May 24, 1969 Melody Maker article

[macfan 57]

Here's a nice, little Melody Maker article on Christine from back in the 1960's.
This was just after she left Chicken Shack.

No Domestic Oblivion For Christine

Swapping a job with one of the country's leading blues bands for a sinkful of dirty dishes may not be everybody's idea of a fair exchange but as far as Christine Perfect is concerned it is.

Last August she became Mrs. John McVie, wife of Fleetwood Mac's bass guitarist and more recently she has quit the Chicken Shack, her place being taken by ex-Plastic Penny organist Paul Raymond.

But Christine isn't going to sink into domestic oblivion. "I wouldn't say I'm the 'darning socks' type," she says. "Life with a musician isn't humdrum. There are always people calling round. It's never boring, there's always lots and lots of things to do. I do a bit of painting and drawing, and some sculpting-I'm doing a model of John-and I hope when we move into a house I can have one room as a combined studio and dark room, because John is very interested in photography."

Leaving the Chicken Shack has giben the McVies more time to see each other than before when both were constantly on the road with their respective groups. "It wasn't like a proper marriage," Christine says. "The ordinary domestic chores were getting ignored and we just weren't seeing much of each other."

But leaving the Chicken Shack doesn't mean the goodbye to music for Christine. "I've been able to write more songs and I'm hoping eventually to make an LP of mostly my own stuff. I've written one or two things that are completely different from what I've done with the Chicken Shack. They're not the three chord, twelve-bar bit, they're more melodic, but they're still blues to me. They're just the sort of material that comes out of me naturally.

"When I'm working on my own, I'm my own boss, not cutting up three other members of the band if it's not convenient. Live gigs? They might come later on. I don't know what I've got in mind but I can't visualise myself as a solo artist. I couldn't do the same kind of gigs as I did with the Chicken Shack."

Her future as a performer is a little vague but one thing seems fairly certain and that is that a band won't be too closely involved.

Says Christine, "If I did get another band around me it would be just like the Chicken Shack, which, as far as a married woman is concerned, is impossible. When you get married, you take on a lot of extra responsibilities-and you can't neglect your old man!"