Rumour(s) Has It

An anniversary, that is.

One of the best selling albums of all time, Fleetwood Mac's, "Rumours" was released on this day, February 4th, back in 1977.

It spent 31 weeks at the top of the US album chart, all due to the singles "Go Your Own Way", "Dreams", "Don't Stop" and "You Make Loving Fun" and it eventually sold over 18 million copies.

Of course, everyone by now knows the plot behind the making of the album, every bit as dramatic and volatile as your average soap opera.

An article at cnn.com, which says Rumours is still "the perfect album" describes the emotional insanity (in case you don't quite remember what created all the passion):

"At the time they were recording the album, all five band mates were going through painful breakups: The McVies were divorcing, Buckingham and Nicks' long-term relationship was coming to a bitter end and Fleetwood's wife was about to leave him for his best friend."

Ken Caillat, author of the book, "Making Rumours: The Inside Story of the Classic Fleetwood Mac Album," was Rumours' engineer/co-producer.

"In retrospect, it's a miracle that we were able to finish 'Rumours,' " he said. "But later, I came to understand that 'Rumours' probably succeeded because it was brilliant group therapy. ... It's horrible that if it hadn't been for all of the relationship turmoil in the band, you wouldn't know this record any better than some of the previous Fleetwood Mac records."

Let's hear it for broken hearts and angst!

Because let's face it, that's usually where the best art comes from. :-P

By the way, Fleetwood Mac will do a reunion tour this year with a 34-city run through the U.S. and Canada that kicks off April 4th.

And according to ultimateclassicrock.com:

"Since leaving Fleetwood Mac in 1998, Christine McVie has stayed close with the band, but refused all attempts to rejoin the group, largely due to her fear of flying. However, that might be changing. In a new interview, titular drummer Mick Fleetwood said that he is doing his best to lure her back into the fold for their upcoming tour.

“I’m seeing Chris here in London before I leave,” he told the English tabloid the Sun. “And even though she loathes flying and she’s never been back to the United States since the day she left, she is getting on a plane and flying to Hawaii with me. I’m going to hold her hand all the way, even if I have to handcuff it.”

This contradicts McVie’s own words from last month, where the keyboardist/singer said she was content to be out of the spotlight. And both Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, independently of each other, admitted that her return was unlikely, but Fleetwood is hoping that being around her old bandmates will rekindle the desire to get back on stage with them."