Other replacements besides Billy or Rick
 

I’ve made no secret of my love for Billy Burnette and Rick Vito and the Behind the Mask album- if Lindsey had to leave, they were great additions, IMO. Having said that, I thought it would be fun if we discussed other possibilities and how that might have impacted the FM legacy. So Tango in the Night came out in April of 1987 and the tour started at the very end of September. Who else could or should have been considered to replace Lindsey?

1) Bob Welch- seemed obvious, but I have no idea what FM’s relationship with Bob was like in 1987. Maybe the band would have felt like they were going backwards rather than forward?

2) Marshall Crenshaw- he has similar musical sensibilities to Lindsey, but his stage shows are incredibly simple. Might have been interesting. Too bad Lindsey and Marshall never collaborated.

3) Steve Perry- okay, no, this would never have happened, but I get chills down my spine just imagining Christine and Steve in the recording studio singing a duet. And a certain female sitting in the booth fuming, to say the least LOL.

4) George Harrison- again, never would have happened, but imagining George on a FM album is fascinating to me. He did play guitar on Leave a Light On by Belinda Carlisle, and he had to have known FM; it’s fascinating to me to imagine.

I would love to hear other ideas for replacements. This is all in good fun, but there were an awful lot of one-hit wonders in that era so there would be many folks to choose from.

Todd Sharp may have been a strong candidate. He worked on Christine and Mick's solo albums as well as with Bob Welch on Man Overboard and The Other One. Steve Ross was another connection to Mick too with The Zoo.

Following the "this would never have happened", I just thought in Don Henley. That would be fun and ironic, but interesting.

A-men
I was shocked he did not get the call. I suppose its Chris not sticking up for her peeps again. He was already playing Fleetwood Mac songs on the road just like Billy. I also think he's a better singer than Rick or Billy. Chris loved working with him and writing songs with him. Nothing against Rick but Todd should have gotten the call.

Since we are pipe dreaming of people who would have never been asked nor accepted...how about Angus Young. An AC/DC version of Rhiannon and Isn't It Midnight makes get excited.

Peter Frampton. Strong frontman, great voice, incredible guitarist, got started with the blues in England and was a contemporary of Fleetwood Mac when both were the top acts in the world. He had a big name and he had a few massive hits that wouldn’t have been out of place in the setlist.

Bruce Springsteen. I think he would've brought a harder rock sound to the band. Strong lyrics as well.

Stars might join bands. Superstars rarely do. Bruce owns his own brand. Neil and Mike don't.

Traveling Wilburys(sp) is an exception(and I'm sure there are others). :laugh::wavey:

His ongoing and worsening hand issues (he has some form of autoimmune disease) probably would have precluded him from such large tours. He would def have worked well with the Brits in the band. I know he appears in Stevie's Red Rocks video, but don't know much about how well they know each other in reality. But he doesn't have the ego that demands he be the star, he likes just being a player.

He lives in Nashville, and I have several friends that have met him, and say that he's so down to earth, and has very little ego. A very nice guy.

Exactly. Bruce was bigger than the Mac at that time. You are exactly right. Bruce is a brand and sound. It would make no sense. Sammy Hagar was an excellent replacement for Roth. He played guitar, could sing better than Dave, wrote songs, etc. He was a C list rock performer before Van Halen. That rating is not by talent but by commercial success prior to Van Halen.

But he would have been... THE BOSS!!!:laugh:

I’m loving these suggestions! Here are a few more:

1) Lou Gramm, from Foreigner. I think he played guitar as well.

2) Rick Astley- he would have brought some much needed youth to the band. Plus he’d never let FM down, or run around and desert them! They could have been together forever!

3) John Mellencamp

4) John Cafferty- from the Beaver Brown Band. He even slightly resembled Rick Vito.

5) Corey Hart- FM had England and America represented, so why not Canada as well?

Sorry for being silly- the only one on this list I was serious about was Lou gramm, and he would have had no reason to jump from Foreigner to Fleetwood Mac.

I’m familiar with their names, but not so much with their work. Did Todd Sharp and Steve Ross sing? Steve Ross was fun to watch in Lindsey’s video for Trouble.

Fleetwood Mac Comes Alive!

Frampton would have been an interesting choice, and I think it’s realistic that he would have been offered the job AND that he might have taken if.

That’s actually one pairing I would never want to see- AC/DC and FM. Angus Young kind of creeps me out. But if Celine Dion could record an AC/DC song, I suppose FM could, too.

I think Bruce has been bigger than The Mac since Born In the USA.
Bruce's sound to me is mostly Roy Bittan (I love Clarence and Max but they have had substitutes who did great) and Roy shared that sound with Stevie.
I still think FM could have made great music. As you know, Bruce offered one of his songs to Stevie but Stevie wanted to change the chorus.

Todd Sharp and Steve Ross would be the most obvious choices, but I'll throw in three other contenders

1) Nick Lowe
2) Todd Rundgren
3) Steve Winwood (he actually played a private show with the Rumours lineup minus Buckingham in 1996)

Crenshaw would have been a great choice.

HUH?!? He wrote "I Can't Drive 55" and the speed limit was raised to 65 within a year or two! The song and video were nearly impossible to escape.

Did...Did you just Rickroll The Ledge?

Mike Campbell suggested Steve Winwood but the others shot that down.

“They just looked at me like, ‘Um, what did he say?’ Mick said, ‘I think that'll tip the scales a little too far.’ … I think they wanted somebody that wasn't already that strong of a voice that would maybe pull away from the Fleetwood Mac legacy too much.”

Again, going back to 1987, is why Peter Frampton, who really only had three hits with any kind of staying power, would have been the perfect choice. He had a big enough name that would have gotten a lot of buzz but wasn't so big that it would overshadow Fleetwood Mac. That "Frampton Comes Alive" sort of danced with "Fleetwood Mac" and "Rumours" on the charts would have made that material integrate into the setlist a little easier.

Still, Billy and Rick are to be commended for getting the tour to opening night in six weeks.

He had a few rock hits and had a good/average career. He was always the opening act for someone. No shame just the facts.

You are joking the speed limit was raised because of him. Surely you can't be serious. I always heard the speed limit was raised because Little Lies stalled on the charts at #1 while Billy Idol leaped frogged to #1. Many angry fans put the medal to the pedal.


Peter Framptom was a solo guy. He would not want to be confined to a group after being a solo guy most of his career and for the superstardom he once had. That is why Rick and Billy fit. They were not washed up former stars. Why would Framptom give up his music to play along to Say You Love Me? I think not. Many would not even want to join for trying to fill Lindsey's shoes and constantly being compared to Lindsey. Add the fact the new members were not creative forces in the band. They were not asked to record a song and make an album. They were just hired to perform on stage. One last point, the Mac would never hire someone like that to overshadow their own band. Framptom Mac? No one would have considered such a move.

Wow I never knew this! What are the details? What did they play? What brought this to be? So many questions!

I just know he collaborated in Christine's 1984 album. But yes, I just found this:

Winwood featured on two tracks on Christine McVie's self-titled 1984 album duetting with her on One in a Million and co-writing Ask Anybody as well as playing synthesiser on this and many other of the album's tracks.

He played a gig with the Rumours line-up of Fleetwood Mac in place of Lindsey Buckingham in 1996 at a private party prior to that year's Kentucky Derby. Ironically his former Traffic colleague Dave Mason had left the band only the year before.

https://fleetwoodmac.fandom.com/wiki/Steve_Winwood

But when it says "Rumours lineup" it didn't included Billy? Time was released in 1995. The Dance in 1997. I didn't know of any live performance with Stevie or Chris before The Dance.

Lots of boring choices and lots of outlandish choices. But for truly boring and outlandish, how about Bob Mould (Husker Du), Paul Weller, the Williams Brothers, John Hiatt, or Wendy O. Williams.

The only way Fleetwood Mac could survive without Buckingham would have been to entirely reinvent their front line and “go small.” They wanted big $, they were chasing Rumours II, they needed…a Hologram but it wasn’t invented.

In 1987, Winwood or Frampton would have made good choices, though neither would have been able approximate Lindsey or sell TANGO.

If we’re just thinking post-tango Nick Lowe could have inspired Christine to write more more songs like “So Excited.” Can’t imagine his songs or approach blending with Stevie.

Bob Welch floated the idea of rejoining to Mick but the suggestion came and went without comment (see one of Welch’s Q&As).

I’m not a Sammy Hagar fan — at all. But of all the choices presented, he would have fit best with Stevie and been able to give testosterone-fueled renditions of the few Lindsey songs used. And he could have sung “World Turning.” But man, that scenario totally depresses me.

Lindsey is Lindsey. And by 1986 the band needed (needs) him. Without them their act was pointless and dull.

Neither Billy nor Rick took the spotlight away from Christine and Stevie, who were the main draws during the Shake the Cage and BTM tours. On the contrary, a high profile replacement like Winwood or Frampton would have necessitated the inclusion of their songs into the tour setlist while also drawing attention away from Christine and Stevie, something the members of Fleetwood Mac may not have been on board with.

I am serious. And don’t call me “Shirley.”

“I Can’t Drive 55” came out in mid-1984, and then…

“ The [National Maximum Speed Limit] was modified in 1987 and 1988 to allow up to 65 mph (105 km/h) limits on certain limited-access rural roads. Congress repealed the NMSL in 1995, fully returning speed limit-setting authority to the individual states.”

He was a founding member of Humble Pie with Steve Marriott, who split up Small Faces to form when the others wouldn’t let him in the band.

This actually bit Marriott in the ass when the Jimmy Page was looking for a new singer for New Yardbirds. Instead, Page had to settle on a Steve Marriott clone named Robert Plant.

LOL, he was acting as David Bowie’s lead guitarist on his 1987 tour. Ironically, they were in Anaheim around the day Lindsey quit. He totally would have done it.

And yet they put Dave Mason in the band.

You know, his rhythm section were Robert Pollard’s rhythm section, first.

A few years back, my fiancée and I were at Riot Fest on the GbV guest list in Chicago. I bumped into the bassist, Jason Narducy, who is an acquaintance, on our way to the band-crew catering area. We chatted for a few and then he had to start getting ready for their set. Anyway, after getting a couple of beers, we went to this table and I said that I think I wanted to see Bob Mould. Just as I say that, Bob Mould walked by and I said “And there he is.”

My fiancée was in tears.

Why did it take from 1982 - 1986 for the band to start making Tango? Was this gap the 3-4 years Stevie liked to have to do her solo work? She did 2 albums, 2 tours, and I think some soundtrack appearances in that time (as well as going to Australia with Dylan)

Winwood, yes. Frampton, no. Winwood had a lot of hits and classic rock staples and was still actively writing big hit songs.

Frampton only had three memorable hits and his star had long faded. He could do his three hit songs (just like they played I Got You, DDIO, and Free Fallin’), Oh Well, GYOW, and maybe a Peter Green blues number. Considering he was playing as a sideman in David Bowie’s band when Lindsey left, I doubt he was at any risk of overshadowing Stevie or Christine, aside from not being a barely known.

Billy and Rick didn’t exactly, either.

Sammy was in Van Halen, which was a way bigger band at the time. Furthermore, he’d been in Montrose and Van Halen. How many last name bands that aren’t his can one guy be in?

I love you Steve. Please never leave this place. You are one of my favorites.

Really, Rick and Billy were excellent choices, and you’re 100% right that neither one of them would take the spotlight away from Christine or Stevie, yet they would still be able to hold their own, as it were.

I see Frampton as more of a rocker than Winwood, but either one of them would have been interesting paired with FM. Considering Stevie did two solo songs on the 1987-1988 tour, and Billy did his dad’s song Tear It Up, I think FM would have been ok if Frampton or Winwood had played a few of their solo hits.

I think Billy and Rick were good choices too. Don't forget Stevie did Don't Let Me Down Again on the Tango tour as well.

Billy did Tear It Up on BTM Tour so that was after he had done the tour promoting Tango and made an album, BTM, as a member of FM.

It's interesting that Axl Rose toured with ACDC as their lead singer while they were promoting their Rock or Bust album and ACDC did not do any GNR songs in the set. So perhaps that could've been the same for FM with Winwood and Frampton.

Axel was replacing Brian Johnson who could not tour because of hearing loss issues. It would be insulting for Axel to put Guns and Roses songs in the set. Even if Axel suggested one, I am sure the guys at AC DC said no.
Brian was not fired nor did he quit so this scenario is not a fair analogy. If my memory is correct Axel volunteered himself. If Stevie ever cannot tour anymore, I will gladly volunteer myself. I can play the cowbell off beat better than her.

Insulting to play a GNR song in the ACDC set?

I don't see why it's not fair. I think if Slash were filling in for Angus I'd agree with you (not on insulting), but replacing a lead singer is different, in my opinion. It was the last leg of the tour, Brian wasn't returning.

I agree with what they did anyway. Keep it an AC/DC set. It's cute that Axl was singing the new songs promoting their new album.

We will just have to agree to disagree ;)
If anything, I feel the opposite and Slash playing for AC DC would open the door more for a Guns and Roses song since he is the instrument to make it happen.
But it is insulting to AC DC fans. They paid for a ticket for AC DC. Even the arrogant Axel Rose knew it would be too much and not go over right for him to self promote and do a Guns and Roses song. He kept it about AC DC which is what it was supposed to be. But like I said the AC DC example is bad because they did not fire their vocalist and he did not quit either. It was a desperate time and the band wanted to keep going with the tour. Axel volunteered to do it and the band played on.
If you have the honor of standing in for a legend vocalist in a band, you dont do your own material. Its not about you.

Even though Axl has always seemed to be a crazy POS, he seemed to know how to do the right thing this time. Old Goat could take a lesson.

Thanks! The more I think about it, the more I like the idea. He was/is very underrated. You’re My Favorite Waste of Time and Someday, Someway are very catchy songs, and I can’t believe they weren’t bigger hits.