Poor Family Man

[He's So Unusual]

I've noticed that Family Man seems to get quite a lot of hate in the Fleetwood Mac fan community. Why? I think it's one of the best songs on Tango in the Night. The remixes are pretty good as well, especially the Extended Guitar Remix that features Stevie warbling on and off at the end. Any other fans?

[Dex]

I think it's the context. Family Man became a modest hit in Europe and that's what baffles people. If it just minded it's own business staying a little filler album track, people wouldn't give it nearly so much thought.

Personally I don't really dislike it, but it's a pretty weak Lindsey offering, especially lyrically, and almost borders on self-parody. When you look at songs like Family Man, you can really understand why the band was seriously low on cool-points by the end of the 80s.

[FuzzyPlum]

I agree its an under-appreciated little song. It has always reminded me of a Spanish holiday I had around that time. It was never one of my absolute favorites from the album but its always a welcome surprise when it pops up on the radio. TITN- a much under-appreciated album in general!

[KenB]

For me, what makes me dislike Family Man are (1) the cartoonish, godawful vocal effect on the repeated words "a family man" in the chorus; (2) lyrics that feel meaningless ("I fall down/I get up," "mother, father, brother," etc.); and (3) too much repetition in the lyrics ("I am what I am" ad nauseum). I do like the Spanish-sounding guitar and the general rhythm, and I feel like those things could have been the basis of a pretty good song if he'd thought up some decent lyrics and then laid off the silly vocal effects. Just my two cents.

Also, it doesn't help that it follows "Little Lies," the best song on the album.

[vivfox]

I have always loved the song.

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by Dex

Family Man became a modest hit in Europe and that's what baffles people.

Yeah, and so was "Oh Diane"...another Buckingham stinker of a "song".

"Family Man", I like (yeah, the lyrics suck, but when I like the instrument tracks, the lyrics are disposable)

"Oh Diane" ?? ****-can worthy.

[BLY]

Originally Posted by chiliD

Yeah, and so was "Oh Diane"...another Buckingham stinker of a "song".

"Family Man", I like (yeah, the lyrics suck, but when I like the instrument tracks, the lyrics are disposable)

"Oh Diane" ?? ****-can worthy.

I always liked Oh Diane. I think if there was little bit of Stevie in the background vocals it would have been much better.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by KenB

Also, it doesn't help that it follows "Little Lies," the best song on the album.

Well, for different reasons, I would agree that it doesn't help Fleetwood Mac or the world to have Family Man follow Little Lies.

Michele

[Dex]

Originally Posted by chiliD

Yeah, and so was "Oh Diane"...another Buckingham stinker of a "song".

I was thinking of Oh Diane too when I posted . I think they hold similar places in the minds of fandom.

Both are almost so-bad-it's-good affairs, to me.

[FuzzyPlum]

Originally Posted by Dex

I think they hold similar places in the minds of fandom.

Both are almost so-bad-it's-good affairs, to me.

Do people really think of Oh Diane and Family Man in the same vein? I'd never really considered that. For me Oh Diane is one of several songs from Mirage that I must admit I feel a little embarrassed by whenever somebody else is listening to it. I've never felt that with Family Man. I've always considered it to be just an okay song- not a great one but fairly inoffensive/pleasant to listen to (with the added personal link to memories of a good holiday).

By the way, I'd always considered the cartoonish repetition of the words 'Family Man' to have been voiced by Mick. Reflecting on the song now I think they were probably Lindsey's own voice processed in the same sort of way as the vocals on Big Love....never thought about it until now.

[Dex]

Originally Posted by FuzzyPlum

Do people really think of Oh Diane and Family Man in the same vein? I'd never really considered that. For me Oh Diane is one of several songs from Mirage that I must admit I feel a little embarrassed by whenever somebody else is listening to it. I've never felt that with Family Man. I've always considered it to be just an okay song- not a great one but fairly inoffensive/pleasant to listen to (with the added personal link to memories of a good holiday).

They're both different kinds of cheesy, but, IMO, and I think in the opinion of many, they're both basically fairly insignificant filler songs which get a "Whyyyyy are you a single? Stop this!" response, by and large. Every listener has different kinds of "cheesy" that they are more or less averse to, and might prefer one song over the other for that reason, but the cheese-factor is pretty darn high for both songs.

[He's So Unusual]

Originally Posted by Dex

I think it's the context. Family Man became a modest hit in Europe and that's what baffles people. If it just minded it's own business staying a little filler album track, people wouldn't give it nearly so much thought.

Personally I don't really dislike it, but it's a pretty weak Lindsey offering, especially lyrically, and almost borders on self-parody. When you look at songs like Family Man, you can really understand why the band was seriously low on cool-points by the end of the 80s.

The lyrics are somewhat non-nonsensical and off-beat. I think a lot of 1960s and 1970s band were starting to get a little low on cool points by the end of the 1980s purely because they were seen as dinosaurs by a lot of younger people.

Originally Posted by FuzzyPlum

I agree its an under-appreciated little song. It has always reminded me of a Spanish holiday I had around that time. It was never one of my absolute favorites from the album but its always a welcome surprise when it pops up on the radio. TITN- a much under-appreciated album in general!

I've noticed that Tango in the Night seems to quite a bit of hate from some people, mainly those who see it as nothing more than a rubbish, throwaway 1980s pop album.

Originally Posted by KenB

For me, what makes me dislike Family Man are (1) the cartoonish, godawful vocal effect on the repeated words "a family man" in the chorus; (2) lyrics that feel meaningless ("I fall down/I get up," "mother, father, brother," etc.); and (3) too much repetition in the lyrics ("I am what I am" ad nauseum). I do like the Spanish-sounding guitar and the general rhythm, and I feel like those things could have been the basis of a pretty good song if he'd thought up some decent lyrics and then laid off the silly vocal effects. Just my two cents.

Also, it doesn't help that it follows "Little Lies," the best song on the album.

The vocal effect on the "family man" part is one of my favorite parts of the song, I always have to sing along to it in a really deep voice, ha-ha. I agree about the guitar, it’s why I like the Extended Guitar Mix so much, you can hear a lot more of the guitar at the end.

[Dex]

Originally Posted by He's So Unusual

]I've noticed that Tango in the Night seems to quite a bit of hate from some people, mainly those who see it as nothing more than a rubbish, throwaway 1980s pop album.

I actually haven't noticed this sentiment at all. The only negative attitudes I see towards Tango are those coming from fans who clearly have difficulty accepting the fact that Stevie is (by far) the clear weakest link on that album.

Mostly though, I have a very important OT question.

Who is that in your avatar? His facial expression is mesmerising and possibly the best thing I've seen today.

[FuzzyPlum]

Originally Posted by Dex

Every listener has different kinds of "cheesy" that they are more or less averse to, and might prefer one song over the other for that reason, but the cheese-factor is pretty darn high for both songs.

Each to their own- different tastes. Family Man has never struck me as cheesy. Of Tango in the Night I'd only really consider You and I Part 2 to be a bit cheesy (I always imagine it should be on the soundtrack to a kids film). By comparison, Oh Diane and a clutch of other Mirage songs are (for me) a complete cheese board.

[James89]

I can't believe that 'Oh Diane' reached #9 here in the UK and was the 88th best selling single of 1983. That song for me is just boring and very poor for Fleetwood Mac and I think the only people that bought it were people who were either called Diane or knew someone who was!!!

For me, I think that 'Gypsy' should've been a massive hit but it wasn't, only in the US sadly. We Brits have never actually gone wild for any singles written and sung by Stevie. Surprisingly her highest charting lead vocal single here was her own and not with FM with 'Rooms on Fire' which peaked at #16 thanks to the overwhelming reception to 'Tango in the Night' which top 10 singles were either Lindsey's or Christine's.

Personally, I think that 'Family Man' is a very weak song but it is a very typical single choice of the 80's and helped to drag out the success of TITN peaking at a respectable #54 here at the start of 1988 which is good considering that it was the fourth single to be released from the album.