Covergirl Nicks, on stands now!

[MacMan]

Originally Posted by GardenStateGirlie

is she serious? i have news for you, stevie -- it's not because you were without christine that the album "didn't work." you had some of the worst promotion and publicity for that album and the label knew they could recoup a lot of the loss from album sales by having the band embark on a year long nostalgia tour of mostly your hits. both singles were buried on the radio and barely got any air time -- if it weren't from both shows on vh1, no one would have known you even recorded a new album -- they would just think you were doing another reunion tour.

I wouldn't necessarily blame it all on marketing... 218,000 people obviously new an album was coming out and wanted it and bought it the first week. At this stage in the game in an industry in the shape it's in - and with their visibility as an ongoing active band - I think that's pretty good. And there was plenty of press... They won an American Music Award which has a lot of visibility... And I don't think radio picking up on the tracks issued as singles would have made much of a difference on sales as radio play would have come from AC stations and AC isn't known for producing much in the terms of sales - because of the number of listeners... Top 40 reaches a ton of people, but they aren't where radio is today. The marketing actually started the year before with the release of the Very Best Of... Enough people bought that and knew the album and tour were coming... So either they've lost a huge portion of their fanbase, or the cd wasn't considered very good, or people just don't care if they produce new music and just want to hold onto the old... I don't know... I like the cd.. I like that it has lots of tracks... What sort of sticks out is that it does come off as two solo albums put together... So maybe Christine would have made a difference...

Maybe she's making reference to the whole recording process of the project and the stuggles they had there with disagreements about whether it's a double or a single... and the sequencing of it we heard about - sounded like it almost put an end to the whole thing... So maybe that's what she's talking about?

[Rickypt]

Originally Posted by Nikolaj

Re: TOSOTM--
"Lucky me, I had written the songs for TOSOTM before the Klonopin kicked in. I was very happy with them and still am. I really love that record.

.

Then play some goddamn OSOTM songs on your CV tour!!!!!!!

[Nikolaj]

Interscope would have been better, it seems. Maybe. I recall being a new Ledge member and a female Warner Music Group employee taking me to task terribly for me suggesting that 'Say You Will' was dying on the vine and it was all fixable, and without me necessarily meaning to blame (Reprise) Warner Music Group, in a way i guess i did. She said the label WAS working the cd and with a great deal of effort, and perhaps she was right.
Perhaps, because promotion is also in a huge way the artists job, and 4 years after 'Say You Will' we see it again- Just this month, Stevie puts out a cd-dvd with good potential, considering it's a rehash, at least there's a DVD- the main selling point to get people into stores to buy it could have been 'Rock and Roll'---- so... Stevie does two tv shows, and sings Stand Back and Landslide. About 5 weeks prior, on the SuperBowl pre-show she did, Stand Back. At any of those times she sang on tv, it would have been critical for the success of the cd (and tour!) that LaNicks perform 'Rock and Roll' and get some buzz going. Everybody's heard 'Stand Back' to death on tv. No-one got to hear her do 'Rock and Roll' so hence there were no requests to radio to get it played. It was her best shot.
Back to 'Say You Will' - Mac went on the Today Show and sang 'Rhiannon, Go Your Own Way' and two weak new tracks, 'Peacekeeper' and 'Say You Will'...
That cd had two unrealized hits on it, and myself- and a few others- posted and emailed til we were blue in the face that 'Miranda' was the standout Buckingham potential hit, and 'Everybody Finds Out' was the most alive Nicks track in ages. Ignored by the band, ignored by management and record labels who were contacted, oh well.
Mac go onto Leno and Letterman and STILL push 'Peacekeeper' which CLEARLY was not selling the cd, wasn't gaining at radio, and only slowly climbing on what used to be called the easy listening stations. Just a dud.
Fans hopes for the tour get up high, when Stevie says there's a real potential now for Mac to be a Buckingham-Nicks Fleetwood Mac, and illusions of 'Frozen Love' opening the show excite some of us, to be followed later by Stevie's 'Thrown Down' and LB's "Miranda'' or ''Steal Your Heart Away'' which eventually goes to radio, way, way too late. So, they go on tour, and open with The Chain...
Lindsey tried, and was willing, to dig deeper into the cd and try new songs out live, when fans here pushed for 'Red Rover' he put it into the set. Nice little song. But not a hit. 'Miranda' would have been great for radio and worked swell live. Oh well, again.
In hindsight it seems ridiculous to think Nicks would consider stretching and making 'Finds Out' the showstopper on the 'Say You Will' tour it could have been. All she was willing to sing was the (i'm sorry) truly dreadful 'Goodbye Baby'- oh, and 'Say You Will' - which was a cute enough pop song, but it wasn't a 'Thrown Down' or 'Finds Out' or 'Running Thru The Garden'...
The only blame i think LB truly deserves for the entire 'Say You Will' cd is for producing such a hideous 'Smile At You' and ruining the song more than any Stevie Nicks demo anyone had ever heard in their lives, and for thinking "Peackeeper'' with its cheesy 'waht-wah-waht-wah's was worthy of being the lead song from the first NEW Fleetwood Mac cd with he & Stevie since (!) 'Tango In the Night'...
So how much are record labels to blame? This spring, I'm sure it had to have occured to someone, especially WADDY, or the A&R people that Stevie should sing 'Rock and Roll' on Ellen, The Superbowl and whatever other tv appearance she made. She didn't. Wouldn't. She could have had some airplay by now. Maybe not tons. Maybe quite a bit. Maybe the cd would still be in the Top 50. Sheesh.
So the promo "Rock and Roll'' single gets out of the hands of radio stations and into eBay buyer hands, and it never gets on radio because millions of tv viewers who would have seen, didnt know Stevie had covered 'Rock and Roll' and actually had somethin kind of new that rocked. Why even mention the 'Landslide' promo cd single.
Not that millions of people exposed to "Rock and Roll" would have requested it at radio, but even if it were a couple thousand moved by her rockin it out on tv, and that is a conservative estimate, the song woulda had a shot at airplay and it also would have sold the cd-dvd. It's so simple. The label tried. Stevie didn't.
And after a decent first week, a month later, the cd is sinking so fast, it's crazy. She did 2 shows at the Greek in LA last week. I am sure Jay Leno or Jimmy Kimmel would have had her on to sing 'Rock and Roll' (though the time was in the past month to do it) but Leno likely would've passed on another 'Stand Back' performance. And apparantly it didnt even occur to her to try to promote the cd or tour nationally while in the same city as several late night TV shows.
Yet it appears the record label is really going out of its way to get behind her by going to the co$t now to have a 7 track 'Stand Back' remix sent to radio, since its the one song for sure millions of tv viewers get exposed to regularly and it's the tour opener.
Now I almost feel sorry for the labels working with Stevie Nicks. Stevie doesn't know how to promote herself to the masses anymore- and it was true back when 'Say You Will' was released, too. So i can't say it was because of Christine not being there that 'Say You Will' didn't work. It could have. Should have. The "Live in Boston'' cd with its less than 100,000 copies sold- well...that was another case of 'all the same, all the same'....thats why that didn't work.

[sparky]

Originally Posted by Nikolaj

Interscope would have been better, it seems. Maybe. I recall being a new Ledge member and a female Warner Music Group employee taking me to task terribly for me suggesting that 'Say You Will' was dying on the vine and it was all fixable, and without me necessarily meaning to blame (Reprise) Warner Music Group, in a way i guess i did. She said the label WAS working the cd and with a great deal of effort, and perhaps she was right.
Perhaps, because promotion is also in a huge way the artists job, and 4 years after 'Say You Will' we see it again- Just this month, Stevie puts out a cd-dvd with good potential, considering it's a rehash, at least there's a DVD- the main selling point to get people into stores to buy it could have been 'Rock and Roll'---- so... Stevie does two tv shows, and sings Stand Back and Landslide. About 5 weeks prior, on the SuperBowl pre-show she did, Stand Back. At any of those times she sang on tv, it would have been critical for the success of the cd (and tour!) that LaNicks perform 'Rock and Roll' and get some buzz going. Everybody's heard 'Stand Back' to death on tv. No-one got to hear her do 'Rock and Roll' so hence there were no requests to radio to get it played. It was her best shot.
Back to 'Say You Will' - Mac went on the Today Show and sang 'Rhiannon, Go Your Own Way' and two weak new tracks, 'Peacekeeper' and 'Say You Will'...
That cd had two unrealized hits on it, and myself- and a few others- posted and emailed til we were blue in the face that 'Miranda' was the standout Buckingham potential hit, and 'Everybody Finds Out' was the most alive Nicks track in ages. Ignored by the band, ignored by management and record labels who were contacted, oh well.
Mac go onto Leno and Letterman and STILL push 'Peacekeeper' which CLEARLY was not selling the cd, wasn't gaining at radio, and only slowly climbing on what used to be called the easy listening stations. Just a dud.
Fans hopes for the tour get up high, when Stevie says there's a real potential now for Mac to be a Buckingham-Nicks Fleetwood Mac, and illusions of 'Frozen Love' opening the show excite some of us, to be followed later by Stevie's 'Thrown Down' and LB's "Miranda'' or ''Steal Your Heart Away'' which eventually goes to radio, way, way too late. So, they go on tour, and open with The Chain...
Lindsey tried, and was willing, to dig deeper into the cd and try new songs out live, when fans here pushed for 'Red Rover' he put it into the set. Nice little song. But not a hit. 'Miranda' would have been great for radio and worked swell live. Oh well, again.
In hindsight it seems ridiculous to think Nicks would consider stretching and making 'Finds Out' the showstopper on the 'Say You Will' tour it could have been. All she was willing to sing was the (i'm sorry) truly dreadful 'Goodbye Baby'- oh, and 'Say You Will' - which was a cute enough pop song, but it wasn't a 'Thrown Down' or 'Finds Out' or 'Running Thru The Garden'...
The only blame i think LB truly deserves for the entire 'Say You Will' cd is for producing such a hideous 'Smile At You' and ruining the song more than any Stevie Nicks demo anyone had ever heard in their lives, and for thinking "Peackeeper'' with its cheesy 'waht-wah-waht-wah's was worthy of being the lead song from the first NEW Fleetwood Mac cd with he & Stevie since (!) 'Tango In the Night'...
So how much are record labels to blame? This spring, I'm sure it had to have occured to someone, especially WADDY, or the A&R people that Stevie should sing 'Rock and Roll' on Ellen, The Superbowl and whatever other tv appearance she made. She didn't. Wouldn't. She could have had some airplay by now. Maybe not tons. Maybe quite a bit. Maybe the cd would still be in the Top 50. Sheesh.
So the promo "Rock and Roll'' single gets out of the hands of radio stations and into eBay buyer hands, and it never gets on radio because millions of tv viewers who would have seen, didnt know Stevie had covered 'Rock and Roll' and actually had somethin kind of new that rocked. Why even mention the 'Landslide' promo cd single.
Not that millions of people exposed to "Rock and Roll" would have requested it at radio, but even if it were a couple thousand moved by her rockin it out on tv, and that is a conservative estimate, the song woulda had a shot at airplay and it also would have sold the cd-dvd. It's so simple. The label tried. Stevie didn't.
And after a decent first week, a month later, the cd is sinking so fast, it's crazy. She did 2 shows at the Greek in LA last week. I am sure Jay Leno or Jimmy Kimmel would have had her on to sing 'Rock and Roll' (though the time was in the past month to do it) but Leno likely would've passed on another 'Stand Back' performance. And apparantly it didnt even occur to her to try to promote the cd or tour nationally while in the same city as several late night TV shows.
Yet it appears the record label is really going out of its way to get behind her by going to the co$t now to have a 7 track 'Stand Back' remix sent to radio, since its the one song for sure millions of tv viewers get exposed to regularly and it's the tour opener.
Now I almost feel sorry for the labels working with Stevie Nicks. Stevie doesn't know how to promote herself to the masses anymore- and it was true back when 'Say You Will' was released, too. So i can't say it was because of Christine not being there that 'Say You Will' didn't work. It could have. Should have. The "Live in Boston'' cd with its less than 100,000 copies sold- well...that was another case of 'all the same, all the same'....thats why that didn't work.

Damn. Can't argue with much of that.

Excellent post.

[danax6]

Originally Posted by sparky

Damn. Can't argue with much of that.

Excellent post.

Word. Good post nikolaj.

I wonder where this Christine stuff came from all of a sudden. Before it was all 'oh, we can do this without her' blah blah, and now it almost seems as if she needs a reason/excuse why she doesn't want to do another Fleetwood Mac album again. Whatever, Stevie.

[macmar71]

Doesn't this seem like a pattern. The Mac does an album....they have reunited and all is great...this is the best thing we've ever done...blah, blah blah....and then a few years later it was the worse experience in the world, they weren't really getting along or happy about the situation for one reason or another, and then another couple of years go by they make up and make something else which is at the time so good and feels great, but a couple of years later will be deemed a miserable experience or not worthy to mention. I see this as very predictable and knew as that Say You Will tour continued on she would have negative comments later on as she did mention missing having Christine with her even while the tour was going on. I enjoy the music but can be spared the drama! Just my honest opinion and thoughts.

[Kelly]

She seems to just not want to record period. She is probably using the Christine thing as her excuse for why she doesn't want to record a Mac album. She didn't say here she wouldn't tour with FM, just record. (she said the door was always open, in that other interview)

She does address a solo album in this article but as usual, she is vague. (where as in the past, she always talked up her future releases..we heard about TISL for four years before it came out. She sounded excited and hyped about it. Plus we knew she was working on it, as news of producers leaked out, etc)

[GypsySorcerer]

I chalk SYW's less-than-stellar reception (personally, I think it performed respectably) up to a lack of public interest. I think the hardcore fans purchased it, and that's pretty much all who were going to buy it anyway. It's not like they're going to reach the MTV audience, who makes the bulk of music purchases. The "casual" fans are more likely to attend a show so they can hear Rumours performed for the billionth time than to buy an album of new material.

As for Stevie, I agree she doesn't seem to want to record in any form. This Christine thing is just bizarre, because she's been gone since 1998.

[Rickypt]

I think Stevie's been very clear that she didn't like SYW. She's found a new reason.

I have always said that the album feels like Stevie and Lindsey solo albums slapped together. I agree with her, it didn't work. There are many songs I enjoy a great deal individually, but I feel nothing from it as a whole. I think it suffers greatly from Christine's absence, as did the tour.

Fleetwood Mac is clearly done, except possibly for one more cash-cow nostalgia tour.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by GardenStateGirlie

is she serious? i have news for you, stevie -- it's not because you were without christine that the album "didn't work." you had some of the worst promotion and publicity for that album and the label knew they could recoup a lot of the loss from album sales by having the band embark on a year long nostalgia tour of mostly your hits. both singles were buried on the radio and barely got any air time -- if it weren't from both shows on vh1, no one would have known you even recorded a new album -- they would just think you were doing another reunion tour.

I have to say I disagree as well. Warner promoted the hell out of that record. I mean MTV/VH-1 do not just give hour long slots to just anyone much less for the making of a record. Then, the TV spots (GMA, LENO, etc. ) . Then the AOL first listen. Then the placing of songs on very popular t.v. shows. Then, all the radio station press and interviews.

So, the record failed because people essentially had no interest in new material from them and/or the material was not radio friendly enough for that pick up.

[Gailh]

Originally Posted by GypsySorcerer

I chalk SYW's less-than-stellar reception (personally, I think it performed respectably) up to a lack of public interest. I think the hardcore fans purchased it, and that's pretty much all who were going to buy it anyway. It's not like they're going to reach the MTV audience, who makes the bulk of music purchases. The "casual" fans are more likely to attend a show so they can hear Rumours performed for the billionth time than to buy an album of new material.

As for Stevie, I agree she doesn't seem to want to record in any form. This Christine thing is just bizarre, because she's been gone since 1998.

I'm not sure Christine's prescence on the album would have significantly increased the sales but maybe it would have made the experience more pleasurable for Stevie.

Perhaps she just needed her big sister there to protect her from all that testosterone.


Gail

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by Gailh

I'm not sure Christine's prescence on the album would have significantly increased the sales but maybe it would have made the experience more pleasurable for Stevie.

Perhaps she just needed her big sister there to protect her from all that testosterone.


Gail

I think that is exactly what La Nicks is talking about.

[SpyNote]

Originally Posted by Nikolaj

"Absolutely not, not in this lifetime" will she make a new Fleetwood Mac cd without Christine. "Why? We already tried, and it did not work."

On some levels, I agree with her. It didn't really have the "classic" Fleetwood Mac sound that most people wanted, at least not enough of it. It was Lindsey's grand opus solo project, not Tusk, materialized.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by SpyNote

On some levels, I agree with her. It didn't really have the "classic" Fleetwood Mac sound that most people wanted, at least not enough of it. It was Lindsey's grand opus solo project, not Tusk, materialized.

And, his work was really good. His work on her stuff, though and IMO, was lacking.

In the end, I could care a less if FM got back together. But, if they do, they better hurry

[Rickypt]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

In the end, I could care a less if FM got back together.

Nor could I. Unless we had the miracle of Christine's return.