For all those Sheryl Crow fans who were disappointed when they found out she wouldn’t be filling in for Christine McVie on Fleetwood Mac’s current reunion tour, I’ve replaced McVie’s vocals with Crow’s in the Rumours (1977) outtakes below. I couldn’t afford Crow herself, though, so I hired an impersonator. But she turned out to be a Cher impersonator, not to mention a he, so I ended up recording the vocals myself, even though I too am a he, despite what the nearsighted doctor first told my mom on September 25, 1975. But de facto Fleetwood Mac leader Lindsey Buckingham was the source of the studio-altered “female” vocals on the Mac’s 1987 hit “Big Love,” so it’s not like I’m operating without precedent here. Please enjoy my Sheryl Crow impression, and if it still sounds like Christine McVie, then there must be something wrong with your subwoofer.
Zack: The only way this song to could get worse would be to have some pigtailed, bubble-gum chewing pop star perform a cover of it. Oh, wait. The rhythm guitar part is so incredibly simple it could have been played by an elementary school band, the guitar solo is laughable, and given the opportunity to choose between listening to Joan Jett’s screech or the sound my own screaming as a fingernail was pulled out, I’d ask if anybody had some bandages and maybe some Aleve for when the throbbing set in.
Ken: Not a favorite, really. Oh sure, if I’ve had enough to drink, and this comes on the jukebox very loud, I might get up, but on any other occasion, it just bores me to tears. It’s one of those songs that people use to define rock ‘n roll, and it just isn’t defining. It’s just mainstream crap really.
Dunphy: Complaining about this song is like complaining about pork rinds. It’s not good for you, and the taste of them kind of turns your stomach, but every so often you can handle it. This is the perfect illustration of lunkhead rock, but it’s not so awful that you’d do something drastic, like change channels or anything.
Jon: Top 40 radio playlist for a typical hour, spring 1982: “I Love Rock & Roll,” “Centerfold,” “Ebony and Ivory,” commercial break, “I Love Rock & Roll,” “Centerfold”… That year had the tightest Top 40 playlists of any in the pre-Soundscan era. Only 15 songs reached Number One all year, mostly because those three songs combined for 20 weeks. Those playlists also were practically lily-white; there’s a reason Columbia had to threaten MTV over Michael Jackson in early ‘83.
I still haven’t commented on the song. That’s because I’m ambivalent about it, and always have been. (more…)
