TS: Stevie Nicks' "Talk To Me" vs Lindsey Buckingham's "Go Insane" vs Christine McVie's "Got A Hold On Me"

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A battle royale between three mid '80s solo Mac singles. who wins?

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Saturday, 20 August 2005 00:57 (twenty years ago)

Go Insane.

― k/l (Ken L), Saturday, 20 August 2005 00:59 (twenty years ago)

"Talk To Me".

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Saturday, 20 August 2005 01:03 (twenty years ago)

As much as I like the other two's works, I always imagine Cristine as a real person and therefore cast my vote that-a-way.

― jim wentworth (wench), Saturday, 20 August 2005 01:07 (twenty years ago)

if these three songs are prizefighters then "Got a Hold On Me" is Joe Louis, knocking out all bums, showy enough to please the crowd but solid enough in the fundamentals to get the job done ever time

meanwhile "Talk to Me" is Joe Frazier, very very game and very hard-hitting and really hard to knock down, but inelegant for the most part, needing some fleetness of foot to really capture the imagination

however the clear winner, if we're going pound-for-pound, is flyweight "Go Insane," whose boxing doppleganger is Manny Pacquiao - swinging wildly, pleasing the crowd not because he's playing to them but because he really seems to think he's fighting for his life out there, or for something bigger and more nebulous (though not G*d, something more primal and unutterable): willing to get bloody, willing even to lose, because by the twelfth round it's not really about winning or losing any more but about who looks most like he wishes there was going to be a thirteenth round and a fourteenth and so on: the scary-eyed laughing dude who seems to like the taste of his own blood

obviously Joe Louis & Joe Frazier are legends but I gotta go with "Go Insane" here

― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Saturday, 20 August 2005 01:41 (twenty years ago)

what he said

― s/c (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 20 August 2005 02:18 (twenty years ago)

"Got a Hold on Me", but if it were Buckingham's "Trouble" that might be a different story...

― Joe (Joe), Saturday, 20 August 2005 02:53 (twenty years ago)

"Edge of Seventeen" > "Holiday Road" > "Got A Hold on Me" > "Go Insane" > "Talk to Me"

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Saturday, 20 August 2005 03:21 (twenty years ago)

Banana Nutrament: holy shit. You worked that all out on the fly? You're a poetic god(dess).

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Saturday, 20 August 2005 04:31 (twenty years ago)

"Holiday Road" is the best thing that came out of any of em during the dark coked-out days--by 10 miles!. Any wonder Lindsey kept it for himself?

― Chris O., Saturday, 20 August 2005 04:39 (twenty years ago)

"STAND BACK" MOTHERFUCKERS

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Saturday, 20 August 2005 05:00 (twenty years ago)

[copyrighted pics removed by request]

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Saturday, 20 August 2005 05:03 (twenty years ago)

lindsey "trouble".
stevie " i can't wait"

― stevie's bf, Saturday, 20 August 2005 11:48 (twenty years ago)

Banana Nutrament: holy shit. You worked that all out on the fly? You're a poetic god(dess).

you're too kind Joseph, I appreciate the props!

― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Saturday, 20 August 2005 12:12 (twenty years ago)

"Got A Hold On Me" easy. It's the one Mac solo song that sounds exactly as it would have had Buckingham sunk his claws into it, which says something about how solid Christine's craftsmanship is. In its original form "Go Insane" is clanky and fake in the worst sort of way, using what is for Lindsey quite cliched production values and arrangements.

Now if we're talking about the version he played on The Dance, THAT is genius. STripping the song to acoustic guitar, he unearths this lovely unexpected baroque-era melody and his vocal just shreds; he really does evoke insanity. It's probably his most chilling (in the real sense of the world) performannce.

"Talk To Me" is a generic L.A. power ballad enlivened by Stevie's batshit singing. "Stand Back" remains her greatest solo moment.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Saturday, 20 August 2005 12:29 (twenty years ago)

bullshit Alfred "Edge of Seventeen" is Mike Tyson in 1987

― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Saturday, 20 August 2005 12:40 (twenty years ago)

"Edge of Seventeen" is great too! So are "Nightbird," "I Can't Wait" and a couple of other songs with more Steve-isms than "Talk To Me."

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Saturday, 20 August 2005 12:42 (twenty years ago)

Is "Go Insane" about his coke habit?

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Saturday, 20 August 2005 13:10 (twenty years ago)

He never really had a coke habit. According to some interviews Buckingham claims that "Go Insane" is about a girlfriend who was, literally, going insane.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Saturday, 20 August 2005 13:33 (twenty years ago)

Hmm. As much as I love Lindsey Buckingham, I'd have a hard time giving props to "Go Insane" - both the single and the album. It's aged so incredibly poorly due to the production. There are some great melodies on that record too. It's a shame.

Law And Order > Out Of The Cradle > Gift Of Screws > Go Insane

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Saturday, 20 August 2005 15:34 (twenty years ago)

Christine all the way. Lindsey ruled the Mac but somehow just lacked any meat on his bones solo. Stevie's best solo stuff will live forever (unlike Chris and Lindsey's), but 'Talk to Me' isn't there.

― Mitch Mitchell (mitya), Sunday, 28 August 2005 02:32 (twenty years ago)

"Go Insane" vs "Stand Back" woul dhave been more interesting.

― Paunchy Stratego (kenan), Sunday, 28 August 2005 03:53 (twenty years ago)

six months pass...

"Got A Hold On Me" is de-lovely.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Saturday, 18 March 2006 04:38 (twenty years ago)

Does anyone else think Stevie's vocal on "Talk to Me" sounds sped up?

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Sunday, 19 March 2006 04:43 (twenty years ago)

Look, any music that has Christine McVie singing is likely to trump whatever else is in the room. That woman's voice should be in a museum someday.

― The Sound of Walls (Bimble...), Sunday, 19 March 2006 14:19 (twenty years ago)

Well okay I'm exaggerating a bit, but still. The CD that includes all her Chicken Shack stuff "The Complete Blue Horizons Sessions" is actually out on import now. It was supposed to come out late last year but got put back several months. I kindof gave up looking for it but I found that it did indeed come out in February so soon it will be mine at long last.

― The Sound of Walls (Bimble...), Sunday, 19 March 2006 14:23 (twenty years ago)

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