For Blue Letter Archives: Chris & Stevie Item, Mademoiselle
 

How to Make It to the Top of the Music Biz
By Kathy P. Behan
Mademoiselle
May 1980

In a business where failure is the rule & success the exception, Fleetwood Mac has made its mark. After only three albums ("Fleetwood Mac," "Rumours" & "Tusk"), their sales have grossed over $20 million to date. Two vital parts of this band are the female members, Christine McVie & Stevie Nicks, songwriters & singers. Christine summarizes her group's success this way: "I don't believe that this kind of fame can be found if you hunt for it desperately. It's not a question of being good. It's a combination of timing, talent, luck, hard work & chemistry."

Christine hadn't planned on being a musician. "I came from a very musical family but was settled into the idea of becoming a teacher, even though I didn't particularly want to be one." In contrast, Stevie, even when she was in college majoring in speech/communications, wanted to be a singer & songwriter.

Both women played with a variety of unknwon bands before coming to Fleetwood Mac. Christine remembers sleeping in a van on top of speaker cabinets when one of the groups she played with was on a road tour. Stevie remembers "the days when Lindsey (Buckingham, another member of Fleetwood Mac--they were a duo for a while) & I drove from San Francisco to L.A. with 35 cents between the two of us in a broken-down Toyota, trying to get people excited about our music." She worked as a waitress by day, saving her money so she could invest it into their music, which they'd record at night. "A performer has to come up the hard route. There's no other way to do it," remarks Christine. Even through the lean years when money & hope were running thin, both women were sustained by the knowledge that they had talent. Says Stevie, "If I hadn't had this incredible faith in the fact that Lindsey & I were good, I never would have been able to put up with the poverty & the grind."

The pressure, travel & long hours are grueling, but as Christine says, "Occupational hazards. These things go along with what we are, & the parts of the business that we love." Stevie's favorite "responsibility"--performing. "I never get tired of the rush of being on stage. It's magic."

Both women feel you've got to be totally committed to your career, & know that you've got talent. Says Stevie, "You've got to have faith in your ability. If you don't, you won't have the stamina to make it through the rough times or be able to convince anyone else that you're good."

Photo of McVie & Nicks onstage performing "World Turning" on Tusk Tour

David, do you have the photo of Chris & Stevie performing "World Turning"?