Gypsy - who would have thought

[WalkAThinLine.]

Originally Posted by billwebster

They did play "Temporary One" on the radio back in the day here in Germany.

And it received enough airplay to reach number 99 there.

[blinker12]

I think there was a moment when Stevie could’ve gotten back to having the discipline and drive to write great songs again. That was circa 1995. Street Angel had tanked and there was no FM to fall back on (she’d quit anyway), giving her a wake up call that she needed to do something drastic to continue her career; meanwhile, she was finally off drugs and had the mental clarity and focus to write again. Out of this brief window came “Twisted” and “Love Is” and possibly “Trouble in Shangri-La,” all solid efforts. But then came “The Dance,” and the nostalgia machine took her to the top of the charts again with minimal effort on her part. No longer was there any urgency to reinvent herself or write new material, and she lost focus. There was a brief spark of creativity around SYW, with the “Phoenix Four” songs offering a glimmer of the old magic (well, three of the four of them anyway haha). Maybe she was trying to impress or at least keep pace with Lindsey. Then, mostly laurel resting and cowrites ever since.

[Villavic]

I'm not a big fan of Stevie solo albums, actually I've never bought one. But I liked some Trouble and IYD songs. Actually I read positive reviews of IYD, though IMHO none of them got the level Gypsy did. Because Lindsey was not there? I'm not sure, cause SYW songs didn't get that level either, in my opinion.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by Villavic

I'm not a big fan of Stevie solo albums, actually I've never bought one.

You're missing out, then. Bella Donna is a work of ART. If I was on a desert island with 20 albums, BD would be one of them. The Wild Heart is very good, but BD is greatness. She hit two home runs, then her songs and albums got the runs...

[Macfan4life]

Besides the drugs I think her ego got in the way of a more dominating music career. She's not alone so I am not picking on her exclusively. But few could not have big egos if you joined a band and rocketed to a band almost as big as the Rolling Stones for a time in the states. Then having exceeded everyone's expectations for a solo album. Everything Nicks was touching was turning to gold. Drugs definitely got in the way but so did ego and that ego allows artists to get lazy thinking they can just "phone it in."
Imagine if Bella Donna flopped and she needed Fleetwood Mac and stayed near them more in the 80s. Or imagine The Wild Heart flopping and she had a sophomore jinx with her solo career. Would it have grounded her so that she did not lose control. She was on top of the world in 1982. Platinum albums, radio hits, rock credentials, concerts, and she was a sex symbol. A coke addiction is a horrible thing. But I bet it was just as much ego that made her ditch recording studios or come 6 hours late for a mediocre performance.

[BLY]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

Besides the drugs I think her ego got in the way of a more dominating music career. She's not alone so I am not picking on her exclusively. But few could not have big egos if you joined a band and rocketed to a band almost as big as the Rolling Stones for a time in the states. Then having exceeded everyone's expectations for a solo album. Everything Nicks was touching was turning to gold. Drugs definitely got in the way but so did ego and that ego allows artists to get lazy thinking they can just "phone it in."
Imagine if Bella Donna flopped and she needed Fleetwood Mac and stayed near them more in the 80s. Or imagine The Wild Heart flopping and she had a sophomore jinx with her solo career. Would it have grounded her so that she did not lose control. She was on top of the world in 1982. Platinum albums, radio hits, rock credentials, concerts, and she was a sex symbol. A coke addiction is a horrible thing. But I bet it was just as much ego that made her ditch recording studios or come 6 hours late for a mediocre performance.

I agree 100%.
I was fanatic fan since 1977 and followed them all as close as I could (considering no social media it was a bit of work)

STEVIE:
Drugs
Ego because of the success of her first two albums
Couldn’t sustain both solo and the band with touring/writing
Not working with Lindsey as she did from 1975-1979
This all caused the chips to fall as they did……..

Positive- a lot more solo releases from all the band members.

Negative- only 5 studio albums from my favorite lineup of the band

Bonus- in 1977 I got familiar with all the lineups of the band from 1967-1974 and loved and bought all the back catalogue .(as I was waiting for the release of Tusk)

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by BLY

I agree 100%.
I was fanatic fan since 1977 and followed them all as close as I could (considering no social media it was a bit of work)

STEVIE:
Drugs
Ego because of the success of her first two albums
Couldn’t sustain both solo and the band with touring/writing
Not working with Lindsey as she did from 1975-1979
This all caused the chips to fall as they did……..

Positive- a lot more solo releases from all the band members.

Negative- only 5 studio albums from my favorite lineup of the band

Bonus- in 1977 I got familiar with all the lineups of the band from 1967-1974 and loved and bought all the back catalogue .(as I was waiting for the release of Tusk)

Her 1981 was insane. She recorded her first solo album. Then was jetting to France for brief Mac recordings for Mirage. She joined Petty for west coast and Florida dates on his summer tour. SDMHA was released and became so big that Petty added it to his set while she was with him. When she gets off the road with the Heartbreakers, Bella Donna hits the top and her management quickly starts booking solo dates in December. She does a brief solo tour and then jets back to France to finish Mirage. Mirage is released with 2 huge MTV videos and she does a summer/fall tour with the Mac and immediately goes into the studio for the Wild Heart. She gets married in January 1983 and then the Wild Heart is issued. She gets a huge lead off single and Wild Heart goes to #5 on the heals of Flashdance and Thriller. She tours again that summer with her boyfriend.

Thats a wild and very fast paced very early 80s schedule. It also fueled her coke addiction and she started to create and live in her own fantasy world and take it all for granted. She did not need to prove anything to anyone anymore and put everything on autopilot. She starts RAL in 1984 with sporadic recordings all over the place without focus. She is no longer in control of her own destiny. The drugs have her completely occupied and her career is a side gig. The producer who hid her in his basement away from Tom Petty and was nervous taking her on as an artist thinking he was no Lindsey Buckingham walked away. She was a mess and lost all interest in her career.

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

But few could not have big egos if you joined a band and rocketed to a band almost as big as the Rolling Stones for a time in the states. Then having exceeded everyone's expectations for a solo album. Everything Nicks was touching was turning to gold. Drugs definitely got in the way but so did ego and that ego allows artists to get lazy thinking they can just "phone it in."

I agree. But now imagine if Law and Order had been a mega hit and started to turn to gold everything he touched. Probably Lindsey would have had a big ego too. But I guess the difference would have been that drugs would not get in his way. And if he had continued to release successful albums, Tango probably wouldn't have existed, or it would be very different. Poor Mick.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by Villavic

I agree. But now imagine if Law and Order had been a mega hit and started to turn to gold everything he touched. Probably Lindsey would have had a big ego too. But I guess the difference would have been that drugs would not get in his way. And if he had continued to release successful albums, Tango probably wouldn't have existed, or it would be very different. Poor Mick.

Lindsey HAD to be focused. Because he's THE CREATOR. Not like ditzy Old Goatsy, who jots down a few words, and hands them to a creator who turns her words into something.
Stevie never had to be focused. The smaller the talent, the less the required focus.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by Villavic

I agree. But now imagine if Law and Order had been a mega hit and started to turn to gold everything he touched. Probably Lindsey would have had a big ego too. But I guess the difference would have been that drugs would not get in his way. And if he had continued to release successful albums, Tango probably wouldn't have existed, or it would be very different. Poor Mick.

Lindsey was still in his anger phase for Law and Order. Imagine if he had a "Tango" sense of mind and instead of rebelling and still making quirky Tusk like songs that Law and Order had several successful singles. No doubt Lindsey lost his mind of how successful Bella Donna was and she did it without him. When she left a copy of the album at Lindsey's door, she had to know she was egging him on.