1982-1987

[michelej1]

Lindsey started publicly saying he was leaving in 1987, but from 1982-1987 he didn't want to tour and I guess he knew that if they did an album, they'd have to tour, so he wasn't keen on doing an album, especially if it was going to be an album he didn't like. Finally, Mick told him that the band had to go forward and kind of pushed him into TITN.

Here's some stuff around that 1982-1987 era.

Stevie said iin 1987 about Lindsey saying he was quitting:

"Every time he says that, the rest of us look at each other and go, 'We've heard this before.' It's kind of like a romance, when someone is always saying, 'I'm going to leave you' and never does."

Christine just did a solo album to pass the time. I don't think she would have, if FM had been active. Of the time lapse between Mirage and Tango, Christine said:

"I was never too keen on the idea of a solo thing. I do not enjoy the pressure of being the only one up there who everybody looks to for leadership. I like being part of a group. But the time was trickling on by and in 1983 I could see Fleetwood Mac was not going to be happening for awhile, so I did an album and a tour. That was hard work. I had to do my own makeup and the whole bit. My makeup used to run down my face and by the end of the night it was horrific. So no, I would not want to tour solo again. My life, musically speaking, has always been Fleetwood Mac, at least for the last 20 years, and I have enjoyed it thoroughly."

Lindsey said in 1984 about his solo record:

LB: Yeah. And when I’m all done . . . If it were totally up to me, I would love to jump back in and start another record, cuz I have a whole bunch of new ideas-I feel like I’m sort of on a roll. But whether or not I’ll be able to is another question. There’s still a thing called Fleetwood Mac, and we have to sit down and talk about that. I don’t feel ready to totally disregard the needs of the whole at this point, but I’m not sure what the needs of the whole are yet. I’m not sure what the collective direction of the group is. For years, I tried to get Mick and everyone to listen to the Talking Heads and groups that I thought were interesting at that time, and no one was interested. I think that they were totally threatened by it. So, now, I have no idea what Mick or any of the people like. That scares me a lot, because you can only do so much!

Interesting, I was looking at interviews and Mick was saying that even though he was the leader, he and the Zoo members all get paid the same and that makes people feel like they're really a part of something. He says that's the situation he got into with FM as well.

In 1983, Mick says,

"I feel that we will tour ," Fleetwood says. "I talked to Lindsey the other night and he's not a particularly avid roadmonger--John McVie and I would jump at it--and he surprisingly enough said we should talk about ideas for the next album and maybe augmenting our live show with extra musicians and percussionists, trying something a little bit different. If we make a record, I'm sure we'll go out and tour."

Lindsey in 1984 interview:

Although it appears he'd like to devote all his energy to his solo career, Buckingham stops himself short as soon as he starts talking about his plans for his next record.

"I'm speaking so hypothetically here," he cautions. "I'm almost speaking as if there were not Fleetwood Mac, working on the premise that things are simpler than they really are . . . There will be a lot of pressure in the next few months to do another Fleetwood Mac album, and I would like to do another if we can make another major statement."

He pauses, "We're going to have a meeting this month, and I'm very curious to see what the group's overall sensibility is at this point. I think back to all the times when I tried to play Mick the Clash or something, and he just didn't want to hear it. I don't know why, but they didn't want to hear anybody new and interesting. Maybe it was threatening to them."

Oh, I thought this was funny Lindsey saying he didn't want to smoke pot anymore. I guess he backtracked.

MC: Do you still swim?

LB: I do laps, but I don’t go crazy with it. You’ve gotta do something to keep the juices flowing, especially the older you get. For years I didn’t exercise at all, and now I’m finding that I don’t even want to smoke weed anymore. You sort of have those lapses, but all that stuff that seemed to work in the music-making process-it seems like it’s starting not to work. In fact, the opposite seems to be working for me now. More ideas are coming to me when I’m getting a lot of rest and exercising, just taking care of myself.

MC: It’s funny how widespread that attitude is becoming in the musical community these days. The same people who would stay up all night snorting coke, smoking pot, and drinking two six packs of beer while making a record-

LB: Well, I’ve done that. (laughs)

MC: --would now be frightened of reliving that experience, which in retrospect seems nightmarish. People are starting to appreciate getting up early in the morning rather than looking at the morning from the other end.

LB: I know. God, that’s really ugly. The physical and mental are so interlocked that if you are physically depressed, you’re gonna be mentally depressed as well. And I just don’t want to be mentally depressed myself. I don’t know that I would’ve chosen that kind of lifestyle had I not gotten into a group whose collective will dictated that. And there’s not much you can do. You can either say, "I’m not gonna play," or you can pretty much play ball. In that situation, you really have to jump in . . . . Maybe I would’ve anyway, but I really doubt it.

Lindsey in 1985 article:

Go Insane has more to do with dealing with all the greys that there are to deal with in situations you find yourself in where your reality is sort of severely tested. A lot of the subject matter on this album just deals with having broken up with somebody and having someone who exhibits behavior that is hard to deal with daily. Not that things should be black and white, but if all the blacks and whites are gone, and everything is grey --- you know, where does love stop and start.....gets hard to function, sometimes, in this world."

All right, Lindsey, I cruelly chortled, what's all this about "politics," and how would YOU define "insanity?" "I think insanity is fairly relative as a term, fairly political as a term.....Acceptable behavior within the world of a rock band may be enough to get yourself committed if you worked in a bank," he explained, while I wondered to myself, 'How DOES he do ti? Keeps on answering coherently, politely.....'

"If the majority thinks something is wrong, then that's what's wrong. That's politics, right? I mean, how can you use that collective perception to manipulate a situation? I mean, people who are being put away are doing so because they're being a nuisance.....to somebody else."

Getting off the subject, I asked him his favorite color, and what he looked for in a girl. He then volunteered (!) his fave food ("anything but sushi") and drink ("martini"). In girls, LB looks for "inner beauty --- soul," and he supposes that his fave color is white --- "but that's not really a color."