Christine McVie |
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Mon. July 12.1999 3:04 AM EDT |
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Christine McVieby Frank Tortorici |
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Christine McVie was a member of Chicken Shack (as Christine Perfect) before joining Fleetwood Mac. (David LaChapelle) |
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Though the theatrical Stevie Nicks and enigmatic guitarist/vocalist Lindsey Buckingham
get more press, singer/songwriter/keyboardist Christine McVie has actually written and
sung more of Fleetwood Mac's hits than any other member in the
McVie was born Christine Anne Perfect 56 years ago today in Grenodd, Lancashire, near Birmingham, England. Her father, Cyril, was a college professor and concert violinist, and her mother, Beatrice, was a medium, a psychic and a faith healer. Perfect began studying piano at age 4. She attended art college in Birmingham for five years while playing keyboards and bass in blues bands with fellow students. She met Spencer Davis, future leader of the Spencer Davis Group. The two sang in clubs and began a short-lived personal relationship. After getting a teaching degree in sculpting, Perfect worked as a window dresser on London's Regent Street. In 1967 she reteamed with former bandmates Andy Sylvester and Stan Webb, who asked her to play keyboards in their band Chicken Shack. Chicken Shack played at the 1968 Windsor Jazz and Blues Festival, along with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (with John McVie on bass) and Fleetwood Mac. She met the guys in both of these bands and ended up playing on several Fleetwood Mac sessions. After McVie joined Fleetwood Mac, Perfect began dating him. They were married in August 1968. But after Chicken Shack's "I'd Rather Go Blind" became a UK hit, Perfect was voted Best Female Vocalist by Melody Maker and was urged to cut her own LP, Christine Perfect (1970). After band founder and lead guitarist Peter Green began retreating from Fleetwood Mac, drummer Mick Fleetwood asked McVie to join as keyboardist to pick up some of the musical slack. Though she appeared on the Mac's Kiln House (1970), McVie's first official album with the band was 1971's Future Games. She and American guitarist Bob Welch began writing and singing the bulk of songs by Fleetwood Mac, who were turning from a blues ensemble to a pop-rock group. After Fleetwood Mac relocated to the U.S. in 1974, Welch left. He was replaced by singer/songwriter Nicks and guitarist/singer/songwriter Buckingham for 1975's Fleetwood Mac, which gave the band its first U.S. smash with McVie's "Over My Head." She also contributed the top-10 "Say You Love Me." Rumours (1977) made the bandmembers superstars and remains one of the best-selling LPs in history. The album included the McVie-written top-10 hits "Don't Stop" (RealAudio excerpt) and "You Make Loving Fun." The ambitious two-LP Tusk featured experimental tunes, such as McVie's "Brown Eyes." While Fleetwood Mac went on hiatus, McVie issued an eponymous 1984 solo LP, which yielded the top-10 single "Got a Hold on Me." She was back with the Mac for the #1 Mirage (1982), featuring her top-10 "Hold Me," and 1987's Tango in the Night, which included her smashes "Everywhere" and "Little Lies." Many of McVie's songs on Mirage chronicled her tempestuous relationship with Beach Boy Dennis Wilson, who died a year later. McVie stuck with a new version of the band put together after Buckingham's departure and composed that lineup's only hit, 1990's "Save Me." She continued to participate in Fleetwood Mac's world tours until 1991, when she decided to only join them on record. McVie was present for Time (1995), the Mac's least popular LP since the early '70s. She participated in Fleetwood Mac's hugely successful 1997 reunion tour and album, The Dance, but put a halt to it the following year, citing exhaustion and the need to return home to England. The other Mac members are revisiting their solo careers as they await McVie's decision on whether she will ever tour again. Christine McVie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Fleetwood Mac in 1998. Other birthdays: Swamp Dogg, 57; Walter Egan, 51; John Wetton (King Crimson/Roxy Music/Asia), 50; Eric Carr (ex-Kiss), 49; Dan Murphy (Soul Asylum), 37; and Magoo, 26. |
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