Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the li ...

Lindsey Buckingham Lindsey Adams Buckingham (born October 3, 1949) is an American musician and record producer, best known as the lead guitarist and male lead vocalist of the band Fleetwood Mac from 1975 to 1987 and 1997 to 2018. In addition to his tenure with Fl ...

Mick Fleetwood Michael John Kells Fleetwood (born 24 June 1947) is a British musician, songwriter and occasional actor. He is best known as the drummer, co-founder, and leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood, whose surname was merged with that of t ...

Christine McVie Christine Anne McVie (; née Perfect; 12 July 1943 – 30 November 2022) was an English musician and songwriter. She was best known as keyboardist and one of the vocalists of the band Fleetwood Mac. McVie was a member of several bands, nota ...

John McVie John Graham McVie (born 26 November 1945) is a British bass guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock bands John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers from 1964 to 1967 and Fleetwood Mac since 1967. His surname, combined with that of Mick Fleet ...

Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and producer known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasi ...

Richard Dashut Richard Charles Dashut (born September 19, 1951) is an American record producer who produced several Fleetwood Mac albums including '' Rumours'', ''Tusk'', '' Live'', '' Mirage'', ''Tango in the Night'', and ''Time''. Dashut was born in West ...

Big Love ''Big Love'' is an American drama television series that aired on HBO from March 12, 2006 to March 20, 2011. It stars Bill Paxton as the patriarch of a fundamentalist Mormon family in contemporary Utah that practices polygamy, with Jeanne T ...

Family Man Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

Isn't It Midnight "Isn't It Midnight" is a song by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, from their 1987 studio album '' Tango in the Night''. The song was co-written and sung by Christine McVie, with contributions from Lindsey Buckingham and McVie's then ...

Henri Rousseau Henri Julien Félix Rousseau (; 21 May 1844 – 2 September 1910)
at the ''The Snake Charmer'' and ''

The Repast of the Lion ''The Repast of the Lion'' is an early 20th century painting by French post-impressionist Henri Rousseau. Done in oil on canvas, the work depicts a feeding lion in a jungle setting. The painting expands upon some of Rousseau's late 19th century wo ...

''. The painting was also used as the cover art for "Big Love", the album's

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release ...

.

History

After the completion of the

Mirage Tour The Mirage Tour in Autumn 1982 was a concert tour by British-American pop rock band Fleetwood Mac. The tour only lasting a few months. Unlike the extensive Tusk Tour, the Mirage Tour was confined to just the U.S. in 29 cities. History This wou ...

in 1982, four members of Fleetwood Mac released five solo albums, with varying degrees of success.

Mick Fleetwood Michael John Kells Fleetwood (born 24 June 1947) is a British musician, songwriter and occasional actor. He is best known as the drummer, co-founder, and leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood, whose surname was merged with that of t ...

,

Christine McVie Christine Anne McVie (; née Perfect; 12 July 1943 – 30 November 2022) was an English musician and songwriter. She was best known as keyboardist and one of the vocalists of the band Fleetwood Mac. McVie was a member of several bands, nota ...

, and

Lindsey Buckingham Lindsey Adams Buckingham (born October 3, 1949) is an American musician and record producer, best known as the lead guitarist and male lead vocalist of the band Fleetwood Mac from 1975 to 1987 and 1997 to 2018. In addition to his tenure with Fl ...

each released one, while

Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and producer known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasi ...

issued two. In 1985, Christine McVie was called to record a cover of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

's " Can't Help Falling in Love" for the soundtrack of the movie '' A Fine Mess''. McVie brought Richard Dashut, who had engineered and produced '' Rumours'', ''

Tusk Tusks are elongated, continuously growing front teeth that protrude well beyond the mouth of certain mammal species. They are most commonly canine teeth, as with pigs and walruses, or, in the case of elephants, elongated incisors. Tusks share ...

'', and ''

Mirage A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', meani ...

'', on board to assist with the album's production. Buckingham, Fleetwood, and John McVie were enlisted to supply the instrumentation. Greg Droman, a relatively new producer at the time, was also brought in to participate. Droman had recently relocated to Los Angeles at the suggestion of

Joe Walsh Joseph Fidler Walsh (born November 20, 1947) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has been a member of three successful rock bands: the James Gang, Eagles, and Ringo Starr & His All-Starr ...

. Dashut and Droman bumped into each other at a recording studio owned by

Captain & Tennille Captain & Tennille were American recording artists whose primary success occurred in the 1970s. The husband-and-wife team were "Captain" Daryl Dragon (1942–2019) and Toni Tennille (born 1940). They have five albums certified gold or platinu ...

and "just hit it off". A few weeks later, Droman worked with Buckingham on "Time Bomb Town" for the ''

Back to the Future ''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis, and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 19 ...

''

film soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

. Buckingham retained Droman to engineer what was intended to be his third solo album, although the project eventually morphed into a Fleetwood Mac album once other members got involved. Dashut and Droman recalled that the album's recording sessions were particularly tedious, even by Fleetwood Mac standards. At one point, they experimented with slowing down songs in order to find suitable textures. Sometimes, this would double the song duration, which made for "a brutal ten minutes to listen to", according to Droman. By tripling and quadrupling these mixes, they managed to make each song sound "open and airy". Although the record took eighteen months to complete, Stevie Nicks spent a total of two weeks in the studio with the band, as she was promoting her third solo record, '' Rock a Little'', throughout this period. Nicks sent demos of her songs to the band, recorded while she was on tour, for them to work on in her absence. "Welcome to the Room... Sara" was inspired by her thirty-day stay at the

Betty Ford Center The Betty Ford Center (BFC) is a non-profit, residential treatment center for persons with substance dependence in Rancho Mirage, California. It offers inpatient, outpatient, and residential day treatment for alcohol and other drug addictions, as ...

to overcome her cocaine addiction in October 1986 (Nicks used the pseudonym "Sara Anderson" when she checked into the facility). When Nicks did go to the studio, she often felt unmotivated: "I can remember going up there and not being happy to even be there... I didn't go very often". With vocal sessions taking place in Buckingham's master bedroom, Nicks recorded her parts for Buckingham and McVie's songs intoxicated; Buckingham deleted most of Nicks' vocals after she left the studio. Buckingham recorded some of the vocals using a

Fairlight Fairlight may refer to: In places: * Fairlight, East Sussex, a village east of Hastings in southern England, UK * Fairlight, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia * Fairlight, Saskatchewan, Canada In other uses: * Fairlight (company), an ...

, an early sampling synthesizer. On "When I See You Again", he re-assembled separately recorded takes of Nicks, explaining, "I had to pull performances out of words and lines and make parts that sounded like her that weren't her". "That was in my estimation when everybody in the band was personally at their worst. By the time we did ''Tango in the Night'', everybody was leading their lives in a way that they would not be too proud of today". With pressure on Buckingham to keep the project focused and moving forward, things came to a head shortly after the release of ''Tango in the Night''. At a band meeting at Christine McVie's house to discuss the accompanying tour, he announced his departure, which infuriated Nicks. The two ex-lovers then had to be restrained after an ensuing argument turned into a physical altercation. "The album was well received", noted Mick Fleetwood. He continued, "Somewhat sadly, the kudos of that was never really fully attributed to Lindsey because he wasn't present... He was coerced and persuaded to do that album—mainly by me. And, to his credit, he put aside everything that he'd dreamt of doing, including making his own album, for Fleetwood Mac, but then realised that he'd made a mistake... Lindsey was not being heard. We just didn't get it". Following Buckingham's sudden departure, guitarists Rick Vito and

Billy Burnette Dorsey William Burnette III (born May 8, 1953 in Memphis, Tennessee, United States) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter who was part of the band Fleetwood Mac from 1987 to 1995. Burnette also had a brief career in acting. Family ba ...

were hired to replace him on the subsequent tour and remained as full members of the band until the 1990s.

Commercial performance

''Tango in the Night'' is the band's second-biggest-selling studio albumTOP SELLING ALBUMS 1959-2009 (Music Week 19 September 2009-50th Anniversary issue-cut off point is Saturday, 22 August 2009) after the phenomenally successful '' Rumours'', which was released ten years earlier. The intervening albums, ''

Tusk Tusks are elongated, continuously growing front teeth that protrude well beyond the mouth of certain mammal species. They are most commonly canine teeth, as with pigs and walruses, or, in the case of elephants, elongated incisors. Tusks share ...

'' (1979) and ''

Mirage A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', meani ...

'' (1982), although big sellers in key territories, had not matched their predecessor's huge success. ''Tango in the Night'' was a worldwide hit, with several singles becoming popular all over the world. Christine McVie's "Little Lies" and "Everywhere" in particular appear on several 1980s compilation albums. The album was a success in the United States, where it peaked at no. 7 for three weeks, spending more than seven months within the top 20 and more than ten months within the top 40. It was certified 3× Platinum in October 2000 for selling three million copies in the US. Four singles from the album reached the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' top 20: "Big Love" (No. 5), "Little Lies" (No. 4), "Everywhere" (No. 14), and "Seven Wonders" (No. 19). The album was particularly successful in the UK, where it reached no. 1 three times during 1987–88 for a total of five weeks and spent more than eight months within the top 10 of the UK albums chart. It is the seventh-biggest-selling album of the 1980s in the UK, being certified 8× Platinum (2.4 million copies), and it is still currently one of the UK's top 100 best-selling albums of all time. Three singles were top 10 hits in Britain: "Big Love" (No. 9), "Little Lies" (No. 5), and "Everywhere" (No. 4). A total of six singles were eventually taken from the album over a period of fifteen months. The album spent 115 weeks in the top 75 of the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

. "Big Love", "Seven Wonders", "Little Lies", "Family Man", and "Everywhere" were all released as extended 12" remixes in most territories.

Outtakes

Four songs from the ''Tango in the Night'' sessions did not make the final album cut and subsequently became B-sides. "You and I (Part I)" was the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

to the single release of "Big Love". "Seven Wonders" was released with the Stevie Nicks-penned instrumental track "Book of Miracles" as its B-side. This eventually became the song "Juliet" on Nicks' 1989 solo album, '' The Other Side of the Mirror''. McVie's "Ricky" was the B-side to "Little Lies" and Lindsey Buckingham's "Down Endless Street" was issued as the B-side to "Family Man". Nicks also contributed two additional songs that failed to make the final cut. "Ooh My Love", like "Juliet", eventually made its way onto Nicks' solo album, while "Joan of Arc" remains unreleased. "I still want to record it", she explained. "The song has its really good moments but it's not good enough to go out as that version". Two additional tracks, both co-written by McVie and Buckingham, also failed to appear on the final product: "Where We Belong", which incorporates Buckingham's "folksy fingerpicking" and McVie's "brilliant pop simplicity" was written as a duet, but was later abandoned in favor of other songs. The other, "Special Kind of Love", was described by ''Pitchfork'' as a "completely developed Buckingham song". Both tracks subsequently appeared on the deluxe edition of ''Tango in the Night''. An alternate mix of "Isn't It Midnight" was issued on the 1992 four-disc box set, ''

25 Years – The Chain ''25 Years – The Chain'' is a box set by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac originally released on 24 November 1992. The set contains four CDs, covering the history of the band from its formation in 1967 to 1992. The set features sev ...

'', and is substantially different from the version included on the album. It has different backing vocals and a lack of guitar effects, which were eventually added by Buckingham in the final mix of the song.

Deluxe edition

A deluxe remaster of ''Tango in the Night'' was issued in 2017. The bonus disc includes both halves of "You and I", released and combined for the first time, as well as the majority of the tracks mentioned above. Although long-awaited, the re-release received some criticism for its lack of content. Disc 2 had an extra twenty minutes' worth of space that was not filled, and the live concert DVD was not included. Music videos on the DVD were not taken from their original master and 5.1 surround sound was not issued either.

Track listing

Personnel

Fleetwood Mac *

Lindsey Buckingham Lindsey Adams Buckingham (born October 3, 1949) is an American musician and record producer, best known as the lead guitarist and male lead vocalist of the band Fleetwood Mac from 1975 to 1987 and 1997 to 2018. In addition to his tenure with Fl ...

– vocals, guitars, keyboards,

Fairlight CMI The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight. — with links to some Fairlight history and photos It was based on a commercial licen ...

, synthesizer programming, bass, lap harp, percussion, drum programming *

Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and producer known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasi ...

– vocals, tambourine *

Christine McVie Christine Anne McVie (; née Perfect; 12 July 1943 – 30 November 2022) was an English musician and songwriter. She was best known as keyboardist and one of the vocalists of the band Fleetwood Mac. McVie was a member of several bands, nota ...

– vocals, keyboards, synthesizers *

John McVie John Graham McVie (born 26 November 1945) is a British bass guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock bands John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers from 1964 to 1967 and Fleetwood Mac since 1967. His surname, combined with that of Mick Fleet ...

– bass guitar *

Mick Fleetwood Michael John Kells Fleetwood (born 24 June 1947) is a British musician, songwriter and occasional actor. He is best known as the drummer, co-founder, and leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood, whose surname was merged with that of t ...

– drums, percussion Production * Lindsey Buckingham – producer, arrangements, additional engineer, cover concept * Richard Dashut – producer, cover concept * Greg Droman – engineer *

Stephen Marcussen Stephen Marcussen is the founder and chief mastering engineer at Marcussen Mastering in Hollywood, California, United States. He has been mastering music since 1979. Biography Marcussen's introduction to music recording happened in 1976 when, at ...

– mastering at Precision Lacquer (Hollywood, California) * John Courage – studio coordinator * Roy Hopper – studio crew * Ray Lindsey – studio crew * Steve Matteucci – studio crew * Brett-Livingstone Strong – cover painting * Greg Gorman – cover photography * Jeri Heiden – art direction

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications and sales

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tango in the Night 1987 albums Albums produced by Lindsey Buckingham Albums produced by Richard Dashut Albums recorded in a home studio Fleetwood Mac albums Warner Records albums