Christine McVie Documentary 1984
 

Finally converted this documentary from an old VHS tape I’ve had lingering in my collection.

Part One
https://youtu.be/kHBkAJPUfV8

Part Two
https://youtu.be/VvDdeoUmvsA

Fun!

Thanks for posting. This saves me from ever trying to find my VHS copy. I had forgotten about the photo shoot on top of the mountain with the piano. How cool. That was shot in Switzerland? Today a photo like that would be photoshopped. This was the real deal red scarf and all.

I think... Maybe SteveMac, Homer, or David can back me up. That was shot in England (the album cover). My mind can't reach back and remember. :(

Thank you so much for posting this!! I watched it every time MTV played it. My parents had to pull me away.

The shot was taken in Switzerland, if I recall.

This was great to re-watch. Billy the mailroom guy was cute :)

Thanks, Doug! Magnifico!

You don’t still have the Visitor movie, do you? It was all before Peter Gabriel sang with Youssou N’Dour and Papa Wemba. Who knew Mick Fleetwood would be a pathbreaker for world music and rock? (Well, I forgot about “Biko,” released in 1980.)

Mick set up unions for the participants—and he paid them. A few years later when Paul Simon recorded Graceland the press criticized him for exploiting the indigenous musicians. By comparison, Mick’s project was more ethical and had more heart. Surprise!

I don’t but eBay does

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mick-Fleetw...-/114459660373

Whose got the Lasedisc player?

Thanks for reminding me of The Visitor David. George Hawkins does an awesome job on this tune:

https://youtu.be/hWSYTRtZwhw

Now I must dig out the vinyl...

Actually this is a videodisc and requires a special player different from laserdisc player. I don't remember this being released on laserdisc but it may have been. Does seem like it should be on VHS though. Thanks for the links above.

What's the difference in video disk and laser disk?

I believe the whole reason it got made in the first place was that it was a new format that RCA was pushing, and they needed programming for it. So Mick was the best thing they could find? :lol:

I wonder how many copies it sold? 50?

And on the Christine one, I'm embarrassed to say that I've never seen it. :o

I have the 1984 concert on DVD, but that's it.

Videodiscs had the video disc stored within a plastic container that the player removed and laserdisc in more like a record in a cardboard sleeve that you would put in the player yourself.

I believe your correct that RCA helped finance Mick's project and that's why it was probably exclusive to the videodisc format. I'm sure someone must have a rip of it though.

Someone should put the bug in Mick's ear that he could make money off it's re-release in the digital format and he would get it out. It could be sold along side Biddy's bloomers as a deluxe package deal.

This clip is pretty fun. Amazing how far technology has come.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f62Hk_tNssg

Thanks.

I DO remember that it was made because RCA needed material for the format. I remember going to a video store in high school where they had it, but I don't think I knew anyone that owned a player. That's where I bought Mirage on BETAMAX!:D

I really doubt that more than maybe 500 die hard fans would purchase it, so it probably wouldn't be worth the production costs.

Most of her album was recorded in Switzerland. I vaguely recall a magazine interview in music magazine right as the album was being released and her jetting around Switzerland. I would have loved to have seen the footage of them actually bringing the piano to the top of the mountain. Also, who's idea was this, etc
Details details details please. The name of the studio is called Mountain Studios. I cant even imagine the view from the recording studio. It could have been a simple task of just moving the piano outside and not up the mountain which makes sense ;)
You know seeing the album cover today you would think it was photoshopped. Really crazy
I love how the red scarf also shows up in the Got A Hold On Me video.

Queen did lots of recording at this studio and today its turned into a Freddie Mercury shrine since it was the last place he recorded.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo_muOb1XxM

This is right. I also remember reading that towards the end of the sessions, Christine "went off on her own" and finished writing "Smile I Live For." Thank god she did that! One of my wishes for this album was that it had a couple other acoustic piano-driven songs.

Another recording story: Steve Winwood visited the studio when the core McVie-Sharp co-writes had been recorded. He not only co-wrote "Ask Anybody" but was asked if he wanted to sing on one of the tunes. He jumped at the chance to sing "One in a Million" which, as the documentary shows, was originally sung in total by Christine.

I love how she was in touch with Lindsey, Mick and John! Playing songs over the phone. (Cost me a fortune) haha.

I watched the rest of this docu last night. What wonderful memories it brought back up.

And, "Have a drink on me."

Awesome. Thank you.
Todd Sharp should have got the Fleetwood Mac gig in '87. He'd have been so much of a better fit.

God, that's so true! He was fantastic live!

I have always said the same thing after watching Todd live. He was asked this very question on a meet and greet segment. He said, NO, he was never asked. But he teased that he would have wanted it so bad.
I get the Billy addition since he played with Mick and Chris but Todd was an intense friend of Chris and she only agreed to do a solo record if he would be part of it. I always wondered if someone thought Billy was not good enough and they also needed a studio lead guitarist. Rick is really good but Todd no doubt had an inside track like Billy. Always wanted to know the truth on that. Gosh, he would have added so much energy to the band.

He liked to sweat, solo, jam, and find a groove. perfect for MacVie and company.

While part 1 is still up, it appears that WMG has blocked Part 2 due to copyright reasons. Is there any other way to access part 2?

Rick was a Peter Green disciple, he was especially visible in that moment from the Bob Seeger “Shakedown” video (the song was a #1 hit in the summer of 1987), and Christine seemed professionally underwhelmed by her solo experience.

That said, I think Fleetwood Mac made a mistake. Todd would have been fine letting Billy be the sole male lead and I don’t think Todd would have quit the band.

I smell what you are cooking.
I can't even remember but they never auditioned any of them? Billy already knew many Mac tunes from playing with Chris. Todd also knew them. I love all 3 of them. But I will go out on a limb and if I had to pick it would be Todd and Rick.
Sorry Billy. I just prefer the style of the other two. Both Billy and Todd have country flares that I don't care for.
I always wondered why Billy was not on Chris's tour. He must have had other obligations. He was at many of Chris's album promotions and even Solid Gold but he was not on the tour. But I will agree with Lindsey's mild criticism of his replacements. The band should have went in another direction and punched it up instead of trying to duplicate him. There was no replacing Lindsey. It sort of would have been like Lindsey trying to duplicate Bob Welch. They sometimes and rarely went out on a limb but it should have been a much starker new band. It was a tad bit bluesy and a tad rock which sounded great. We got really good band with 2 guitarists. We should have got a band blowing people out of their seats. Trying to recreate former Mac magic was not going to happen and they ended up with a flop album during a time music was changing.

The thing to keep in mind is that they were 55 days away from opening night. They knew Billy knew the songs inside and out and sounded good with Christine and Stevie. Mick knew Rick knew Peter Green’s songs really well. With everything else they had to do in such a short time, they needed to have players who could hit the ground running.

I'd like to see Part 2, as well!

Wasn't the story that Billy was going to join the group regardless going into the Tango tour? Maybe I misheard. He was a logical choice to join the band considering he worked with Christine, Stevie, Mick and even Lindsey prior to being asked.

He would have been an additional guitarist, like Neale Heywood. However, I don’t think Billy had been formally asked. I think they were just getting to that phase, but Lindsey did want a second guitarist for the tour.

Yes, almost like it was gonna be forced on Lindsey. They had said in a few articles that they were gonna hire someone, (formally or not formally) I don't remember.

It was Lindsey’s idea. Lindsey had a grandiose vision for the tour which really came to fruition on his 1993 tour.

The entire video can now be viewed here:

https://archive.org/details/full-chr...84-documentary

Thank you! :blob2:

The article I remember reading... was from Mick. Something about, we were going to get another guitarist anyway. I didn't know it was LB's idea, but that makes sense. The article was after LB quit.

boy that brings back memories! thanks for sharing!:xoxo:

I don't know if I misunderstand this. Did you mean the 1987 tour? Or which one? Cause I've read he didn't want to go on the road after recording Tango. Then he was convinced to do it for few weeks, and then he announced he was leaving the band. I don't think he was excited with great ideas for a tour that he didn't want to be on.

1987 tour. Mick made a comment that they were gonna have 2 guitarists anyway. They did have Ray Lindsey during previous tours. But, I think this felt more official.

This idea that two guitarists were needed specifically to replace Lindsey in 1987 (or 2018) has got out of hand. Fleetwood Mac only ever needed one superb guitarist at a time, no matter which configuration. There were times they had two (Peter and Danny, for example). But they only ever needed one.

In 1987, for the tour, Billy just didn’t have the chops for lead guitarist for Fleetwood Mac, so Rick was hired. Billy was part of the team because of his songwriting and singing — he was a much better songwriter than Rick, and he was a great lead and harmony singer. So Mac became a six-piece. Same thing happened in 2018: Neil wasn’t in Mike Campbell’s class as a lead guitarist. Mike was world class. They were both good songwriters, but Neil probably had the edge in that department. So the band was back to being a six-piece*.

*You can’t count the hired hands in the back line as band members. Mac had hired hands when they played out live going back to the Bob Welch days. They don’t count as members.

Agree with all this. Also add that Mike doesn't really sing either. So they needed another vocalist.

all of which supports that the band always DID need two people to replace Lindsey in order to cover ALL the skills he brought to the lineup. Sure, you can find another guitar player who has the same or even better chops, but can that guy sing and harmonize as well? Sure, you can find a male singer who can sing well ( and can also do so in Lindsey's higher register on his songs), AND who can harmonize so beautifully with Stevie and Christine, but is that guy also a virtuoso lead guitarist? Each time the band found it not possible to find ONE person who met both sets of criteria. So sure there are guitarists who could replace him and there are singers who could replace him, but his role in the band has been to be BOTH of those things in the same package......and that makes him much more of a unicorn... which the band discovered as they tried to find all his talents in just ONE other person who could take his place.

So yeah, maybe they didn't need two GUITARISTS to replace him and play his parts, but they have consistently needed two PEOPLE to cover all his roles in the band-- lead guitarist AND lead singer AND harmony singer. And we haven't even discussed his role as a songwriter, nor his role as arranger/producer.

So it does take two people to replace him, in the real world....which both of you actually have made the case for.

Makes sense in th 1987 episode. In 2018, they didn't need a songwriter/arranger/producer.

I guess there were lot of lead guitarists and lead singers. But they (Mick) were looking for famous guys. This greatly reduced the chances of finding one with both roles (although not impossible).