Christine McVie (album)

Christine McVie is the second solo album by the English musician, singer, and songwriter Christine McVie, released in 1984.

Christine McVie
Studio album by
Christine McVie
Released27 January 1984
Recorded1983
StudioMountain Studios (Montreux, Switzerland); Lower Dean Manor (Gloucestershire, UK); Additional recording at Olympic Studios (London, UK)[1]
Genre
Length43:48
LabelWarner Bros.
ProducerRuss Titelman
Christine McVie chronology
Christine Perfect
(1970)		 Christine McVie
(1984)		 In the Meantime
(2004)

It was McVie's first solo recording since her 1970 self-titled release (under her maiden name). It features two singles that reached the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100, "Got a Hold on Me" and "Love Will Show Us How", which reached numbers 10 and 30, respectively. The album itself also achieved modest success in the United States, peaking at number 26 and spending 23 weeks on the Billboard 200.[2] In the UK, the album reached number 58 on the UK Albums Chart.

Background

On February 5, 1983, Christine McVie revealed that she was assembling songs for a solo album with the intention of releasing it by Christmas. McVie did not expect the recording sessions to begin until June 1983 as producer Russ Titelman was occupied with Paul Simon's Hearts and Bones album at the time.[3] Although McVie previously produced one of Robbie Patton's solo albums, she still felt unprepared to tackle that responsibility on her own album, so she hired Titelman to fulfill that role.[4]

The majority of the album was recorded in Montreux, Switzerland over the span of three months with additional work taking place in the UK. Following two weeks of initial recording, the band took a brief break while McVie fleshed out some lyrics. McVie then traveled to Steve Winwood's house to write "Ask Anyone", after which the rest of her studio band arrived to spend approximately five days recording additional instrumentation.[5] Mick Fleetwood also stopped by Winwood's studio in Gloucester to record drums.[6]

Later, McVie asked Eric Clapton to work with her on a song titled "The Challenge. "To my delight, he agreed. Like all of my songs, it's about life and remorse and rejection."[7] Clapton recorded his guitar part in roughly an hour. The next day, Ray Cooper came into the studio to overdub percussion. Following this recording session, McVie returned to Montreux and wrote "The Smile I Live For". Lindsey Buckingham stopped by the studio as did John McVie, although the latter did not play on the album in any capacity. The album was then mixed in New York City.[5]

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
The New York Times(Mixed)[9]
People(Mixed)[10]
Rolling Stone[11]

AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine retrospectively called Christine McVie "a collection of soft rock/pop and ballads that are pleasantly melodic and ingratiating." However, he also commented that McVie's songs are too lacking in variety to be completely effective outside the context of a Fleetwood Mac album.[8] The album received generally mixed reviews from critics upon its release, mostly due to the same reasons as above. McVie addressed these criticisms in a 1987 interview with Larry Katz:

A lot of people suspected it was more like Fleetwood Mac than Fleetwood Mac. I couldn't understand for the life of me why that would be so wrong since I felt that I contributed a lot of the hit songs. Part of Fleetwood Mac's sound was mine.[12]

Track listing
Christine McVie track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Love Will Show Us How"
4:14
2."The Challenge"
  • McVie
  • Sharp
4:40
3."So Excited"
4:05
4."One in a Million"
  • McVie
  • Sharp
5:02
5."Ask Anybody"
5:29
6."Got a Hold on Me"
  • McVie
  • Sharp
3:53
7."Who's Dreaming This Dream"
  • Sharp
  • Daniel Douma
3:35
8."I'm the One"Sharp4:05
9."Keeping Secrets"
3:34
10."The Smile I Live For"McVie5:07
Total length:43:48

Personnel
  • Christine McVie – lead vocals, backing vocals, keyboards, percussion
  • Todd Sharp – guitars, backing vocals
  • George Hawkins – bass, backing vocals
  • Steve Ferrone – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

Production

  • Russ Titelman – producer
  • David Richards – engineer
  • Toby Ellington – second engineer
  • Larry Franke – second engineer
  • Thomas P. Price Jr. – second engineer
  • Elliot Scheiner – mixing
  • A & R Recording (New York City, New York) – mixing location
  • Ted Jensen – mastering
  • Sterling Sound (New York City, New York) – mastering location
  • Patrick Byrne – equipment
  • Kimberly Boyle – production coordinator
  • Chris Kable – production coordinator
  • Mary Melia – production coordinator
  • Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff – art direction
  • Larry Vigon – art direction, cover design
  • Brian Griffin – cover photography
  • Sam Emerson – inner sleeve photography
  • Tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 8 & 10 published by Alimony Music/Cement Chicken Music. Track 7 published by Alimony Music/Cement Chicken Music/Doumaditties. Track 3 published by Alimony Music/Cement Chicken Music/Billy Beau Music. Track 5 published by Alimony Music/Cement Chicken Music/Island Music Ltd. Track 9 published by Alimony Music/Cement Chicken Music/Itsall Music.

Chart positions
Chart performance for Christine McVie
Chart (1984) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[13] 67
Canadian Albums (RPM)[14] 39
Dutch Albums Chart[15] 49
Swedish Albums Chart[16] 19
Swiss Albums Chart[17] 25
UK Albums Chart[18] 58
US Billboard 200[19] 26

References
  1. Recording Information at discogs
  2. Nielsen Business Media, Inc (21 July 1983). Billboard – Top LPs and Tapes. Retrieved 1 May 2014. {{cite book}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  3. Tebbutt, Simon (5 February 1983). "Record Mirror, The Macs Factor". The Blue Letter Archives. Archived from the original on 1 January 2016. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  4. Hunt, Dennis (26 February 1984). "Los Angeles Times (02/26/84), Getting A Hold On Mac's McVie". The Blue Letter Archives. Archived from the original on 1 January 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
  5. "Todd Sharp, January 18 - 31, 2000 - Section 2". The Penguin. Archived from the original on 6 July 2015. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  6. Fleetwood, Mick; Davis, Stephen (1990). Fleetwood: My Life and Adventures with Fleetwood Mac. New York: William Morrow and Company. p. 256. ISBN 0-688-06647-X.
  7. Greene, Andy (16 June 2022). "Christine McVie On Her New Solo Collection 'Songbird,' Uncertain Future of Fleetwood Mac". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  8. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "AllMusic Review: Christine McVie". AllMusic. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  9. Holden, Stephen (12 February 1984). "Pop Disks Contrast Romantic Styles". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  10. "Picks and Pans Review: Christine McVie". People. 19 March 1984. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  11. Shewey, Don (15 March 1984). "Rolling Stone review: Christine McVie: Christine McVie". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  12. Larry Katz (1987). "Interview with Christine McVie, English singer, songwriter, keyboardist and member of band Fleetwood Mac". The Katz Tapes (Podcast). Event occurs at 20:03. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  13. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 187. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  14. "RPM Top 100 Albums - March 17, 1984" (PDF).
  15. "dutchcharts.nl Christine McVie – Christine McVie" (ASP). dutchcharts.nl. MegaCharts. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  16. "swedishcharts.com Christine McVie – Christine McVie" (ASP). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  17. "Christine McVie – Christine McVie – hitparade.ch" (ASP). Retrieved 1 May 2011.
  18. "Christine McVie > Artists > Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
  19. "AllMusic: Christine McVie : Charts & Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
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