Credit: Far Out / Warner Bros Records
Tue 22 September 2026 20:15, UK
As far as rock and roll stalwarts go, Christine McVie was undeniably one of the greatest that the 1970s ever had to offer.
It was really saying something that, despite her own share of swirling dramas, the songwriter was somewhat the strength and stay of Fleetwood Mac, weathering storms in her uniquely inimitable way and having some pretty good songs to show for it, too. She was the musical pillar that could never be shaken.
Yet one thing remained clear through it all: in order to write classic hits, from ‘Songbird’ to ‘You Make Loving Fun’ during the band’s most prolific heights, McVie needed a strong sounding board of muses to glean her sense of inspiration. Of course, the ‘70s were hardly short of that demand.
You simply had to walk into any shop or turn on the radio for five minutes to be hit with a whole litany of tunes, representing rock and pop’s finest class while journeying into a new dimension. Whether it came from within the ranks of her own band or one of the world’s more far-flung places, McVie loved it all, with her favourite songs of the ’70s featuring Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham Nicks, Deep Purple, James Taylor, and The Beach Boys.
Indeed, her Fleetwood Mac friends seemed the most appropriate place to begin when picking out her favourite tracks of the decade, not least when it came to the pair who changed the band’s fortunes into a fate belonging to rock and roll titans. That was simply the Buckingham-Nicks way, and their 1971 track ‘Races Are Run’ was no different.
Similar to this was one of Fleetwood Mac’s early cuts, ‘Man of the World’, which, under the genius of Peter Green’s thumb, left McVie feeling “awestruck” the first time she heard it. “Everybody was awestruck by Peter. Except for Eric [Clapton], there was only Peter. We all thought he was just a superlative genius. I just loved that song,” she said.
However, there was a lot to be said for her keeping her cards close to her chest. Back on home shores, and outside the Fleetwood Mac world, Deep Purple were rocking up a storm in 1972 with their iconic song ‘Smoke on the Water’. With all its hard rock and heavy metal flair, it was simply a track that no one had ever heard before.
Further reading: From The Vault
Back Stateside, McVie also had James Taylor and The Beach Boys to keep the inspiration flowing. From ‘Mexico’ to ‘Angel Come Home’, the muses were wide-ranging and eclectic, but it was the ‘70s, and a new day of rock music had dawned. Anything was possible, and it was down to the individual to seize the moment and make it happen.
The work of McVie and Fleetwood Mac would have obviously served as an influence to many massive artists over the course of the ‘70s, too. But at the same time, it would be naive to assume that even those at the top of the game lived in a bubble the whole time. The songwriter’s top picks of the decade demonstrate that, proving that there were always new sonic glimmers to be found amid the madness.
The best songs of the 1970s, according to Christine McVie:‘Races Are Run’ – Buckingham Nicks‘Man of the World’ – Fleetwood Mac‘Smoke on the Water’ – Deep Purple‘Mexico’ – James Taylor‘Angel Come Home’ – The Beach Boys
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