Tuesday 29 September 2020

UK Number 40s: Fleetwood Mac - Say You Love Me (1976)


It's not unusual for a well known act to score a number 40. Last week we had the 57th number 40 and 22nd act to have also had a number one, so far. You could say these have generally been more obscure records from the acts in question.

This week we have the 58th number 40 and 23rd act to also have a number one. This time though, it's not an obscure record at all. In fact I'd say this is the best known number 40 to feature so far. Why the low chart position then?

Fleetwood Mac are often said to be 2 different bands, the Peter Green one from the late 60s and the Stevie Nicks/Lindsey Buckingham one from the late 70s onwards. The fact the first albums from each era of the band are self titled helps that argument.

This was the only Top 40 hit from that self titled debut album from the Stevie Nicks/Lindsey Buckingham era. At this point Fleetwood Mac hadn't been in the singles or albums chart with any new material since 1970, the year Peter Green left the band.

The first 3 singles from the album failed to chart, so the fact this the 4th single made the charts at all may be considered a success. Furthermore, the album was released in July 1975 and this single wasn't released until September 1976 and finally charted at the end of November. It was also November when the album charted for the first time.

It was much more successful in America though, the single made number 11 and the album topped the charts.

We all know what happened next with Fleetwood Mac, with the release of the "Rumours" album. What perhaps isn't common knowledge is that the singles from "Rumours" didn't chart very well, with "Dreams" being the highest charting of those at 24.

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