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Sunday, June 21, 2020

"Seven Wonders" by Fleetwood Mac

Song#:  3171
Date:  06/20/1987
Debut:  52
Peak:  19
Weeks:  13
Genre:  Soft Rock



Pop Bits:  After a five-year hiatus, the Mac returned with their fourteenth album Tango in the Night. Its first single, the Lindsey Buckingham-led "Big Love," became the band's eighth Pop Top 10 hit reaching #5. Next up to be released was this track with lead vocals by Stevie Nicks. It would be another hit at Rock for the band with the track reaching #2. The tune would also do fairly well at AC getting to #13. However, the song unexpectedly stopped a bit early on the Pop chart after cracking the Top 20. Even though it wasn't a major hit at Pop, it kept sales of the album going. By the end of the year it would reach double platinum certification.

ReduxReview:  This song is a rarity in the Buckingham/Nicks version of Fleetwood Mac as it was not written by any of the band members (although Nicks gets a slight writing credit for changing a line - see below). However, the song was a natural fit for the band and for Nicks on lead vocals. It was a solid pop song and I expected it to crack the Top 10. The fact that it stopped short of that mark was a bit surprising especially after hitting #2 at Rock. It may not be a classic Mac song, but it was another quality track from them.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  Double Shot!  1) This song was written by Sandy Stewart. She had worked on Nick's 1983 solo disc The Wild Heart performing background vocals, playing keyboards, and co-writing three songs including the #14 "If Anyone Falls." Stewart's attempts at a solo career didn't really pay off, but her songs got recorded by several artists including Nicks. Stewart wrote this track and recorded a demo of it that she sent over to Nicks without including a lyric sheet. Nicks decided to record it as a Fleetwood Mac track and thought she had the lyrics correct when she went to record it. However, there was a line in Stewart's original demo that Nicks heard wrong and she ended up singing "all the way down to Emmeline" instead of the original lyric "all the way down you held the line." Nicks decided to keep her little update and because of that she ended up with a songwriting credit.  2) This song experienced a bit of a revival thanks to a TV show. It was used for the opening segment of the 2014 season finale of American Horror Story: Coven. Done in a music video style, it featured the cast along with an appearance by Stevie Nicks. The episode itself was titled "The Seven Wonders," which was a reference to a test a witch took in order to become the "supreme" witch. The revival of the Mac tune was received well and it ended up making the US Digital Rock Tracks chart at #18. It was Nicks' second appearance on the series. She was in an earlier episode titled "The Magical Delights of Stevie Nicks" where she accompanied herself on piano singing "Rhiannon." She would also make an appearance on AHS: Apocalypse where she would sing a live version of "Gypsy" with a piano accompaniment.

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