Apr 032012
UPDATED: Proof that it “happens to the best of them”: your Moderator forgot that he already included ELO in an earlier 1-2 Punch! For this offense, Mr. Moderator will spend the next 2 minutes in the Penalty Box. Mad props to tonyola for his pince nez. Feel free to leave your 2 selections for Fleetwood Mac.
Let’s try another 1-2 Punch, shall we? Top 10 lists are too much; Top 5 lists invite too many opportunities for throwing in a hipster, obscuro choice to distinguish oneself from the raging masses. What I’d like to know is what TWO (2) songs you would choose from an artist’s catalog to say as much about that artist that you believe represents said artist’s core as possible? In other words, if you could only use TWO (2) songs from an artist’s catalog to explain all that said artist is about to a Venusian, what TWO (2) songs would you pick to represent said artist’s place in rock ‘n roll?
I’ll pose two artists and you—love ’em or leave ’em—give me each artist’s representative 1-2 Punch. Dig? Here goes!
ELO
Fleetwood Mac
ELO:
“10538 Overture” – this has Roy Wood and proves that you can rock with cellos. No prissiness here.
“Telephone Line” – signature Lynne-era song.
Fleetwood Mac:
This is a toughie considering how many lineups and style changes there were.
“Oh Well” – classic multi-part fast/slow early rocker.
“Don’t Stop” – Yeah, I know it’s way overplayed but it’s also most representative of the Buckingham/Nicks era.
ELO: “Telephone Line,” “Turn to Stone”
Fleetwood Mac: “Say You Love Me,” “Dreams”
Can’t you just do ELO with one song? Any one of them will do.
Is that the Cop Out siren I hear? No, you must choose 2 for each band…or else…
ELO – Can’t Get it Out of My Head and Evil Woman. That should be enough to send anyone back to Venus.
Fleetwood Mac – Since their place in Rock N Roll really comes from the Buckingham/Nicks era, I think I’ll stick with songs from then. So I’ll go with Rhiannon and Go Your Own Way. You’re either on board or not with those.
1. 10538 Overture and Livin’ Thing.
2. I have to go with the obvious choices: Go Your Own Way and Rhiannon. The Buckingham Nicks era is pretty much defined by those songs, and we wouldn’t be discussing them here were it not for the Buckingham Nicks era.
ELO: “Telephone Line” and “Can’t Get it Out of My Head”
Fleetwood Mac: “Over My Head” and “Go Your Own Way”
ELO – 10538 Overture and Roll Over Beethoven
Fleetwood Mac – Green Manalishi and Oh Well
Need to have a Christine McVie song — “Over My Head” is a solid choice. Buckingham/Nicks get a lot of credit for Fleetwood Mac’s success but Denny Wilson’s ex-girlfriend did some of their best songs.
I don’t think I’m copping out, I think I’m making a personal statement about my feelings toward ELO.
I had a sense of deja vu about this 1-2 Punch and my suspicions were correct – ELO was the subject of a Punch last June.
https://www.rocktownhall.com/blogs/index.php/1-2-punch-7/
Shoot! I thought that was the case, but when I checked the archives I didn’t see that piece.
OK, I’m going to suspend comments on this post and send myself to the Penalty Box.
I think the complete disconnect between a Peter Green blues number like “Albatross” and a Buckingham/Nicks era FM-radio hit like “The Chain” would capture the weirdo trajectory of Fleetwood Mac.
Definitely late to this…
ELO: “Do Ya” and “Living Thing”
Fleetwood Mac: “Over My Head” (Best Christine McVie song and possibly best Buckingham/Nicks era song) and “Monday Morning”