Stevie's choreography
 

I was reading the article where Ann Wilson of Heart stated in the 1980s the record company sent over Paula Abdul to teach the band and especially the sisters choreography. Ann said it would not work and thought performing should not be a "rehearsed act." The Mac never was a rehearsed act. Even Stevie would be very different night after night.
However, she is the only member that got caught doing horrific and cheezy choreography in her RAL videos. She and her back up sings and brother do some very bad choreographed dancing in both Talk To Me and I Can't Wait. Being that Stevie could barely get through talking and promoting MTV's one night stand and I want my MTV, I bet these basic steps were amateur hour. But she still went through with them. The worst part was during I Can't Wait and her weird hand dance. I imagine someone walked her through these steps. Its all very cringe IMHO. I was 15 and at the peak of my worship and when I saw Stevie doing these second grade talent show square dances with half gloves on I cringed like crazy. Ann and Nancy Wilson knew better :lol:
I would pay money to hear anyone who was on the set that had to teach them these steps. Stevie really got sucked into this plastic 80s world and surrendered her authenticity.
Anyway, here is the article I was referencing.
https://people.com/ann-wilson-paula-...moves-11729290

I know this was not Stevie’s best years as we look back…….but at the time, she was Rockin it in my opinion as she was heading towards her sober years. I loved her Talk to me and I can’t wait videos… hilarious. If you listen to her commentary on the Crystal Vision set she laughs it off. Not the best chapter but one I totally enjoyed And so very happy she survived it.

Those were the days

Since she really struggled with lip syncing her own songs I imagine these steps were equally hard. She is a free range chicken on stage. To confine her with other people to be in sync with steps must of been like herding cats. If you notice they play the clips of them dancing in I Cant Wait in reverse to sort of extend the dancing :eek: She also looks uncomfortable during the hand dance ;)

I’m not a big fan of Stevie’s solo work apart from Bella Donna,
Which I love
The choreography in these videos is childish to say the least.
As if a group of 6 year olds had put it together.,

But she looks fabulous, absolutely fabulous….wasted or not she looks amazing.

Me neither, but I do like several singles. And I've never been interested in going to a Stevie concert, but in early 2000s I was invited to an Oracle sw conference, which I couldn't attend due to complications in the work schedule. But I learned Stevie gave a short show with Mick in the last night party. Destiny prevented me from seeing them.

Anyway my favorite solo videos are Stop Draggin' and If Anyone Falls.

The close up shots on Talk To Me she looks great. But everything else was filmed far away to not see her face. The first Talk To Me set was dismantled because she did not show up because she was "sick." When she finally got her act together to show up they had to throw the set together which looks very skimpy for a video in the peak of MTV. The video was so late that the song was already in the top 20 when it debuted on MTV. To have a stunt double of her in the video is sort of cringe :eek:
I think I Can't Wait is the only video of hers where she looks high. I think she even commented she was high in all her videos but during I Can't Wait she revealed it because I think its the most obvious. Don't even get me started on Mick's slick shoe moves :eek:
I think Stand Back and Rooms on Fire are her best videos. Stand Back was racing up the charts at the same time Flashdance was a huge movie. Those dancers were so Flashdance it was perfect timing. That block glass window wall is so 80s I love it. Every time I see a shower wall made from block glass I want to recreate the Stand Back video. Walking on the tread mill was so cheezy but it worked wonderfully.

Did you know that Lita Ford's Kiss Me Deadly video was inspired by Stand Back. Lita said her inspiration was to mock the Stand Back video. But I think there is a little I Cant Wait inspiration too because the fans are blowing her hair like crazy. Instead of block glass there is block ice ;)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIt3OGra3Lo

The two music videos to promote "Rock a Little" are horrendous.

As previously stated, it took forever to get the video for "Talk To Me" released.
With a new album dropping, it was customary to have the video for the first single released several weeks before the album as a promotion tool. The single was all over the radio, but I remember thinking, "Where is the video?".

I watched the world premier of the video for "Talk to Me" on MTV. The song was already falling back down the charts as the video was being released.
Terrible promotion tactics, as usual.

The videos were definitely lower budget than her Wild Heart ones. I would not call it bad promotion but no promotion. She was kept away from interviews and promoting the album. In a MTV book released several years ago MTV would edit or not air interviews with her to not embarrass her. Poison got to record their debut album in a studio she rented but never showed up. Instead of promoting her album she was a tag along on Heart's tour in December 1985 through Arizona and California. Then she went to Australia with Tom Petty. Her management forced her to rehab to save her life and career which she retaliated against them. Its sort of a miracle they got 2 videos out during these years. Its crazy to think she was scheduled to do a concert video recorded for Showtime and then commercially released and it was so bad it had to be edited and close up visuals layered in. That's pretty bad.
I think this is why there will never be a RAL reissue and why she does not perform much from this album in concert. It was a very bad time which she does not want to remember.
Forget about the drugs and both Stevie and Lindsey got pulled into the slick 80s look and sound. Chris may have had some 80s clothes but her solo music did not chase the synth 80s trends. She did not need to show off her boobs and do hand dances. She kept her integrity and authenticity. Stevie, Lindsey and Chris all released solo albums in the mid 80s. Only Chris's holds up IMHO.

I wouldn't criticize musicians who wanted to "evolve" and tried to avoid being labeled as dinosaurs during the 80s, the music had changed radically, but I agree those albums weren't great choices in the case of Stevie and especially Lindsey. I bought Go Insane and I think I listened it twice and I think then it was left gathering dust in the attic. I don't even remember the songs beyond the title track.

When he released OOTC, I thought Oh! he has seen the light again!

However I do like the 80s touch he applied to the Tango album.

To each their own. I understand what you are saying but when you try to be something you are not it comes off as not authentic. Stevie prided herself as a prolific writer and stated she needed a solo career for all her songs yet RAL only had 4 songs written exclusively by her. There is a reason Heart turned down dancing like Janet Jackson. Its not authentic of who they are. Stevie said herself she got mad at Tom Petty for calling her a "pop star." When the record company passes on your garbage demos and brings in professional song writers with synth programmed tracks is not something to be proud of IMHO.

I agree, Stevie looks beautiful in Talk to Me. In the clips where she’s wearing the purple/lavender dress, she resembles Heather Locklear. I love that she’s wearing different dresses besides her usual black attire, and wish she would do that now. But of course she won’t.

I don’t know, Chris looks horrible in Love Will Show Us How- her make up is like pancake batter and her shoulder pads are straight out of Dynasty. I love that the video is a parody of 1980s videos, but then it falls into the trope that it’s mocking. Christine is beautiful, so it’s actually painful to see her so made up and out of her element.

Oh yes, she usually looks great in videos. I think she looks so beautiful in As Long as You Love Me. She looks good also in Save Me and Skies, but those sleepy eyes, sure because of klonopin, make her look not so well in Rooms on Fire and specially in the Tango live video.

I agree. I always thought she looked like Boy George from The Culture Club in that Video.

Yes the make up was over done in that video. She also had some 80s jackets, etc. I was referring to she never cat danced or bought into the 80s synth sounds on her solo work. We all lived through the 80s and we had 80s hair and 80s clothes. But not all of us did dance choreography to be cool. Christine maintained control over her image. Not so sure Stevie did since she yielded to giving up on her demos and singing other people's songs and doing goofy dances. Stevie and her neon half gloves and her basic dance choreography was a bridge too far in my book. Lindsey was bad too with his high hair and laser beams coming out of his eyes.

I think the whole band looks fantastic in Little Lies, very elegant well dressed- they each have their own style in that video, but still look like they belong in the same band. When I see them in that video, the word classy comes to mind. Same thing with As Long As You Follow. While Save Me and Skies the Limit are just okay videos, again they all look great, especially Christine- she looks beautiful and FINALLY plays up to the camera in those videos, whereas before she seemed uncomfortable and maybe a little wooden. Incredible how much more beautiful she looked in the later videos than the early videos!

I just watched LWSUH again and, I won't say she looks horrible but I agree about the Boy George look. :laugh:

Actually the In The Meantime cover is where she looked most terrible, IMHO. I can't even recognize her, so artificial picture. I remember jokes in The Ledge when the album was released, saying she looked like Suzanne Somers instead of Christine.

But in the 1987-1990 videos she looked so gorgeous.

On the cover of BuckVie, I think Lindsey looks like some young, black kid. I realize no one wants to look 70, but you shouldn't take Photoshop that far.


Unless it's your downstairs. :wavey::woohoo::distress:

I'd have much preferred this as the cover:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...ration-198282/

or this:

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/e...e/15768213007/


and this is luscious: (different era, yes yes)

https://fleetwoodmac-uk.com/wp/fleet...m-mcvie-uncut/

I like the first two, and prefer the second, only because it looks FUN.

I'd choose this.

I also really like the one of them in jeans standing together in front of the Grammys backdrop (open link below, scroll down). (I also think his hair looks pretty good in the one where he's in front of the Sirius background and how he should keep it more often).
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbi...tbreaking.html

Love the headline photo in this one, and it has a ton of great pics of them on tour together and some good shots of Brett.
https://www.brooklynvegan.com/lindse...ave-known-her/


in any event, whoever chose that album cover should be slapped.

By the way, happy probable 36th birthday, The Other Side of the Mirror.

I say probable cause some sources I found it says the release date was May 11, but other says May 30.

Happy birthday to the HORRIBLE album that ruined my Stevie Nicks fandom.

That album blows goats.

No, not that one...

You are following Fleetwood Mac's twitter page. I don't know which is right but my memory tells me it was May 30 and around her birthday.
Long nets of white cloud my memory.

OSOTM is her highest charting solo album in Europe hitting #3 in some countries. It also marked the first time one of her singles released from an album failed to chart. Two Kinds of Love never made it anywhere near a chart and marked for the first time her solo career was running out of steam. Sadly because she was so tranquilized she states she cannot remember this tour. It was my least favorite. I did not care for her band and Waddy was replaced with Carlos. Her setlist was odd cutting staples like SDMHA, Leather and Lace, Talk To Me, I Cant Wait, If Anyone Falls, and Rhiannon while promoting 5 songs from the album: Rooms on Fire, Alice, Juliet, Whole Lotta Trouble, and Two Kinds of Love.
Its a miracle the album got finished and Rupert had some decent songs to work with. The demos left over from the album are hysterically bad. Dial The Number with Kenny G being one of them. Just listening to it makes me go into a klonopin hole.

No. May 11 was mentioned in a Facebook post from a fan account (that appeared yesterday withouth having asked for it), so I checked in Wikipedia and in the spanish album page it says May 11 too. But the wikipedia page in english, it says may 30. :shrug:

And yes, from several reviews in the Ledge, I undestand it's not a good album. I've never heard it. I just like Rooms on Fire. I don't like Whole Lotta Trouble. Those songs are included in Timespace and there is where I heard them the first time.

I think you should give the album a listen- side one is probably her best collection of songs in a row- Rooms on Fire, Long Way to Go, Ooh My Love, Two Kinds of Love, and Ghosts are very good songs, with Whole Lotta Trouble being the only boner. Side two is where she falters- Fire Burning, Cry Wolf, and Juliet are pretty bad, too. I can tolerate Alice, but then it picks up with Doing the Best I Can and I Still Miss Someone. This album is probably her most revealing and honest Stevie’s ever been in her songwriting. The bad is really bad, but the good songs are really really good.

I agree. It does not get much love on this board but its 100x better than RAL. I can remember listening to it on the way home from the mall when I first bought it. First thing that hit me was her voice was not fried like on RAL and she was back to writing her songs. Its such a huge step up from her previous album.
She said she picked Rupert Hine to be producer based on his interpretation of Doing The Best That I Can. Few knew what to do with that song or where to take it. I agree its a highlight of the album. She was brutally honest on this album maybe too honest. Several songs deal with her addiction to drugs.

One of the reason I loved this album so much was probably the lack of her material/voice and songs on Tango. I think some of my favorite solo songs are from TOSOTM.

You are correct. Pancake batter makeup and horrible wardrobe.

If you ask me, it's karma. :laugh:
Her homophobic remarks toward gay men as "fruits"? She would have benefitted from some gay men working on her makeup and wardrobe.

Ghosts could have been soooo much better. Mike wrote the track but her lyrics are just too repetitive because she got lazy which maybe was drug related, ego related, or something of both. It needed a good edit but you know, would you say that to Bob Dylan? :eek: :lol:

In honor of the anniversary of OSOTM here is a stripped down version of Escape From Berlin. Fantastic vocal with just the bass. I love the fact she equated ditching and running away from Betty Ford to escaping from Berlin where people were shot and murdered trying to escape. I will never forget the MTV music news update with Martha Quin announcing Stevie Nicks "is not talking to anyone since leaving Betty Ford and calling it "really dumb." Her ditching rehab early and not staying 30 days indirectly led to her tranquilizer addition. She was so pissed at being forced to go there she fired her management and centered her next solo album around this song describing what she went through. Her friends were scared that if she cant stay 30 days clean then she needs more help which led to tranquilizers. Had she toughed it out she may not have missed out on the next 7 years of her life.
Anyway this is really good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wru0qGy8mHI