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Sat 26 September 2026 18:15, UK
Everywhere Fleetwood Mac seemed to turn, drama followed them close by.
This even predates the infamous days of Rumours, which we will, of course, come back to. No, this extends all the way back to when Mick Fleetwood and John McVie formed the band in the heady London blues scene, alongside their pioneering frontman Peter Green. The charming and enigmatic performer was dramatic in the very best sense of the word, the rock and roll sense, if you will. That was, until he wasn’t.
Because then came the LSD-trip from hell, the one that sent him flying off the rails and never to return as the enigmatic musician the band once started with. This tortured genius had lost his soul to the dramatic world of sex, drugs and rock and roll, and so the rhythm section combination of Fleetwood and Mac was now left without anyone to lead their sound.
After a merry-go-round of vocalists, they finally landed on the iconic duo who would propel them to further fame and thrust them into a state of drama from which they would never really leave. Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were the jilted lovers whose songs have soundtracked generations of heartbroken music lovers, losing themselves to the escapist drama of Fleetwood Mac’s dream-rock. And so, after decades of unrelenting drama, the band came to realise that without it, there is no band.
But despite her own break-up with John McVie lacing the narrative of Fleetwood Mac’s iconic ‘77 album Rumours, Christine McVie has always quietly tried to defy that. Undeniably the most laid-back member of the group and the stable guardian through which Nicks developed as an artist, her music has been a soothing antidote to the chaos, whether it’s the sultry lust on ‘You Make Loving Fun’ or the existential reflection of ‘Songbird’. In her very best songs, you can practically hear the calming wisdom her presence exerted on the band.
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So it’s no surprise that McVie helped them rack up even more millions in royalties from the comfort of her own swimming pool, a luxury she enjoyed from writing some of the band’s most important and lucrative songs in the decade before. While the ‘80s were a rather directionless era for Fleetwood Mac, she kept them on track with a song that oozes the necessary laid-back appeal of their signature dream-rock sound.
On ‘Little Lies, the third single from ‘87’s Tango In The Night, McVie built on a Buckingham arrangement that had been knocking around for a while, but hadn’t yet found narrative direction. The smooth ripples of her Californian pool clearly gave her a calming sense of reflection, for it was there she laid down the vocals which married up perfectly with the arrangement: a sort of whimsical portrayal of someone willing to believe fiction over truth as they cling to the scraps of a relationship.
Further reading: From The Vault
McVie said of the lyrics, “The idea of the lyric is, if I had the chance, I’d do it differently next time. But since I can’t, just carry on lying to me and I’ll believe, even though I know you’re lying”.
While the song was actually about her relationship with then-husband, Eddy Quintela, who was also listed as a writer on the track, it can also serve as an appropriate metaphor for the band at the time, and that’s exactly what made it the perfect piece to accompany Buckingham’s music.
Tango In The Night was the last display of any greatness from a band who had been clinging onto their relationships with one another for over a decade now, refusing to believe the facts and hoping that their acceptance of lies would continue them on to success. Soon enough, that time would end, but on ‘Little Lies’, they had one last chance to exercise that feeling. It proved to be wise, however, as it went on to sell six million copies.
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