U.S. single releases

[jbrownsjr]

I believe Christine's was Fleetwood Mac Music. It's been a while. But that's in my memory.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by bwboy

I’ve never understood how Isn’t It Midnight wasn’t a hit. Family Man was the fifth release, and it bombed and certainly stalled any further momentum for future Fleetwood Mac singles, so maybe that affected IIM? It was a mistake to release Family Man as a single anyway, since Lindsey had left the band months prior- why release a single by a band member who was no longer in the band? Another possibility was they didn’t want to release three consecutive singles by the same member. Isn’t It Midnight seemed like a natural choice for the radio.

PREACH
Its the best song on the album and actually should have been the lead single. It would have blown people away after waiting 5 years for a new Mac song. With a good video, it would have crashed the top 10. Then Warner could have released their bubble gum Big Love, Seven Wonders, etc.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by bwboy

I’ve never understood how Isn’t It Midnight wasn’t a hit. Family Man was the fifth release, and it bombed and certainly stalled any further momentum for future Fleetwood Mac singles, so maybe that affected IIM? It was a mistake to release Family Man as a single anyway, since Lindsey had left the band months prior- why release a single by a band member who was no longer in the band? Another possibility was they didn’t want to release three consecutive singles by the same member. Isn’t It Midnight seemed like a natural choice for the radio.

A proper video of Everywhere would have done a lotta lotta good, too.

The momentum was really soaring. FM was all over the news, before and especially after LB announcement. They should have made him do one last video. But, the anger and fighting, just too raw.

Everywhere video, then release IIM, and don't release Family Man.

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by bwboy

I’ve never understood how Isn’t It Midnight wasn’t a hit. Family Man was the fifth release, and it bombed and certainly stalled any further momentum for future Fleetwood Mac singles, so maybe that affected IIM? It was a mistake to release Family Man as a single anyway, since Lindsey had left the band months prior- why release a single by a band member who was no longer in the band? Another possibility was they didn’t want to release three consecutive singles by the same member. Isn’t It Midnight seemed like a natural choice for the radio.

I agree, I sldo thought maybe they thought they were too many Christine songs on radios, and didn't consider another Stevie song besides Seven Wonders to be good enough for a single.

I wonder how singles were chosen in Fleetwood Mac. A band consensus? If so, was Lindsey still involved in those decisions, after he left them? How much decision-making power did the record company have on those issues?

And I agree IIM is a great song and FM is not one of Lindsey's best works. But I'm surprised of the reviews quoted in the Wikipedia page of Family Man. I completely disagree about being one of his best songs ever written.
Cash Box called it "an engaging dance tune" with "an ethereal vocal and throbbing groove." Writing for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis thought that Buckingham's "unsettled twitchiness" was evident in the "staccato vocals of 'Family Man.'" Alex Henderson of AllMusic labeled "Family Man" as one of the best songs ever written by Buckingham.

[jbrownsjr]

I am one of the few that really like Family Man. It's just not single material.

He would have released that as a single on h is solo album. Hence, low sales.
I recently heard Go Insane and thought, this is absolutely the best choice for a single. As is, Trouble.

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

I am one of the few that really like Family Man. .

I'm with you, I do like the song. Actually the only songs I don't like in Tango are Caroline and WISYA (I can't stand the hakuna mata... I mean the whattamatta baby ).

But I disagree with the AllMusic critic that says i'ts one of best Lindsey's song. If it had to be another Lindsey song, I'd have chosen You and I Part II as a single instead of Family Man.

If they had chosen Welcome to the Room, instead of Family Man, as a single (I understad it was a single in UK), it would have made no difference to me. I'm not crazy about those two songs, I just like them equally, although not as much.

But Isn't It Midnight, that song really rocks. I like it much more than Little Lies.

[Macfan4life]

I am shocked that no one thinks whatsa matta baby should have been released as a single after Everywhere.
Speaking of Everywhere, the live Tango concert video version should have been the video for Everywhere.
I needed to be in charge back then

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

I am shocked that no one thinks whatsa matta baby should have been released as a single after Everywhere.
Speaking of Everywhere, the live Tango concert video version should have been the video for Everywhere.
I needed to be in charge back then

I'm sure some would have chosen Whattabu..- I mean Whatamatta. But IMHO it would have been a worse mistake. And I agree about the video for Everywhere. That Dick Turpin, Highwayman theme or whatever that was, I didn't like it.

[bwboy]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

Its the best song on the album and actually should have been the lead single. It would have blown people away after waiting 5 years for a new Mac song. With a good video, it would have crashed the top 10. Then Warner could have released their bubble gum Big Love, Seven Wonders, etc.

I know we’re all playing Monday morning quarterback here, and I had never thought of it before, but you’re right, Isn’t It Midnight would have been an incredible first single. I mean, Big Love got the job done, it created the buzz for the new album, had folks wondering who provided the love grunts’ lol, and had an interesting (but really dated) video, but IIM would have really created buzz too. Tango really showcased Christine’s growth and confidence as a songwriter, I have no idea how much of that could have been due to her then husband, I know she said or implied after they divorced he didn’t do much with her songs, but you can definitely see a difference. IIM, Big Love, Seven Winders, Little Lies, and Everywhere would have been a more successful sequence of singles, I think.

[bwboy]

Originally Posted by Villavic

I agree, I sldo thought maybe they thought they were too many Christine songs on radios, and didn't consider another Stevie song besides Seven Wonders to be good enough for a single.

I wonder how singles were chosen in Fleetwood Mac. A band consensus? If so, was Lindsey still involved in those decisions, after he left them? How much decision-making power did the record company have on those issues?

And I agree IIM is a great song and FM is not one of Lindsey's best works. But I'm surprised of the reviews quoted in the Wikipedia page of Family Man. I completely disagree about being one of his best songs ever written.
Cash Box called it "an engaging dance tune" with "an ethereal vocal and throbbing groove." Writing for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis thought that Buckingham's "unsettled twitchiness" was evident in the "staccato vocals of 'Family Man.'" Alex Henderson of AllMusic labeled "Family Man" as one of the best songs ever written by Buckingham.

I suspect Lindsey had no say in anything once he left the band, including selection of singles. I also think the label decided to release Family Man before IIM to avoid too many consecutive singles by one singer. Every previous album had a balance of singles, so Tango would have been the first to have have had one singer with three singles in a row.

I also am surprised by the love critics showered on Family Man. Perplexed would be the better word. And Stevie had no chance of having another single from Tango.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by bwboy

I suspect Lindsey had no say in anything once he left the band, including selection of singles. I also think the label decided to release Family Man before IIM to avoid too many consecutive singles by one singer. Every previous album had a balance of singles, so Tango would have been the first to have have had one singer with three singles in a row.

I also am surprised by the love critics showered on Family Man. Perplexed would be the better word. And Stevie had no chance of having another single from Tango.

Stevie was in bad shape during the recording of Tango but its the first time she sort of brought her solo gig into the band. She did not write Seven Wonders. She has written every other song she put on a Mac album. It was common for her to take songs given to her on her solo albums. In fact ALL of her solo albums except have a song written by someone else (well maybe not In Your Dreams or 24k) but you get the point. She gave the band a song she did not write. It was unchartered territory. Big Love and Caroline were direct lifts off Lindsey's solo album. There are many things I don't care for on Tango. But considering what Lindsey and the band had to deal with I suppose its the best album that ever could have been imagined.

[KenB]

Originally Posted by WalkAThinLine.

To my understanding, "Oh Diane" was the only song of the four released as a single in the United States.

See, this is where Discogs adds confusion. They list a U.S. release of “Farmer’s Daughter.”

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by KenB

See, this is where Discogs adds confusion. They list a U.S. release of “Farmer’s Daughter.”

I googled that "wbs49700" and there's another page that shows Farmer's Daughter as a single. The picture of the record in that page says "Made in USA".

https://www.45cat.com/record/wbs49700

It was a singie in Austria too, according to an austrian page.

[KenB]

Originally Posted by Villavic

I googled that "wbs49700" and there's another page that shows Farmer's Daughter as a single. The picture of the record in that page says "Made in USA".

https://www.45cat.com/record/wbs49700

It was a singie in Austria too, according to an austrian page.

Wild! So it appears we’ve confirmed Farmer’s Daughter was released in the U.S. I wonder if any stations actually played it? I absolutely adore their cover of the song. I think it’s one of the best showcases of their three-part harmonies ever.

[WalkAThinLine.]

For Behind the Mask, I'm curious if "Save Me" was the best choice as the first single. According to Rick Vito, the band and record label had differing opinions on what to release first. With the exception of Rick, who wanted "Love is Dangerous" to be selected, the rest of the band wanted "Save Me" instead. Meanwhile, the record label suggested "Skies the Limit". Rick also said that there were "different opinions on the second single" as well. Ultimately, "Skies the Limit" became the second single whereas "Love is Dangerous" was a promotional single, which actually charted in the lower realms of the Canadian charts based on airplay alone. Below is a link to a newspaper article where Rick discussed the selection of the singles.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/537...g_id=173653229