5th Single from Rumours
 

I believe it was Ken Caillat who said that the goal was to make every song on Rumours a potential single. For the most part, they accomplished that. Four US top ten singles emerged from the album, and several other received substantial airplay. Back in 1977, only songs that were released as singles were eligible for the Hot 100, although this has since changed. With the current chart rules, any song is capable of reaching the Hot 100, and we've seen instances where every song from an album has charted. If these current rules were applied back in 1977, it's very possible that we could have seen nearly every song on ''Rumours'' hit the Billboard Hot 100, but alas, that was not the case.

The album's fourth single, "You Make Loving Fun", reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100, so it was within the realm of possibility for another song to reach the top 40, if not higher. As such, I am asking you to play the role of record executive and select the fifth single from Rumours.

I’m torn- for me, I can’t decide between Second Hand News, the Chain, and I Don’t Want to Know. SHN is insanely catchy, and a nice bookend to Go Your Own Way, the first single. The Chain is practically the unofficial 5th single anyway, it seems like. Also, John and Mick would have gotten more money, as it’s the only song all 5 are credited on. I have a personal reason for considering I Don’t Want to Know as a 5th single- if it had been released as a single, then maybe it would have been performed live by the band on occasion. Every other song on Rumours was performed live.

Since I can’t narrow it down to one song, I have to abstain from voting. Maybe after some more thought, I’ll make a decision. I’m curious to see what other folks vote for.

I would say Second Hand News or I Dont Want To Know. The other songs are good rock staples but not as radio friendly as these two. I dont want to know is easy to sing along with like Dont Stop. So I voted for I Dont Want To Know.
I suppose the band wanted off the charts while they were working on the follow up and not milk it to death. It would have been weird for Rumours to blend into Tusk. I admire that. Gold Dust Woman and The Chain were and are still rock station regulars still today.

Yes, they’d started work on what would be Tusk, but at the same time they were still touring Rumours for long after YMLF was released. I mean, if you release an additional single, what are you losing??

I've always had a soft spot in my heart for IDWK. It's the very first guitar solo I ever learned.

IDWTK is the song that got me hooked to this group but The Chain is a hit and the best song on that album.

I looked on Spotify and "The Chain" is Fleetwood Mac's second most played song with over 930 million plays as of September 3, 2023. The other Rumours songs are ranked at follows in terms of plays: "Dreams" (#1), "Go Your Own Way" (#3), "Don't Stop" (#8), and "Never Going Back Again (#10), "You Make Loving Fun" (#11), "Gold Dust Woman" (#13), "Songbird" (#14), "Second Hand News" (#15), "I Don't Want to Know" (#20), and "Oh Daddy" (#27). "Silver Springs" wasn't included on the original album, but it ranks at #18, placing it ahead of two songs, which happen to be the only tracks that were not included on The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac.

While this information is useful in determining which songs would be suitable singles now, it's important to note that songs like "The Chain" have only gained in popularity in relatively recent years. A live version of "The Chain" peaked at #30 on the Mainstream Rock charts in 1997, and the studio version has performed well on various US and UK charts from 2009 onward.

Despite all of this, I ultimately went with "Second Hand News". From the Fleetwood Mac and Rumours album, seven singles were released in the US. Four were from McVie ("Over My Head", "Say You Love Me", "Don't Stop", and "You Make Loving Fun", two were from Nicks ("Rhiannon and "Dreams", and one was from Buckingham ("Go Your Own Way". Having another upbeat single from Buckingham would sightly balance that uneven distribution. "The Chain" was my second choice and "I Don't Want to Know" was my third choice.

Another good question would be why a 4th single was not released from the White Album.
Warm Ways released in the UK did not chart
Over My Head hit #20
Rhiannon #11
Say You Love Me #11

The album hit #1 and was ripe for another single. The album was on a roll. I would have released Landslide or Monday Morning

"Warm Ways" was an unusual choice for a single. "Say You Love Me" is what I would have selected as the first single, but this sequence clearly worked out for them. A single remix for "Blue Letter" was created, but it was used as the B-side for "Warm Ways", which strangely did not receive a single remix of its own.

Similar to you, I would have also selected "Landslide" or "Monday Morning" as the fourth US single, although it should be mentioned that "Monday Morning" was already used as the B-side for "Say You Love Me".

The clear choice for an imagined 5th single from "Rumours" is Second Hand News. Of the songs left, it is the most radio friendly.

In 1977, it was rare for one album to have four singles released to radio. Albums with 5 singles were almost nonexistent.

Had it been released to radio, I think Second Hand News would have undoubtedly charted in the Billboard Top 10.

I agree. Unlike the Rumours album, which exploded upon its release, The White Album built momentum slowly over a year. By the time Say You Love Me was released, the album was on fire. Releasing Monday Morning as a 4th single would have guaranteed a Top 10 hit.

I can only imagine that Warners had already focused its sights on Rumours.

"Say You Love Me" was still on the charts during the first week of November 1976, although just barely. "Go Your Own Way" was released in December 1976 and entered the charts on January 8, 1977. The band couldn't really fit another single within that timeframe unless they wanted two of their songs competing against one another, which could have oversaturated the radio with even more Fleetwood Mac songs. While people on The Ledge would view this as a wonderful development, it's entirely possible that the general public would experience Fleetwood Mac fatigue and grow to resent their overexposure.

“Second Hand News” is an obvious choice. It’s just as good as the four singles. But at the time, a fifth single might have seemed like overkill. As it was, all of the non-singles from the album were already getting a lot of airplay on FM rock radio stations. I remember hearing every one of them (maybe with the possible exception was “Songbird”) at various times in the years following the album’s release. That was not the case for most of Tusk or Mirage or Tango.

As much as it underwhelms me, “Monday Morning” would have made a fine fifth single from the white album.

I'm having a blond moment... what was the 4th single from White(hopefully not counting Warm Ways from England)?
Rhiannon
SYLM
Over My Head
?

Now this makes the poll a hard one. As a fan I would choose NGBA or The Chain, but as a record executive, looking for a radio friendly, or most of all, a sales hit, a top ten, probably I'd choose Second Hand News or I don't wanna know.

I chose IDWK.

It did get performed on the Buckingham Nicks Tour!

In the UK, the fourth single from the White album was "Say You Love Me". Only three were released in the US: "Over My Head", "Rhiannon", and "Say You Love Me".

Yes strange while an album is #1 to stop releasing singles from it. It was another time back then. Its almost like the album was such a success they called it a day and planned on going back to the studio.
Not sure this would happen today. But these would make great questions for the record company. Since the album was on the charts for a year maybe they feared Fleetwood Mac burn out from radio stations? There were no videos or MTV back then so just releasing a single would seem rather easy.
In any event, are there other bands with hugely successful albums that stopped releasing singles while the album and singles were hot?

I only remembered the three being released.

So I was right.... I'm used to that. :D

The only song that got zero radio play from Rumours was Oh Daddy. Every other song I recall hearing on the radio. I Don’t Want to Know is the song that got me hooked….and I heard on a Philly radio station in 1977.

When did Say You Love Me hit its peak? It was realeased in June ‘76…..but did it hit the charts straight away? Go Your Own Way was released in December, so there’s a big enough gap for an additional single. And it’s not as if the Fleetwood Mac album hit the heights of Rumours so there’s plenty of passive or non-fans who didn’t buy the album who would have bought a single. But if SYLM reached #11 long after its release then I can understand them wanting to just jump straight to the material on the next album. And I’m sure they’d have been excited by the prospect of the Rumours singles chances, no matter what they might say now.

Could you make a Madonna comparison here? Her first album had 4 singles. The first 2 singles were minor hits but the second 2 both landed in the top 10. The last single Borderline hit its peak in the summer of 1984. Her next studio Album Like A Virgin was being prepped for release. Her first album took an unexpected turn and started to chart major hit singles. The record company stopped releasing from her debut album to give breathing from for Like A Virgin that was being released in a few more months. From a fan's perspective this may not make sense. But the record company probably does not want to hurt the next album. You know you are very successful when this sort of thing happens.

Thriller had 7 singles. Bad had 8 singles (I guess 9 in UK). Rumours could have far more than 4 singles.

Yes but the albums were 5 years apart. The Fleetwood Mac scenario had them start working on the next album when their previous album was still on the charts. The 80s were a different time too. Michael Jackson was a phenomenon which fueled album sales and single success. MTV 30 minute videos, clothes, dolls, merchandise. It was all marketing towards the phenomenon. No way Lindsey or the rest of the band would have wanted to become that.

"Say You Love Me"entered the charts at #74 on July 4, 1976. It reached its peak of #11 on September 18, 1976 on its twelfth week on the chart and remained there for three consecutive weeks. It was still in the top 40 on October 22, 1976, but quickly plummeted soon after, with its final week on the chart being November 6th.

Thanks for the info.
So it was riding high at the start of october. They’re prepping for the support of their new album with a single being readied for imminent release. Probably no opportunity or need for a further release from Fleetwood Mac album at that stage.

I WAS counting Warm Ways. I thought it was released in UK and US.

As much as I love THE QUEEN of FM, WW sounds so dated. I love playing keys along with it, but I require a Sugar Daddy infusion when I return from my WW coma.

Please don't hate me, but I can't help but ask... after reading who is THE QUEEN of FM.. then... then... THE GODDESS is Stevie Nicks? :laugh: :lol: :D

I believe you misspelled GOAT.

I think that’s exactly what Warner Bros. was trying to avoid. Billboard ran a lot of business articles about Mac that year and the next and included a bunch of quotes from both label guys and radio guys. They were all trying to avoid “saturating the market.” The talk was that “Second Hand News” was going to be a fifth single. But in the seventies, I guess four singles from a single-disc studio album was just about the max. I don’t think even the Beatles ever released five singles. (Hotel California only had three official singles.) Plus, in Mac’s case — and I can vouch for this in Southern CA radio markets — all the singles were still in pretty heavy rotation for two years, so the suits may have felt that there was no business need to push a fifth, which would involve marketing and sales expense. An album that spends 31 weeks at no. 1 is sui generis — it’s raking in millions without having to spend any more money on it. So why spend? Why buy display ads? Why pay radio stations to play what they’re already playing? Why manufacture another 45?

I was just playing WW on my Casio over the weekend, messing around with various tempos. A user created a Pianet patch for uploading to my Casio model, so I use that with a dose of tremolo. We do have that little bit of WW in rehearsal from early in 1975, but it seems the band may not have actually played it out live. It does sound dated, but it’s a well-crafted little ditty. With certain pop songs, you can tell immediately that they were composed by a piano player (walking bass lines, seconds and ninths, pretty little inverted chords, etc.), and WW is one of them. It’s a Christine specialty that comes straight out of the piano world to start her song on a dominant or subdominant rather than on the root, as she does here (and most famously starts her first verse vocal on the seventh). In WW, the first chord (aside from the intro) is dominant, which doesn’t resolve to the root for two bars. Lindsey on his guitar just wouldn’t do that (but watch someone find an exception right now).

I think composing on a guitar gives you a wider array of rhythms and textures, but a keyboard expands your options for chord structure and even modulation within the song. You can make unconventional choices and assimilate them into the song more smoothly than on a guitar.

Remember that Rumours was late. I think Warner was still expecting to be able to release the new album by the end of the year at that point. So they may have thought, why push a new single from last year’s album when we’re about to push the first single from the new album? I bet they were expecting they could release “Go Your Own Way” in October or November.

Ha haaa... I didn't see that coming.

Different time. Different industry practices. Rumours had four singles, Hotel California had three singles, Dark Side of the Moon had one big US single (it’s not quite clear), the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack had four singles, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road had four singles, the Grease soundtrack had two singles, Spirits Having Flown had three singles, and so on. Several of those were two-disc sets, too. Releasing a fifth single for Rumours was just not going to happen (although it was discussed).

Michael Jackson’s incredible album Off the Wall (1979) may have been the first pop album to release five singles. You know, Michael Jackson was making his own rules and transforming the industry even before Thriller.

PSA: If you haven’t listened to Off the Wall in years, give it another spin. It is f*cking amazing, truly one of the greatest albums of all time.

I love Off the Wall!!! OTW and Thriller are my favorite MJ albums. I liked Bad but nothing compares to those two albums!

I’m listening to it right now, Villavic, and dancing in my office at work! Asian coworkers are walking by, wondering why David is trying to moonwalk.

In fairness, Prove Your Love and Come a Little Bit Closer sound just as dated. And ABBA’s Dancing Queen and Captain and Tenille’s Muskrat Love do, too. WW may reek of seventies easy listening, but it’s a clean, well-arranged song. It exists comfortably in the time and place where it emerged. But—

and I entirely agree with you—

Sugar Daddy blows it away.

Sugar Daddy is the second greatest FM song of all time.

and now... you can be my friend. :xoxo: