Poll: Ricky

[David]

Originally Posted by Dr.Brown

Can you imagine what the public/critics would have thought if this track had not only been included on the Tango in the Night album but was released as the first single (shades of Tusk anyone?)

The public & the critics rarely experience the same shock. The public is usually shocked when bands try something new; the critics are generally shocked (or at least sickened) when bands don't. On those few occasions that Fleetwood Mac tried to épater le bourgeois, the critics mostly loved it.

I know I'll draw a lot of flak here but IMHO Stevie's creative juices with the Mac went nowhere fast in the 80's after Gypsy so I wouldn't have minded seeing just Mick, John, Christine, and Lindsey on TITN with Ricky, Down Endless Street, You and I Part I replacing Stevie's tracks.

Okay by me ... Stevie's material on "Tango" should be looked at in terms of its trackness rather than in terms of songwriting acument. In that light, Seven Wonders & When I See You Again are both noteworthy & satisfying for Fleetwood Mac. With Fleetwood Mac, it doesn't matter who writes the song; it's what's done with it that counts.

I think with the change in band dynamics Lindsey would have stayed on and we would have seen another great Mac album follwing TITN featuring the best of Christine from Behind the Mask (plus Love Shines and Heart of Stone) and Lindsey from Out of the Cradle.

See, I feel that Mick had a bigger influence on Lindsey's departure than Stevie did. Lindsey had been fighting his Stevie demons for many years by that point, but Lindsey's aggravation factor with Mick was more recent & had actually hit crisis point in 1986 & '87.

Maybe the band's success without her might have motivated Stevie to detox sooner and we would have seen her rejoin them clear-eyed and healthy for the Mac's triumphant 25th anniversary tour/album.

Yeah, but you still gotta figure some time in there for detoxing Mick & John. Mick especially was a major mess during the making of "Tango."