Is Hold Me the Mac's most successful single?

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by bwboy

Other possible reasons Hold Me doesn’t get a lot of respect, so to speak, could be that:

- it hasn’t aged all that well.
- it’s very, very poppy. A lot of FM songs are, but they don’t sound quite so annoying. Compare You Make Loving Fun to Hold Me. Both are very poppy but YMLF is much simpler and catchier.
- the video is not very memorable, especially compared to Gypsy. As a FM fan, I like the video a lot, but a casual fan probably couldn’t even recall the video.
- my sister dislikes FM. She says their music is “whiny” LOL. Even though I disagree with her, I can kind of see that, and Hold Me has a whiny sound to it.
- lyrically, I can see why Tusk, Rhiannon, Dreams, Go Your Own Way, and others are remembered more often. Even Little Lies is a more interesting song, lyrically. There is a gravitas to them that Hold Me lacks.

It hasn’t aged well? According to whom? This is not a widely accepted fact. And the lyrics to Hold Me are quite clever and sly. Robert Christgau sees the song as the standard by which the rest of Mirage can be judged: “After seven years, you'd think they'd weary of romantic tension-and-release. But despite the occasional I'm-scareds and can't-go-backs, you'd never know how much passion they've already put behind them--they write about infatuation and its aftermaths like twenty-year-olds. This is obviously a commercial advantage, and I wouldn't want to be immune to its truth. But pop music offers endless variations on that truth, and since only the most graceful are worth pondering I have to say that there isn't another "Hold Me" here. B+“

Hold Me is a classic.

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by elle

it's amazing little pop song, fun and so well crafted. Second Hand News and Hold Me just have everything and beyond a pop song should have, imo.

You know it!

[elle]

Originally Posted by bwboy

There is a gravitas to them that Hold Me lacks.

recently i looked up the lyrics of one of the SN songs everyone's been quoting to me. the lyrics consisted of a single interesting great sounding phrase with tons of meaningless gibberish filled all around it. a reaction from a huge Stevie fan was "how dare you!" followed by something like - you just described lyrics of almost every single SN song.

Hold Me is a complete package - some interesting turns of phrase, catchy melody, interplay of voices, fantastic arrangement / music, all that tightly packaged from the start to finish.

this is the first time ever i heard Hold Me described as "annoying" and i can't wrap my head around it.

why some songs stay popular while others do not? besides the initial quality, pure luck can have lots to do with it. Don't Stop might be one of the Rumours era FM most widely known songs (that we forgot to list in this thread!). why? because it was used in presidential campaign which brought it back in the spotlight to stay.

sometimes it's deliberate marketing other times happy accident or pure serendipity.

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by jwd

Perhaps you should have stated that "Hold Me" had the longest stay in the Top 10 of any FM single. That would be a fact, I guess, I'm trusting your info. It doesn't make it the most "successful" single, unless of course you describe success as how many weeks a single stayed in the Top 10.

My opinion that "Dreams" is the Mac's most "successful" is based on my opinion. It's just a feeling.

Like I said success is a very subjective word.

Well, if we’re using opinion on what makes a successful Fleetwood Mac song, my top five are The Green Manalishi, Talkin’ To My Heart, Miles Away, Say You Love Me, and Love Shines.

[jwd]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Well, if we’re using opinion on what makes a successful Fleetwood Mac song, my top five are The Green Manalishi, Talkin’ To My Heart, Miles Away, Say You Love Me, and Love Shines.

Well good for you Steve. Now maybe based on your opinion you could explain to us why you believe those are the most "successful" Mac songs. Successful, ugh.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by bwboy

Other possible reasons Hold Me doesn’t get a lot of respect, so to speak, could be that:

- it hasn’t aged all that well.
- it’s very, very poppy. A lot of FM songs are, but they don’t sound quite so annoying. Compare You Make Loving Fun to Hold Me. Both are very poppy but YMLF is much simpler and catchier.
- the video is not very memorable, especially compared to Gypsy. As a FM fan, I like the video a lot, but a casual fan probably couldn’t even recall the video.
- my sister dislikes FM. She says their music is “whiny” LOL. Even though I disagree with her, I can kind of see that, and Hold Me has a whiny sound to it.
- lyrically, I can see why Tusk, Rhiannon, Dreams, Go Your Own Way, and others are remembered more often. Even Little Lies is a more interesting song, lyrically. There is a gravitas to them that Hold Me lacks.

You're on you own with this, man. I've always tried to pigeon hole you as a Chiffonhead, but you seem a little too level headed for that, so I've tried to place you in the FM camp. But you lost me with this comment.

WHINY? Hasn't aged well? What could be worse than Stevie and her Nasal Symphony? Now THAT'S whiny and annoying.

Now just admit that you are wrong, and we can all have wine.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by jwd

Perhaps you should have stated that "Hold Me" had the longest stay in the Top 10 of any FM single. That would be a fact, I guess, I'm trusting your info. It doesn't make it the most "successful" single, unless of course you describe success as how many weeks a single stayed in the Top 10.

My opinion that "Dreams" is the Mac's most "successful" is based on my opinion. It's just a feeling.

Like I said success is a very subjective word.

Again, its not "my" info. Doesn't a song which spent as much as 3 times longer in the top 10 make it more successful? When you add that it spent over 2 months locked at #4 alone is quite the oddity for any chart. However the end of year statistics make it even more revealing. Hold Me was a bigger song in 1982 than Dreams was in 1977 (statistics on chart). Even when #1 songs were falling from the top spot, Hold Me was holding steady and not moving. I agree Dreams is heard more today on the radio but it does not take away the chart information on Hold Me. Everything from Rumours is played more than any other Mac album since its from one of the biggest albums of all time.
Like I said, the statistics speak for themselves. There are definitely bragging rights in having a #1 song. But lets say Dreams was at #2 for 7 weeks, would it not have been a bigger hit than #1 for 1 week? The end of year statistics would say yes. Just shedding some light on the casual acceptance Dreams was the Mac's biggest hit. It was their only #1 but that did not make it their biggest "hit."
It very similar to when people thought Stevie Nicks was the lead singer in Fleetwood Mac because she had all the "hits" but then statistics show Christine has more hits than Stevie with the band. Its fun to pull back the curtain now and then

[bwboy]

I was just offering some ideas about why Hold Me may not be as well remembered today as some of FM’s other songs, even though back in 1982, it performed so well on Billboard. Those ideas aren’t necessarily how I personally feel.

Another reason might be that FM only performed it live for one tour. And even when the Mirage tour was released to the public, they left Hold Me off the concert. That’s pretty blatant right there about how FM may have felt about the song, because they left the lead single off their last album (to that point) off the concert, a song that performed very well on Billboard. Since the song was never captured live (except on bootlegs), the song had less exposure than, say, GYOW.

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

What do you mean weak year? 1982 like any year was big in music.

I agree with that. Feels like it was the real beginning of the 80s decade.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by bwboy

I was just offering some ideas about why Hold Me may not be as well remembered today as some of FM’s other songs, even though back in 1982, it performed so well on Billboard. Those ideas aren’t necessarily how I personally feel.

Another reason might be that FM only performed it live for one tour. And even when the Mirage tour was released to the public, they left Hold Me off the concert. That’s pretty blatant right there about how FM may have felt about the song, because they left the lead single off their last album (to that point) off the concert, a song that performed very well on Billboard. Since the song was never captured live (except on bootlegs), the song had less exposure than, say, GYOW.

They left it off(IMO) because it was so overproduced, that it was hard to replicate, live. So is Gypsy, and that's why it's always sucked, live.

[jwd]

https://americansongwriter.com/fleet...greatest-hits/

So, American Songwriter put together a list of Fleetwood Mac’s 10 greatest hits. Compiled based on data from Billboard charts, streaming analytics, record sales and more, the following songs are the definitive greatest hits of Fleetwood Mac


David(Homer), I believe your information is sourced from 2013. This is more up to date.

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by jwd

https://americansongwriter.com/fleet...greatest-hits/

So, American Songwriter put together a list of Fleetwood Mac’s 10 greatest hits. Compiled based on data from Billboard charts, streaming analytics, record sales and more, the following songs are the definitive greatest hits of Fleetwood Mac


David(Homer), I believe your information is sourced from 2013. This is more up to date.

I would not have guessed that Tusk and Big Love are “greater” (in charts, sales, radio play, etc) than Say You Love Me, which was a monster hit. But hey, Landslide’s there and it wasn’t properly released as a single until the late 90s.

[aleuzzi]

Originally Posted by jwd

Perhaps you should have stated that "Hold Me" had the longest stay in the Top 10 of any FM single. That would be a fact, I guess, I'm trusting your info. It doesn't make it the most "successful" single, unless of course you describe success as how many weeks a single stayed in the Top 10.

My opinion that "Dreams" is the Mac's most "successful" is based on my opinion. It's just a feeling.

Like I said success is a very subjective word.

You can trust MacFan’s info on the duration of weeks in the top ten—it exceeds any other FM single, and it probably would have even gone higher if it weren’t for a couple of iconic number 1s.

But then, Dreams had some seriously stiff competition, too…

[elle]

Originally Posted by jwd

https://americansongwriter.com/fleet...greatest-hits/

So, American Songwriter put together a list of Fleetwood Mac’s 10 greatest hits. Compiled based on data from Billboard charts, streaming analytics, record sales and more, the following songs are the definitive greatest hits of Fleetwood Mac


David(Homer), I believe your information is sourced from 2013. This is more up to date.

after 2020 and Nathan Apodaca Dreams shoot to #1 on all these lists. before that it was not even in classic rock 500 best songs of all times. now it's somewhere around #15. tells you how much lucky thing like someone's viral video can change the "staying power" order between songs where the newest ones are 34 years old.

2013 vs 2021 for songs over 34 years old? what can be the difference? in 5 more years order will completely change again.

[Macfan4life]

Here is a list of 1982's biggest hits. Notable mentions
#100 Edge of 17 (even though it did not crack the top 10)
#36 Stevie Nicks and Don Henley Leather and Lace
#31 Hold Me Fleetwood Mac

#30 Who Can It Be Now - Men at work OMG this was so HUGE and a #1 song and Hold Me is right behind it


Clearly these hits are based on weeks on charts and not chart positions. For example Roberta Flack's Making Love only hit #13 but is #46 at year's end. It was just hanging out in the top 20 forever.

#8 Hurt So Good - John Cougar
#9 Abracadabra - Steve Millier band
Are the songs that cock blocked Hold Me from the top spot

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billbo...ingles_of_1982