Hump Day Chat: Fleetwood Mac's "Mirage" is the "Teen Wolf" of '80s Rock Albums

Today's chat with Michael Anthony of Cleveland Does Not Rock centers on Fleetwood Mac's massively underrated 1982 album, "Mirage" ... among other things. Unfortunately, the closest The Mac gets to us this year, sans Christie McVie, is the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y. on June 19 and the Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre in Wantagh, N.Y., on June 22.

G.E. Smith: What about Fleetwood Mac's "Mirage." You got me into that and I really dig it, but after letting it soak in I have some other thoughts too. 

Michael Anthony: I like the lack of bloat, the lack of pretense, the economy of the writing. Although I really f*ckin wish "Holiday Road" was on there. Feel like it was the right move for them, and not typical of a big name release of that era. Side A is amazing. "Book of Love" feels so simple and immediate but if you dig deeper there's a lot there.

G.E. Smith: I'm amazed by the lack of good McVie tunes on there. I think she's their best writer, and even though she did the slammer "Hold Me" with Buck those other tracks are shit. You think she was lost in Mick's beard around this time? Does that explain "Mirage"?

Michael Anthony: Oh weird I usually kind of hate her tunes, and "Hold Me" alone - which I love - makes this her best effort in my book.

G.E. Smith: "Love in Store" is decent I guess but she sounds like Nicolas Cage in "Vampire's Kiss" in the other ones. What strikes me about the album is the fact that it doesn't really sound dated.

Michael Anthony: Yea not that any of their stuff does, but you'd assume that this would. Especially surprising is that its kind of been forgotten as a key Fleetwood Mac album. You'd think a rawer rock sound with big power pop singles would have generated it more love over time. I don't think "Don't Stop" is dated, just bad. "Go Your Own Way" sounds a little bit like an early '80s feminine product commercial, so I guess in that respect it's more cutting edge than dated. Since it came out, when... '76? Four years ahead of the feminine product commercial jingle curve.

Hey Tweedy: "Mirage" is a great to play, not to rip off.

G.E. Smith: I hear some pretty distinct things that influenced current artists on there, especially, oddly enough, "Empire State." Doug Gillard  copies the outro solo almost note for note on the relatively obscure Guided By Voices track "Of Mites and Men." I feel like shitty recent Wilco apes a lot on that too, especially the bass line.

Michael Anthony: Yeah man I'd put it right up there with Duran Duran's "Rio," Misfits' "Walk Among Us" and The Descendents' "Milo Goes To College" as far as 1982 albums that influenced me. But is it bad that indie rockers turn to soft rock influences? I mean, yes, this is good songwriting and all that, but you gotta think that drawing from elite soft rock will ultimately result in even more watered down stuff, right?

G.E. Smith: I do, and it did. You into that cornball Nicks tune "Straight Back"? Sounds like it was designed to go over the credits of some '80s flick. Like a bad sports movie. Now THAT sounds dated.

Michael Anthony: Can't argue with that. What flick though? "Teen Wolf"? "Wildcats"? 


G.E. Smith: Probably more "Wildcats" ... that had a more serious angle to it, relatively speaking. I mean the main character didn't morph into a wolf at will. By the way what do you think Teen Wolf's rod looked like? Do you think it got bigger when he morphed?

Wolf: Better on court or in sack?

Michael Anthony: Nah smaller actually but really hairy, which added girth / texture.

G.E. Smith: The ladies always seemed pleased.

Michael Anthony: Yeah chicks were big into bestiality in the '80s.

G.E. Smith: Either that or body hair. Explains Tom Jones, Paul Stanley etc.

Michael Anthony: Hey speaking of hairy pricks, back to Fleetwood Mac ... 

G.E. Smith: I imagine Buckingham shaved his chest hair into a likeness of himself, but, yeah, fly this thing home. 

Michael Anthony: Overrated or underrated?

G.E. Smith: I dunno. Underrated because they're overrated? But then there are some hipsters who pretend to like Mac, which makes them overrated because they were overrated and then underrated.

Buck's appearance on "SNL" showed he was kinda cool.

Michael Anthony: You think Buckingham is happy with his place in rock? He seems like he might be an egomaniac but the fact that he never took Fleetwood Mack to elite Dino rock levels shows some restraint.

G.E. Smith: He is definitely very pleased with himself and that stupid ass guitar he plays. But yeah, he's aight, and he doesn't try and pimp new material. He knows no one wants to hear some crock of shit.

Michael Anthony: I feel like it was a conscious decision on their part not to be turds about their legacy. Which makes them underrated, even though they're a little overrated.

G.E. Smith: They're overrated as an important band, but underrated as songwriters and musicians 
just like Teen Wolf was underrated for his sexing ability but overrated as a basketball player. 

Nothing should surprise when Michael Anthony's in the house.

Michael Anthony: Yeah how did he not score 200 points? 

G.E. Smith: Not really a great all around player. Plus look at his competition, a bunch of honkies.

Michael Anthony: Lot of goal tending.

G.E. Smith: Mac is basically the Teen Wolf of rock bands. Airy and fun without much substance on the surface but boasting some nice thick meat under the fur.

'90s nostalgia: Cure for The Grand's ills

Biased opinion alert: The Grand's booking of The Pixies was genius.

Today, The News Journal had a story about The Grand slashing a quarter of its staff, having a huge revenue shortfall, and eyeing deeper cuts as a way for the 135-year-old venue to stay in business.

One reason cited was "increased competition." Duh. World Cafe Live at the Queen opened down the street a few years ago. Wonder why there aren't as many slices of the same pie to go around when there are more people eating it?

When the Queen opened, there was talk about cooperation between the venues, or at least some kind of drawing of turf. As in, "Hey, Queen, you take the adult-contemporary acts and the alt-rock bands, and we'll take the jazz, classical and pop icon group."

That didn't really happen, and what you're left with is Saturday (April 6)'s recreation of The Who's classic "Who's Next" album at The Grand and similar odes to Led Zeppelin tonight (April 5) and Pink Floyd tomorrow (April 6) at The Queen.

Really?

Look, I know nothing about demographics, budgets, scheduling, costs to book bands or any of that stuff. But it seems to me that a big part of the solution is simple.

Both venues could easily put butts in their seats if they realized who will come downtown.

It seems to me like a big segment of the concert-going population is in the 25-40 range. These are people with a decent amount of disposable dough that they'd be willing to spend on a night out to see one of their favorite all-time bands. And a good chunk of them on the younger end don't have kids, so they don't have to worry about baby sitters.

The Grand should pass, especially sans DeYoung (far right).

But those bands are not Styx, or REO Speedwagon, or anyone from the 1970s or 1980s.

These two venues have to look at who the REO Speedwagons and Styx are for this generation. These venues HAVE to look at the 1990s.

The Atlanta Journal-Constituion just did a story on this a few days ago. Down there, Sugar Ray, Everclear, Barenaked Ladies and Blues Traveler will all be in town this weekend. Smash Mouth, Collective Soul and Gin Blossoms are all out there too. Do some of these bands suck? Sure. Will people pay decent money to see them? You bet.

The Grand did it with The Pixies, but they haven't continued to dig deeper into that gold mine. The Grand could easily book Stone Temple Pilots and charge $45 a head and sell out the place in a day. I'm thinking that would put The Grand in the black for that night.

Nostalgia goldmine: right there waiting.

What about Weezer? Live? Soundgarden? What about a cheesy package show at The Queen featuring Better Than Ezra, Marcy Playground and Harvey Danger?

What about the slew of indie-rock reunions? I'm sure the show bookers at The Queen and The Grand never heard of Archers of Loaf or Guided By Voices or maybe even Pavement. But these bands have hardcore followings, and their ongoing classic lineup reunion tours would have easily sold out The Queen. Same goes for The Breeders' "Last Splash" anniversary tour, just covered on this blog, which hits Philly in May. I personally would pay a pretty penny to see any of those three shows in a beautiful venue like The Grand (or The Queen).

Big-time score for Firefly.

What about hip-hop? I know that sounds scary to both of those venues, but the Firefly Music Festival showed some balls and put rap legends and Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Public Enemy on their sked of almost all rock acts. I'm sure they'll draw a new crowd with that booking - why not do the same at The Grand and/or The Queen? What are you afraid of?

Speaking of Firefly, why can't those venues get any of the acts playing the festival? More exposure for Delaware means more bands see a viable audience here means they'll come back. Yo Grand and Queen - go git em. Just like you did with Wilco and Bright Eyes a few years ago.

This is Dave Mason WHEN HE WAS COOL.

The Queen had the right idea when it went after acts like Richard Marx and Bryan Adams. There's a big market with huge selling '80s pop acts no matter how "uncool" a segment of the music world deems them to be. The Grand has the WRONG idea with acts like Dave Mason, which regardless of how it sells paints the picture of a venue that's out of touch - when you're booking a show, you're advertising for future shows. Not sure if 60-year-old guys stuck in the '70s is a vibrant target market.

Keep hitting that pipeline of nostalgia. The Grand could hit the '80s and score that late 30s to late 40s crowd. Like the Queen did, get someone like Psychedelic Furs, but go further. Get The Cure, or Morrissey, both of whom could easily sell out the venue.

But, to me, the 1990s seems like the next target to hit, and it's a big fat one.

And maybe The Grand has already made plans to do just that when it fills out its summer schedule.

Let's hope so.

Jimmie's Chicken Shack go boom at WCL

Marylanders who were college kids in the mid-1990s had no choice: They had to love Jimmie's Chicken Shack. And that's not a bad thing, considering the fact that singer Jimmy HaHa and his Annapolis-based crew were linchpin dealers of funk-metal before the music industry started selling bad batches of the stuff, otherwise known as rap-metal.

You gotta give it to the Shack, they went from a little-band-that-could to stardom, starting out by releasing stuff on their own Fowl Records, then packing the legendary 8x10 in Baltimore every freaking night, then getting signed to Elton John's Rocket Records and showing up on MTV's "120 Minutes."

Jimmie's Chicken Shack never became a massive band with an enormous fanbase, but the fanbase they did have was rabid and devoted, not unlike the herds of worshipers who bow down to Robert Pollard and Guided By Voices.

GBV and JCS fans: Geeks all the same.

Free Staters and long-time fans are in for a treat on Saturday March 30, as Jimmie's Chicken Shack play World Cafe Live at the Queen, 500 N. Market St., Wilmington.

Best part - the ticket price is very 1995-ish, at $10. Sinners Saints and A Caffeine Dream open the show at 8 p.m., and tickets can be had here.


And now, all Jimmie's Chicken Shack, and chicken fans in general, bow down to the new Queen of Fried Fowl: