Best Mac Single?

EricBliss12345 · #1 07-26-2003, 08:21 AM

I was looking over the single discography in the black booklet from The Chain boxed set, and even though I'm not familiar with a lot of their stuff I was reminded of how many great hit singles they had.

Not to mention the (in most cases) equally great B-sides!

Which one do you think was the most triumphant of their hits? For me, it would be Hold Me, no contest. I may even go as far as saying it's my favorite Fleetwood Mac song. Everything about it is just awesome, from the gorgeous understated piano opening, to the creatively phrased verses and interesting guitar work (I love those plucky guitar lines and the little acoustic interlude, plus the great solo) are among the most sublime of pop songs. Plus when that chorus hits the first time it's one of the most ****ing joyous things ever.

Not to mention, it has the line "No step for you to dance to, so slip your hand inside my glove." Now THAT'S hot. Good one, Christine!

Also, the subject matter is something that I'm sure we could have all easily related to at some point or another in our lives.

I also like the contrast in the song. The subject matter is fairly dark and Christine did a great job conveying the feelings of deperation and lonliness she seemed to be feeling when writing it. You can really tell the poor woman is just at her wits end.

However the music is so upbeat that you forget about it. I've never heard a sad song that wanted to make me jump for joy like this one. It's almost like the music reflects the hope she has for whoever she was writing about, if indeed it was about someone.

I've had this song on repeat for at least the 9th time now and I always have a hard time getting over its giddy, joyous rush. At work every night I always hope this one comes across the piped in soft-rock sattelite radio station (at least 4 times a week, it delivers!)

It would seem hard to narrow this down with all the other great songs they have. The anthemic Heroes Are Hard To Find and the haunting Little Lies come very close. Tusk gets a ton of points for the marching band. Think About Me and You Make Loving Fun are high up there too. But when it comes to picking a favorite, for me it was rather easy.

By the way what did that other co-writer dude have to do with the song? Help on lyrics? Some of the music? All of the music? Just curious. It sucks she didn't do it all herself kinda because it's so good.

I also can't believe Not That Funny was a single! I don't think I've ever heard a more annoying song.

SO what's your fave Mac radio hit?

macfan 57 · #2 07-26-2003, 10:26 AM

Of all their hit singles, I have to agree with you that "Hold Me" is also my favorite. I love the piano throughout the song & I love Christine & Lindsey singing together. Other favorites that come to mind are "You Make Loving Fun", "Go Your Own Way", "Little Lies", "Don't Stop" & "Gypsy" in that order. These are all terrific songs to listen to on the radio.

I believe that Christine's co-writer on "Hold Me", Robbie Patton contributed both to the music & lyrics of the song. He was a very good friend of hers. She even produced a solo album for him around that time.

ryan8472 · #3 07-26-2003, 12:11 PM

I would say that the most successful singles were Dreams and GYOW, being that Dreams was #1 and GYOW is still in heavy rotation on rock stations today (as is Dreams). But, since this isn't about the most successful singles, my favorite is Tusk. It's always been my favorite Mac song, and I think it's probably the most unique of Fleetwood Mac's songs. Hold Me, Think About Me, Gypsy and GYOW are some other personal favorites.

jwd · #4 07-26-2003, 01:49 PM

He and Christine also do a number of his on Bob Welch's "Bob Welch and Friends". Can't remember the name of the song but I do recall liking it a lot. And another of his that he does with Stevie is called "Smiling Islands". A GREAT song and Stevie's vocals are sweet!!

Joe

darklinensuit · #5 07-26-2003, 02:21 PM

Gypsy or Rhiannon. Probably Gypsy, since Rhiannon is so improved live.

- Jake

Merf · #6 07-26-2003, 02:42 PM

Since I wasn't alive in the 1970s (I know, shame shame shame) I don't remember any of the classic songs being singles-- but I do remember Christine's voice on the radio and MTV all the time on "Hold Me" and "Little Lies," when I was younger. I also hear "You Make Loving Fun" and "Say You Love Me" like everyday on a classic rock station here. To this day, HM and LL are the most distinctive FM songs to non-FM fans I know (including my 17 year old brother.) One day he heard me playing "Little Lies," and he came into my room and said "I know this song. why do I know this song?" even though he was an infant when it came out.

Most successful singles? Christine's.
BEST Mac single? in my eyes? Go Your Own Way/Silver Springs.

macfan 57 · #7 07-26-2003, 03:41 PM

I can't believe I forgot this one from my earlier post:"Over My Head"-I believe that's the first Fleetwood Mac song that I ever heard on the radio, it's still one of my favorites.

EricBliss12345 · #8 07-26-2003, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Merf
Most successful singles? Christine's.
[/B]

Exactly. Stevie who?

Merf · #9 07-26-2003, 10:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by EricBliss12345
Exactly. Stevie who?

Well I wouldn't go that far, Eric,

gldstwmn · #10 07-26-2003, 10:27 PM

Sara, Spare Me a Little, Man of The World and Big Love. Peter Green does and insturmental of Man Of The World on his Destiny Road album and it's really beautiful. It makes me get a little sad. Every time I hear it I just want to start barking "C'mon Peter, sing!"

Sorcerer386 · #11 07-26-2003, 10:47 PM

Actually, my favorite radio hit that never hit the charts because it wasn't an actual single is Gold Dust Woman...actually my favorite song ever. It gets played a lot for not even being released as a single. But for ACTUAL singles, I don't know...there's so many. Sara, Gypsy, You Make Loving Fun, GYOW, and Little Lies all come to mind for me right away, AND Silver Springs.

David R · #12 07-27-2003, 01:58 AM

Yep "Hold Me" is a great single overall.... It's just such a "happy" song... The vocals are great as is the music... I remeber when I was first getting into the mac way back in 97'... heh... wow 6 years already... I saw "Hold Me" on Vh-1 pop up video and recorded it... and played it over and over and over... I loved it and went out and got "Fleetwood Mac - Greatest Hits" the next day... then eventually I got all the albums...

Hey I found it on Kazza... haha now I get to watch it...

EricBliss12345 · #13 07-27-2003, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Well I wouldn't go that far, Eric,

Why not? Don't get me wrong, Stevie Nicks is very talented. However, I would actually go see a show if it was the same lineup now but with Christine INSTEAD of Stevie. Stevie had some great songs, but I think it would be much easier to come up with a great set of Buckingham/McVie songs than Buckingham/Nicks songs. Songs like "Rhiannon" "Sara" "Dreams" and "Gypsy" aren't necessarily bad songs, but they just sound tedious to me, like they never quite take off anywhere special. "Sara" especially I find rather boring. The setlists I saw for this tour looked kind of bad to me. I'd still like to go to say I saw them once, but none of my favorite songs would get played. That would suck.

It was wierd, even before I started investigatig their music a couple months ago, when I first saw promo photos for the recent tour and album I thought they looked really funny without Christine in them. I always thought of Fleetwood Mac as these FIVE people, and that it just wasn't the same unless it was those 5 people. They went through SO many different people to get to a lineup that proved successful, it almost seems unfair that they're calling it Fleetwood Mac without Christine. She's a "Mac" too ya know.

It's like how Led Zeppelin were those 4 guys and those 4 only, and how Emerson, Lake And Palmer couldnt be anybody but Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. Something about the current lineup just doesn't seem right. It would be wierd having an onslaught of Buckingham songs and Nicks songs, with no favorite songs between them.

But I'm getting WAY off topic! Sorry. As soon as I get my cable modem back I'm gonna have to check out the pop up vid. All I remember was a clip they showed of Lindsey botching some special effect, but it was funny.

And as far as Gold Dust I think I hear that on the radio more than any track from Rumours that was actually a single. Remember Hole's cover version of that? It rocked.

gldstwmn · #14 07-27-2003, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by trackaghost
With any other band I'd say thats true but there have been so many incarnations of FM that it doesn't necessarily hold true with them.
Remember there's plenty of people that still hold that Peter Green's FM is the definitive version of the group. Was it unfair that they carried on when he left? Maybe, but no different to the current situation.

You're right. After all Peter did start the band.

dissention · #15 07-27-2003, 03:17 PM

I would say that the best single is "Little Lies." To me, it just seems like a "radio song."

Second on my list would be Rhiannon.