Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. XI--Fleetwood Mac: Tusk

So...your last album was one of the best-selling albums of the seventies (currently the sixth biggest of all time), lauded by critics and the public alike, just what do you do for an encore?  How about release an experimental (somewhat) album with a first single that sounds nothing like anything you've ever done before and that, of all things, is drum centric?

I can still remember when WLS-89 in Chicago debuted the first single by Fleetwood Mac from their follow-up to their mega-selling hit Rumours (thirty-one straight weeks at number one on the Billboard album chart) and the uncertainty of the D.J. after it had finished playing.  No such uncertainty for me--I couldn't wait to hear "Tusk" again, and the feeling hasn't changed in the last thirty-five years.  From their 1979 album Tusk, the single reached #8 (with a bullet!) on the Hot 100--a fact which surprised me because I don't recall the song being all that popular (with the usual complaint that it didn't sound like Fleetwood Mac).

Written by Lindsay Buckingham, "Tusk" starts with a pounding drum beat from Mick Fleetwood, introduces chantlike singing from Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, and Buckingham, is joined by a pulsating bass from John McVie (and a scratching like guitar from Buckingham), and to round it all out the U.S.C. marching band turns the whole thing into a mini symphony lamenting the imminent downfall of a relationship (rumored to bear somewhat of a resemblance to Buckingham and Nicks own troubled relationship) while the word "Tusk!" is shouted throughout the closing riffs.  For me, the song solidifies Fleetwood Mac's greatness--it's easy to sing the same tunes and continue to make easy money but it takes artistic courage to chance pissing off the folks (fans) who pay your bills.  It wasn't Dylan at Newport, but it's a great moment in rock history nonetheless.

And exactly "...who's on the phone" anyway?

Enjoy:

Peace,
emaycee