Dennis Dunstan on Macsters

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Star wrangler: former Fleetwood Mac manager Dennis Dunstan calls Sunshine Coast home


http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-0...-coast/6918626

ABC Sunshine Coast 11/6/2015 Jon Coghill and John Caruso

Fleetwood Mac may be selling out stadiums on their Australian tour this month, but it is a little known fact that their former manager was born in Australia and now lives on the Sunshine Coast.

Dennis Dunstan left his home town of Glenroy, Victoria in the late 1960s and travelled the world in his late teens and 20s as a session drummer.

He became a sought-after manager in the 1970s, and in 1981 began managing Fleetwood Mac

The relationship would last until the late 1990s.

Mr Dunstan said the hardest part of managing a huge band like Fleetwood Mac had been keeping the members happy.

"This was five different people all with different personalities and idiosyncrasies," he said.

"One of the biggest things for me was getting to know those idiosyncrasies and those egos."

Mr Dunstan still remains close to all of the members and hopes to catch up with them this month.

"I talk to Mick (Fleetwood) and Christine (McVie) every week," he said.

"With Stevie (Nicks), she is surrounded by her entourage so it's very, very hard.

"Lindsey (Buckingham) is a hermit and John (McVie) is always on his yacht travelling around the Bahamas."

Mr Dunstan proudly holds an enviable record with Fleetwood Mac, in that they only missed one gig while he was at the helm.

"Mick Fleetwood had indulged the night before, maybe a little more than he should have, in various things," Mr Dunstan said.

"For us to walk up on stage and say, 'Ladies and gentlemen, the band will not be performing tonight' [was tough]."

Mr Dunstan decided to call Noosa home when he returned to Australia in 2004.

"That's where dad brought us for the three-day trek in the 60s and I always wanted to have a holiday home there. Now that's where I live," he said.

"I lived out of a suitcase in five-star hotels and Lear jets for 17 years. When it stopped it took me about a year to come down from that."

Mr Dunstan still actively manages bands across Australia and the US, and shares his knowledge of the industry with university lectures across the country.