25th Anniversary of The Dance
 

Today marks the 25th anniversary of the recording of The Dance. Coming home from work late one night in the summer of 97 and flipping on MTV and happening upon an airing of this concert was the beginning of my FM obsession. I think a lot of people my age (I was a teenager at the time) became fans in the same way. I've seen them many times live since then and considered myself a huge fan until everything fell apart.

I will say it's almost unfathomable that in those 25 years we only got one more full album from them and even Christine was mostly missing from that. 14 year old me wouldn't have ever believed that at the time. What a waste of talent... but alas I think I'll pull out my old DVD and give it a listen tonight. Hopefully I can enjoy it without getting too upset or angry about what could have or should have been.

I always felt a little badly about the fans who came in much later than some of us old timers about the paucity of their recorded output . I became a fan in the mid 1970s at the height of their fame and creativity and was a huge Nicks fan as well . Imagine getting Bella Donna ,Mirage and The Wild Heart in less than a 23 month span. Along with other FM member solo albums. It almost doesn't seem real now looking back.

25 years? Yeesh.
 

Seems like yesterday sometimes.

Anyway, watch til the end to see an alternative version of The Chain!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZIH2tkx-gY

We got two full albums ;)

None of how it played out was a huge surprise for me, which is why I wished at the time that Mick and John had just stuck with Bekka & Billy. I get it. The "Rumours" band is where the money is and is what people generally associate with the name Fleetwood Mac. (In retrospect, it's not like Bekka did anything with her career beyond being a backing singer and songwriter after Bekka & Billy, which is disappointing.)

Christine leaving? She'd already retired from the road at the end of 1990 and her "Time" songs made it obvious she was leaving the band. I was more surprised that she did The Dance than I was her retiring, but she went out on top, which she deserved (although I suspect it was the final nail in the coffin for her marriage).

The output we got from the band was only slightly less than what I thought we'd get, which was three albums. Two albums and an EP wasn't too far off the mark. Lindsey's extremely low productivity didn't inspire confidence. Now, that it's Stevie who's been holding things up is the actual thing that's surprised me.

I remember one day flicking past the channels and saw on Entertainment Tonight the band got back together again WITH Lindsey OMG. Stevie was interviewed how she no longer wanted to stay angry at these people. I recorded the concert from MTV and played it a million times. At the time I was not aware how unhappy Chris was but you could see it in her face. She was not thrilled but always put the band ahead of herself. I bought the cassette (remember those). I waited in line for tickets and they had a lottery for the first 50 people and I had a winning ticket. Even then my seats were not great. Every show sold out and the Dance was #1. I was a bit disappointed in the concert though. I think because I played the concert so many times from the TV. It was the same set with exactly the same banter. I also was not thrilled with Stand Back, Go Insane and Not That Funny. They could have played 4 more classic Mac songs. I just found the music so rehearsed and had none of that spontaneous and loud arena rock. I love Lindsey and he is superior to Rick and Billy but I thought the Farewell concert in 1990 was more entertaining. I always felt guilty feeling that way. The highlight was hearing Tango songs like Big Love and Everywhere with Lindsey. However that was all we got. No Little Lies. No Isn't It Midnight, Seven Wonders, etc. But the impact of the Dance should not be overlooked. Stevie's solo career had tanked and she pretty much gave up. The year after the Dance she released Enchanted and was playing to full houses again.

Interesting! I loved the tour setlist but only that I think Sara and Over My Head should've been in it.

It's amazing that they managed to get new songs done, but Eagles did four new songs for Hell Freezes Over in 1994. I wonder if there was talk about doing a full album of new FM songs before they started the tour in September 1997.

Hold Me, Sisters of the Moon, Love In Store, Little Lies, Sara, Think About Me, Eyes of the World, I Know I'm Not Wrong, Isn't It Midnight
Let me count the ways........

The crazy thing about that is one of the songs was written by Jim Capaldi. In 1994, he was part of his own reunion tour with Traffic, which wasn’t a success. Noticeably absent from the Traffic reunion was Dave Mason, who was in Fleetwood Mac.

I take it you would've like them to not have done the 4 new songs?
Eyes of the World was done the first night of the tour but was swapped for Second Hand News

I feel pretty confident that FM didn’t even consider doing a full album before the tour. I think we forget, in 1996, Fleetwood Mac was in limbo. The MTV Special was just that- a recorded concert over 2 nights edited into one concert special. FM had been nominated but shut out of the RRHOF twice, and the Time cd and lineup went out with a whimper. Then the concerts occurred, and generated a lot of buzz. So much so that a cd was planned to be released to coincide with the concert. When that concert finally aired on MTV to huge ratings, that was when the tour was set up, and the rest is history. FM owes their resurgence to MTV airing that concert, as well as VH1 for also airing it for several months after. But I don’t think anyone, including FM, thought the Dance would be as successful as it was, and they struck while the iron was hot.

Not at all. I loved the new 3 songs. I just wish they dug a little deeper instead of the 2 solo songs and the long NTF. I was not picky. I loved every minute of it. Just looking back and looking for a wow factor. Lindsey back was HUGE and hearing Second Hand News again was probably the highlight. It was the sign Fleetwood Mac was back.

Please remind me why it's not four new songs... was one of Lindsey's heard before The Dance?

Was reuniting the Rumours lineup Carl Stubner's idea?
Stevie left in 1990 to do solo work only and Rick left the band after BTM to join Stevie, right?

Hell Freezes Over was the template for The Dance. All things Fleetwood Mac were in the crapper by the mid 1990s .Time ,just 2 studio albums after a worldwide 15 million selling blockbuster completely tanked. It was almost like the wilderness years in reverse except any of those albums did better than Time. They copied the Eagle's successful formula and it worked.

Absolutely. They completely copied the Eagles reunion success. FM was totally in the crapper then, and they saw that the Eagles were killing it again.

"Let's pretend that Time never happened".

It's not like OOTC and Street Angel did anything, either. The only difference is they promoted those albums.

The last tour date from the Burnette/Bramlett/Mason lineup was Sept. 1, 1995. "Time" was released on Oct. 10, 1995. The only other show they performed was a corporate gig on Nov. 15, 1995. No videos, no tour, only scant radio play with "I Do." Not that it would have done much better, but it was DOA.

Lindsey and Fleetwood Mac didn't have viable options without each other. That's why Lindsey asked Mick to work on his "solo" album.

Stevie had enough success as a solo artist that all she had to do was lose weight, stop smoking, and get a massive makeover and have an all-star "comeback" special. However, it wouldn't have been nearly as robust as the bump she got from the Fleetwood Mac reunion.