25 April 2017 - Fleetwood Mac - Tusk

If you know me even a little bit, chances are I've tried to get you to watch the television show The Americans.  For those unaware of this show (currently in its fifth season, Tuesdays at 10pm on FX), it stars the long-underrated Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys as a couple living in Northern Virginia who happen to be Soviet spies in the early 1980's.

Seriously, the best show on television.



Season 1, Episode 1 drops you in the middle of one of their spy capers, happening in what is most likely late 1979.  As is commonplace with the show, they insert the popular music of the era into the show whenever possible.  The unusual choice for the very first time they did this?  This song.  Long my favorite Fleetwood Mac song, it is incredibly simple in its construction, but complex in its evolution.

The most surprising part is that this song, the title song from their 1979 double album, started off as a studio sound check rift....and then added random percussion using whatever they found around the studio.  Mick Fleetwood famously played a leg of lamb during the recording.  This video was made from a live presentation to and performance with with the USC Marching Band.  That cardboard cutout Mick is carrying is a picture of John McVie, who was unavailable for this taping.


Be honest.  You only watched that to see Stevie Nicks twirl a baton.

Actually, Stevie Nicks has mad baton skills

The song has actually stuck with the USC Trojan Marching Band, and they still perform it to this day.



Of course, so does Lindsey Buckingham.....