I decided on one last post before I start the deep dive into my “Best of 2022” lists. First, I wanted to offer my appreciation for a giant of the music world who left us recently, and make a quick playlist that covers her long and remarkable career.
The second part is a rant, pure and simple. The level of fetishism that’s invaded the hobby of vinyl collecting is mind-boggling to an old-school vinyl junkie like me, and I feel like it’s time to push back on the nonsense.
• RIP, Christine McVie (1943 – 2022) - “Underappreciated superstar” sounds like an oxymoron, but if that phrase fits anybody, it’s the recently departed Christine McVie. She has millions of fans, hence the superstar part, but a huge number of those fans are only familiar with her multi-platinum work in the Buckingham/Nicks version of Fleetwood Mac, which is just one facet of her life’s stellar work.
Christine started playing with the Mac all the way back in 1968, first as a session musician in the studio, then as a member of the band two years later. Prior to joining Mick and John's band, she was the keyboardist and singer for Chicken Shack, a reasonably successful blues band across the pond. The two albums she made with them reached #12 and #9 on the U.K. album charts, but were too British sounding to make a dent in America. Christine also recorded three exceptional solo albums – one before officially joining Fleetwood Mac (under her maiden name, Christine Perfect,) one during her time with the Mac, and one after she left.
She was remarkably gifted singer, her smooth and soulful alto was a perfect pop instrument. Christine's renown as a vocalist sometimes overshadowed her equally impressive talents as a songwriter and pianist. She had a natural feel for the blues, even when she was writing and recording modern west-coast pop music. Her phrasing and piano chords never strayed far from her musical roots, which made her performances utterly convincing, and grounded the high-flying pop fantasies of Lindsey and Stevie perfectly.
I put together this short batch of songs that could be useful to get an idea of the full scope of her long and productive career. These are just a start – the more you dig, the more treasures you’ll find. Or you can just ignore my list and everybody else's and give another listen to “Songbird." Just Christine, her piano, and one of the most perfect pop songs ever.
Chicken Shack, “I’d Rather Go Blind” – single (1969) https://open.spotify.com/track/1RlNXHNrVkFd0ExMdGRSRZ?si=42fcc6471dba4407 Christine Perfect, “I’m Too Far Gone (To Turn Around)” – Christine Perfect (1970) https://open.spotify.com/track/29IvTdLZWARi24mANtWh7b?si=9b07e300bd564d73 Fleetwood Mac, “Spare Me a Little of Your Love” – Bare Trees (1972) https://open.spotify.com/track/7dA6rEo6vRO9SfXxE9xk5S?si=80c836ea597744ca
Fleetwood Mac, “Just Crazy Love” – Mystery to Me (1973)
Fleetwood Mac, “Over My Head” – Fleetwood Mac (1975)
Fleetwood Mac, “You Make Loving Fun” – Rumours (1977)
Fleetwood Mac, "Never Forget" - Tusk (1979)
Fleetwood Mac, “Love in Store” – Mirage (1982)
Christine McVie, “One in a Million” – Christine McVie (1984)
Fleetwood Mac, “Little Lies” – Tango in the Night (1987)
Fleetwood Mac, “Behind the Mask” – Behind the Mask (1990)
Christine McVie, “Sweet Revenge” – In the Meantime (2004)
Buckingham/McVie, “Red Sun” - Lindsey Buckingham Christine McVie (2017)
• Vinyl Fetishism – Just when I thought the current trend of record collectors spouting on social media about the “correct” way to handle and store vinyl records had reached peak absurdity, along came something new, and I’ve pretty much had it.
Even if you don’t anymore, there’s a pretty good chance if you’re anywhere say, over 45, you’ve played and stored LPs at some time in your life, right? It was all pretty simple back when we didn’t know any better – you bought the record, removed and discarded the shrink-wrap, played it on whatever turntable or record player you had, put the record back in the sleeve and jacket when you were done, returned it to a shelf or put it in a crate. There are now hundreds, if not thousands, of so-called “influencers” in the social media world who are ready and willing to tell you that following the process I just described is dead wrong, and you might as well be taking your (expensive) vinyl records and throwing them against a pile of rocks.
First to arrive were the plastic people. Makers and sellers of polymer-based inner and outer sleeves convinced record collectors and speculators that to leave their precious LPs in the paper inner sleeves they’re sold with is the same as taking a sheet of fine grit sandpaper to them. And not putting the whole album jacket in a plastic outer condom before you put it on your shelves? That’s simply not practicing safe collecting. The plastic people’s messaging has worked amazingly well. All of those petrochemical products have become essential to any right-minded vinyl collector, to the point where they feel empowered to freely ridicule and troll folks (like me) who choose not to use them.
And then there are the cleaners. Oh my god the cleaners. Woe unto any vinyl enthusiast who chooses not to invest in a multi-hundred-, or thousand-, dollar record cleaning machine. Detergents, brushes, vinyl vacuums, ultrasonic record baths with blinky lights, magic groove wands; that esoteric market has exploded in recent years. People who regularly sell from their collection on the secondary markets like eBay have started to include how the record has been cleaned over its lifetime as part of the product description. A major online record retailer (and prominent YouTuber) offers to open up any record you purchase from him and run it through a $6500 ultrasonic cleaner, for an additional $8.00 per disc, before they ship it to you - in the correct polymer-based sleeves, of course. (Yes, there are incorrect polymer sleeves, too. This is a fetish I'm talking about.)
So I’ve been watching all of this nonsense developing over the last five years or so. What sent me over the edge? I was watching a guy, who usually covers stereo and electronic equipment on his YouTube channel, open a new record he had gotten in the mail. He has a small table dedicated to record opening, my first clue something was really hinky. After carefully covering the table with a microfiber cloth, he laid the album down, carefully slit the shrink-wrap and slid it off in one piece (presumably to save it for some reason I can't fathom.) After sliding the album in its paper sleeve out of the jacket, he put on a pair of white cotton gloves, another bad sign. Starting at the hole in the center, the guy tore away the paper sleeve while holding the record firmly in place with his cute white gloves. All that so he wouldn’t have to slide the vinyl out of the paper, presumably erasing the recorded information on the disc, or something equally absurd. Then, of course, came all the aftermarket plastic and a likely dunk in an expensive vibrating bath. For the LP, I mean, not the host. I had to wonder: what does this guy actually enjoy about collecting records? Where’s the fun in handling your favorite music format like you're prepping for surgery? What. Is. The. Point?
I don’t believe for a second that any of these online purveyors of unnecessary fetish products love or enjoy their collections more than I do mine. Playing vinyl records brings me great joy, calms my soul when I need it (proven beyond a shadow of a doubt during the pandemic lockdown,) and fuels my inspiration for these posts. Even just looking at my records on the shelf makes me feel good. After listening critically for decades to both analog and digital music, I have no doubt that vinyl records sound warmer, airier, and more alive than any digital format you care to name. I don’t buy pricey aftermarket plastic environment-straining crap to keep them in, and I don’t use anything more elaborate than my old-school Discwasher brush to give them a quick swipe before I drop the needle. I handle my records with some care; I try to keep my oily fingertips off of the grooves when I’m putting them on or taking them off my turntable, and I put them back in their sleeves and jackets when I’m done. And you know what? My records are in great shape and play as dynamically and free of surface noise as the day I bought them, without exception. There’s absolutely nothing in the way my LPs look and sound that tells me they need anything more.
A concern I have is that somebody who may be considering getting into vinyl collecting and listening these days could be intimidated by all of the crap the “experts” online are telling them they’ll need. As an old vinyl junkie, I’m here to tell you in no uncertain terms - you don’t.
My first Fleetwood Mac album was a promo of "Heroes Are Hard to Find" that the store didn't want because it didn't sound like "Then Play On" which was the Fleetwood Mac standard in 1973. Anyway, I loved that album. I played it last week after the news of Christine. Listening to it on the "big system" I realized it had been recorded on the cheap with little depth or dynamic range to speak of. Moreover all the Christine songs appear to be without Bob Welch's participation and vice-versa. Like Mick and John recording little more than demos with one or the other. Fast forward a year or so (1975) and the s/t album with Buckingham/Nicks was an absolute sonic wonder…
That sounds like a bigger opening procedure than the crime scene on NCIS