Fleetwood Mac, The #12 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Five

 

(Continued from Part Four)

 "Fireflies" is another of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era* from the group's 1981 Live release.  Nicks remixed tapes of performances of the song from the Tusk tour to get the end result.

 

Here is a cover of the Beach Boys' song "Farmer's Daughter" from that live album.  "The Beach Boys showed the way," Buckingham wrote in Rolling Stone.  "They may have sold the California Dream to a lot of people," he said, "but for me, it was Brian Wilson showing how far you might have to go in order to make your own musical dream come true."

 Buckingham, Fleetwood, and Nicks put out solo albums in 1981 before Fleetwood Mac returned with the album Mirage in 1982.  Christine wrote this one with Robbie Patton, a singer who opened for the group in 1979.  "Hold Me" was the first single, shooting to #4 Popular and #7 Adult Contemporary in the United States, and #5 in Australia & #9 in Canada.

 

The band received American Music Award nominations for Favorite Pop/Rock Group and Favorite Pop/Rock Album.  Mirage has sold over two million copies in the U.S. alone and hit #1 in the U.S. and #2 in Australia.  Fleetwood Mac released "Love In Store".

 

The group went on a short tour of the U.S. and headlined the US Festival in September.  Stevie Nicks' "Gypsy" was one of her best career songs, and the video made is one of The Top 100 Videos of the Rock Era*.  "Gypsy" is one of Fleetwood's favorite songs by the group.  "It really crystallizes that whole period of the early 1980's," he said, "when we were in our mid-30's and beginning to look back at our lost youth."  peaked at #4 on the Rock chart and #9 overall.

Mirage was the fourth album produced by Buckingham.  Here's "That's Alright".

Fleetwood Mac recorded the album at Le Chateau Studios in France, the same facility that Elton John used for his 1972 album Honky Chateau.  "Oh Diane" reached the Top 10 in the U.K.

Members of the group were not only allowed complete freedom to record on their own; they also were experiencing problems, which led to a long break from the group.  Stevie had been headed on a downward spiral for some time, and to her great credit, she checked in to the Betty Ford Clinic to treat her addiction.  Relatedly, John suffered an addiction-related seizure during this time.

 

By 1987, the band was ready to come back with the album Tango in the Night.  It was another strong effort, led by the single "Little Lies", which topped the AC chart and was #5 overall in the United States, #3 in Germany, #4 in Ireland, #5 in the U.K., #9 in New Zealand and #10 in the Netherlands.

 

The album was their biggest since Tusk, selling over three million copies.  This is the Christine song "Everywhere", another #1 smash on the AC chart that also was big elsewhere--#2 in the U.K. and #4 in Ireland and the Netherlands.

Tango in the Night reached #1 in the U.K. and Sweden and the Top 10 in most countries.  This is "Seven Wonders", written by Nicks' friend Sandy Stewart.

Fleetwood Mac rings up segment #6 next!