Volume 1 - Year of the Mac: 1987

[MacShadowsBall]

Atlanta Journal and Constitution (08/13/1987), Lindsey Buckingham Leaving Fleetwood Mac

By Russ DeVault Staff Writer

Lindsey Buckingham obviously meant it when he said recently that it would take "global pressure" to force him to tour again as a member of Fleetwood Mac.

The proof of that came in Buckingham's brief statement Tuesday that the guitarist is leaving the 20-year-old band.

The next step - which will prove true Christine McVie's recent statement that the band would stage a tour with or without him - will come Tuesday in Los Angeles when Mrs. McVie, Stevie Nicks and original members John McVie and Mick Fleetwood formally announce who will replace Buckingham.

The group's publicists indicate that two musicians will be added for a fall tour tentatively scheduled to reach Atlanta's Omni Nov. 2, but they won't reveal any names before Tuesday. The possibilities being mentioned Wednesday by music-business insiders in Atlanta, New York and Los Angeles include former Eagle Don Henley, veteran Waddy Wachtel, Peter Frampton and Rick Vito, a longtime member of the Los Angeles music scene.

Buckingham's decision to leave the band he and Miss Nicks joined in 1975 is a result of both his solo work and a lack of desire to re-create the music that he has helped shape and that has sold about 27 million copies of six Fleetwood Mac albums.

"I'm not a big fan of touring," he said during a recent telephone interview from his Los Angeles home. "I would love to put together an outrageous theatrical-type show and go out on the road again solo, but the idea of going out and doing our hits again is not appealing to me.

"I feel like I'm coming to the most creative time of my life, " he said. "There's got to be a point where I can say, `This has been fun, guys,' and get on with something else."

Buckingham, a 37-year-old California native, has released two solo albums and was at work on a third when he shelved it to help with the band's 16-week-old album, "Tango in the Night," which is No. 20 on Billboard's pop chart and has sales of more than 1 million.

"I was about halfway through my solo work, and I put that down to do this, because the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few at that point. We ended up using some things that were going on my solo album . . .," he said.

Mrs. McVie, Mick Fleetwood's ex-wife, had responded by joking that she'd "break his arms" if Buckingham refused to tour but then admitted that the realization there was little chance Buckingham would tour was "quite a shock."

"But that doesn't mean there won't be a Fleetwood Mac," she said during a telephone interview from her Los Angeles home.

Unlike Buckingham, Mrs. McVie and the other members believe touring is vital to continued airplay and sales of "Tango in the Night." " I think we absolutely must tour," she said. "People must follow up an album with a tour."

Buckingham scoffs at that theory. "That's record companies doing that kind of talking," he said. "There's no reason you can't put out an album and let it speak for itself."

It's doubtful that "Tango in the Night" will match the success of "Rumors," the second album recorded by the band after guitarist- singer Bob Welch left and was replaced by Buckingham and Miss Nicks, who were then lovers. "Rumors," released in early '77, has sold more than 20 million copies - a figure since matched only by Michael Jackson' s "Thriller," Carole King's "Tapestry" and the "Saturday Night Fever" sound track.

In addition, "Rumors" was No. 1 on Billboard's album chart for 31 weeks - a run exceeded only by Jackson's "Thriller" - and it produced four No. 1 singles en route to winning a Grammy for Best Album of the Year.

Its predecessor, "Fleetwood Mac," also went to No. 1, but sales stopped at about 6 million. After "Rumors," the band released "Tusk" in '79, "Live" in '80 and "Mirage" in '82. "Mirage" had sales of more than 3 million, but it didn't please the band members, all of whom but McVie were working on or planning solo records.

"I will say that I did not want to leave this situation on the note struck by `Mirage,' " Buckingham said in the telephone interview. "It was kind of ambiguous, but I would feel comfortable leaving having struck this `Tango'note."

He noted, too, that Fleetwood Mac, a blues band fronted by Peter Green when it made its debut in London in '67, has never been a model of stability. "As far as the band going on," Buckingham said, "Mick and John go back to the '60s when Fleetwood Mac began. They'd been through God knows how many incarnations before Stevie and I joined.

"For them to keep it going doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility."

With the possible exception of Fleetwood, who declared bankruptcy in the early '80s, money no longer is a motivation for the band. "No one is going to kick money out the door," Mrs. McVie said, "but I can say that, because I'm very so lvent."

Buckingham says he can easily afford to wait for "Tango in the Night" to run its course before releasing his solo album next year. "I've got the luxury of spending eight or 10 months before I think about putting out a solo album," he said. "This album's going to have a nice long run, and there's no reason for me to compete with myself.

"Hey, I've been a team player. I've concentrated on things that were supportive and contributions that were valid in the context of the group. I haven't hurt anybody, and I've done my best for the group."

http://bla.fleetwoodmac.net/index.ph...x_v2&id=74&c=9

[MacFan92]

Just in case someone doesn't have them, links to the 2 discs of the Tango In The Night Sessions:

Disc 1: http://www.mediafire.com/?fymcgt4ygyn

Disc 2: http://www.mediafire.com/?wtmy24kmtfg

Both are in .zip format.

[MacShadowsBall]

Atlanta Journal and Constitution (08/13/1987), Lindsey Buckingham Leaving Fleetwood Mac

The group's publicists indicate that two musicians will be added for a fall tour tentatively scheduled to reach Atlanta's Omni Nov. 2, but they won't reveal any names before Tuesday. The possibilities being mentioned Wednesday by music-business insiders in Atlanta, New York and Los Angeles include former Eagle Don Henley, veteran Waddy Wachtel, Peter Frampton and Rick Vito, a longtime member of the Los Angeles music scene.

http://bla.fleetwoodmac.net/index.ph...x_v2&id=74&c=9

Well they were right about Vito! Were the other three seriously in contention to replace Lindsey? Interesting choices, though.

About that "altercation" between Stevie and Lindsey on "that" day, it seems everyone denies it happening, so did it happen or not? Perhaps it was just something blown out of proporation?

[MacFan92]

Originally Posted by MacShadowsBall

About that "altercation" between Stevie and Lindsey on "that" day, it seems everyone denies it happening, so did it happen or not? Perhaps it was just something blown out of proporation?

Didn't Mick write in his book that Lindsey called here a schizophrenic bitch and slapped her and such? Who knows how much of that book was the truth anyways lol.

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by MacShadowsBall

Well they were right about Vito! Were the other three seriously in contention to replace Lindsey? Interesting choices, though.

About that "altercation" between Stevie and Lindsey on "that" day, it seems everyone denies it happening, so did it happen or not? Perhaps it was just something blown out of proporation?

To my knowledge, Lindsey's the only one who denied anything happened, though Mick seems to have embelished it a bit. Stevie told the BBC that she thought Lindsey was going to kill her, and that Lindsey probably thought he was going to kill her, and that she told him if he did kill her, her dad and brother would kill him if the band didn't get to him first. Was there a hit? Probably not. But something ugly definitely happened.

[MacShadowsBall]

The calm before the storm, I suppose...

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by MacShadowsBall

The calm before the storm, I suppose...

Interesting. It made me recall Mick's words (from his book) about Lindsey producing Tango, and how "as a band" they worked and felt:

Stevie finally showed up in January 1987; we'd been working six months, and it was the only time the whole band was in the studio together. We had been sending copies of our working tapes to Stevie's home in Arizona. On her part, she was dreading that Lindsey, in his producing capacity, would be sarcastic toward her, but he made an effort not to be as much of a martinet as he was with the rest of us. He was under some strain with this project, and lost his patience occasionally, but with Stevie we wanted him to be more objective and professional. He tried to make her feel great in the studio, and they got on well. (The love-hate saga between those two will never end.)

[WildHearted]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

To my knowledge, Lindsey's the only one who denied anything happened, though Mick seems to have embelished it a bit. Stevie told the BBC that she thought Lindsey was going to kill her, and that Lindsey probably thought he was going to kill her, and that she told him if he did kill her, her dad and brother would kill him if the band didn't get to him first. Was there a hit? Probably not. But something ugly definitely happened.

I recall John (?) saying it got physical and he made a choking gesture with his hands .. or something of that nature.

Who knows what really happened.

[MacShadowsBall]

Originally Posted by WildHearted

Who knows what really happened.

That seems to be the case. Mick's book I suppose is the only "source" of info on that day.

I couldn't find anything on youtube pertaining to it either.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by WildHearted

I recall John (?) saying it got physical and he made a choking gesture with his hands .. or something of that nature.

Who knows what really happened.

John didn't actually say that Lindsey did the choking. Later Stevie said that she ran across the room and started to strangle Lindsey and then he chased her around the car and outside and had her down on the car and that's when she told him her father and brother would kill him. Since John was describing what happened in the house, when he did the choking gesture, I thought he was referring to Stevie choking Lindsey.

Michele

[GoldDustWoman22]

Here's a youtube video of the Rock Family Trees where John does the gesture. The talk about the TITN tour starts at around 0:40. Stevie is not too happy. It seems as though she did start it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vEMZ...eature=related

[MacShadowsBall]

Originally Posted by GoldDustWoman22

Here's a youtube video of the Rock Family Trees where John does the gesture. The talk about the TITN tour starts at around 0:40. Stevie is not too happy. It seems as though she did start it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vEMZ...eature=related

The way John acts and says, it was pretty bad!

[henryscutter]

Originally Posted by michelej1

John didn't actually say that Lindsey did the choking. Later Stevie said that she ran across the room and started to strangle Lindsey and then he chased her around the car and outside and had her down on the car and that's when she told him her father and brother would kill him. Since John was describing what happened in the house, when he did the choking gesture, I thought he was referring to Stevie choking Lindsey.

Michele

Realistically, I don't think Stevie is tall enough to choke Lindsey. I thought I read somewhere that she said she grabbed his arm and it "almost got her killed" so it makes me think she said the thing about her Dad and brother after he was choking her. Also Carol Ann's book made it seem like choking was one of his moves.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by henryscutter

Realistically, I don't think Stevie is tall enough to choke Lindsey. I thought I read somewhere that she said she grabbed his arm and it "almost got her killed" so it makes me think she said the thing about her Dad and brother after he was choking her. Also Carol Ann's book made it seem like choking was one of his moves.

I don't think she's ever described the incident outside of Rock Family Trees, when she ran over to seriously attack him.

I don't know how she did, but for the SYW tour, during Landslide, Stevie would stand behind Lindsey every night and play the piano on his shoulders. She has no trouble getting her arms up there, if she wants.

Michele

[moon]

Hi!
Well, I was born two years after 1987, but I remember very well when I was 4 or 5 listening on radio songs like "Little Lies" and "Everywhere". My mon really likes them!
For what I know about FM, 1987 was a very special year. Stevie was returning after the rehab, they were together after four years and some solo works, and after TITN Lindsey left the band.
Quality of the songs are very good. My favourites are "Big Love" (obviuously), "Tango In The Night", "Everywhere", "Welcome to the room...Sara" (YES!) and "You and I" (both parts). But I think that maybe some demos could have been included in the final TITN (I don't remember what).
I don't know how was the tour. With Vito and Burnette, things changed, and it really noticed in the following albums and singles.
1987...I don't know if the best, but was a good year for Fleetwood Mac.
Regards