Tusk singles

[MacShadowsBall]

So when they were making Tusk, did they think about what hit singles could be on the album? With a double-album you would think there would be room for more that just Tusk and Sara.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by MacShadowsBall

So when they were making Tusk, did they think about what hit singles could be on the album? With a double-album you would think there would be room for more that just Tusk and Sara.

Think About Me also was released as a single. I believe it made number 20 on the charts..

[tabruns]

Originally Posted by MacShadowsBall

So when they were making Tusk, did they think about what hit singles could be on the album? With a double-album you would think there would be room for more that just Tusk and Sara.

Well with Buckingham at least there was a determined effort NOT to be commercial. Nicks pretty much stuck to her usual recipe and IMO produced her best group of songs. McVie was normally the most commercial radio-ready writer, but not on Tusk. She had "Say You Love Me", "Over My Head" and "Warm Ways" on Fleetwood Mac, all hits/potential hits, and "Don't Stop", "You Make Lovin' Fun" and "Songbird" on Rumours. On Tusk, she had "Think About Me" - which had heavier guitar than usual on a McVie song - and that's kind of it. Maybe "Never Forget", although there is something slight about that song that makes it a great album track but probably not a single. "Brown Eyes", if edited, might have worked. "Over & Over" and "Never Make Me Cry" lack real hooks, and "Honey Hi" was a little too non-traditional to have made a single.

[drzubritsky]

Originally Posted by MacShadowsBall

So when they were making Tusk, did they think about what hit singles could be on the album? With a double-album you would think there would be room for more that just Tusk and Sara.

As indicated by the other responses, the general answer would be "no", the album wasn't crafted with hit singles in mind. There's the oft-repeated story about the initial listening session with the suits at WB and the executives watching their bonuses fly out the window.

I'm sure they must have been getting pressure from the label as well as within the band to include a few more radio-oriented tracks yet the final results demonstrate that they stayed the course, for better or worse. The only track that sounds like an obvious attempt at something commercial would be "Think About Me", but that could just as well be due to Christine's natural tendency to compose in a more conventional, pop-oriented manner. Even then, "Think About Me" was only a modest chart hit.

"Sara" is a rather curious case in that it doesn't appear to have the ingredients of a hit on the face of it (too long, unconventional no-chorus structure, cryptic lyrics). The winning factors were likely the sheer beauty of the melody, pent-up demand for a Stevie Nicks song, and that it was edited for single release.

A couple of folks mentioned "Save Me A Place" but there is absolutely no way that would have ever been considered for single release. I like SMAP quite well myself and those thick, odd-sounding harmonies can be hypnotic. But that song would have been ratings suicide for a Top 40 station in 1980.

[PenguinHead]

I was living in the Boston area when Tusk came out. Sara, Tusk and Think About Me got heavy radio air play. Also, I recall Angel being played (at a time when DJs could air what they wanted, and were not beholden to corporate dictates).

Note that Angel was a single in some European markets. Not That Funny was also a single. I have picture singles of both songs.

[Justin Reach]

Originally Posted by vivfox

I agree. There were a ton of single possibilities. The only singles were Tusk, Think About Me and Sister's of the Moon. Tusk was the only single that did well. Think About Me did receive airplay but I wouldn't consider it a hit for them and Sister's basicly bombed. I thought it was gonna be a huge hit for Stevie. Sadly I was very wrong.
Though the album sold well the industry considered it a failure when it didn't sell as many copies of Rumours.

Here in the UK we got "Not That Funny" released as the 3rd Tusk Single instead of "Think About Me", which in turn ended up as the 4th single. We didn't get "Sisters" as a single at all.

I do wonder if the album would have sold better if Sara had been the lead single instead of Tusk.

PS. I know i'm asking this in the wrong section but does anyone here have the single edit of In The Back Of My Mind? i can't seem to find it anywhere.

[GoldDustWoman22]

Originally Posted by tabruns

Its interesting that a number of people are citing "Angel" as a shoulda-been single. When I think about possible other Tusk singles I also often come back to this song...in some ways, I think it might have done better chart-wise than "Sisters of the Moon" did.

I definitely think that "Angel" would have done better had it been released in the U.S as a single. It has the upbeat tune, the Stevie Nicks vocal and an incredibly awesome bass line from John Mcvie. Don;t get me wrong SOTM is one of my favorite songs but I definitely think it's better suited to a live rocker than a single on a radio. I'm wondering though why they didn't include SOTM in the Tusk doc. If it was released as a single you would think they would want to promote it. But on the other hand they didn't do that with the other singles either. I do think that since they spent so much time on "Angel" for the Tusk doc that might have made people want to hear what the final version sounded like. Does anyone know when the doc was originally aired?

[Christopher]

Originally Posted by GoldDustWoman22

I definitely think that "Angel" would have done better had it been released in the U.S as a single. It has the upbeat tune, the Stevie Nicks vocal and an incredibly awesome bass line from John Mcvie. Don;t get me wrong SOTM is one of my favorite songs but I definitely think it's better suited to a live rocker than a single on a radio. I'm wondering though why they didn't include SOTM in the Tusk doc. If it was released as a single you would think they would want to promote it. But on the other hand they didn't do that with the other singles either. I do think that since they spent so much time on "Angel" for the Tusk doc that might have made people want to hear what the final version sounded like. Does anyone know when the doc was originally aired?

SOTM was in the Tusk doc. I haven't watched it in a while, but if memory serves me correct it's the 1st song performed "Live" opening the documentary. FM played a very respectable lively version of the song during the Tusk tour, but when Stevie kicked up the drama during the "Mirage" concert tour, she sent SOTM into infamy.

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by tabruns

Generally yeah, but it was following 8 singles that had done better (the latest 6 all having hit the Top 10), so considering that, "Think About Me" was a chart disappointment.

Ordinarily yes Christine was the most consistent hit single writer, but I think Tusk was actually something of a weak album for her. Her songs on Fleetwood Mac, Rumours, Mirage and Tango In The Night - taken as groups of songs - are all more hook-laden and radio friendly than her Tusk batch was.

I think the mayhem and strain of Rumours eventually impacted all 3 writers on the consequent albums. McVie was sub-par on Tusk, then Buckingham had a weak spell on Mirage (probably from being burned by fan and band reaction to the "failure" of Tusk), then Nicks turned in her weak set on Tango In The Night.

It's true that Christine's Tusk songs are less radio-viable than her work on the other Rumours-era albums, but I would not say her songs were sub-par. Certainly not sub-par in the way a few of Lindsey's Mirage songs and both of Stevie's Tango-penned songs are. Christine's Tusk material shows her stripped down--very simple, spare arrangements that feature her voice. Her vocals, for example on "Honey Hi" (a GREAT tune) and "Never Forget" are outstanding. "Brown Eyes" is one of her best songs. "Think About Me" cracked reach #20, and had "Never Forget" been arranged a little more forcefully, it would probably have made a strong single, too.

My only complaint about Christine's Tusk songs are that there are only six to Buckingham's nine. I wish she'd been more present in the sequencing on the first of the two LPs.

[GoldDustWoman22]

Originally Posted by Christopher

SOTM was in the Tusk doc. I haven't watched it in a while, but if memory serves me correct it's the 1st song performed "Live" opening the documentary. FM played a very respectable lively version of the song during the Tusk tour, but when Stevie kicked up the drama during the "Mirage" concert tour, she sent SOTM into infamy.

I meant actually working on the song but yea I guess your right! And her performance of SOTM on the Mirage tour is insane in all the right ways. How she totally loses it at the end...is just greatness. It's such a great live song...pure rock n' roll madness. It became the new "Rhiannon" for awhile there

[jellyman10]

Originally Posted by David

Your comments are always so spot on, drzubritsky.

[..]

I'm surprised that Fleetwood Mac's "Sara" captured the attention it did. But there wasn't anything else on "Tusk" that was going to do that.

Two things.

1) I am so sick with envy that drzubritsky has earned David's approval.
2) David, you're out of your mind if you seriously don't get why 'Sara' connected.

[GypsySorcerer]

Originally Posted by Christopher

SOTM was in the Tusk doc. I haven't watched it in a while, but if memory serves me correct it's the 1st song performed "Live" opening the documentary. FM played a very respectable lively version of the song during the Tusk tour, but when Stevie kicked up the drama during the "Mirage" concert tour, she sent SOTM into infamy.

I really love the SOTM version on the Tusk doc. Not as wild or raw as Mirage, but great in its own way. Stevie thrusting her fist in the air and yelling, and bringing the audience to their feet is one of my favorite SN moments.

[tabruns]

Originally Posted by aleuzzi

It's true that Christine's Tusk songs are less radio-viable than her work on the other Rumours-era albums, but I would not say her songs were sub-par. Certainly not sub-par in the way a few of Lindsey's Mirage songs and both of Stevie's Tango-penned songs are. Christine's Tusk material shows her stripped down--very simple, spare arrangements that feature her voice. Her vocals, for example on "Honey Hi" (a GREAT tune) and "Never Forget" are outstanding. "Brown Eyes" is one of her best songs. "Think About Me" cracked reach #20, and had "Never Forget" been arranged a little more forcefully, it would probably have made a strong single, too.

My only complaint about Christine's Tusk songs are that there are only six to Buckingham's nine. I wish she'd been more present in the sequencing on the first of the two LPs.

I understand your points here. For me though, on the other Mac albums surrounding Tusk McVie always has at least two hook-heavy songs. On Tusk she really doesn't have any. I love "Brown Eyes" but its more of an atmosphere song rather than a song with hooks. I think "Think About Me" has hooks but it also has a heavier guitar than most McVie hit songs do, and I think that impaired it's chart success somewhat. Her other Tusk songs just don't really have hooks to them.

[tabruns]

Originally Posted by jellyman10

Two things.

1) I am so sick with envy that drzubritsky has earned David's approval.
2) David, you're out of your mind if you seriously don't get why 'Sara' connected.

Have to agree with #2....."Sara" was a pretty amazing song to everyone who heard it at the time.

[MrStevie]

Originally Posted by vivfox

In 1980 I felt that these two songs would have made hit singles. I thought the same about SOTM though and look how that turned out.

Ditto on the Ledge.