch of pop singles so much as it was a ****load of great music everyone could appreciate.

[dissention]

"You Light Up My Life" - Debby Boone (First chart appearance: 9/17/77; Highest position: #1)

One of the worst songs ever recorded and it totally creeps me out. Awful, awful, awful. I heard Debby Boone livies in a convent these days. :lol:

[strandinthewind]

One of the worst songs ever recorded and it totally creeps me out. Awful, awful, awful. I heard Debby Boone livies in a convent these days. :lol:

Ya know - i liked it when it first came out - I thought it was sappy, but pretty. But at the one millionth hearing in a week, I got tired of it :laugh:

[sodascouts]

No, it's just that some people are so uncomfortably anal that they're determined to make everyone else just as uncomfortable. Don't sweat it, man. If people want to quarrel over a word, just sit back and laugh.

"Meet Linda. She's a stay-at-home mom."

"Meet Linda. She's just a stay-at-home mom."

You don't see a difference in connotation here? Perhaps I'm over-senstive... but I certainly am not out to make other people uncomfortable. Frankly, I'm surprised your response is so strongly negative to someone pointing this out - I don't think it's so horribly anal to note it. I apologize if doing so has caused anyone a great deal of anal anguish.

[Hawkeye]

now that I think of it Just makes a HUGE difference in the question. Oh Well no use trying to rewrite history :sorry: :o

[strandinthewind]

. . . Maybe looking back it's all become pop now, due to it not only being literally popular, but also an influence on the mainstream, therefore nothing so outrageous. The Beatles were always pushing the boundaries of pop slightly. . . .

This is exactly my point about Rumors :cool:

[wondergirl9847]

What's it supposed to be? :shrug: If not a catchy pop album, then what? To answer that, we probably have to try to define Fleetwood Mac. That's pretty much impossible. :laugh: They are a blues/pop/rock/country-ish/jazz fusion. :nod: Something for everyone.

I'd say if you WANT it to be a catchy pop album, it's that. If you want it to be an experimental masterpiece, it's that. Masterpiece...that's what I'd say. :D

[Mari]

"Meet Linda. She's a stay-at-home mom."

"Meet Linda. She's just a stay-at-home mom."

You don't see a difference in connotation here?

exactly! :nod:

[dissention]

I apologize if doing so has caused anyone a great deal of anal anguish.

:lol: :lol: :lol:

I was simply commenting on what I found to be ridiculous. I've been called a nitpicker, but not that big of one; it's just silly.

[CarneVaca]

It's not only "just" that makes a difference to me. It's the word "pop" I have trouble with. To me, pop music in the 70's was a very different sound than I first heard on Rumours. If pop is simply an abbreviation for popular music, ok maybe I'd say that Rumours is seen as pop today.

It is true that Rumours was considerably different from the other pop music making the charts at the time, but if "pop" is an abbreviation for "popular" how can anyone at this point argue it's not pop? It remains one of the most popular albums of all time. Pop is an evolving thing. (One might say "devolving" in light of the current radio fodder.)

[CarneVaca]

Ya know - i liked it when it first came out - I thought it was sappy, but pretty. But at the one millionth hearing in a week, I got tired of it :laugh:

I bet you still have it in your collection and play it all the time. You probably have alternate takes too.

[CarneVaca]

The greatest thing is though, the Beatles were not exactly studying the avant garde themselves, for the most part, they just pulled it out of their arse (not literally mind you). Eh, here comes my love for Lennon again........no, I shall resist.

Someone more well-versed on the Beatles could probably address this better. But they had to be influenced by something. I suspect they had been paying attention to some classical music as well as Middle Eastern and North African rhythms.

[dissention]

Ya know - i liked it when it first came out - I thought it was sappy, but pretty. But at the one millionth hearing in a week, I got tired of it :laugh:

Well, there's no accounting for taste. :laugh:

[strandinthewind]

Ah, well I guess I agree, but not with the comparison to the Beatles. GYOW might have been pushing 'pop' a little, but hardly to the extent thatStrawberry Fields was. It's neither good nor bad, it was just more within the realm of 'pop'.

Not at the time it was released. Again, at the time Rumors was released NOTHING on the radio sounded like that - that is why it was not within the realm of popular music at the time (i.e. it was avant guard) - it did, however, define what popular music would be for years after that (i.e. it was a treandsetter and continues to be to this day) :laugh:

[strandinthewind]

I bet you still have it in your collection and play it all the time. You probably have alternate takes too.


BLUSHES - I had the 8 track and the album BLUSHES

:D

[strandinthewind]

Well, there's no accounting for taste. :laugh:

I also had, bless her heart, Olivia Newton John's "Physical"

:thumbsup:

:laugh: :laugh:

[dissention]

I also had, bless her heart, Olivia Newton John's "Physical"

:thumbsup:

:laugh: :laugh:

Had? I still have that. :shocked:

If you want some FANTASTIC seventies ****, get the soundtrack to Tarantino's "Jackie Brown." I just got it and I love every song on it. And Pam Grier has such a sexy voice. :thumbsup:

[Sugar]

Australia's most embarrassing export. Actually no, Rolph Harris ran away with that title (and a wobble board) years ago.

Hey I saw him on The Wiggles!

[cliffdweller]

Sting? Or "Stink" as I like to refer to him.

I can't believe I missed this post. I call him Stink too!!! How funny....

[wondergirl9847]

Ah, the Wiggles. We have endured them for too long. We pass them on to you now.

That's Lindsey's favorite! :lol:

[CarneVaca]

That's Lindsey's favorite! :lol:

Lindsey likes the Wiggles!?

Unfortunately, I too am subjected to Wiggles watching now.

[wondergirl9847]

LOL!! Yep, he does. Here is part of a transcript from my local radio station.

DJ: Have you heard Barney's colorful world yet?

LB: Probably

DJ: Because you have two kids, right?

LB: Probably so. Actually, my favorite is The Wiggles. I don't know if you're familiar with them. They're sort of a weird combination of the Teletubbies and Star Trek.

BWAH!!

[CarneVaca]

Lindsey probably likes the Wiggles because most of the music they do is rockabilly-based.

[Johnny Stew]

I will admit, here and now, to having a fondness for the Wiggles.

There I said it.

[Sugar]

Lindsey likes the Wiggles!?

Unfortunately, I too am subjected to Wiggles watching now.

They're not as bad as a lot of stuff out there. My daughter is also addicted to the "Care Bear Movie" which, strangely enough has songs by Carole King and John Sebastian! But it's SO insipid! I'd rather watch the Wiggles...

Fruit salad, anyone? :lol:

[stefan]

Thanks to MacMan for providing this link for the Tusk thread. Here`s what the guy writes concerning Rumours:
Rock of Ages
Lindsey bucks the system
To mark the 50th anniversary of the rock revolution, the Sentinel is re-assessing the popular songs of the last half-century.
THIS WEEK’S SONG: "Tusk" by Fleetwood Mac (1979).

By MARK STETZ
Sentinel staff writerFleetwood Mac’s previous 1977 collection, "Rumours," had sold more copies than any album in pop music history. Basically, though, it was a hook-laden, cookie-cutter follow-up to "Fleetwood Mac" from 1975, which introduced the ’60s blues band with a new, California lineup, featuring Stevie Nicks on vocals and Buckingham on guitars and vocals.

Nothing had been adventurous for the band up to this point, except for its drug use and relationship breakdowns during the recording of "Rumours" and then as the album remained at the top of the charts longer than any album ever, to date.



---- Mmh I thought I learned in this thread that Rumours was adventurous, completely new and groundbreaking...? Now it seems this guy has no clue :p

[Johnny Stew]

Fleetwood Mac’s previous 1977 collection, "Rumours," had sold more copies than any album in pop music history. Basically, though, it was a hook-laden, cookie-cutter follow-up to "Fleetwood Mac" from 1975, which introduced the ’60s blues band with a new, California lineup, featuring Stevie Nicks on vocals and Buckingham on guitars and vocals.

See, I have to disagree with this. In my opinion 'Rumours' is far more than just a "cookie-cutter follow-up."
'Rumours' is vibrant, infectuous, and amazingly crafted. They took dark subject matter... drug abuse, infidelity, broken relationships... wrapped it in beautiful harmonies and lively instrumentation, and turned it into an album that pretty much everyone can appreciate.

Some people think mass appeal is a negative, or somehow reduces the value of music... but I think it's much harder to appeal to a broad spectrum of people, than it is to appeal to a select few.

Now, i'm not talking about the kind of music that is made ONLY with the intent of selling albums. I'm talking about music that is made out of love for the craft, and a desire to create something wonderful.
And that's how 'Rumours' was made.

27 years after its release, it's easy to write 'Rumours' off as "lightweight" or "cookie-cutter," but if you truly listen to it... without prejudice towards the fact that these songs have been played on the radio and in concert thousands of times, or that the album is owned by millions of people... it really is an impressive work. :nod:

[sodascouts]

See, I have to disagree with this. In my opinion 'Rumours' is far more than just a "cookie-cutter follow-up."
'Rumours' is vibrant, infectuous, and amazingly crafted. They took dark subject matter... drug abuse, infidelity, broken relationships... wrapped it in beautiful harmonies and lively instrumentation, and turned it into an album that pretty much everyone can appreciate.

Some people think mass appeal is a negative, or somehow reduces the value of music... but I think it's much harder to appeal to a broad spectrum of people, than it is to appeal to a select few.

Now, i'm not talking about the kind of music that is made ONLY with the intent of selling albums. I'm talking about music that is made out of love for the craft, and a desire to create something wonderful.
And that's how 'Rumours' was made.

27 years after its release, it's easy to write 'Rumours' off as "lightweight" or "cookie-cutter," but if you truly listen to it... without prejudice towards the fact that these songs have been played on the radio and in concert thousands of times, or that the album is owned by millions of people... it really is an impressive work. :nod:


Well-put. ITA. :)