Yeah, me too. I read it as "the 13th LINE UP" of the band.

I view Time as the fourth Christine McVie solo record (even if it’s only an EP). The fact that we got five new solid Chris songs more than justifies its existence — and honestly, her creative output is probably the only reason it happened at all, since the other writers were either not particularly prolific (Burnette, Bramlett) or were running on fumes (Mason). (I do have a soft spot for “Winds of Change,” which of course is by an outside writer.)

I appreciate that Bekka did this interview; it really fills in some blanks from this period in the band’s history!

I’ll admit that I’ve listened to the Bekka era FM stuff less than a dozen times over the years but I love her as a singer and performer. I always think that she was just a bit off with her timing — a few years later, maybe she could have been a Natalie Maines or Carrie Underwood. Though Bekka has a plenty interesting career just as she is.

I have to say the snapshots we got of the band members track to me. Chris being lovely and generous about her music, commending Bekka on her judgment in avoiding Stevie songs, and Stevie being rude and jealous of anyone who got even a sliver of “her” spotlight. I was a little surprised about the Mick/John sniping but they are like brothers and were drinking so….

Mick strikes me as someone who is so personally charming and able to bring people together that his lapses into selfishness are forgiven by those around him. The way he fired Bekka was awful. And it’s exactly what he did when Lindsey left/was fired — he won’t be the bad guy so he blames the person who left and drags them. Stevie is just like Mick too — she has spent a lifetime charming people into doing stuff for her and putting them down mercilessly when she’s finished using them.

Also the benefit of hindsight shows that, despite the emotional drivel they sold in the promotion of it, The Dance was a management driven money grab like The Classic shows were and like the last tour with Campbell/Finn was. In some ways, the Time band was the last time they weren’t doing it only for the money.

Thats for sure. Its always fascinating that even Lindsey came around to these cash grab tours since he always held his ground for doing something different or against the grain vs embracing every drop of the commercial aspect touring.
Part of me admires Mick for continuing on with the band. Lindsey, Chris, and Stevie did not want to join so he found other ways go to on. He looks back out of legacy and thinks it was wrong i.e. to sit around and wait for a reunion and big bucks. But in 1993 and 1994 there was no chance a reunion was in the mix. Stevie almost quit the business because of her flop album and comments on her weight. So at the time, I can see why Mick wanted to "play on."
Ironically, the Dance money machine is what facilitated Mick and his firing of Lindsey. The big money machine counts more than anything.

I think the thing to remember with Lindsey is that he’s not a purist really. He helped shape the commercial Mac sound and was happy to play those songs and make money from touring. In a way, I think his ideal FM would be one where he worked with SN and CM on their songs and then had his own songs on studio albums with them. Basically like Tusk, and then they would do live shows that would rely mostly on their hits.

The thing that was harder for him to accept was not having any new studio product and then just playing a mostly oldies set. But even that he tolerated for almost 15 years between SYW and the EP (and LB/CM), because he did enjoy playing the hits in front of big crowds and making big bucks. And he seems to have accepted that the FM part of things wouldn’t include new studio albums by the time they put out LB/CM, but by then Stevie was probably already of a mind to push him out.

And THAT'S her legacy for the band that kept her from being a waitress for the rest of her life. Firing the reason she was pathetically included into the band. And us not having a swan song from the band.

I'd 1000 times rather hang out with Bekka than the old goat.

I won’t forget being VERY angry when the rest of the band kept putting off releasing new music in order to wait for Stevie, who chose instead to serve herself with another tour. Worse: she showed no interest beyond the tour of making new music with them. I was pissed because, for a while there, it looked like whatever news music the four had made was shelved away indefinitely. That’s when I crossed over from ironic tolerance to active resentment. When the album finally surfaced and it was as good as the die-hards hoped, then we had to listen to Stevie fans say they felt, without her, the music was boring and, more bizarre, that the project was disrespectful to Stevie. Then came Show Them the Way….

God, talk about ignorance. It's like following Trump camp. Just delusion in every aspect.

Perfect analogy. Her fans do follow her in exactly the same fashion. Blind idol worship.

I think somewhere buried in an old thread a few years ago I referred to her as the Donald Trump of Fleetwood Mac. There’s a lot of similarities and I’m not at all referring to anything to do with either of their politics.

She didn’t understand their premise of course.

I don’t get the narrative that Bekka was keeping Stevie’s music alive while she got well, as if Stevie didn’t release a solo album and do a tour in 1994.

Anyway, she only did one Stevie song, compared to four of Christine’s, so she was really keeping Christine’s music alive.

I think they consider the “Love Shines” band an official lineup. They recorded and released music and played one live set at the Super Bowl (Rick wasn’t a member of the band at that point and was just a guest).

I’ve always got a kick out of that statement, which sounds like a PR talking point given to her by management. There was nothing in the “premise” of the collaborative duet album that was complicated or inscrutable. But saying it is “makes it so.” Meanwhile, ten great new songs...

Ten great new songs that weren’t diluted by three or four barely tolerable at best songs.

No Game of Pretend to deal with! :wavey: