I just heard about Christine McVie's passing about 15 minutes ago on the late news. I've been driving around today and must've just missed hearing about her on the radio. She was a great talent - so many beautiful songs she wrote and sang.

Raven, she released a fantastic solo album in 1984. I bought it within a week of release. Check it out.

I always loved "You Make Loving Fun" on "Rumours" - the beat at the very beginning and then BOOM! that funky bass and then her voice. Her "Oh Daddy" and "Songbird" weren't released as singles but they could've been hits as well.

This was a terrible day for the music world.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
That's a shock, you don't realize how old your idols are getting. Fleetwood Mac was like one big soap opera, but their music was great when they were together. Christine McVie was the reason for many of those songs and for the band itself.

Only Stevie Nicks did a good job of standing on her own in my opinion. I think I heard only recently that they were talking about another tour. It may not happen now; the "Chain" is broken.

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
Raven, she released a fantastic solo album in 1984. I bought it within a week of release. Check it out.

[/QUOTE]

I think she had at least two solo albums and one as a duo with Lindsey Buckingham. Her Estate could be making a fortune just on that Chevy commercial that keeps playing "Everywhere", which she wrote. I think she may have sold the rights to that one.

The reason McVie didn't get the individual credit that she deserved was in the presentation. She didn't have that rock star quality. Fleetwood Mac existed before Nicks and Buckingham were added, but they only took off then. It was the unit that had the right mix.

One of the things that got criticized about McVie's music, when you listen to her songs only, is that they have the same sound. You can tell that she wrote them all and back-to-back-to-back, they lack variety. But mix them up in a set with other songs written by other band members and you have a show.

Plus she sat at the piano while the guitars were blaring, and the drums were banging, and Nicks was floating around the stage like a loon. She got the least amount of attention. It was the whole performance and the songs that made them so great together. When Fleetwood Mac did tour without Christine they weren't as good, but they got away with it as long as Nicks was there. Buckingham might protest, but she was and is the rock star of the group.

Yeah, I read that she had a solo album in 1970 but don't recall ever seeing that in a record store. I also missed the 2003 album and even her project with Lindsey Buckingham just a few years ago.

I don't think she ever sought solo stardom. She was content being part of a band, contributing to the vibe as they said back then. And you got that right. The band is not the same without her. In the same way, the band wasn't the same without Lindsey Buckingham in the late 80's.

We might not remember that Fleetwood Mac went through some line-up changes in the early 70's so of course the sound changed with them, transforming from a British blues band to a virtual American rock band across the decade. I used to hear a lot more of a variety of the band's songs going back to the early 70's but now it's pretty much just "Dreams," "Don't Stop," "Everywhere," and "Little Lies," sometimes "Landslide" - occasionally "Save Me."

I never got to see Fleetwood Mac live and now I regret it. She started a tour with them after "The Dance," I think, but it was too much for her so she had to leave. I think tickets were $100 even then. You can still see "The Dance" concert (and I still still have the cassette and copy of "Rumours" in a very tattered cover) on the AXS channel sometimes - the band still in its prime.

I try not to think of "The Chain" as broken as all those Fleetwood Mac members are forever linked to me like being a member of the Miami Dolphins whether now or back in the early 70's.

Not forgetting that Fleetwood Mac's first Number One, at least here in the UK, was the instrumental 'Albatross'. It featured John McVie, the 'Mac' from the bands name, who married Christine Perfect who joined the band two years later as Christine McVie.

quote:

Originally posted by Kevin F:
Not forgetting that Fleetwood Mac's first Number One, at least here in the UK, was the instrumental 'Albatross'. It featured John McVie, the 'Mac' from the bands name, who married Christine Perfect who joined the band two years later as Christine McVie.

Yes, they were well established in the UK and Fleetwood and McVie were the founding members, hence the name. However, before they hired Buckingham and Nicks in 1975, I had never heard of them over here. Then they got played on US Top 40 radio and went international as that version of the band.

For better or worse, that was the only version of Fleetwood Mac a lot of us in the US ever knew. Better was the music, worse was probably the toxic effect they had on each other. With all the rock bands that broke up, and made up, and broke up again over the decades, they seemed to be the most personally entwined and one of the most individually dependent.

On a side note, Buckingham has cancelled his European tour and seems to be having a health concern himself.

Bob McGrath, who was on "Sesame Street" for 47 years, 1969 to 2016, has died at 90.

The composer of 'Twin Peaks Love Theme', Angelo Badalamenti, 85....

I didn't watch the "Ellen DeGeneres Show" that much but caught enough of it to recognize her DJ Stephen "tWitch" Boss. He always seemed liked an "up" kind of guy, but he has died at only 40. There are rumors, not confirmed. Hope this didn't have anything to do with the show's ending this year, but either way it is very sad for someone to pass that young. RIP.

Unfortunately, the rumors about tWitch are true. He shot himself in the head.
Very sad news indeed, condolences to his family and friends.

I'm so ill at the moment i just checked into this thread to see if i was in it.

Fred White, drummer for Earth, Wind, and Fire during the mid-70's to early 80's, passed away Jan 1 at the age of 67.

Adam Rich the child star of the 1970s show "Eight is Enough" has passed at 54.

Musician Jeff Beck has died at 78.

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
Musician Jeff Beck has died at 78.

The BBC have posted a nice photo article covering his career:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ent...inment-arts-64246337

1950s/60s movie star Gina Lollobrigida has died at age 95.

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
1950s/60s movie star Gina Lollobrigida has died at age 95.

Another one of the all time greats Sad to hear she is gone but gave me a good excuse to read through her quite detailed obituary on the BBC website:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/ent...inment-arts-64292026

Robbie Bachman, drummer and a founding member of Bachman Turner Overdrive, passed away last week at the age of 69.

David Sutherland, the artist behind the Bash Street Kids in the Beano comic, has died at the age of 89. The Beano will no doubt carry on without him but his creations will live in the memories of children and grown-ups here in the UK forever

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-64339747

Lance Kerwin has passed away at 62. At one time he was the highest paid child actor on TV for "James at 16". I remember him from watching "Salem's Lot". He seems to have followed the majority of child stars who, for various reasons, don't maintain their acting careers into adult roles.

I hope this is a premature obituary, but I don't know where else to put it right now. British actor Julian Sands, who I have watched in quite a few films, is missing and may be dead. He disappeared on January 13th while hiking or climbing around Mount Baldy in California. He is a mountaineer, but there was some bad weather around that time. Ground and air searches haven't turned up evidence of a body.

I don't know why I only heard this story once in the media, but it's been reported that several hikers have either been killed or disappeared in this area before. They like the adventure apparently, but why go alone? Anyway, I hope he turns up alive, but they found his car so its not looking good. Sands has done some very strange roles and he may have left us with another mystery.