FLEETWOOD MAC vs CHICAGO

BATTLE OF THE BANDS
Ask Billboard
May 15, 2009

Hi Gary,

I was wondering if you could help me win a bet I have with my brother. I say that Fleetwood Mac has had more hits than the band Chicago and has, thus, been more successful.

Which one of us gets to brag?

Thanks so much!

Suzanne Niceley
Florence, Kentucky


Hi Suzanne,

I notice you ask me to help you "win a bet." You don't request that I help "settle a bet." Careful, you wouldn't want your brother to be suspicious that you influenced the judge's decision ...

Since you didn't qualify "hits," or which charts to use, let's look at this from a couple of angles.

In terms of overall hit songs on the Billboard Hot 100, Chicago has collected 46, Fleetwood Mac 25. Their top 40 totals stand at 34 for Chicago and 18 for the Mac. Chicago has notched 20 top 10s, Fleetwood Mac nine. Chicago also has more No. 1s, three to one. So, as for hit singles, Chicago wins.

Now let's check each group's album sales since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991 (realizing, of course, that the acts released much of their highest-charting product in the '70s and '80s). Since the dawn of the SoundScan era, Chicago has totaled 11.9 million in album sales. Fleetwood Mac has sold 16.6 million. So, going by album sales according to Nielsen SoundScan, Fleetwood Mac wins.

A possible tie-breaker? Fleetwood Mac was enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Despite its immense success, Chicago, surprisingly, has yet to be elected.

When it comes to your bet, I'll diplomatically stand back and let you and your brother interpret the information as you see fit. Fleetwood Mac's most recent Hot 100 entry was, after all, entitled "Peacekeeper."

Q&A WITH LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM

Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac
SFGate.com
Aidin Vaziri
Friday, May 15, 2009

The mercurial forces behind Fleetwood Mac - John McVie, Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood and Lindsey Buckingham - are back on the road, once again without Christine McVie. And for the first time in a long time, the band doesn't have any new material to promote, so the Unleashed Tour is made up of two hours of fan favorites. We asked the group's 59-year-old guitarist - and a recent father of three - Buckingham how he felt about that. Fleetwood Mac plays Wednesday at Oakland's Oracle Arena and Thursday at San Jose's HP Pavilion.

Q: There was some talk last year that Sheryl Crow was going to take over Christine McVie's position in the band. Did you block that?

A: No, I didn't block it. One of the things that made this go so smoothly is that I've been really unparticular about my opinions. I did not think that was a good idea. One, she was going to come in for a period of time and it spoke to me like something that had come from the top down, like a marketing idea. The other thing is that it struck me as a bit loungey to have someone else come in and do Christine's songs. She went and shot herself in the foot anyway.

Q: How's that?

A: She somehow announced she was going to join Fleetwood Mac. We had talked about it, but it had not been decided. So that became a red flag for the band. At the end of the day, it wasn't the right thing to do. So that was it. I was actually quite happy it turned out that way. We're much better working with the four core people.

Q: Besides, the last thing you need is another ego in this band.

A: That's right. Stevie and I are still working on our dynamic, which, believe it or not, is still evolving.

Q: Does doing a greatest-hits tour make you a nostalgia act?

A: This resting-on-our-laurels tour? We have a body of work that will transcend that label, I think. Had we gone in to make a new album first, it would have felt more in line with the things I value. Oddly enough, having not done that, it put us in the position of going into rehearsals completely anxiety-free, as opposed to having the residue of making the album to deal with. The actual experience of doing the tour has been quite thrilling. I have no explanation for that. It's kind of like a point you get to as a band, and for a moment you can rest and say, "This is what's happened, and it's pretty f- good."

Q: Having three children probably puts the band dramas in perspective.

A: It's certainly put a balance on everything. It's made it easier to enjoy what I'm doing now. It probably helped that I did a couple of solo albums and got some touring out of the way. You hit a point where a lot of things that you thought would push your buttons don't really push your buttons anymore. That's why this tour is going so smoothly. Nothing has really been bothering me.

Q: How much do you think your robust chest hair had to do with Fleetwood Mac selling those 100 million albums?

A: Wow. I would say none. The whole band, or just me?

Q: Specifically you, since I don't remember Stevie or Christine having much chest hair.

A: John has got a good tuft on there. I would hope very little. That's the first time I was asked that. It could have been something I missed. {sbox}

FLEETWOOD MAC VANCOUVER SHOW IS A GO!

LiveNation: Fleetwood Mac show in Vancouver is a 'go'

Despite cancellations in Calgary and Edmonton due to illness

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - LiveNation says despite cancellations in Calgary and Edmonton, Fleetwood Mac will be taking the stage at GM Place tomorrow night for their sold-out show.

The band cancelled shows this week in Alberta after an un-named band member became sick. But LiveNation says everything is scheduled to go as planned. The sold-out concert starts at 8 p.m..

FIESTY STEVIE NICKS!

Stevie Nicks blasts Lindsay, Britney
The Fleetwood Mac icon has harsh words for certain younger ‘messy’ and ‘dippy’ singers
Mcleans Magazine

If anyone has the right to give advice to the Britney Spearses and Lindsay Lohans of the world, it’s Stevie Nicks. In her more-than-30-year career as a solo singer and as one of the lead vocalists of the rock group Fleetwood Mac, the 61-year-old icon has paved the way for women in the music industry. And she has the war wounds to prove it. From battles with drug addiction to notorious love affairs, her life is tailor-made for a Hollywood film. Which is probably why Lindsay Lohan keeps telling reporters about her burning desire to play Nicks in a yet-to-be-made Fleetwood Mac biopic. This has Nicks a little concerned. Via phone from a presidential suite in New York City, she repeats the words “over my dead body” when the mention of a Lindsay-as-Stevie movie comes up. “That girl is the antithesis of everything that I don’t want for younger girls to be. I don’t want anyone as messy as her messing with my history.”

The legacy Nicks is so protective of is still going strong. This spring she has been busy promoting her latest two projects—a DVD called Live In Chicago and a live CD titled The Soundstage Sessions—as well as reconnecting on stage with Fleetwood Mac on its current greatest-hits North American tour. Packed with five remaining Canadian concert dates, the tour has Nicks performing more than 50 shows, many of which are sold out. Which explains why Hollywood execs have been banging on her door. “Most of them,” she says, “want to focus on when I first joined the band and the three fun, crazy years after that. Quite frankly, I don’t blame them—they were a roller-coaster ride!”

To clarify, Nicks is talking about when she and her then-lover, guitarist-vocalist Lindsey Buckingham, became members of Fleetwood Mac in 1975 (joining drummer Mick Fleetwood, vocalist Christine McVie and bassist John McVie). Shortly after the group’s first album together, Nicks experienced the side effects of being in a band with three Top 20 singles. “I was a waitress and Lindsey was a telemarketer back then,” Nicks recalls. “By the end of the summer, we were millionaires. It transformed our lives completely. Then Rumours happened and everything went berserk.”

Nicks is referring to Fleetwood Mac’s hit 1977 disc, which sold more than 30 million copies. According to Nicks, the title of the disc was prophetic on many levels. “I fell in love with Mick [Fleetwood] at the end of the Rumours tour in 1978 while I was still on rocky ground with Lindsey. Fortunately Mick and I ended it for the sake of the band. Around that time, people began saying that I was performing witchcraft—which I never did—and that the band had orgies—which we never had.”

On top of the widely reported false accusations, Nicks had to deal with a growing substance abuse problem. The miracle of it all was that she was still able to write songs (chart toppers Edge of Seventeen, Stand Back and Landslide) while maintaining a sense of mystery about herself. That secrecy is something Nicks feels is missing in the pop stars of today. She points to Britney Spears as a prime example of a singer who has overexposed herself beyond repair. “For her, it’s all about TMI: too much information. She needs to stop sharing. Period. After that toxic reality series she did, I decided I will never buy another one of her CDs because now I know how dippy she is.” When Nicks hears that Spears cursed about wardrobe malfunctions while performing on stage during her recent tour, her voice begins to thunder. “You do not tell the audience about your stupid-ass problems,” she says. “You will never, ever see a sweat drop start to fly off of my face—even if my heel is broken. I’ll do the song heel-less. People paid good money for you to take away their problems and inspire them.”

Other than her beef with Britney, Nicks has a record of embracing the newer divas on the block. “The fact that Etta James got so angry about Beyoncé singing At Last at President Obama’s first dance is tragic. C’mon Etta, just let Beyoncé sing it—she’s the new thing. [James] is still selling concert tickets so she should move over for a moment.” And with that, Nicks pipes down, takes a breath and begins to reflect. “In music history, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and Elvis were all called the kings of rock and managed to be quite amicable to each other. They even did shows together! There is no reason why us women can’t do the same. Besides, I don’t want to be known as a queen of rock. When you start having to tell people that you are the queen, you’re done.”

FLEETWOOD MAC SAID IT WILL MAKE UP FOR CANCELLATION

There's a silver lining for Black Cloud Polly: Fleetwood Mac says it'll make up for cancellation with 'unforgettable concert'

By ANDREW HANON

Edmonton Sun

Black Cloud Polly finally found a silver lining.

Polly, a.k.a. Pauline Doucette, earned her nickname in her hometown of Summerside, P.E.I., where her rotten luck is legendary.

But that all changed yesterday when her lifelong idols, Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac, sent her a personal message through Sun Media, promising her "an unforgettable concert experience."

This week's trip to Edmonton to see Fleetwood Mac perform at Rexall Place last night was supposed to give her a break from all the hardship she's endured in her life.

Instead, it seemed like the hardship followed her.

The concert she had been waiting her entire life to see was postponed due to an illness in the band.

"She was just crushed," said best friend Shannon Doyle, who moved to Edmonton three years ago and got her the tickets. "She'd worked so hard to save the money for plane fare."

Doucette, 45, said she's been a huge fan since she was seven years old, but has never had the opportunity to see Nicks perform live.

But when Sun Media contacted Fleetwood Mac's spokesmen yesterday to tell them Doucette's story, they passed the word on to the artists.

Last night the band issued a brief statement:

"Fleetwood Mac's heart goes out to Pauline Doucette and her unfortunate circumstance. We are taking steps to accommodate her needs for an unforgettable concert experience at a future date on the 'Unleashed' tour."

Spokesman Eve Samuels said the exact details have yet to be worked out, and she couldn't say anything more last night.

Doucette melted into joyous tears after hearing the news that her idols had taken an interest in her, uttering, "thank you. Oh my god. That's amazing."

Doucette, a single mom trying to get by on a disability pension, spent four months collecting nickels, dimes and quarters to pay for her airfare to Edmonton.

But after hearing news of the postponement, she lamented, "I don't know if I'm going to have enough time to save change for the plane ticket again."

Doyle, who has known Doucette for 12 years, said everyone in Summerside knows what a big Fleetwood Mac fan she is - and how plagued she is by misfortune.

"Whenever I left the island, she'd ask me to look for Fleetwood Mac stuff - T-shirts, hats, anything I could find," he said with a chuckle.

Her rabid fandom is a happy distraction from a hard life.

Eight years ago she slipped into a mysterious coma for two weeks. It turned out to be encephalitis, the same disease depicted in the Robin Williams/Robert De Niro film Awakenings.

"When I finally started to come around," she recalled, "I didn't know how to do anything, so I had to learn everything again. I was in a wheelchair for six months and had to get a speech therapist to talk again."

Then, just as she was ready to resume her life, Doucette was in a car accident that left her with a brain injury and short-term memory loss, leaving her unable to work.

Doyle said bad luck just seems to follow her.

"Summerside is a quiet, laid-back place with almost no crime," he said. "But if some car gets randomly vandalized, you can bet it'll be hers."

But Doucette doesn't want to be considered a "pity case." When times get tough, she turns to her favourite musician for comfort.

"First time I ever heard her sing, it was so inspiring to me," Doucette said. "I don't know, something about her just inspires me. That's the only way to explain it. I live for Stevie Nicks."

Her daughter Jessica bought her a black, bejewelled rosary because it looked like something Nicks would wear.

"I had it with me on the flight," Doucette said, laughing. "I know some people think that I'm silly. It's even on my Facebook profile that my lifelong dream has been to see Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks especially."

$25 FLEETWOOD MAC TIX - OAKLAND, CA 5/20/09

Practically A Give-Away!

$25 -- Last Chance: Fleetwood Mac in Oakland

ORACLE Arena in Oakland - Wednesday, May 20 at 8PM 

A new set of 50% OFF tickets to Fleetwood Mac's "Unleashed: Hits Tour 2009" 

in Oakland has just been released.

Legendary personalities Stevie Nicks, Mick Fleetwood and Lindsey Buckingham 

play all their greatest hits live at ORACLE Arena. 

The following seating level is available for the May 20 show only:

$25 (reg. $49.50) ... Upper Level Seats

Click here for tickets and more information. When ready to purchase, select "Find Tickets." Enter the code LANDSLIDE in the box marked "Travelzoo Ticket Offer" and use the drop-down menu to select the number of seats you would like.