Will Fleetwood Mac be listened in 100 years?

[Villavic]

Ok, nobody knows how human kind will be in 2019 (even if there still "is" a human kind on earth).. but just let's play.

Who will be still listened in 2109? Fleetwood Mac? Beatles? Rolling Stones? Madonna, Michael Jackson, Pink Floyd? Queen? Sting?

Ok I'm talking about rock, pop, R&B, etc.. Of course Beethoven, Mozart and Verdi could still be well known. But I know many of our current rock/pop icons will be completely forgotten, even though information is more accesible by everyday each day.

I guess some Beatles and Rolling Stones songs will be still known and listened by alive human beings, at least in the western hemisphere. Madonna.. I don't know. Fleetwood Mac.. humm.. maybe Dreams? (not saying is the best song, but I guess it was and will be the most popular/played ever)

or all rock and pop music from the 20th century will be archived in old trunks?

[LukeA]

Originally Posted by Villavic

Fleetwood Mac.. humm.. maybe Dreams? (not saying is the best song, but I guess it was and will be the most popular/played ever)

I feel that Go Your Own Way will have far more staying power going towards the future than Dreams. It's consistently held in much higher regard when it comes to various publications' lists of "top songs", so you can argue that history (at least from a collective consensus) has already weighed in on that.

I like Dreams, don't get me wrong- I just think that way too much importance is given to the fact that it charted at #1. The top 40 chart (then and now) is nebulous at best.

[RoseGarden]

Intresting thought. 100 years is a long time! We know that Elvis will always be popular.
I think that maybe the Mac will be listened to because they are still rocking in their 60's and they had such a history of tough relationships with each other. That drama holds a fascination.

Also, having Bill Clinton requesting to have a specific band play "his" song is something that would be seen in history books. Maybe that there would be enough for a student to look up who FM were and listen and think----Wow, this is some really good music here.

[becca]

There is a lot of Elvis (the middle period you might call it) I just won't listen to, mostly movie junk. It's probably good if some things are forgotten.

As for Fleetwood Mac I think all the Peter Green stuff, especially once Danny was involved and the Chess sessions, is timeless in quality and production. I think some of the '70s and especially '80s stuff will sound increasingly dated but I wouldn't say it will disappear either. I think the later things Mick has been involved in outside of FM like The Visitor and the new blues recordings is a bit more timeless. I have to say that I think Stevie's Bella Donna has aged much better than Christine's 1984 solo (and I'm more a Christine person) or Tusk and Mirage. I can only hope lots more people would discover some of the gems on the albums from Kiln House through Heroes Are Hard To Find but they probabaly won't. Dave Walker's Derelict stands up along with Danny's stuff and Jeremy's Together One. Bob Welch's songs are sometimes a little over-produced but necessarily so. Pretty much every track Christine did with FM up to Tusk is quality, and some from Mirage. Ditto for Stevie except her Tusk and Mirage material holds up just as well. Lindsey's tracks are just too self-consciously overproduced in my opinion despite being a fantastic guitarist and singer, I would change my mind in a second if you could just have 'unplugged' less elaborate renditions. It just seemed at times he slathered on so many layers and effects and it's too bad. He did the same to many of Chris' tracks that would be great otherwise. He was most heavy-handed on his own stuff though. Him and Bob together in the same group might have been a recipe for it to have gotten even further out there.

I'm being really long-winded here but as I say the Peter Green stuff will live on the longest I think because he was probably the best British blues guitarist and his peak was with FM. Thank God they didn't have the over dub-capacities back then and you can hear these amazing perfomances without all kinds of extra stuff going on or being added (aside from Danny's equally stunning accompaniment on some).

What do we have to listen to from 1909 really? So maybe 100 years is a bit hard to figure. Look at what we listen to from 1936 (Mills Brothers, Ink Spots, Robert Johnson, Ethel Waters, Ma Rainey, Django Reinhardt, Bing Crosby, Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers) and what we don't (Rudy Valee, Paul Whiteman -excepting Bix Beiderbecke-, lord knows how many pre Bing type crooners, Al Jolson, all those white dixieland Jazz combos, and any other precise overly cleaned-up sort of thing, not sure people listen to Leadbelly recordings either, they dated fairly quickly as well so that by the '50s they were more Mitch Miller/Weavers material than Bukka White or John Coltrane).

[daniellaaarisen]

This is depressing to think about, because I'm sure that the Mac listeners in that time will be few and far between.

I think there will be some songs that many will recognize-- namely "Go Your Own Way" and "Edge of Seventeen", if we're incorporating solo albums. Maybe "Stand Back" but I don't know. It's scary to think, though, that they'll eventually disappear.

[vivfox]

Originally Posted by Villavic

Ok, nobody knows how human kind will be in 2019 (even if there still "is" a human kind on earth).. but just let's play.
Who will be still listened in 2019? Fleetwood Mac? Beatles? Rolling Stones? Madonna, Michael Jackson, Pink Floyd? Queen? Sting?

Ten years from now in 2019 I believe ALL these groups will still be listened to. One Hundred years from now, in 2109, who knows.

[David]

Originally Posted by Villavic

Who will be still listened in 2109? Fleetwood Mac? Beatles? Rolling Stones? Madonna, Michael Jackson, Pink Floyd? Queen? Sting?

It's really hard to say about the big popsters because we have no precedent. I personally think most of them will be swamped in the Mire of the Glut of Art. One hundred years from now will have brought so many hundreds of thousands more pop songs & pop stars that the ancient ones will be completely forgotten.

Who here now can name or even remember all the popsters on the hit parade from, say, 1961? Not even fifty years ago.

Ok I'm talking about rock, pop, R&B, etc.. Of course Beethoven, Mozart and Verdi could still be well known.

They show no signs of slowing.

[becca]

Originally Posted by David

Who here now can name or even remember all the popsters on the hit parade from, say, 1961? Not even fifty years ago.

1961 was a particularly dire year though with lots of similar crooner guys named Bobby or Frankie. Probably the best things were some of the more instrumental based groups (Ventures, Pirates, Shadows, Hurricanes). The rock & roll almost died during that time but for them! There were also some good girl groups turning up and not totally eclipsed by the twist and other craze dances, and 'folk' neared it's commercial peak for what that's worth. Mostly a forgettable year pop music-wise, but 1959 you still had some major hits by real rock artists.

[chriskisn]

Well 42 years ago I doubt Peter Green and the boys thought that people would still be listening to the band today.

[Enchanted_Stevi]

I think in a 100 years people will still be listening to Fleetwood Mac. People get a hold of older music from their parents most of the time. Thats how *I* got into Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks. Every older person I talk to always says "Thats my time.." But I wouldnt be a fan if it wasnt for my mom playing "The Dance" over and over. So as long as there are fans like us that keep playing FMac and SNicks songs around the younger generation hopefully they will get into them as well and carry along them within the years.

My friend Katie loooooved Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin..and thats WAY before her time, but her mom got her into that kind of stuff as well. I think music is TIMELESS

[trackaghost]

Originally Posted by LukeA

I feel that Go Your Own Way will have far more staying power going towards the future than Dreams. It's consistently held in much higher regard when it comes to various publications' lists of "top songs", so you can argue that history (at least from a collective consensus) has already weighed in on that.

On last.fm Go Your Own Way is consistently the most played song.

Originally Posted by David

It's really hard to say about the big popsters because we have no precedent. I personally think most of them will be swamped in the Mire of the Glut of Art. One hundred years from now will have brought so many hundreds of thousands more pop songs & pop stars that the ancient ones will be completely forgotten.

Absolutely. We have no way of telling and in a 100 years time there will be so much rock and pop history that I imagine only a few will have any kind of staying power and music will no doubt keep evolving in interesting ways. I realise some people discovered the band through their parents but, in terms of non-classical, popular music, do they listen to what their great, great grandparents listen to? Very few do. It's hard to judge with Fleetwood Mac because they are still around and performing music. The test will be when they and their peers are long dead if their music will still strike a chord, so to speak.