Tango in the Night
Encyclopedia
Tango in the Night is the 14th studio album by the British-American band Fleetwood Mac
. Released in April 1987
, it is the fifth and final studio album from the line-up of Lindsey Buckingham
, Stevie Nicks
, Christine McVie
, John McVie
and Mick Fleetwood
.
Produced by Buckingham with Richard Dashut
, Tango in the Night began life as a Lindsey Buckingham solo project, but by 1985 the production had morphed into Fleetwood Mac's next album. It contains several hit singles, including "Big Love", "Everywhere
", and "Little Lies
".
(1977), released 10 years previously. The intervening albums, Tusk
(1979) and Mirage
(1982), although big sellers in key territories, had not matched their predecessors' huge success. Tango in the Night was a worldwide hit with several singles from the album becoming popular all over the world. "Little Lies" and "Everywhere" in particular are now considered classic hits of the late 1980s and they continue to appear on retrospective albums of that decade.
The album was very successful in the United States, where it peaked at #7 and was certified triple platinum there. Four singles from the album reached the Billboard
Top 20: "Big Love" (#5), "Little Lies" (#4), "Everywhere" (#14) and "Seven Wonders" (#19). The album was particularly successful in the United Kingdom where it reached #1 three times during 1987-88 and it is the seventh biggest selling album of the 1980s, being certified 8x Platinum (2.4 million copies), and it is still currently one of the UK's Top 50 best selling albums of all time. Three singles were Top 10 hits in the UK: "Big Love" (#9), "Little Lies" (#5) and "Everywhere" (#4). A total of six singles were eventually taken from the album over a period of 15 months. The album has spent 115 weeks in the Top 75 of the UK Album Chart.
Tango in the Night was the final studio album released by the line-up of Lindsey Buckingham
, Stevie Nicks
, Christine McVie
, John McVie
, and Mick Fleetwood
, before Buckingham's departure from the band in the summer of 1987 for a 10-year hiatus. This line-up did reconvene, however, in 1993 for a special one-off performance of "Don't Stop" for the newly elected US President Bill Clinton
, and again for the 1997 live album and tour The Dance.
With pressure being placed on Buckingham to keep the project focused and moving forward, things came to a head shortly after the release of Tango in the Night when the guitarist announced his departure from the band shortly before their scheduled tour in 1987. Following Buckingham's sudden departure, two musicians were drafted in to replace him: Rick Vito
and Billy Burnette
, who proceeded to complete the Tango Tour in 1987-1988 with the rest of the band. Aspects of this troubled era of Fleetwood Mac
's history are frankly documented in interviews with all members of the band, old and new, in two BBC
documentaries: Fleetwood Mac at 21, first aired in the UK in 1988, and in Rock Family Trees, which was produced in 1996.
The distinctive cover art for the album was a painting by Australian
artist Brett-Livingstone Strong
which was hanging in Buckingham's home. It is a homage to the 19th Century French painter Henri Rousseau
, emulating his colorful jungle theme works such as The Snake Charmer and The Repast of the Lion. It was also used as the cover to the single release of Big Love, the first single released from the album.
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
. Released in April 1987
1987 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1987.See also:Record labels established in 1987-January-February:*January 3 – Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
, it is the fifth and final studio album from the line-up of Lindsey Buckingham
Lindsey Buckingham
Lindsey Adams Buckingham is an American guitarist, singer, composer and producer, most notable for being the guitarist and male lead singer of the musical group Fleetwood Mac. Aside from his tenure with Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham has also released six solo albums and a live album...
, Stevie Nicks
Stevie Nicks
Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums...
, Christine McVie
Christine McVie
Christine McVie is an English rock singer, keyboardist, and songwriter. Her primary fame came as a member of the British/American rock band Fleetwood Mac, though she has also released three solo albums...
, John McVie
John McVie
John Graham McVie is a British bass guitarist best known as a member of the rock group Fleetwood Mac. His surname, combined with that of Mick Fleetwood, was the inspiration for the band's name...
and Mick Fleetwood
Mick Fleetwood
Michael John Kells "Mick" Fleetwood is a British musician and actor best known for his role as the drummer and namesake of the blues/rock and roll band Fleetwood Mac. His surname, combined with that of John McVie, was the inspiration for the name of the originally Peter Green-led Fleetwood Mac...
.
Produced by Buckingham with Richard Dashut
Richard Dashut
Richard Charles Dashut is a record producer who produced several Fleetwood Mac albums including their popular Rumours and Tusk, and later an album by Matthew Sweet, Altered Beast. Dashut also co-wrote several songs with Lindsey Buckingham during his time with Fleetwood Mac...
, Tango in the Night began life as a Lindsey Buckingham solo project, but by 1985 the production had morphed into Fleetwood Mac's next album. It contains several hit singles, including "Big Love", "Everywhere
Everywhere (Fleetwood Mac song)
"Everywhere" is a single released by the British-American band Fleetwood Mac from their album Tango in the Night. It was released in the UK on February 24, 1988 and reached # 4. In the United States, it was released a little earlier on November 28, 1987 and reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot...
", and "Little Lies
Little Lies
"Little Lies" is a song by the English/American band Fleetwood Mac. It was the third single to be taken from their 1987 album Tango in the Night. As of 2011, it is their final top 10 hit in the U.S....
".
Album history
Tango in the Night is the band's second biggest selling studio album after the phenomenally successful RumoursRumours
Rumours is the eleventh studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac. Largely recorded in California during 1976, it was produced by the band with Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut and was released on 4 February 1977 by Warner Bros. Records. The record peaked at the top of both the...
(1977), released 10 years previously. The intervening albums, Tusk
Tusk (album)
Tusk is the 12th album by the British/American rock band Fleetwood Mac. Released in 1979, it is considered experimental, primarily due to Lindsey Buckingham's sparser songwriting arrangements and the influence of punk rock and New Wave on his production techniques...
(1979) and Mirage
Mirage (Fleetwood Mac album)
Mirage is the 13th studio album by Fleetwood Mac, released in June 1982.Following a hiatus of over a year after the completion of the worldwide Tusk tour, the band temporarily relocated to Château d'Hérouville in France to record this 12-track collection...
(1982), although big sellers in key territories, had not matched their predecessors' huge success. Tango in the Night was a worldwide hit with several singles from the album becoming popular all over the world. "Little Lies" and "Everywhere" in particular are now considered classic hits of the late 1980s and they continue to appear on retrospective albums of that decade.
The album was very successful in the United States, where it peaked at #7 and was certified triple platinum there. Four singles from the album reached the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Top 20: "Big Love" (#5), "Little Lies" (#4), "Everywhere" (#14) and "Seven Wonders" (#19). The album was particularly successful in the United Kingdom where it reached #1 three times during 1987-88 and it is the seventh biggest selling album of the 1980s, being certified 8x Platinum (2.4 million copies), and it is still currently one of the UK's Top 50 best selling albums of all time. Three singles were Top 10 hits in the UK: "Big Love" (#9), "Little Lies" (#5) and "Everywhere" (#4). A total of six singles were eventually taken from the album over a period of 15 months. The album has spent 115 weeks in the Top 75 of the UK Album Chart.
Tango in the Night was the final studio album released by the line-up of Lindsey Buckingham
Lindsey Buckingham
Lindsey Adams Buckingham is an American guitarist, singer, composer and producer, most notable for being the guitarist and male lead singer of the musical group Fleetwood Mac. Aside from his tenure with Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham has also released six solo albums and a live album...
, Stevie Nicks
Stevie Nicks
Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums...
, Christine McVie
Christine McVie
Christine McVie is an English rock singer, keyboardist, and songwriter. Her primary fame came as a member of the British/American rock band Fleetwood Mac, though she has also released three solo albums...
, John McVie
John McVie
John Graham McVie is a British bass guitarist best known as a member of the rock group Fleetwood Mac. His surname, combined with that of Mick Fleetwood, was the inspiration for the band's name...
, and Mick Fleetwood
Mick Fleetwood
Michael John Kells "Mick" Fleetwood is a British musician and actor best known for his role as the drummer and namesake of the blues/rock and roll band Fleetwood Mac. His surname, combined with that of John McVie, was the inspiration for the name of the originally Peter Green-led Fleetwood Mac...
, before Buckingham's departure from the band in the summer of 1987 for a 10-year hiatus. This line-up did reconvene, however, in 1993 for a special one-off performance of "Don't Stop" for the newly elected US President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, and again for the 1997 live album and tour The Dance.
With pressure being placed on Buckingham to keep the project focused and moving forward, things came to a head shortly after the release of Tango in the Night when the guitarist announced his departure from the band shortly before their scheduled tour in 1987. Following Buckingham's sudden departure, two musicians were drafted in to replace him: Rick Vito
Rick Vito
Rick Vito is a guitarist and singer. He was part of the band Fleetwood Mac between 1987 and 1991.Vito and Billy Burnette took over as guitarists after Lindsey Buckingham left Fleetwood Mac....
and Billy Burnette
Billy Burnette
William Beau "Billy" Burnette III is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter who was part of the band Fleetwood Mac from 1987 to 1995. Burnette also had a brief career in acting.-Family background:...
, who proceeded to complete the Tango Tour in 1987-1988 with the rest of the band. Aspects of this troubled era of Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
's history are frankly documented in interviews with all members of the band, old and new, in two BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
documentaries: Fleetwood Mac at 21, first aired in the UK in 1988, and in Rock Family Trees, which was produced in 1996.
The distinctive cover art for the album was a painting by Australian
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
artist Brett-Livingstone Strong
Brett-Livingstone Strong
Brett-Livingstone Strong is an Australian born artist, known for his works as an architect, sculptor and painter.-Career:In 1972, he was commissioned to paint the royal invitation for the opening of the Sydney Opera House by Queen Elizabeth II....
which was hanging in Buckingham's home. It is a homage to the 19th Century French painter Henri Rousseau
Henri Rousseau
Henri Julien Félix Rousseau was a French Post-Impressionist painter in the Naïve or Primitive manner. He was also known as Le Douanier , a humorous description of his occupation as a toll collector...
, emulating his colorful jungle theme works such as The Snake Charmer and The Repast of the Lion. It was also used as the cover to the single release of Big Love, the first single released from the album.
Track listing
- "Big Love" (Lindsey BuckinghamLindsey BuckinghamLindsey Adams Buckingham is an American guitarist, singer, composer and producer, most notable for being the guitarist and male lead singer of the musical group Fleetwood Mac. Aside from his tenure with Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham has also released six solo albums and a live album...
) – 3:37 - "Seven WondersSeven Wonders (song)"Seven Wonders" is a song by Fleetwood Mac. It was released as the second single from the band's 1987 album Tango in the Night.Stevie Nicks performed the lead vocals on this song, which was written by Sandy Stewart with additional lyrics written by Nicks....
" (Sandy StewartSandy Stewart (musician)Sandy Stewart is a songwriter, singer and keyboardist from Houston, Texas, USA. She is mostly known for her album Cat Dancer, and her association with Fleetwood Mac vocalist and solo act Stevie Nicks. Sandy's first single, "Saddest Victory" was released in 1983. Its video played on MTV for...
, Stevie NicksStevie NicksStephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums...
) – 3:38 - "EverywhereEverywhere (Fleetwood Mac song)"Everywhere" is a single released by the British-American band Fleetwood Mac from their album Tango in the Night. It was released in the UK on February 24, 1988 and reached # 4. In the United States, it was released a little earlier on November 28, 1987 and reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot...
" (Christine McVieChristine McVieChristine McVie is an English rock singer, keyboardist, and songwriter. Her primary fame came as a member of the British/American rock band Fleetwood Mac, though she has also released three solo albums...
) – 3:41 - "Caroline" (Buckingham) – 3:50
- "Tango in the Night" (Buckingham) – 3:56
- "Mystified" (C. McVie, Buckingham) – 3:06
- "Little LiesLittle Lies"Little Lies" is a song by the English/American band Fleetwood Mac. It was the third single to be taken from their 1987 album Tango in the Night. As of 2011, it is their final top 10 hit in the U.S....
" (C. McVie, Eddy Quintela) – 3:38 - "Family ManFamily Man (Fleetwood Mac song)"Family Man" is a song by Fleetwood Mac from their 1987 album "Tango In The Night". It was written by Lindsey Buckingham and Richard Dashut. In the USA, the song was released as the fifth single from the album as the follow-up to "Everywhere"...
" (Buckingham, Richard DashutRichard DashutRichard Charles Dashut is a record producer who produced several Fleetwood Mac albums including their popular Rumours and Tusk, and later an album by Matthew Sweet, Altered Beast. Dashut also co-wrote several songs with Lindsey Buckingham during his time with Fleetwood Mac...
) – 4:01 - "Welcome to the Room...Sara" (Nicks) – 3:37
- "Isn't It MidnightIsn't It Midnight"Isn't It Midnight" is a single by Fleetwood Mac, taken from their 1987 album Tango in the Night. The song was co-written and sung by Christine McVie and was the final track to be released from the album in some territories in 1988....
" (C. McVie, Buckingham) – 4:06 - "When I See You Again" (Nicks) – 3:47
- "You and I, Part II" (Buckingham, C. McVie) – 2:40
Additional information
- "You and I (Part 1)" is the B-side to the single release of "Big Love".
- "Big Love", "Seven Wonders", "Little Lies", "Family Man" and "Everywhere" were all released as extended 12" remixes in most territories. An unreleased 'alternate mix' of "Isn't It Midnight" was issued on the 1992 4-disc boxset, 25 Years – The Chain.
- Two songs from the Tango in the Night sessions that did not make the final album cut subsequently became the B-side to two singles: Christine McVie's "Ricky" was the B-side to "Little Lies" and Lindsey Buckingham's "Down Endless Street" was issued as the B-side to "Family Man".
- "Seven Wonders" was released with the instrumental Stevie Nicks-penned track "Book of Miracles". This eventually became the vocal track "Juliet" on Nicks' 1989 solo album, The Other Side of the Mirror.
Credits
Fleetwood Mac- Lindsey BuckinghamLindsey BuckinghamLindsey Adams Buckingham is an American guitarist, singer, composer and producer, most notable for being the guitarist and male lead singer of the musical group Fleetwood Mac. Aside from his tenure with Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham has also released six solo albums and a live album...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, vocals, percussion and drum overdubs - Christine McVieChristine McVieChristine McVie is an English rock singer, keyboardist, and songwriter. Her primary fame came as a member of the British/American rock band Fleetwood Mac, though she has also released three solo albums...
– keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, synthesizerSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
, vocals - Stevie NicksStevie NicksStephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums...
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - John McVieJohn McVieJohn Graham McVie is a British bass guitarist best known as a member of the rock group Fleetwood Mac. His surname, combined with that of Mick Fleetwood, was the inspiration for the band's name...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Mick FleetwoodMick FleetwoodMichael John Kells "Mick" Fleetwood is a British musician and actor best known for his role as the drummer and namesake of the blues/rock and roll band Fleetwood Mac. His surname, combined with that of John McVie, was the inspiration for the name of the originally Peter Green-led Fleetwood Mac...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
Production
- Producers: Lindsey Buckingham, Richard DashutRichard DashutRichard Charles Dashut is a record producer who produced several Fleetwood Mac albums including their popular Rumours and Tusk, and later an album by Matthew Sweet, Altered Beast. Dashut also co-wrote several songs with Lindsey Buckingham during his time with Fleetwood Mac...
- Arranged: Lindsey Buckingham
- Engineer: Greg Droman
- Additional engineering: Lindsey Buckingham
- Cover concept: Lindsey Buckingham, Richard Dashut
- Cover painting: Brett-Livingstone Strong
- Cover photo: Greg Gorman
- Art direction: Jeri Heiden
Certifications
Charts
| Chart (1987) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austria Albums Chart | 25 |
| Australian ARIA Top 100 | 5 |
| Canadian Albums Chart | 6 |
| France Albums Chart | 25 |
| German Albums Chart | 2 |
| Norway Albums Chart | 10 |
| Spanish Albums Chart | 34 |
| Sweden Albums Chart | 1 |
| Switzerland Albums Chart | 7 |
| UK Albums Chart | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 7 |