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.

Buckingham Nicks - "Dreams Unwind"

Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks recorded one album as Buckingham Nicks in 1973. It didn't do very well (except, strangely, in Birmingham, Ala., where it received a lot of airplay). Eventually, in 1974, both were invited to join Fleetwood Mac and the rest is history.

But as recently as last year, Buckingham was lamenting in an interview about what might have been had he and Nicks continued as a duo. They had already been working on songs for a second album, and this is an attempt to create what that album might have been.

SIDE A

1. Monday Morning

2. Nomad

3. Blue Letter

4. Rhiannon

5. Cathouse Blues 

6. Garbo

7. Without You

SIDE B

1. I Don’t Want to Know

2. Landslide

3. Goldfish and the Ladybug

4. Sorcerer

5. Designs of Love

6. I’m So Afraid

In creating a second Buckingham Nicks album I decided to start by taking the Fleetwood Mac album of 1975 and removing the Christine McVie songs. I also removed the song "Crystal" since Buckingham Nicks had recorded that on their debut album. Next, I searched for songs written before Nicks and Buckingham joined Fleetwood Mac. As it turns out, there's a lot to use:

• "Cathouse Blues"
• "Designs of Love" (later retitled "That's Alright")
• "Garbo"
• "Goldfish and the Ladybug"
• "I Don't Want to Know"
• "Nomad" (later retitled "Candlelight")
• "Sorceror"
• "Without You"

Fleetwood Mac would later record "I Don't Want to Know" (on Rumours), "That's Alright" (on Mirage) and "Without You" (on Extended Play). Nicks would record the others (except "Goldfish and the Ladybug") on solo albums. And there are Buckingham Nicks demo versions of all these (except for "I Don't Want to Know" as far as I know) that can be found on a bootleg titled The Coffee Plant Demos, 1970-1973. So what to use and how to organize?

I determined first of all that if Buckingham isn't playing on any tracks then they're not Buckingham Nicks songs, so that eliminated the Nicks solo versions. I also thought Fleetwood Mac versions of "That's Alright" and "Without You" were recorded too many years later.

So in the end I decided to use only the tracks from Fleetwood Mac and The Coffee Plant Demos, with the sole exception of "I Don't Want to Know" from Rumours. However, when you combine The Coffee Plant Demos with the Fleetwood Mac tracks it doesn't really work as the Fleetwood Mac songs are obviously much more polished and better produced. Thankfully, there's an easy solution. Both Fleetwood Mac and Rumours have been re-released with bonus discs of early versions and demos of the songs that fit much better along with The Coffee Plant Demos. 

I don't like that Buckingham yells "verse" twice during the demo version of "I Don't Want to Know," but it obviously wasn't expected to be the final version. I also don't like that Nicks doesn't sing on this version, but since she wrote the song I'm letting that slide.

Fleetwood Mac is 42 minutes and 12 seconds long, and I wanted to make this album as close as possible. Including everything it clocks in at a little under 44 minutes. If you wanted to cut something, I'd choose "Goldfish and the Ladybug." If Nicks hasn't put this song on an album in all these years, then it's probably the least essential.

For the album title, I used lyrics from "Rhiannon." For the cover, I used a die-cut design I found online and an old date-appropriate photo.