Fleetwood Mac - "The Challenge"

The 1980s weren't a good time for 1960s/1970s rock stars. Synthesizers and drum machines used on records, neon clothes and break dancing used in videos, and a lot of hair products just didn't fit most of them. They often sounded and looked ridiculous, and 30 or more years later the music and images can make you wince or laugh.

Fleetwood Mac struggled with hits and misses in the 1980s, both as a group and as solo endeavors. Lindsey Buckingham tried to reinvent Fleetwood Mac for the 1980s beginning with the double album Tusk, which alienated many fans at the time. And while the band had hits going forward, it never really recovered. The band has split up, changed lineups and recorded and toured sporadically, always with a lot of internal drama.

After 1982's Mirage, Fleetwood Mac didn't release another album until Tango in the Night in 1987.

In 1984, Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham released solo albums. Stevie Nicks released ones in 1983 and 1985. I took on "the challenge" of choosing tracks from a solo album of each of them to create what could have been a 1984/1985 Fleetwood Mac album.

SIDE A

1. The Challenge

2. Go Insane

3. Rock a Little (Go Ahead Lily)

4. I Must Go

5. I Sing for Things

6. Got a Hold on Me

SIDE B

1. Who’s Dreaming the Dream

2. Bang the Drum

3. One More Big Time Rock and Roll Star

4. Slow Dancing

5. The Smile I Live For

6. No Spoken Word

It's interesting that only three of Stevie's songs were included on both Mirage and Tango of the Night. In this case, I decided to go the democratic way and included four songs from each of the band's three primary songwriters.

Christine's self-titled solo album includes four tracks that feature Lindsey on either guitar, vocals or both. So those are the ones I chose for this album. The songs include "The Challenge," "Got a Hold on Me," "Who's Dreaming the Dream" and "The Smile I Live For." I was tempted to include also "Love Will Show Us How" since it was one of the singles from the album, but then it threw things out of balance. I was also tempted to use the track "Ask Anybody" because it includes Mick Fleetwood on drums. But in the end, I felt that Lindsey's contributions were more recognizable than Mick's.

From Lindsey's Go Insane album I chose the title track, "I Must Go," "Bang the Drum" and "Slow Dancing." A lot of the Go Insane album includes musical experimentation, including a lack of drums (a drum machine was used throughout). These songs seemed to me to be the most commercial, which is why I chose them for this.

For Stevie's contributions from Rock a Little, I picked three songs that she wrote alone: "Rock a Little (Go Ahead Lily)," "I Sing for Things" and "No Spoken Word." That means not including the big hit from her album, "I Can't Wait." This song was co-written by Jimmy Iovine and Rick Nowells and just feels like it was written very separate from something she would have done for Fleetwood Mac -- in my opinion anyway. In addition, I included the song "One More Big Time Rock and Roll Star," which was issued as a non-album B-side of a single.

For a cover, it would be nice to have a group shot from 1984 or 1985, but there are none that I know of. I decided to use something that fits with the title of The Challenge, which I took from Christine's song and seems symbolic of the band itself. After searching around the web for far too long, I eventually chose a background of hearts and used a 1982 photo of the band and did a little Photoshopping.

And here's a YouTube Playlist of the album.