This is so silly. I am not going to engage this nonsense anymore. Yes bwboy, he did not say "tank" but said it would not have been a hit. Being a single that is not a hit from a popular album is the definition of the word tank? No? You are playing word games.

Steve makes ridiculous assumptions that somehow Lindsey leaving spiked Tango sales. NOPE. Seven wonders tanked so bad in the UK after Big Love that and it did not chart well in the US greatly. Sales slowed in both countries. Having the biggest hit chart from the album would naturally spike album sales, no? Especially in the UK since Seven Wonders did not chart AT ALL. This has to do with the merit of the song, not a conspiracy theory about everyone conspiring to make a song a big hit because a band member left. Little Lies stands on its own. To say otherwise is complete nonsense and I wont comment on this insanity anymore.

On another note, go back and play your albums from the late 80s. Where is your favorite Stevie song Talk To Me? First track side 2. Where is Stand Back? First track side 2.

With Steve's logic, Sometimes Its A Bitch should have been a smash. The most visible and lead singer of Fleetwood Mac quit the band in anger while releasing it as a single ;)

Gulp! I probably shouldn’t point out that Steve actually said that Little Lies wouldn’t have been a top 5 hit, not a hit in general. I don’t mean to play word games, but I think sometimes in your attempt to make your point, you unintentionally misstate what someone else has said, that’s all. I’ve done the same thing myself, in fact most people have. Or we just have differing opinions; for example, I agree Seven Wonders underperformed, but in no way would I say it tanked. Family Man, now that’s a single that tanked. One single made it to the top 20, the other made it to the top 70. Anyway, not a big deal and I certainly don’t mean to tick you off, honest.

Y'all are silly AF. Get a room. Or two.

Oh Daddy is a beautiful song. Thoughts?

They should've had Billy and Rick in the Little Lies video.

Yes it underperformed in the US but tanked in the UK where Tango was a big seller. If you agree that it underperformed then why would you buy into the conspiracy that the best pop song from the album would revive the album both in the UK and the States. I find it insulting of all the songs in the world anyone would conjure up conspiracies to promote the most radio friendly single song in the world. Steve's argument is Lindsey's departure somehow spiked album sales and made Little Lies a "hit." If you go back to the original thread of years ago, that is what he said which is why over the years its a running joke on this board. Warner even did an expensive video for the song when Lindsey was in the band knowing it would be the smash that it was.

Big Love
#5 USA
#9 UK

Seven Wonders
#19 USA
#56 UK (tanked)

Little Lies - Finally Chris releases her pop song greatness and the album rebounds
#4 USA
#5 UK

No, I didn’t. I said it likely wouldn’t have been a top five hit. “Everywhere” wasn’t a top five hit and it’s a great, radio-friendly pop song, too.

It spiked interest in the band in general.

But, again, the single was released during a moment of intense interest in the band because of its internal drama, which the video fed into.

“Behind the Mask?”

“Play in the Rain (Continued)?”

There wasn’t popular interest in Stevie by that point.

Fleetwood Mac was promoting moderately successful album that had already had a top 5 single when the guy who sang said song quit the band. Less than two weeks after his departure was announced, “Little Lies” and its video were released.

But we’re somehow supposed to believe that had zero bearing on the song’s success?

Two weeks after Lindsey’s departure was announced.

There’s no conspiracy, that’s how it actually played out.

Lindsey quit on August 6, his departure was announced on August 18, “Little Lies” and its video were released on August 31, and the new lineup debuted on September 30.

In the video, during the first verse, “Close my, close my, close my eyes” is four shots of Lindsey walking. During the second verse, “Close your, close your, close your eyes” is shots of John, Christine, Mick, and Stevie walking, followed by a closeup of Lindsey on “No more broken hearts” and Lindsey walking away on “We’re better off apart.”

How anyone could completely dismiss any of that is baffling.

Umm, I don’t think Lindsey’s departure had really much, if anything, to do with the song’s success. I vividly remember the release of “Little Lies” (which certain radio stations were buzzing about BEFORE it was released as a single). It hit and it hit big—and the biggest fans of it were people largely unfamiliar with the band since the 80s. The song had mass crossover appeal and excited everyone. As a huge FM fan at that time (and of course before and since) I saw the song as a last hurrah of the now-broken chain. But my love for it was firmly in place when I first got the album.

In many ways, Little Lies is the Say You Love Me of the 80s. A huge hit that was the last in a line of hits. Like SYLM, it features every member of the band doing what they do best. An ensemble piece. Both songs are clever, wry, bouncy numbers that open the “second side” of their respective albums.

Which was something they played up, at least in the video. It was the backdrop to the song’s release as a single.

See, I thought they were redirecting people, getting them hooked on the chemistry of the Rumours five to buy tickets for the tour. They were hoping no one would think too hard about Lindsey being gone…

I definitely think the 75, 77, and 87 albums reached a certain bestseller threshold on account of the sheer quantity of timeless radio hits those albums contained (ie separate to the narrative context), although obviously the narrative aspects further propelled them (most obviously Rumours) into the overshoot/outlier category.

Mirage and Tusk had their hits but not in the quantity of those other three albums.

Two hits is like "Oh, that's nice," but three or more is like "I should just buy that whole album."

Albums with 3 or more big radio hits
White album: SYLM, Rhiannon, OMH
Rumours: Dreams, GYOW, YMLF, Don't Stop
Tango: Little Lies, Big Love, Seven Wonders

Albums with 2 big radio hits
Tusk: Tusk, Sara
Mirage: Hold Me, Gypsy (and in some countries, Oh Diane)

I think we have a winner! Tell them what they've won!! :woohoo:

Everywhere is a huge hit on Tango too.

In my heart and mind, Think About Me was also a hit!