Book Review: Songbird

Christine McVie (born Christine Perfect) was the quintessentially English rock star, as both the backbone and the beating heart of Fleetwood Mac. She wrote and performed many of their greatest hits, and was dubbed 'the mother' of the band. It was Christine who contained the flock, regrouped them when they went AWOL, and always got them back on track. And yet, as the "engine" of the band during their Rumours era, an album which charted the romantic disintegration within the band, Christine's personal life was every bit as tempestuous as those of her bandmates.

Told by an author who herself was friends with Christine, and with new contributions from those who knew her best, Songbird offers a true insider's view and psychological insight into Christine as a both a woman and a musician.

Christine McVie - Christine McVie

Today (January 27th) marks the thirtieth anniversary of Christine McVie, the self-titled solo album from the Fleetwood Mac singer. The 1984 release went to number 58 on the UK charts and number 26 on the US Billboard Album chart. It was her first and only solo album in the 80's; her previous solo effort was 1970's Christine Perfect.

Randy Newman - Trouble In Paradise

This month marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of Trouble in Paradise, the seventh studio album from singer-songwriter Randy Newman. It climbed to number 64 on the US Billboard Hot 200 chart. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it at number 67 on its list of the 100 Greatest Albums of the 80's.

Newman had a number of guest performers on the record. Appearing on vocals are Lindsey Buckingham, Don Henley, Rickie Lee Jones, Christine McVie, Linda Ronstadt, Bob Seger, Wendy Waldman and Jennifer Warnes. On the music side, the record also featured Steve Lukather and Jeff Porcaro of Toto, Waddy Wachtel and many more.

Fleetwood Mac - Mirage

Today (June 23rd) marks the thirtieth anniversary of the release of the thirteenth studio album by Fleetwood Mac. After a year long hiatus following their Tusk tour during which both Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham put out solo records, the band released Mirage in 1982.

The record sales topped two million units alone in the US and a million in the UK. Chart-wise, the album went to number 12 in Germany, number 10 in Sweden, number 5 in both the France and the UK, number 4 in Canada, and number 2 in Australia. In the US, it spent five weeks at the number 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 200.

Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac

Welcome to another edition of Seventies Saturday, and also a happy sixty-sixth birthday to bassist John McVie.

By 1975, the British-American band Fleetwood Mac had already been making records for eight years. Their tenth studio album Fleetwood Mac was a breakthrough record for them in a number of ways. It was their first album to go multi-Platinum and their first number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 200 album charts (after being on the charts for nearly a year). It was also their first album to feature Lindsey Buckingham on guitar and Stevie Nicks on vocals; the couple brought a lot to the band including writing six of the eleven tracks here (with Christine McVie involved in writing four solo herself).