You Make Polling Fun: FLEETWOOD MAC POLL RESULTS, ILM Artist Poll #22

despite the revisionism Rumours is still the better record

Only half of the submitters of ballots did the optional albums list; I should've made it mandatory!

Tusk showed up on my album ballot, yet I did not include one track from it on my track ballot. The songs are all good, but none of them individually give me chills like many of their others do. I guess it just makes more sense to me as a coherent...well, "coherent" is maybe not the word for this collection of Lindsay's various manias...as a solid listen rather than a source of individual songs.

I put Tusk in as my #5, but could've just as easily chosen 3 or 4 other albums (in fact I should've, because I think we all knew Tusk was either going to be #1 or #2 in these results).

whew, that's a relief. genuinely excited for this roll-out.

Same here! It's hard to wait until tomorrow morning (NYC time)... So, there was no love in the albums voting for Mr. Wonderful, Penguin, or Heroes Are Hard To Find (as far as studio recordings go). Isn't Penguin generally regarded as their worst record (of the '60s/'70s/'80s)? I own it but I honestly don't think I've played it more than twice.

I voted for a track from Penguin, but the album's only just ok.

I thought until the nineties Heroes Are Hard To Find was the worst (I haven't heard it).

I have that too and it's the same story--maybe played it twice... Nothing stuck.

lol I also voted for a track from that one. Opening tracks of each, actually.

Kiln House wuz robbed! I should've voted gosh darnit

Heroes > Penguin. Although I don't care much for the latter, I do kinda like "The Derelict" which is a real oddball of the Mac catalog, a rare Dave Walker song with a strong countrified flavor that sounds like nothing else they ever recorded.

gageking67 14 days ago

Dave Walker should have stuck around. Penguin was the best album the Mac ever put out...

Good morning! (Or afternoon... Or, if you're in Australia--God knows.) Last night was the second night out of the past three nights I've had a Fleetwood Mac-related dream. The top 60 rollout will begin in about half an hour or so...

You're not going to tell us what it was?

Ha, well, it was fairly pedestrian... I was holding down a job in a fast-food restaurant that was inexplicably linked to a record store by way of a short hallway. For some reason, I was sitting down at a desk while assembling sandwiches, but because I was a beginner I wasn't working very quickly and I was feeling frustrated. Boredom overcame me and I ducked over to the record store. I remember seeing Point of Entry by Judas Priest, and several Smashing Pumpkins records that don't actually exist (I wish I remembered the titles). But there was also a treasure trove of old Fleetwood Mac 45s in a section called "ROCKPILE"... Before I could browse heavily or buy anything, though, I felt a nagging sense of duty and slinked back to my desk to make sandwiches.

hahaha what a great dream

I was hoping it involved being chased by that penguin...

Ha, there's always tonight! Well, let's go ahead and start things off:

#60: "Sands of Time" (Danny Kirwan, 1971)

http://static-l3.blogcritics.org/11/01/18/151809/Kirwan-1.jpg

Track link: http://youtu.be/gByiKYa72HU

Tell me that spidery intro isn't a happier, more well adjusted cousin of the main riff in "Poptones" by Public Image Ltd...

Ah, and this time with the vital stats:

#60: "Sands of Time" (Danny Kirwan, 1971) - 57 points, 3 votes

Good start!

wow unexpected Future Games tracks right off the bat!

#59: "Dragonfly" (Danny Kirwan, 1971) - 62 points, 3 votes

http://www.7inchrecords.com/Discography/FleetwoodMac/SdragonflyDU.jpg

Track link: http://youtu.be/gS8haFRboRY

The guitar work in this song is indescribable...

My last move on my tracks ballot was to cut a song (Nicks iirc) and re-add "Sands of Time."

From Wikipedia:

"Kirwan's former bandmate Peter Green said of "Dragonfly": 'The best thing he ever wrote... that should have been a hit.'"

You can definitely hear foreshadowing of "the Rumours sound" at 1:37 in "Sands of Time"...

I didnt vote for it but now I'm kind of hoping "Dust" makes it

I had it at #2, and thought for a long time about making it #1 (dust).

#58: "Blue Letter" (Richard & Michael Curtis, 1975) - 63 points, 4 votes

http://portland-news-daily.com/wp-content/plugins/RSSPoster_PRO/cache/72238_120621033237-rumours4-horizontal-gallery.jpg

Track link: http://youtu.be/H72BY1k9W_g

The story here goes that during the recording of the 1975 s/t, Fleetwood Mac were right next to Richard & Michael Curtis in the recording studio (Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, CA). They got to be friendly with each other and familiar with each other's material, and Lindsey took to this song in a big way.

^^^ love this. A pure pop direction that FM rarely pursued without fucking with arrangements.

My number 19! But man, this was a tight race for the top 20.

Different story here: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-curtis-brothers-mn0001239479

Interesting... I read that "studio neighbors" story on a fan site one time I believe. I'll try to find substantiating info on the web.

Here's the Curtis Brothers' version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mN9rHWAQVY

Really interesting the way Lindsey re-interpreted the bit after "I won't be..."

#57: "Warm Ways" (Christine McVie, 1975) - 70 points, 3 votes

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l95wkjYS2b1qbvg22o1_1280.jpg

Track link: http://youtu.be/EZ4i6H70_LY

Oof - Dragonfly I *just* voted for, Blue Letter I just didn't. Glad I got it that way round.

"Warm Ways" sounds exactly like the scenario therein: two lovers spooning after their first fuck.

dragonfly was my #2
sands of time my #6
Glad I had them so high so they squeaked in

my favorite McVie ballad too
xpost

#56: "That's Enough For Me" (Lindsey Buckingham, 1979) - 70 points, 3 votes

(NB: There were only two ties in the top 60, and I broke them based on which song received a higher placement on somebody's ballot.)

http://www.coldsplinters.com/audio/Lindsey-Buckingham.jpg

Track link: http://youtu.be/3JMd9eE-xe0

Buckingham was so handsome.

To clarify: I broke ties *first* based on which song got more total votes, but in the case of the above, since they both got 70 points and 3 votes, I looked to see which was ranked higher on somebody's ballot...

At 1 minutes 48 seconds this HAS to be one of their shortest tracks ever, right?

I dig "That's Enough for Me," but it's pretty slight, imo, and not just in length. On the other hand, this seems about right -- it would probably crack my top 60.

#55: "Coming Your Way" (Danny Kirwan, 1969) - 71 points, 4 votes

http://caelumetterra.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/dannykirwan-petergreen-1.jpg

Track link: http://youtu.be/V7XCwC6WdJs

Incredible that these amazing songs are only picking up three votes

I love the way this song feels, and I especially love the drumming... What an amazing way to start an amazing record (Then Play On).

xpost - So true, Ismael, but it just makes you realize what an insane body of work this band put up over the years... And also how narrowing down to 20 is next to impossible.

Three Kirwan tracks in the first six songs rolled out was a surprise to me!