Fleetwood Mac - happy at the top (Rolling Stone 1982)

[soul_drifter333]

Anyone who has followed the band for a while already should know this but there are still so many arguments about it on this forum. Lindsey and Stevie are two totally different people who approach their work differently. Lindsey's approach is on the artistic side and Steve's is more on the commercial side and the amount of money she can make. All you have to do is look at their solo albums. Stevie recruited Jimmy to make her sound like the hottest selling artist of the day: Tom Petty. Other the other hand, Lindsey created an album of quirky songs with virtually no commercial intent except for one song that I'm sure the record label insisted be on the album. In the recent webinar, Lindsey even gives credit to Stevie for wanting them to move to LA because of the commercial appeal. The success of Rumours was really the end of the band because it showed Stevie and Mick how much success and money they can make and Lindsey saw it as a trap to lock him into sounding the same on future work simply to make money. In the end, that is what broke up the band. Stevie and Mick signed a tour contract with a guarantee of millions and Lindsey wanted to create new work and then tour behind it. Another obvious sign is Stevie has given up on writing and recording so she can make the most money touring the greatest hits and getting lots of attention from fans and the media for being a "legend", while Lindsey would rather spend months or years in his studio creating new music. Stevie has already said many times if it doesn't make her money she is not interested...unless it strokes her ego and establishes her as the legend she longs to be known as.

So when people on here argue that Stevie has sold more albums and tickets and has more commercial success it is true because that was her intention from the start. She (and Mick) determines their success from the amount of money and attention they get while Lindsey judges his success from creating new music in the studio and prefers to stay in the background. This is not to say that there is not so overlapping, but this is the core of how they judge their success.

As far as this interview, I take it that after Stevie solo success her management was pushing her to leave the band, but I suspect her affair and relationship with Mick probably prevented it. Mick and Stevie have said that their relationship lasted longer than they would like to admit to others. Stevie's management was probably negotiating for a bigger percent of the band's profits. It's amazing with such different approaches and values from the band members that they were able to stay together as long as they were.

Furthermore, the shippers have had it wrong all along. Lindsey and Stevie have not wanted and gotten back together over the years, but it has been Stevie and Mick. They're two peas in a pod and their relationship has lasted over the years because their values are the same. It wouldn't be surprised if they aren't still...