Denver Post -- December 14, 1997

Fleetwood Mac Video Gives Rise To Hope For State Of Pop Music

Should we despair about the state of American popular music?

At last week's televised Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas, the performers were so uniformly wretched, not to mention lewd, a sensible person might conclude that music itself, not just rock 'n' roll, had died.

But then I happened to see one of the fundraising repeats of Fleetwood Mac's video "The Dance" on Channel 6. Apart from one or two three-chord rock songs, here was popular music of fine craftsmanship and even eloquence: lyrics you could decipher, melodies with an irresistible hook, polished arrangements, band members who could sing solo and in harmonized ensemble, and best of all, musicians able to play their instruments.

Lindsey Buckingham's finger-picked, banjo-style guitar was often thrilling, Mick Fleetwood's leathery drumming was firmly controlled and Christine McVie looked and sounded like burnished satin on "You Make Loving Fun" and "Go Your Own Way."

The edge came from Stevie Nicks, her voice raspy and her Addams Family togs downright sepulchral. The dazed impressionism and power of "Rhiannon" and "Landslide" were beguiling.

This classic Fleetwood Mac lineup was formed in 1975 and I'm glad they're back together sounding better than ever. But it's disturbing that younger performers don't touch a mass audience in the same way.

There's plenty of blame to go around, including the decline of music education in the schools and the way synthesizers make music seem simpler than it is.

But there is one simple remedy: Old-fashioned music lessons.

Thanks to Lisa W. for transcribing this and posting it to the Ledge and to Anusha for forwarding it to us.