Historic events this week from Fleetwood Mac, CSN&Y, Joe Walsh, Dire Straits, Peter Gabriel and Van Halen
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MAY 15, 1975: FLEETWOOD MAC’S FIRST SHOW WITH LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM & STEVIE NICKS
Sixteen months after releasing their Buckingham Nicks album, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks officially joined Fleetwood Mac.
They made their live debut in El Paso, TX to kick off the 1975-76 Fleetwood Mac Tour.
The 18-song set included most of the then-upcoming Fleetwood Mac (“white album”) and three songs from the Buckingham Nicks album.
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MAY 16, 1970: CSN&Y’S DÉJÀ VU IS #1
Recorded separately from one another while Crosby, Stills and Nash all dealt with (in one case, extreme) heartbreak, Déjà Vu spent a week at #1 thanks to strong songwriting from each member, and a cover of Joni Mitchell’s “Woodstock”.
With over 14 million sold worldwide, it is by far the biggest selling album in the Crosby, Stills & Nash oeuvre.
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MAY 16, 1978: JOE WALSH RELEASES BUT SERIOUSLY, FOLKS…
Joe Walsh’s fourth solo album, But Seriously, Folks… is his highest charting solo album (#8).
Best known for the single “Life’s Been Good”, the album was certified Platinum in August 1978.
The album features contributions from Eagles bandmates Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Timothy B. Schmit and Don Felder.
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MAY 17, 1985: DIRE STRAITS’ BROTHERS IN ARMS
Dire Straits’ penultimate album, Brothers in Arms, was a huge one.
Containing the singles “So Far Away”, “Walk of Life” and “Money for Nothing”, the album went to #1 all over the world on its way to selling 30 million copies worldwide.
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MAY 19, 1986: PETER GABRIEL’S 5th ALBUM
So is far and away Peter Gabriel’s biggest album with over 5,000,000 copies sold in the US, thanks to four Top 5 singles:
“Red Rain” (#3), “Big Time” (#3), “Sledgehammer” (#1) and “In Your Eyes” (#1)
So peaked at #2. It was held off of the top spot by massive albums from Whitney Houston and Madonna.
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MAY 20, 1988: VAN HALEN’S OU812
A month after its release, Van Halen’s OU812 began a four week run at #1.
Containing the hits “Black and Blue” (#1), “When It’s Love” (#1) and “Finish What Ya Started” (#2), OU812 became Van Halen’s second #1 album after 1986’s 5150.
