My Favorite Albums: Artists D-F

Hysteria- Def Leppard- A high school soundtrack...much better than anything high schoolers get today.

Pyromania- Def Leppard- An amazing rock album

The Doors- The Doors- As everyone is going peace and love, The Doors drop this.

The Empire Strikes Back-SDT- Amazing piece of cinematic music history. Iconic.

The Dance- Fleetwood Mac- I just enjoy it.

Wasted Light-Foo Fighters- IMO, the Foos best effort. It harkens back to a better time in music.

Fleetwood Mac: Little Lies (1987)

"Little Lies" is a plea from one person to her significant other to lie rather than tell the truth about their feelings or situation. To date, it is Fleetwood Mac's last Top 10 hit in America.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5HkuhSEnPQ

Warren Zevon: Werewolves of London (1978)

Despite a long and varied career, Warren Zevon is best known for "Werewolves of London." The song has a catchy up tempo hook while Zevon has lyrical fun. The werewolves both have tailors, dance with the queen, and drink pina colada's while at the same time mutilate old ladies and "rip your lungs out." Zevon gives a shout out to both Lon Chaneys and is accompanied on the record by John McVie and Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac. Kid Rock sampled the song for his own hit, "All Summer Long."

Zevon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhSc8qVMjKM

Kid Rock:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwIGZLjugKA

Van Halen: Dance the Night Away (1979)

Here’s Van Halen’s first top 20 hit in America.  Interestingly, it was influenced by Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way.”  David Lee Roth claimed he wrote the song about a girl that was running away from police with her pants on backwards.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQ9pYwCKopE

Fleetwood Mac: Rock n Roll Hall of Fame Class of 1998

Rock Hall Bio: http://rockhall.com/inductees/fleetwood-mac/bio/

Fleetwood Mac began as a blues band and experienced some early success as part of the blues-rock boom of the late 60s.

Black Magic Woman (1968): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRu7Pt42x6Y

Albatross (1969): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Viqr6KHwJjc&feature=fvwrel

Oh Well (1969): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNsFVoLzNsc

Around 1970, they transitioned away from the blues and did not experience real success again until Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the band.

Rhiannon (1976): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_aYibUx1B8

Say You Love Me (1976): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uN9bTRDOtk

The group dynamics included two couples splitting up. This dramatically impacted their Rumours Album which connected with people as divorce rates exploded.

Go Your Own Way (1976): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GN2kpBoFs4

Dreams (1977): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEi7GPkxfsE

Don’t Stop (1977): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8arvEzHsA8

You Make Lovin’ Fun (1977): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFZMgf6M5KM

They moved away from the Rumours sound with Tusk.

Tusk w/ USC band (1979): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MT7W8xJFl_g

The 80s brought more hits and some solo work.

Gypsy (1982): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oWIF2n4ZLs

Big Love (1987): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjKL469SpR0

Little Lies (1987): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyE4CLM0QIA

The band disbanded, but reunited for the Clinton Inaugural. Governor Bill Clinton used “Don’t Stop” as his campaign theme song.

Clinton Inaugural: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3JA1nWPFqM

They released a live album in 1997.

Silver Springs (1997): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud2XKt2N8fs

Christie McVie retired and the band continues to tour.

 

The Greatest Songs of the 1970s: Part II

Part 2 (of 3): My favorite songs of the 1970s:

Running on Empty by Jackson Browne:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJYRtOPUonA

Complete Control by The Clash:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TcKiC2yB0s

Go Your Own Way by Fleetwood Mac:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ul-cZyuYq4

My My Hey Hey by Neil Young:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O1v_7T6p8U

Lindsey Buckingham: Go Insane (1984)

Lindsey Buckingham said "Go Insane" is about the relative nature of insanity. Insanity can depend on the context someone finds themselves in. He goes on, "Looking at it that way we all tend to go insane a little bit, I think that's ok. I think that's one of the things the album is saying - it is ok to go insane, it can be quite cathartic actually, to watch yourself go out to the edge and sort of reel yourself back in - now hopefully you do reel yourself back in." The original definitely sounds like it's from 1984. In recent years, Buckingham has stripped it down for live performances.

The original:

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/36owgl_ZhI0/

Live:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGrOqhQvDC4

Fleetwood Mac: Sisters of the Moon (1980)

The studio track is 4:36 long, but when the band plays it live, "Sisters of the Moon" often tops 8 minutes. The song has a supernatural paranormal feel to it. Naturally, it was written by Stevie Nicks. The song is a favorite among her fans.

Studio:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Onbwcek3qvM

Live:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbD4fj39pEk

833. Black Magic Woman by Santana (1970)

Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac wrote "Black Magic Woman", but the song did not achieve classic status until covered by Carlos Santana. As a result, people forget the Mac version while the song is closely associated with Santana. In fact, the cover helped Santana's Abraxas go quadruple platinum. The Santana version now appears on Guitar Hero.

Fleetwood Mac:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0uS0IhXYLA

Santana:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsshNKN_Kag&feature=related

895. Gypsy by Fleetwood Mac (1982)

Stevie Nicks wrote "Gypsy" at a time when Fleetwood Mac exploded in popularity and she longed for a simpler time. She explains in a March 31, 2009 interview with Entertainment Weekly:

"Oh boy, I've never really spoken about this, so I get verklempt, and then I've got the story and I start to screw it up. Okay: In the old days, before Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey [Buckingham] and I had no money, so we had a king-size mattress, but we just had it on the floor. I had old vintage coverlets on it, and even though we had no money it was still really pretty... Just that and a lamp on the floor, and that was it—there was a certain calmness about it. To this day, when I'm feeling cluttered, I will take my mattress off of my beautiful bed, wherever that may be, and put it outside my bedroom, with a table and a little lamp. That's the words: 'So I'm back to the velvet underground'—which is a clothing store in downtown San Francisco, where Janis Joplin got her clothes, and Grace Slick from Jefferson Airplane, it was this little hole in the wall, amazing, beautiful stuff—'back to the floor that I love, to a room with some lace and paper flowers, back to the gypsy that I was.' So that's what 'Gypsy' means: it's just a search for before this all happened. And later, I tacked on a line for my friend Robin, my best friend, who died of leukemia: 'I still see your bright eyes.' But then, Robin wasn't sick yet. She got cancer, and died within a year."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soioqrYorq4

915. Seven Wonders by Fleetwood Mac (1987)

Fleetwood Mac's second single from the Tango in the Night album hit #19 on the charts (#2 on the rock charts). The song ties the ancient seven wonders to the protangonist's personal history.  Stevie Nicks provides lead vocals..."If I live to see the seven wonders..."



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b4F_ppjnKU&ob=av2e

919. Stand Back by Stevie Nicks (1983)

Stevie Nicks was listening to "Little Red Corvette" and that propelled her creativity. She quickly recorded a demo and called Prince. He came to the studio and played the synthesizers on the track. The song is now a staple at her solo gigs as well as Fleetwood Mac shows.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdJ-i23OiJU

Scarlett video w/commentary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC5YWPTCNEQ&ob=av2n

Live:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-fxOS658H4

926. Monday Morning by Fleetwood Mac (1975)

Lindsey Buckingham's character is being drive crazy by a lover that can't decide if she loves him or wants out. The song is pretty upbeat for someone losing his mind.

Live Version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wce-6-66UYA

Studio Version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV8k9JQ_OWI

RS Magazine's Top 500 Songs #116-140

116. Honkey Tonk Women: The Rolling Stones- Nothing screams strip club like Honkey Tonk Women.

117. Take Me To The River: Al Green- Later covered by the Talking Heads

118. Crazy in Love: Bouncy- Broke Bouncy as a superstar

119. Shout: The Isley Brothers- Pistons games in the late 80s played this.

120. Go Your Own Way: Fleetwood Mac- Song defines a generation. The first one to witness a 50% divorce rate and the disillusionment of the 70s.

121. I Want You Back: Jackson 5- Opened Motown to funk.

122. Stand By Me: Ben E. King- This song was played on my HS bus every day when I was in the 10th grade.

123. The House of the Rising Sun: The Animals- One of the all time riffs…reminds me of Casino nowadays.

124. It’s a Man….World: James Brown- James Brown telling the sisters!

125. Jumpin’ Jack Flash: The Rolling Stones- Here’s another I thought would be top 100.

126. Will You Love Me Tomorrow: The Shirelles- A bit risqué for the time. Shows that being clever is better than being blunt.

127. Shake, Rattle, and Roll: Big Joe Turner- Raunchy lyrics changed for the Bill Haley version.

128. Changes: David Bowie- The song defines youth…and Bowie himself.

129. Rock and Roll Music: Chuck Berry- One of the all-time classics.

130. Born to Be Wild: Steppenwolf- Easy Rider!

131. Maggie May: Rod Stewart- Over rated!

132. With or Without You: U2- I thought this might have kicked off the Top 100. Guess I was wrong…not that U2 is underrepresented here. They have 8 songs in the top 500.

133. Who Do You Love?: Bo Diddley- People probably know the George Thorogood version better. Also covered by the Doors.

134. Won’t Get Fooled Again: The Who- Pete Townsend ripping on his own generation.

135. In the Midnight Hour: Wilson Pickett- They pushed the second beat and held back the 4th making this quite unique. Of course, it would have been unique with Pickett anyway.

136. While My Guitar Gently Weeps: The Beatles- with Clapton on guitar…George brought him in hoping he could get the lads to behave.

137. Your Song: Elton John: John Lennon loved this song.

138. Eleanor Rigby: The Beatles- We reviewed this song and its meaning in 8th grade English.

139. Family Affair: Sly and the Family Stone- Sly got in trouble with the Black Panthers for having whites in his group. He told them to deal with it.

140. I Saw Her Standing There: The Beatles- Nowadays, when Paul sings the opening line, it’s a bit creepy.