Stevie's everywhere except in the studio.

[MikeVielhaber]

Originally Posted by brickney723

Lindsey would never be involved in an FM project without Stevie. Period. Working with her is what it's all about for him.

She was minimally involved with the EP and she's not involved yet with this and who knows to what extent she will be. It can't be about working with Stevie for him.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by MikeVielhaber

She was minimally involved with the EP and she's not involved yet with this and who knows to what extent she will be. It can't be about working with Stevie for him.

Yes, I think that's why he told FM to go away for 3 years while he worked on his solo stuff after the SYW tour. After the solo work, it was time to grease the machinery again, as he said.

"Mick will usually be in cahoots with whatever is going on with Stevie," Buckingham says. "It's not about anything other than wanting to grease the machinery. They were saying next time we tour, we're going to move the mikes closer together and you're going to look in Stevie's eyes. I didn't say anything. Other than we did this play, I suppose we can do that play, too.

"A couple of months ago I went over there and she hands me a set list of what we're going to do a year and a half from now. So that's what going on now -- everyone wants to get out there at some point. The question is under what terms, or are there any terms. There seems to be a certain amount of political agendas to sort out. But, you know, whatever."

The thing is, this time around he can get both at the same time. An album and a tour with all 5 of them will be the best of both worlds. Not for the fans, of course. I want an album with all of them very badly. But if that's not possible, then a tour with all 5 and an album with 4, which will generate more sales under the Fleetwood Mac banner than either Lindsey or Christine could generate alone, should be next up on his list.

Two years of touring will give them all income and new memories to add to their 40 year history. An album, in addition to the tour, could give both Lindsey and Christine a sense of creative achievement. They used each other often enough on solo albums. Lindsey has talked about the nasal quality of his and Stevie's voices. They're very similar, while Christine's voice provides a more marked contrast to his. Why not make an album featuring the two of them? It's not a first preference, but it's highly favored over nothing.

The thing is, this is not 1987. They needed her for Tango. Today, they need Stevie for a tour, but having her for an album is not going to sell records any more. An album with Lindsey and Christine might not go gold, but there's no guarantee that an album with Stevie would have gotten to gold either at this stage of the game. If they still have delusions of ruling the charts with new music, they need to let them go. There's no reason to hold out hoping for that.

Stevie is signed on to tour for this year. Get her signed up for more US and overseas dates for next year and once she's contracted for that, if she doesn't want to do an album, let it go. Having her there reluctantly is not going to be good for anyone and it will generate bad feelings that will take 10 years to get over and -- they may not have 10 more years.

As Lindsey said, a tour greases the machinery and they all still want the money. They can have that and an album too, even if it's not quite the Fleetwood Mac album fans envisioned when they first heard Christine was returning.

Michele