Here’s McVie, doing her best as a songwriter, Lindsey Buckingham, taking up the challenge of her bandmates to bring a more punk edge to the band’s sprawling 1979 double album, “Tusk.” Buckingham and McVie have always had a special musical connection, and few Mac songs exemplify that connection more than this one: Their vocals sound especially harmonious over the chorus harmony, while McVie’s punchy electric piano sets the tone for Buckingham’s fiery riffs. Repeating segments provide suitable complements.
This is Christine McVie at McVie’s best. An understated, underappreciated gem buried on the C side of “Tusk,” this tender heartstring plucker puts McVie’s angelic voice front and center, with the faintest hint of guitar and keyboards forming in the background. An ethereal mist.
Speaking of underrated gems, this soulful McVie tune was a highlight on the band’s 1982 album “Mirage,” a tribute to McVie’s energetic, irresistibly fun “Hold Me” co-written with singer-songwriter Robbie Patton. “Give due respect.
McVie released just three solo albums: the bluesy “Christine Perfect” (1970), the low-key “In the Meantime” (2004) and, most memorably, the self-titled 1984 album, when the rest of the band Both focus on their personal careers. “Got a Hold on Me” sounds, in the best possible way, like it could easily be on any ’80s Fleetwood Mac album—it even has Buckingham on lead guitar.
a modern classic is still Ubiquitous—including on a certain ubiquitous car ad circa fall 2022—the shiny smash from the band’s late ’80s return to “Night Tango” remains one of Fleetwood Mac’s high watermarks. “I want to be with you everywhere,” McVeigh sings on this infectious chorus, the succinct epitome of falling in love that pop music can do, as the sleek, sparkling production works perfectly perfectly mirrors the butterflies she sings about.
When McVie first wrote the anthem “Don’t Stop,” she was trying to create a song that would cheer up her ex-husband, and also hoped that Fleetwood Mac would survive the production of “Rumor.” When the band reunited 20 years later with their live LP, “The Dance,” the song not only helped “Rumor” become one of the best-selling albums in history, it was also a popular campaign song for the president at the time. The celebratory finale from “The Dance” – with the whole marching band! – In retrospect, the result was a bittersweet snapshot: “The Dance” would be the last Fleetwood Mac album to feature McVie. She left the band the following year and lived a quiet life for nearly two decades. She came back on tour in 2014.