Poor Family Man
 

I've noticed that Family Man seems to get quite a lot of hate in the Fleetwood Mac fan community. Why? I think it's one of the best songs on Tango in the Night. The remixes are pretty good as well, especially the Extended Guitar Remix that features Stevie warbling on and off at the end. Any other fans?

I think it's the context. Family Man became a modest hit in Europe and that's what baffles people. If it just minded it's own business staying a little filler album track, people wouldn't give it nearly so much thought.

Personally I don't really dislike it, but it's a pretty weak Lindsey offering, especially lyrically, and almost borders on self-parody. When you look at songs like Family Man, you can really understand why the band was seriously low on cool-points by the end of the 80s.

I agree its an under-appreciated little song. It has always reminded me of a Spanish holiday I had around that time. It was never one of my absolute favorites from the album but its always a welcome surprise when it pops up on the radio. TITN- a much under-appreciated album in general!

For me, what makes me dislike Family Man are (1) the cartoonish, godawful vocal effect on the repeated words "a family man" in the chorus; (2) lyrics that feel meaningless ("I fall down/I get up," "mother, father, brother," etc.); and (3) too much repetition in the lyrics ("I am what I am" ad nauseum). I do like the Spanish-sounding guitar and the general rhythm, and I feel like those things could have been the basis of a pretty good song if he'd thought up some decent lyrics and then laid off the silly vocal effects. Just my two cents.

Also, it doesn't help that it follows "Little Lies," the best song on the album.

I have always loved the song.

Yeah, and so was "Oh Diane"...another Buckingham stinker of a "song". :shrug:

"Family Man", I like :nod: (yeah, the lyrics suck, but when I like the instrument tracks, the lyrics are disposable)

"Oh Diane" ?? ****-can worthy. :cool:

I always liked Oh Diane. I think if there was little bit of Stevie in the background vocals it would have been much better.

Well, for different reasons, I would agree that it doesn't help Fleetwood Mac or the world to have Family Man follow Little Lies.

Michele

I was thinking of Oh Diane too when I posted :laugh:. I think they hold similar places in the minds of fandom.

Both are almost so-bad-it's-good affairs, to me.

Do people really think of Oh Diane and Family Man in the same vein? I'd never really considered that. For me Oh Diane is one of several songs from Mirage that I must admit I feel a little embarrassed by whenever somebody else is listening to it. I've never felt that with Family Man. I've always considered it to be just an okay song- not a great one but fairly inoffensive/pleasant to listen to (with the added personal link to memories of a good holiday).

By the way, I'd always considered the cartoonish repetition of the words 'Family Man' to have been voiced by Mick. Reflecting on the song now I think they were probably Lindsey's own voice processed in the same sort of way as the vocals on Big Love....never thought about it until now.

They're both different kinds of cheesy, but, IMO, and I think in the opinion of many, they're both basically fairly insignificant filler songs which get a "Whyyyyy are you a single? Stop this!" response, by and large. Every listener has different kinds of "cheesy" that they are more or less averse to, and might prefer one song over the other for that reason, but the cheese-factor is pretty darn high for both songs.

The lyrics are somewhat non-nonsensical and off-beat. I think a lot of 1960s and 1970s band were starting to get a little low on cool points by the end of the 1980s purely because they were seen as dinosaurs by a lot of younger people.

I've noticed that Tango in the Night seems to quite a bit of hate from some people, mainly those who see it as nothing more than a rubbish, throwaway 1980s pop album.

The vocal effect on the "family man" part is one of my favorite parts of the song, I always have to sing along to it in a really deep voice, ha-ha. I agree about the guitar, it’s why I like the Extended Guitar Mix so much, you can hear a lot more of the guitar at the end.

I actually haven't noticed this sentiment at all. The only negative attitudes I see towards Tango are those coming from fans who clearly have difficulty accepting the fact that Stevie is (by far) the clear weakest link on that album.

Mostly though, I have a very important OT question.

Who is that in your avatar? His facial expression is mesmerising and possibly the best thing I've seen today.

Each to their own- different tastes. Family Man has never struck me as cheesy. Of Tango in the Night I'd only really consider You and I Part 2 to be a bit cheesy (I always imagine it should be on the soundtrack to a kids film). By comparison, Oh Diane and a clutch of other Mirage songs are (for me) a complete cheese board.

I can't believe that 'Oh Diane' reached #9 here in the UK and was the 88th best selling single of 1983. :shrug: That song for me is just boring and very poor for Fleetwood Mac and I think the only people that bought it were people who were either called Diane or knew someone who was!!! :laugh:

For me, I think that 'Gypsy' should've been a massive hit but it wasn't, only in the US sadly. We Brits have never actually gone wild for any singles written and sung by Stevie. Surprisingly her highest charting lead vocal single here was her own and not with FM with 'Rooms on Fire' which peaked at #16 thanks to the overwhelming reception to 'Tango in the Night' which top 10 singles were either Lindsey's or Christine's.

Personally, I think that 'Family Man' is a very weak song but it is a very typical single choice of the 80's and helped to drag out the success of TITN peaking at a respectable #54 here at the start of 1988 which is good considering that it was the fourth single to be released from the album. :o

I like music from the fifties and sixties and I found Oh Diane a nice throwback to those eras. It's not a favorite of mine, but I don't mind it at all.

Michele

I've come across a fair few comments from people who think that Tango in the Night is a rubbish pop album that brings shame to the original Fleetwood Mac. I've replied to a few of them, explaining that it's simply an album of its time. I don't get why people give FM a hard time over TITN, a lot of other 1960s and 1970s bands and singers released albums with a more poppy sound in the 1980s, it was the fashion.


This has always confused me. I know the Rumours incarnation of the band haven’t accumulated a lot of top 10 singles in the UK overall, but Stevie hasn’t had a single top 10 hit in the UK, whereas Christine has had two (though she did have to wait till TITN to achieve them) and Lindsey has had three. Dreams was the highest charting single in the UK from Rumours, but I wonder why Sara, Gypsy and Seven Wonders didn't chart higher. It just shows you that chart positions aren’t the be-all and end-all.

Precisely. My favourite songs (to name only a few good examples) are 'Gypsy' (US#12/UK#46), 'Sisters of The Moon' (US#86), 'Seven Wonders' (US#19/UK#56), and 'Rhiannon' (US#11/UK#46).

These are my favourite singles which aren't considered the more successful hits. I've always wondered why 'Rhiannon' was always considered such a 'hit' when it only reached #11 in the US? This is why it's in my list. It was their second top 20 after 'Over My Head' and 'Say You Love Me' also reached #11 only a couple of months later, so what's all the fuss about?

I think a lot of the fuss is because Fleetwood Mac had never had a top 20 hit in the US prior to FM '75, suddenly they had three of them from one album. Plus a #11 peak on the chart was pretty decent back then, quite a few other classic rock tracks also never made the top 10 (Life in the Fast Lane, Barracuda). I think a lot of classic songs have become so ingrained in the public's consciousness over the years that I don't think people really care that some of them didn't peak as high they might assume they did, it's not important. Rhiannon has been a staple on radio for decades whereas some songs that charted higher around the same time probably aren't as remembered or as widely played nowadays. It's cool that Stevie has some of the most loved Fleetwood Mac songs despite hardly any of them charting very high outside of the US.

Family Man
 

I always thought "Family Man" has the potential to be fantastic as a live acoustic solo piece. I personally would keep the Spanish sounding guitar parts and massively re-work the rest to bring it into the 21st Century. I thought that would make a good replacement for NGBA (LB solo or FM tours), although that will never happen. Die hard fans always hope for deep cuts or re-worked songs in concert (e.g., "Say You Love Me" from The Dance), but the band seems content to just cash it in and give the casual fans what they expect. They might as well just play the entire Rumours album in concert and fill in the rest of the concert with the White album hits.

Same here. I'm at peace with Oh Diane, a little blip of a song. It has a simple Buddy Holly quality to it. And Family Man is one of those songs that can be forgiven as a product of its time. It's enjoyable and interesting to listen to to, but I don't expect too much from it.

"Oh Diane" always reminded me of a Chris Isaak song, its appeal is very retro and I'm cool with it. Not a stunning piece of song craft, obviously, but I think it's cute enough.

"Family Man" I'm very meh about though, although I do really like the guitar part. It's just that that's kind of it (oh and yes the rhythm). I'm also just not a huge 80s person outside of things like punk/new wave.

[QUOTE=chiliD;1133761]Yeah, and so was "Oh Diane"...another Buckingham stinker of a "song". :shrug:

"Family Man", I like :nod: (yeah, the lyrics suck, but when I like the instrument tracks, the lyrics are disposable)

"Oh Diane" ?? ****-can worthy. :cool:[/QUOTE

Here's the link to a very rare LIP SYNC Fleetwood Mac performance of "Oh Diane". I always thought it odd, because The Mac were just NEVER a lip synching band. I guess they just showed up at the Top of the Pops studios and said, "Hey, we're lip syncing our hit "Oh Diane" today. It's also amusing to watch Stevie attempt to lip sync harmony vocals to a song that doesn't even sound like she sang on it. Alas, Stevie does a wonderful job and looks stunning as ever, shaking her tambourine and stalking the stage. You go, girl! By the way, who is "Diane"?

Fleetwood Mac with the British hit, "Oh Diane".;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txA4jXCXun0

Top of The Pops is a lip sync show. Everyone who appears on it lip syncs (including Stevie in 1989), it's just what they're set up for. You lip sync or you don't go in the show, and at that time the exposure was too immense to pass up.

I always thought Oh Diane was more of a nod to Neil Sedaka. I'd never thought of Chris Isaak. He was quite cool at one stage in the late 80's. Perhaps Oh Diane was ahead of its time. Perhaps its a really cool song after all.


I'd always assumed it was a 'live' Top of the Pops studio performance (I never payed much attention to it). When you look closely you see they are actually playing on a big screen in the studio (ie, they weren't actually in the studio).
I think it was either a specially recorded promo performance (to sell it in Europe) or a 'live' feed from the states.

I am familiar with Top of the Pops requiring all acts to lip sync, just as its American counterpart "Solid Gold" required lip sync performances. It was just odd to see Fleetwood Mac agree to this. You're right, the exposure from the show may have been partially responsible for "Oh Diane" becoming somewhat of a hit single in the UK.

I have heard Stevie says that she HATES to lip sync. As a matter of fact, she was perhaps THE ONLY act in the history of the U.S. television show "Solid Gold" to refuse to lip sync. Her two performances from that show feature her LIVE vocals with the band performing to a track.

Thus, her Top of the Pops performance of "Rooms on Fire" is very interesting.

Lindsey Buckingham is hands down the worst lip-syncher I have ever seen. Pretty funny in a music industry that demands its "artists" be much better at lip-synching than they are at actually singing, since they do it so often.

Yes, like Oh Carol.

Michele

She wasn't. Deborah Harry sang live on that show twice. I can't recall any other examples though. Makes you wonder how they determine who does and who doesn't.

I'm not a huge TINT fan. It's my least favourite of the Rumours line up and I prefer BTM overall, but not because it's a "throwaway 1980's pop album".

My problem with Tango is that it has some amazing songs in it, but all the band members sound so distant from eachother. It sounds like solo songs shoved together and branded "Fleetwood Mac", which is afterall how the album started out.

There are some brilliant songs - "Big Love" and "Seven Wonders" are brilliant and "Isn't It Midnight" is Christine's finest moment. But overall, it doesn't work and it has more stinkers on it than any other album of that era (You & I, When I See You Again, Mystified).

"Family Man" is ok. I agree with the comments about the cheesey cartoon vocal and the crappy lyrics, but musically, it's great.

"Oh Diane" is an appalling abortion of a song, both musically and lyrically. That songs takes the title, for me, of worst Fleetwood Mac song ever.

I'm in agreement with the bafflement that both were hits in the UK (although Family Man only made it to #54).

His other half's not so crash hot herself; might help for your mouth to be NEAR the mic, Stevie :laugh:

http://33.media.tumblr.com/ccbcc8e07...8si8o1_250.gif

http://38.media.tumblr.com/0cc4ca667...8si8o4_250.gif

http://31.media.tumblr.com/b1d956500...8si8o3_250.gif

Even the Little Lies video I thought to myself, "What line is he singing?"

^^^ This. It looks like he's chewing when he's singing. The Big Love video's another one. He's as into singing the song convincingly as he was "We Are the World" in the very short video clips of him in the background.

I think Lindsey is an amazing songwriter but Family Man is one of the worst things he's ever written. Yuck.

I do like the song. Not within the bests of Tango but a cool song. I also like Welcome to the Room, anothe hated song

This bit always makes me laugh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyE4CLM0QIA&t=0m46s

What's going on with his lips?

I think it's their most beautifully produced track between the time of Gypsy and Love Minus Zero.

And it's my co-worker's favorite alltime Lindsey track. I think it actually speaks to people.

It is what it is
It is what it is
A Family Man


The song doesn't bother me at all; just not the best or worst. Pretty amazing that was a single! The Spanish guitar flourishes are very cool.

Come on 'The WILDheart'...
You & 1 pt 2: bit cheesy but an alright sort of song. I can see why people may not rate it.
When I See You Again: I quite like it but again, I can understand why most people don't.
Mystified: a stinker? no, no, no, no. Its a great little Christine/Lindsey collaboration and I'd happily see more of that on the upcoming album. I love the guitar parts on it in particular. Goodness me, I even had it on a shortlist for the first dance at my wedding at one stage.

I can't see past Empire State as the biggest stinker.

the best part of the song!

almost makes up for the
"IyamwhatIyam
amwhatIyam
amwhatIyam" :D