behind the scenes of Rock A Little

[bombaysaffires]

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4vvICbQrQUknuereCUEV5H
another link to the same episode: https://podtail.com/no/podcast/in-the-studio-the-podcast/inside-the-making-of-stevie-nicks-often-overlooked/

So I came across this podcast I'd never heard of before, called In The Studio-- The Podcast with this guy who was a recording engineer who worked on a bunch of interesting projects including parts of Rock A Little for just about 3 weeks...though he says he isn't credited on the liner notes.

Here's the episode description from the website:

Inside the Making of Stevie Nicks' Often Overlooked Third Album
Episode Description
In this week's podcast I want to take you inside the making of Stevie Nicks' third solo album "Rock A Little". It was the heyday of grand studios and 80's excess. Pour a cognac... come hang out in the studio for a little while!

He says he worked on the recording of Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You. He describes Stevie in her mink coat because the studio was so cold (at her request), her use of pot, white powder, and cognac while recording (he didn't do drugs but still has a soft spot for Courvoisier as a result). He said she was very friendly and funny and told lots of FM stories. He also describes how in one of her white powder energy bursts she insisted she wanted to make sandwiches for everyone and so at 3am someone was sent to find cold cuts and bread and sandwich fixings. They brought them back to the studio and she sat on the floor slapping together sandwiches for everyone, telling them this is what she used to do for FM. :shrug: Who knew?? It wasn't just the Bunn coffee machine, but sandwiches too. LOL

You don't need to subscribe to Spotify to be able to listen to it. I actually found it on Apple podcasts on my phone, but it works via this link online just fine too.

ok, his name is Brad Sundberg, here's some info on him: https://inthestudiowithmj.com/meet-brad/
Apparently he had a long working relationship with Michael Jackson and now does custom audio/video systems for rich and famous people.

He tries to give some background about Stevie, her career, and the place of RAL in her career to pad out the episode beyond just the story of his direct involvement and he gets things wrong-- he says she did Leather and Lace with Tom (!) and that the "David Stewart" listed as cowriter with Tom of a song called Don't Come Around Here No More isn't the same person as Dave Stewart the performer. He also talks about what the recording studio scene was like in LA in the 1980s. And he discusses how expensive and logistically challenging it must have been to make this album across the 16 studios listed on the liner notes. The actual real details about his direct work on RAL starts around 28 mins in.

[cbBen]

I wonder how Lindsey would have produced "I Can't Wait" had Stevie submitted it to Fleetwood Mac (it's better than "Welcome To The Room... Sara" and "When I See You Again")?

[Macfan4life]

I enjoyed this even though this guy could be long winded. I love the details but its pretty much how we knew RAL was recorded. I remember Stevie's Westwood 1 radio promotion of RAL where she stated the studio was a big party and if you were not in the mood to party she told people to not show up. She also instructed her girls to dress up in the studio as if they were going someplace fancy. IMHO this is exactly why RAL sucks wet socks. Its not cohesive. No one was around or had the patience to work on Stevie's demos. So the demos were recorded all over the place but not good songs for an album. So in a panic, pop songs were brought to her to sing and finish the album. For God's sake, send out for pizza instead of wonder bread and mayo and lunch meat. I can imagine those coked out Fleetwood Mac stories got old after a while. This poor guy straight as an arrow doing his job while everyone else is stoned and coked out of their minds. Stevie also chugged whiskey before singing Seven Wonders in the studio with the Mac before she went to rehab. I wonder if this mink coat is the same mink coat she does the MTV interview with during the early days of the 1987 Mac tour in Hartford.

[bombaysaffires]

I enjoyed this even though this guy could be long winded. I love the details but its pretty much how we knew RAL was recorded. I remember Stevie's Westwood 1 radio promotion of RAL where she stated the studio was a big party and if you were not in the mood to party she told people to not show up. She also instructed her girls to dress up in the studio as if they were going someplace fancy. IMHO this is exactly why RAL sucks wet socks. Its not cohesive. No one was around or had the patience to work on Stevie's demos. So the demos were recorded all over the place but not good songs for an album. So in a panic, pop songs were brought to her to sing and finish the album. For God's sake, send out for pizza instead of wonder bread and mayo and lunch meat. I can imagine those coked out Fleetwood Mac stories got old after a while. This poor guy straight as an arrow doing his job while everyone else is stoned and coked out of their minds. Stevie also chugged whiskey before singing Seven Wonders in the studio with the Mac before she went to rehab. I wonder if this mink coat is the same mink coat she does the MTV interview with during the early days of the 1987 Mac tour in Hartford.

yeah he drags it out talking about recording studios and recording equipment (granted he's an engineer, so he talks a lot about his own knowledge). Fans just want to hear the Stevie bits ;)

He kept trying to be diplomatic and say "I'm not trying to judge anyone" but clearly he was a bit gobsmacked by how erratically produced this album was and compared how she did it to how other artists work.

[Macfan4life]

I can only imagine the stories that Jimmy Iovine could tell. He never would tell because they are still friends today. But for him to throw up his arms and walk out in the middle of an expensive album put his reputation at risk. He just could not take this insanity anymore. Stevie just wanted to party and the studio gave her an excuse to do it. No creativity at all just endless parties.
She was so fragile at this time. Remember she no-showed her Talk To Me video. By the time the Talk To Me video was finally released, the song was already in the top 20. There was no promos for the album either. Her management kept her away from the press. Sadly she could not even prepare for her tour and ran off to Australia with Tom for what? Party of course.

Sadly, somewhere in there even in the mess of the 80s was the potential for a fairly good album if only she took recording serious. In the early days of RAL (Mirror Mirror) recordings, she jetted some really big names all over the country for various recordings. I remember reading in Hit Parader magazine in late 1984 that Foreigner's Mick Jones was in on the RAL recordings. I remember getting excited about hearing the end result. Whatever he played on never made the album and even in the mess of RAL demos, you cant make heads or tails of what he actually played on.
But I suppose its grateful she actually survived this era let alone record an album.

[BLY]

I would love to get the expanded treatment release of Rock a Little. She might as well get this out with alt versions and outtakes now if she wants to stay “current” I much prefer her late eighties voice to her current sound.

[Macfan4life]

I would love to get the expanded treatment release of Rock a Little. She might as well get this out with alt versions and outtakes now if she wants to stay “current” I much prefer her late eighties voice to her current sound.
I agree. It would be worth it for Running Through The Garden alone. I much prefer songs she writes. Unfortunately there was no one to help craft the demos so I can see why they were not put on the album. I am sure there are songs that none of us have heard too. Its so tantalizing to think what is out there even though some of it is probably very crazy :eek:

I honestly think they put the wrong Rock A Little track on the album just like when they put the wrong Mirror Mirror track on the B side of Blue Denim. IMHO its the worst vocal of any of the demos I have heard and she flubs the lyrics too.

Maybe something like this:

I cant wait - Full rock version
Rock A Little - extended version with the bridge
Running Through the Garden
Mirror Mirror (1984 version)
Battle of the Dragon
Night Gallery
Imperial Hotel demo
Thousand Days
The Nightmare (extended rock mix)
*surprise songs we never heard before

[BLY]

Maybe something like this:

I cant wait - Full rock version
Rock A Little - extended version with the bridge
Running Through the Garden
Mirror Mirror (1984 version)
Battle of the Dragon
Night Gallery
Imperial Hotel demo
Thousand Days
*surprise song we never heard before

*Yes and I would hope several never before heard songs. 😎

[On Ice]

I agree that there's likely some great songs buried in the Rock a Little mess, You Like Me comes to mind, and it rocks a little. There is a You Tube of it, have a listen, it's a great song. Not sure why she didn't go with Mirror Mirror, it would have been a decent single too.

[Nathan]

Why did she ask for a freezing cold studio? :eek:

[David]

Why did she ask for a freezing cold studio? :eek:
I think she used to like the studio cold because she has gustatory hyperhidrosis.

[Jondalar]

I agree. It would be worth it for Running Through The Garden alone. I much prefer songs she writes. Unfortunately there was no one to help craft the demos so I can see why they were not put on the album. I am sure there are songs that none of us have heard too. Its so tantalizing to think what is out there even though some of it is probably very crazy :eek:

I honestly think they put the wrong Rock A Little track on the album just like when they put the wrong Mirror Mirror track on the B side of Blue Denim. IMHO its the worst vocal of any of the demos I have heard and she flubs the lyrics too.

Maybe something like this:

I cant wait - Full rock version
Rock A Little - extended version with the bridge
Running Through the Garden
Mirror Mirror (1984 version)
Battle of the Dragon
Night Gallery
Imperial Hotel demo
Thousand Days
The Nightmare (extended rock mix)
*surprise songs we never heard before

I liked a lot of the melodies to these songs but her lyrics are embarrassingly bad. They are juvenile, like the rantings of a schoolgirl. She is a terrible writer.

[cbBen]

Throat-clearing goes to 19:58.

Album recorded in more studios than number of songs on the album.

[Nathan]

I think she used to like the studio cold because she has gustatory hyperhidrosis.

Wondering if there is any source or further verification of this. I had not heard it before, though, in retrospect, the low temperature would most obviously have to do with avoiding sweating -- whether due to food-related reasons, or, drug-related causes, and makeup concerns.

[bombaysaffires]

Or just so she could wear her fur coat:eek:

[David]

Wondering if there is any source or further verification of this. I had not heard it before, though, in retrospect, the low temperature would most obviously have to do with avoiding sweating -- whether due to food-related reasons, or, drug-related causes, and makeup concerns.

I was probably high when I wrote that, Nate. I may have been using cocaine and brandy.

But this gives me a chance to think about Rock a Little demos that I think are great:

Priest of Nothing. When you first listen to this, it sounds like incoherent junk. But if you listen to it more than once and try to visualize Stevie in 1985 in sunglasses, grabbing tea and tacos on La Brea, it grows on you.

All the King’s Horses. Not really sure when these were recorded, but she may have pulled it out of mothballs in 1985. I bet it was spectacular.

Are You Mine. The cut she made with Billy Burnette in 1985 is the one to keep for the ages.

Rose Garden. Apparently, there’s a Rock a Little demo. I would love to hear it.

Reconsider Me. Hidden on Enchanted, put this out again.

She Still Loves Him. When she recorded this for Rock a Little with Mark Knopfler, she really put her cinematic soul into it. The one she did later is a mediocrity.

Night Gallery. A weakness of mine.

[Nathan]

I was probably high when I wrote that, Nate. I may have been using cocaine and brandy.

But this gives me a chance to think about Rock a Little demos that I think are great:

Priest of Nothing. When you first listen to this, it sounds like incoherent junk. But if you listen to it more than once and try to visualize Stevie in 1985 in sunglasses, grabbing tea and tacos on La Brea, it grows on you.

All the King’s Horses. Not really sure when these were recorded, but she may have pulled it out of mothballs in 1985. I bet it was spectacular.

Are You Mine. The cut she made with Billy Burnette in 1985 is the one to keep for the ages.

Rose Garden. Apparently, there’s a Rock a Little demo. I would love to hear it.

Reconsider Me. Hidden on Enchanted, put this out again.

She Still Loves Him. When she recorded this for Rock a Little with Mark Knopfler, she really put her cinematic soul into it. The one she did later is a mediocrity.

Night Gallery. A weakness of mine.

:laugh::blob2: