STEVIE NICKS INFO

Category: Rock a Little (1985)

  • Rock a Little audiophile releases due in January

    Rock a Little audiophile releases due in January

    Stevie Nicks‘ third solo album, Rock A Little, will be the next high-fidelity release from Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MoFi), tentatively scheduled for January 16, 2026.

    MoFi has previously issued high-quality versions of Nicks’ Bella Donna (1981), as well as Fleetwood Mac’s Fleetwood Mac (1975), Mirage (1982), and Tango in the Night (1987).

    180g 45RPM 2 LP

    For the vinyl release, Mobile Fidelity’s 40th-anniversary audiophile reissue of Rock a Little is a strictly limited (4,000 numbered copies), 180g 45RPM 2LP set, mastered at MoFi and pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing (both in California).

    Housed in a Stoughton gatefold jacket, this reference-grade edition presents the platinum-certified album’s reported $1 million production—rich with colors, tones, and dreamscapes—with unparalleled balance, dimensionality, and positioning for the first time.

    Hybrid SACD

    Mobile Fidelity’s hybrid SACD reissue of Stevie Nicks’ Rock a Little offers a significant audio upgrade for its 40th anniversary. Mastered at MoFi’s California studio, this collectible edition is the first disc release to properly convey the album’s intricate production—bringing all colors, tones, and dimensionality to light. Housed in mini-LP-style gatefold packaging, the CD i strictly limited to 3,000 numbered copies.

    Pre-order Rock a Little from MoFi: Hybrid SACD |180g 45RPM 2LP

    Tracklist

    1. I Can’t Wait
    2. Rock a Little (Go Ahead Lily)
    3. Sister Honey
    4. I Sing for the Things
    5. Imperial Hotel
    6. Some Become Strangers
    7. Talk to Me
    8. The Nightmare
    9. If I Were You
    10. No Spoken Word
    11. Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You

    About Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab

    Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MoFi), fiercely independent since 1977, is renowned for producing the world’s best-sounding vinyl LPs and SACDs by preserving the artist’s original intent with uncompromising quality.

    As the pioneer of audiophile reissues, MoFi acts as an archival curator and historic preservationist, releasing definitive versions of great albums from artists like Miles Davis, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and many others (over 600 releases). The label’s hallmark is remastering directly from the original master tapes whenever available.

    MoFi’s uniqueness stems from its incessant pursuit of the finest fidelity, which led it to establish its own California-based mastering studio. This facility, staffed by industry-leading engineers and equipped with proprietary, cutting-edge technology (including Tim de Paravicini-designed gear), allows MoFi to execute every step of the cutting process in-house, ensuring no sonic artifacts are added. This enables MoFi engineers to extract abundant information, including critical elements like microtones and secondary harmonics, making the music sound lifelike and vibrant.

    MoFi has also spearheaded precedent-setting innovations in audio technology, such as the UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) vinyl and MoFi SuperVinyl. Today, MoFi continues to produce premium 180g LPs and hybrid SACDs, prized by collectors and audiophiles globally for their extraordinary sonics and packaging (featuring the distinctive Original Master Recording stripe).

    MoFi’s commitment to spending weeks on mastering an album, rather than taking quick shortcuts, is rooted in its paramount values: quality, stewardship, and integrity, ultimately aiming to bring the listener as close as possible to the music.

  • Rock a Little reissue in the works?

    Rock a Little reissue in the works?

    On Wednesday, Stevie Nicks Rock a LittleRhino cryptically tweeted “We are always listening and we love you,” along with a picture of a white jacket donning the Rock a Little album branding on the backside. Could Rhino have a much-anticipated Rock a Little reissue up their sleeve?

    If we’re keeping score, Rock a Little is Stevie Nicks‘ third best-selling solo album in the U.S., behind Bella Donna and The Wild Heart, selling more than 1 million copies back in 1985. So if we’re talking about the bottom line, it would make perfect financial sense for Rhino to issue a deluxe package of this bestseller. A hot-pink vinyl edition would be everything!

    At the time, Rock a Little had become Stevie’s most expensive recording taking more than a year to complete, so there’s certain to be a treasure trove of unreleased material beyond the few crumbs that have been commercially issued so far (“Reconsider Me, “Mirror Mirror”). 

    The Rock a Little album itself was quite the ’80s energy bomb. Side 1 kicked off with the frenetic “I Can’t Wait,” which exploded like sonic confetti of beat-boxes, guitar solos, and layered vocals. The rock-and-roll ballerina Lily hit the stage in the album title track, while the lovely “Sister Honey” took you fast like a jet plane and star stream, arriving at the fabulous “Imperial Hotel,” where you can sit across the glass table, same glass table. Stevie created some eye-catching visuals here.

    Stevie kept the energy level high on Side 2, while exploring darker themes. She was imprisoned in “The Nightmare” and then discreetly invited her lover to “come around tonight indecent” in the rock anthem “No Spoken Word.” (Only Stevie can describe horniness in the classiest way possible.) And who could not be moved by her now-classic, mournful ballad “Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You”? 

    Sharon Celani, Lori Nicks, Stevie Nicks
    Sharon Celani, Lori (Perry) Nicks, Stevie Nicks

    Rock a Little came out at the height of “The Big ’80s” — partying at its most decadent. In Stevie’s case, there were fabulously over-the-top music videos (for “Talk to Me” and “I Can’t Wait”), bold hairstyles and outfits (see the big black ball gown on the album cover), and the notoriously wild Rock a Little Tour that sent Stevie straight to Betty Ford afterward! Needless to say, our girl had a good time.

    After being deprived of concerts and other entertainment for a year, what would be better than a Big ’80s Rock a Little reissue? Please God, show them (Rhino) the way to the Bella-Donna-The-Wild-Heart-Rock-a-Little trifecta!

  • Rock a Little @30

    Rock a Little @30

    Stevie Nicks Rock a Little album coverStevie Nicks’ third solo album Rock a Little has turned 30. Released on November 18, 1985, the album marked a sonic departure from Stevie’s previously established sound, focusing on bigger productions and keyboard arrangements. Debuting at No. 12 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart, the album received mixed reviews from critics and fans, selling considerably less than her previous two solo recordings. The sessions were marred by numerous production problems and Stevie’s then-ongoing battle with cocaine addiction.

    Despite these challenges, the album still managed to be successful with the help of hit singles “Talk to Me” (#4) and “I Can’t Wait” (#16), which were in heavy video rotation on MTV. Stevie later received a Best Rock Female Vocalist nomination for “Talk to Me” at the 1987 Grammy Awards. Rock a Little has sold more than one million copies in the U.S.

    A chaotic world tour helped drive album sales, but took a toll on Stevie’s fragile health. Shortly after the tour, Stevie checked herself into the Betty Ford Rehabilitation Center to seek help in overcoming a decade-long addiction to cocaine.

    Stevie Nicks Info will be celebrating Rock a Little by revisiting each track with critical analysis, audio clips, and quotes from Stevie herself about the making of one of her most unusual albums.

  • ALBUM REVIEW: Rock a Little

    ALBUM REVIEW: Rock a Little

    Stevie Nicks Rock a Little album cover“You can talk to me,” Stevie Nicks coos on the chorus of her latest hit single. “You can set your secrets free, baby.” She’s got a sympathetic ear, all right. On the rest of Rock a Little, she comes on like an AM-radio psychologist, dispensing stern but friendly advice, spinning little parables and probing deep feelings with incredibly vague language. It’s all quite earnest and usually fairly tuneful; Stevie’s distinctive growl can attach a hook to some pretty slippery sentiments. But for a pop album, Rock a Little sounds strangely distant, out of touch. Plopped down next to purring synthesizers and the patter of drum machines, Stevie’s sugary moans sound harsh and jarring. The attempts to “contemporize” some of these 4/4 strum-along ditties ruin what would otherwise be an untouched curio, a relic from the forgotten age of the singer/songwriter.

    Not that it was all that long ago. But it’s odd how so many of the rock and pop bands of the Seventies have lost their way in this decade. Even such sturdy pines as Joni Mitchell and Jackson Browne bend and sway on their recent releases, battered by shifting tastes not only in music but in subject matter and style as well. Only the newly shorn former Eagles Don Henley and Glenn Frey, recasting themselves as sleek, rough-voiced crooners in the Miami Vice mold, have managed to age gracefully. And compared with Henley’s taut command of modern dance music on Building the Perfect Beast, Stevie seems a bit shaky. The guitar-based music on Rock a Little sounds unfocused, at times almost nostalgic. It’s disquieting hearing a song with the line “Our voices stray from the common ground where they could meet” on the same station with, oh, “Stop using sex as a weapon.”

    Stevie Nicks may have prefigured Madonna’s and Prince’s lace fetishes, but the tart frankness of today’s Top Ten makes her seem a bit of a prude. “Talk to Me” plows along with the easy momentum of a Cyndi Lauper hit, the chugging guitars broken by synth wallops for emphasis. But Stevie’s bluesy murmur sounds a little tired, as if all she wants to do is talk, thanks. On the opening cut, “I Can’t Wait,” she waxes urgent but ultimately gets shellacked by layers of buzz-saw guitars and a nervous beat box. As for a statement of purpose, “I Sing for the Things” (“that money can’t buy,” natch) is definitely postfeminist: “I’ll take off my cape for you…Anything you want me to do…I’ll sit at home and wait for you.” Maybe its just my taste, but the combined synths and steel guitars on that track achieve the consistency of curdled milk. On the aforementioned tunes, at least, Stevie is being direct. When she starts setting her secrets free, weaving apocryphal situations and creating moony, enigmatic characters, the going gets a bit thick.

    Well, there’s “Sister Honey,” who discovers that “a soul that’s true is your ride to glory.” Or take Lily, the “rock and roll ballerina” in the title tune, who seems to have a paralyzing case of the willies; the subdued gasp of the guitar line on that one sounds as hesitant as Lily does. Then there’s the hopeless dreamer who confuses reality with “The Nightmare” and gets “blinded by the light of the day.” It’s a silly line that Stevie intones with all the strained majesty she used with something like “Thunder only happens when it’s raining.” As unrealistic (and unfair) as it is to hold artists’ pasts against them, it’s telling that Stevie Nicks sounds most comfortable, and most convincing, on songs that recall Fleetwood Mac.

    Though her attempts at profundity may fall short, Stevie Nicks can still take an unassuming little rock song and polish it into a gem. Her melismatic slurs turn the treacly melody of “Some Become Strangers” into a lush, extended sigh gilded with a rich and gooey guitar texture. Wistful but not maudlin, it’s the sort of pop confection Fleetwood Mac and Rumours were strewn with. And at the other extreme, the ringing guitar chords and electric organ washes of “Imperial Hotel” force Stevie to drop the therapist’s mask and wail for a while, reaching a delectable screech reminiscent of her saddle-sore crooning with Tom Petty on “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around.” Since the newer song was cowritten with Heartbreaker Mike Campbell, that’s only appropriate. It’s the album’s high point, despite meandering lyrics depicting the usual moody figures in a shady rendezvous. (This is something we’ll be hearing more and more often, I’m afraid ‘ songs that conjure up images from yet unmade videos.) Given decent material like “Some Become Strangers” or her collaboration with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Stevie Nicks wields an authoritative, even stunning instrument ‘ it’d be great for her to wrap her tentacles around one of Holly Knight’s modern-day pop psychodramas like “Obsession.” But left to her won devices, Stevie Nicks veers dangerously close to self-parody. The sensitive rock artiste, making self-indulgent solo statements in a vacuum, supposedly died out with the dinosaurs in the late Seventies. But these days, it often seems like punk never happened anyway. The real shame is that Stevie Nicks could make good records again, if she’d only follow her own advice and rock a little.

    Mark Coleman / Rolling Stone / January 30, 1986

  • SONG: Stevie Nicks – Rock a Little

    SONG: Stevie Nicks – Rock a Little

    Unlike her former running mate Lindsey Buckingham, Nicks has played it pretty safe in her records apart from Fleetwood Mac. This album is not as gripping as her previous efforts, Bella Donna and The Wild Heart, but it has greater variety. Nicks hasn’t abandoned commercial pop-rock as songs such as “Talk to Me” and “The Nightmare” attest. “I Can’t Wait” and “Sister Honey” have her experimenting with hard-edged dance rhythms that use electronic percussion. In the slower songs her voice, with its strange shadings and quavering nasality, can be irksome. On “I Sing for the Things,” she sounds like a bizarre cross between Edith Piaf and Elmer Fudd. But Nicks is too smooth a pro to allow her vocal idiosyncrasies to mar the whole record. She employs talented sidemen such as guitarists Waddy Wachtel, Les Dudek and Michael Landau. Nicks herself rocks a little, and she explores some other tempos with equal polish. (Modern/Atco)

    PHOTO (COLOR): Stevie Nicks: Rocking out on a not-too-long limb

    David Hiltbrand, Ralph Novak and Eric Levin / People (Vol. 25 Issue 2, p20. 2p. / January 13, 1986,

  • ALBUM REVIEW: Rock a Little

    Stevie Nicks Rock a Little album coverRock A Little
    Stevie Nicks
    Modern, dist. by Atlantic

    Rock a little, cry a little, a bit of this, a bit of that – Stevie Nicks will not commit to much. She’d rather remain elusive, an enigma, a dreamer whose “problems” add up to so much Southern California angst.

    She’s here to tell you, because she knows first-hand, that money isn’t everything. No, love is everything – and nothing. The man of her visions is there, and she will wait. But she can’t wait. She’d do anything for him. But he’s not there. Well, he “is” there, but they don’t communicate. She needs him, but back come only unspoken words. She is so alone, but in her heart she knows he will stand by her.

    And so on.

    As Nicks furthers her solo career apart from the triennial offerings of parent group Fleetwood Mac, she continues to be vague, calling in wispy references to water and sky and wind. All answers are somewhere “out there”. Existential pop.

    About all that has changed since “When Doves Cry” is that she’s gone from white to black in dress, and her voice has gotten more gruff in parts. Otherwise, backed by her stable of reliable LA session players and augmented by female backup vocals, it’s difficult to tell where the songwriting ends and the production and engineering begin. She uses five – count ’em – producers and an amazing 10 different studios. There are too many musicians and engineers to count.

    What’s it all add up to? Rock a little, cry a little…

    Marty Racine / Houston Chronicle / December 22, 1985

  • Nicks flies a lead balloon

    STEVIE NICKS: Rock a Little (Modern Records)

    If there is an album with more hands in its making, it doesn’t come to mind. More than a dozen studios were used. Six different production credits grace the 11 indifferent tracks. So many engineers worked on the project, a separate list is included in addition to the track-by-track list.

    The whole album has the sound of a labored work, pieced together over a long period of time. The heavy-handed production practically swamps Nicks’ tiny voice, virtually a croak of its former self. The dreamy voice that lit Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album sounds a little tattered around the edges.

    The songs, too, have little to recommend them. Nicks’ turgid writing leaves scant room for a crisply turned phrase or a pungent line, and would be more appropriate for greeting cards than rock songs. She casts herself as the girl who has everything, but has lost her lover, time and time again. The routine is getting tired by now, and even Nicks can’t disguise her boredom.

    Joel Selvin / San Francisco Chronicle / November 24, 1985

  • ROCK A LITTLE (1985)

    ROCK A LITTLE (1985)

    Rock a Little is Stevie Nicks‘ third solo album, following The Wild Heart (1983). It features the hit singles “Talk to Me” and “I Can’t Wait,” as well as the moving ballad “Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You.”

    Tracklist

    1. I Can’t Wait (4:35)
    2. Rock a Little (Go Ahead Lily)* (3:39)
    3. Sister Honey (3:52)
    4. I Sing for the Things (3:45)
    5. Imperial Hotel (2:53)
    6. Some Become Strangers (3:29)
    7. Talk to Me^ (4:12)
    8. The Nightmare (5:08)
    9. If I Were You (4:31)
    10. No Spoken Word (4:12)
    11. Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You (4:35)

    ^An alternate version of “Talk to Me” appears on Time/Life’s Sounds of the Eighties: 1986 compilation.
    * An alternate version of “Rock a Little (Go Ahead Lily) appears on the Australasian/European single release of “I Can’t Wait.”

    Stevie Nicks Rock a Little album cover

    Background

    Stevie Nicks began recording Rock a Little in 1984. Following the commercial success of Bella Donna (1981) and The Wild Heart (1983), Nicks initially reunited with producer Jimmy Iovine. However, due to rising creative and personal tensions, Iovine departed the project before the album’s completion. Nicks finalized the record with various other producers, most notably Rick Nowels, in a process that lasted more than a year.

    With a heavy emphasis on synthesizers and programmed drums, Rock a Little embraced the prevailing musical trends of the era—elements Nicks would continue to explore on her 1989 follow-up, The Other Side of the Mirror.

    Despite receiving mixed reviews and selling significantly fewer copies than her previous two efforts, the album spawned the hit singles “Talk to Me” (No. 4) and “I Can’t Wait” (No. 16), both of which had music videos that featured heavily on MTV. These successes firmly established Nicks as one of the decade’s premier rock artists.

    Stevie Nicks Sharon Celani Lori Nicks
    Stevie Nicks with background vocalist Sharon Celani (left) and Lori Nicks (middle)

    Dedication

    Stevie Nicks dedicated Rock a Little to three groups of people: Her colleagues (the great singers and players), veterans of the Vietnam War, and Eagles guitarist Joe Walsh. The dedication included lyrics from “Thousand Days,” a song about Prince, rehearsed for Rock a Little and later recorded during the early Street Angel sessions in 1992.

    And I,
    like some kind of Time/Life edition
    tradition, competition~
    Being the only things that I really have
    to remember~
    The great singers, and the great, great players

    This music is dedicated to the great singers~
    and the great, great players (my teachers)~
    And to those who have survived the Viet Nam War~
    “No, we do not forget you…”

    And, thank you, Joe

    Release

    Modern Records released Rock a Little on November 18, 1985. The album debuted at No. 12 on Billboard’s Hot 200 Albums and produced the singles “Talk to Me” (4), “I Can’t Wait” (16), “Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You” (60), and the Australia-issued “Imperial Hotel” (99). To help promote the album, Stevie filmed music videos for “Talk to Me” and “I Can’t Wait,” which aired regularly on MTV.

    Other Released Songs

    • One More Big Time Rock and Roll Star (b-side of the Talk to Me single)
    • Battle of the Dragon (from American Anthem: The Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
    • Reconsider Me (duet with Don Henley, from Enchanted: The Works of Stevie Nicks)
    • Mirror Mirror (original album title, b-side of Blue Denim 1994 single)

    Accolades & Sales

    For the 29th Annual Grammy Awards, Stevie Nicks earned a nomination in the category of Best Rock Female Vocalist for “Talk to Me.”  The award went to Tina Turner for “Back Where You Started.”

    The RIAA has certified Rock a Little platinum for the shipment of one million units to retailers.

    Charts

    Talk to Me

    Billboard Charts Peak
    Pop Singles 4
    Adult Contemporary 14
    Album Rock Tracks 1

    I Can’t Wait

    Billboard Charts Peak
    Pop Singles 16
    Dance 26
    Album Rock Tracks 6

    Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You

    Billboard Chart Peak
    Pop Singles 60

    Imperial Hotel

    Released only in Australia

    Kent Music Report Peak
    Pop 99

    Promotional Videos

    Talk to Me

    I Can’t Wait

    Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You

    Imperial Hotel

    News & Coverage

    • Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You November 18, 1985 – “Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You” is Track 11 on Rock a Little (1985), Stevie Nicks third’s solo album.… More
    • No Spoken Word November 18, 1985 – “No Spoken Word” is Track 10 on Rock a Little (1985), Stevie Nicks’ third solo album. It follows “If I… More
    • If I Were You November 18, 1985 – “If I Were You” is Track 9 on Rock a Little (1985), Stevie Nicks’ third solo album. It follows “The… More
    • The Nightmare November 18, 1985 – “The Nightmare” is Track 8 on Rock a Little (1985), Stevie Nicks’ third solo album. It follows “Talk to Me”… More
    • Talk to Me November 18, 1985 – “Talk to Me” is Track 7 on Rock a Little (1985), Stevie Nicks’ third solo album. It follows “Imperial Hotel”… More
    • Some Become Strangers November 18, 1985 – “Some Become Strangers” is Track 5 on Rock a Little (1985), Stevie Nicks’ third solo album. It follows “I Sing… More
    • Imperial Hotel November 18, 1985 – “Imperial Hotel” is Track 5 on Rock a Little (1985), Stevie Nicks’ third solo album. It follows “I Sing for… More
    • I Sing for the Things November 18, 1985 – “I Sing for the Things” is Track 4 on Rock a Little (1985), Stevie Nicks’ third solo album. It follows… More
    • Sister Honey November 18, 1985 – “Sister Honey” is Track 3 on Rock a Little (1985), Stevie Nicks’ 3rd solo album. It follows “Rock a Little… More
    • Rock a Little (Go Ahead Lily) November 18, 1985 – “Rock a Little (Go Ahead Lily)” is Track 2 on Rock a Little (1985), Stevie Nicks’ third solo album. It… More

    < The Wild Heart | The Other Side of the Mirror >

  • I Can’t Wait

    I Can’t Wait

    “I Can’t Wait” is Track 1 on Rock a Little, Stevie Nicks‘ third solo album. It precedes “Rock a Little (Go Ahead Lily)” in the album track order.

    Released as the album’s second single, “I Can’t Wait” peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 on April 12, 1986. A music video, directed Marty Callner, accompanied its release. Several different mixes of “I Can’t Wait” were created, some of which are commercially available.

    Stevie Nicks

    UK single cover

    About ‘I Can’t Wait’

    “I think this was about the most exciting song that I had ever heard. My friend, Rick (Nowels), whom I had known since I was eighteen and he was thirteen, brought over this track with this incredible percussion thing and gave it to me asking me if I would listen to it and consider writing a song for it. I listened to the song once and pretended not to be that knocked out, but the second Rick left, I ran to my little recording studio and wrote ‘I Can’t Wait.’ It took all night, and I think it is all about how electric I felt about this music. And that night, that Saturday night, Rick and I went into a big studio and recorded it. I sang it only once and have never sung it since in the studio. Some vocals are magic and simply not able to beat. So I let go of it, as new to me as it was, but you know, now when I hear it on the radio, this incredible feeling comes over me, like something really incredible is about to happen. To understand this song, you sort of have to let yourself go a little crazy. Love is blind, it never works out, but you just have to have it.” (Stevie Nicks, 1991)

    I Can’t Wait Lyrics

    (I can’t wait)
    (I can’t wait)

    How will I love you

    I can’t wait
    I can’t wait

    Sometimes she talks to him
    Sometimes when she’s only dreaming
    Then when she wakes up
    Somehow she still believes him

    Yes, I know you
    Though we’ve been out of touch
    Yes, I know you
    To be continued
    It’s too much, well

    I can’t wait
    I can’t wait
    Well, if I’m wasting my time, then make up your mind, well
    I can’t wait
    I can’t wait
    And I’ve got to know how if I’ll see you again, well

    (I can’t wait)
    (I can’t wait)
    Well, yes, I know you
    (I can’t wait)
    Though we’ve been out of touch
    (I can’t wait)
    (I can’t wait)
    (I can’t wait)
    What can I do when I’m crazy for you

    She wonders how many more hours
    Her heart will feel broken
    In a secret, she says she needs to see him
    But no words are spoken

    Well, she dances around in a circle
    Well, she’s got that feeling now
    Blame it on something at first sight
    Put the blame on me if you want to
    To be continued

    I can’t wait
    I can’t wait
    If I’m wasting my time while you make up your mind now, babe
    Well, I can’t wait I can’t wait
    Now I got to know when I can see you again, well

    (I can’t wait
    (I can’t wait)
    (I can’t wait)
    What can I do when I’m crazy for you, baby
    (I can’t wait)
    (I can’t wait)
    (I can’t wait)

    If I’m wasting my time
    Make up your mind, well

    How do I love you
    How do I love you

    How will we feel 20 years from now
    How will we feel 20 years from now
    How will we feel 20 years from now

    How will we feel 20 years from now
    How will we feel 20 years from now
    How will we feel 20 years from now

    Ooh, yeah!

    I can’t wait
    I can’t wait
    If I’m wasting my time while you make up your mind, baby
    I can’t wait
    I can’t wait
    And I’ve got to know when I can see you again, well

    I can’t wait
    I can’t wait now
    (I can’t wait)
    No, no, time will, make up your mind, baby
    (I can’t wait)
    (I can’t wait
    (I can’t wait)

    How will I love you
    Well, how will I love you
    How do I love
    How can I love

    (Stevie Nicks/Rick Nowels/Eric Pressly) © 1985 Welsh Witch Music (BMI)/Future Furniture Music.

    Musicians

    • Roy Bitten: Synthesizer
    • Sharon Celani: Background vocals
    • Bob Glaub: Bass
    • Bobbye Hall: Percussion
    • Russ Kunkel: Drums
    • Lori Nicks: Background vocals
    • Stevie Nicks: Lead vocals
    • Waddy Wachtel: Guitar

    Production Credits

    • John Kovarek and David Hernandez: Recording Engineers, Art Department Sound
    • Chris Lord-Alge, Jimmy Iovine, Rick Nowels: Mixers, Unique Recording Studios, New York City
    • Rick Nowels and Jimmy Iovine: Producers
    • Rick Nowels and George Black: Arrangers
    • United Western, Sunset Sound, Village Recorders, Image Recorders: Overdubs

    Release History

    • Rock a Little (1985)
    • “I Can’t Wait”/”The Nightmare” (Remix) – 7″ vinyl (1985)
    • “I Can’t Wait” (Vocal/Soft Intro) – 7″ vinyl promo (1985)
    • “I Can’t Wait”/”The Nightmare” (Remix) – 12″ vinyl – 4 Remixes (1985)
    • “I Can’t Wait”(Extended Version) – International 12” vinyl (1985)
    • Timespace: The Best of Stevie Nicks (1991)
    • “I Can’t Wait” – International single (1991)
    • A Hard Game to Play (Extended Rock Mix) – Japan EP (1992)
    • The Enchanted Works of Stevie Nicks (Extended Rock Mix) (1998)
    • Crystal Visions…The Very Best of Stevie Nicks (2007)
    • Stand Back: 1981-2014 (2019)

    References

    Nicks, S. (1991). [Liner notes]. In Timespace [CD]. Los Angeles: Modern Records.

  • Rock a Little (Go Ahead Lily)

    Rock a Little (Go Ahead Lily)

    “Rock a Little (Go Ahead Lily)” is Track 2 on Rock a Little (1985), Stevie Nicks‘ third solo album. It follows “I Can’t Wait” and precedes “Sister Honey” in the album track order.

    About ‘Rock a Little’

    Stevie Nicks wrote ‘Rock a Little’ about a lecture that she received from her father, Jess, and then-manager Rebecca Alvarez. It was a pep-talk of sorts to encourage Stevie to overcome her problems of the moment and continue performing.

    Stevie Nicks I Can't Wait Rock a Little
    “I Can’t Wait”/”Rock a Little” international vinyl single

    “[‘Rock a Little’] came from my dad and from my friend Rebecca (Alvarez) saying to me, ‘You know, we don’t care how you feel. You have to go up there and do a show now.’ People in my other everyday, sunny-day life call me Lily, and so my dad would say, ‘Go ahead, Lily, hit it, rock a little, hit the stage, get up. If you don’t feel good, go home.’ And Rebecca would say the same thing. So this whole thing kind of came about as a statement: It doesn’t really matter what your problems are, Stevie, or what is going through your life right now. What really matters is that you have to get up and go out there onstage, and that’s what you live for, so go ahead and do that now. There’s this one part that is about my dad, ‘He knows his daughter / They say where does she live / He says, oh, up there somewhere / And then he says go ahead Lily, hit it, hit the stage.’

    “So that’s kind of what my life is. I had to make a lot of changes and stops and understand what was going on in my life — that was other people influencing me and talking to me, making me feel certain ways that maybe I let my own self go a little bit and not rely on my own intuitions, which are always the best ones for me, and I’m always right. So to not believe in myself, I think, was the thing that I did was the wrong thing. I didn’t believe in myself for a few days, for a few minutes; a few lifetimes went by. And now I know that it was all really okay.” (Nicks, 1985)

    Two Versions

    There are two released versions of “Rock a Little”: Album Version (3:39) and an alternate extended version (5:15), which appears as the b-side of the international (outside US and Canada) vinyl single releases for “I Can’t Wait.” The alternate version includes different vocals and runs approximately longer than its album counterpart.

    The alternate version, presumably intended for the album, runs about 1-minute and 25 seconds minutes longer than the album version. It contains different vocals.

    Alternate Extended Version

    ‘Rock a Little’ Lyrics

    Sometimes it rages
    Rock a little
    Even when it’s calm
    Rock a little
    Just like the sea
    Still I rock a little
    Say it was just like me
    Still rock a little

    And you knew her
    Funny little dancer
    And you watched her all night long
    You were trying to learn from her teachers
    One thing that she wanted
    She would not be tangled up in it

    Hit it
    (Rock a…)
    It’s about time, Lily
    Ooh, I know, Lily
    Hit the stage
    Dancin’
    (Rock a little)
    Hit it

    She’s home now
    She says
    I’ve gone far beyond that song
    Rock and roll ballerina
    Where else would she go
    He knows his daughter says
    Where does she live
    He says
    Oh, up there somewhere
    Then he says
    Go ahead, Lily

    Hit it
    (Go ahead, Lily)
    Hit it
    It’s about time, Lily
    (Hit it)
    Hit it
    Oh, well, I know, Lily
    (Rock a little)
    Hit it
    Hit the stage
    (Rock a little)

    Lots of them and all one of a kind
    But the most important thing was what is on her mind
    Pale pink satin worn out in a week
    But she loved you the most
    And you said

    Go ahead, Lily
    Hit it
    (Go ahead, Lily)

    No explanations and I tell you no
    You say nothing
    That is how songs are written
    Stories are told
    Rumors are started

    Ooh, but they still stay

    Go ahead, Lily
    Hit it
    Hit it
    It’s about time, Lily
    Hit the stage
    Dancin’, I know
    (Go ahead, Lily)

    (Stevie Nicks/Rick Nowels) © 1985 Welsh Witch Music (BMI)/Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

    Musicians

    • Sharon Celani: Background vocals
    • Kenny Edwards: Bass
    • Russ Kunkel: Drums
    • Marilyn Martin: Background vocals
    • Lori Nicks: Background vocals
    • Stevie Nicks: Lead vocals
    • Billy Payne and Rick Nowels: Synthesizer
    • Jamie Sheriff: Programmer/Synth Strings
    • Waddy Wachtel: Guitar

    Production Credits

    • Tom “Gordo” Gondolf and Shelly Yakus: Recording Engineers, Goodnight Dallas
    • Jimmy Iovine: Producers
    • Gabe Veltri: Overdubs, Village Recorders, Record One
    • Shelly Yakus: Mixer

    Chart History

    “I Can’t Wait/Rock a Little” (Australia/Europe/New Zealand)

    • Australian Kent Music Report: 20
    • German GfK Entertainment: 58
    • Irish Singles: 29
    • New Zealand Recorded Music: 39
    • UK Singles: 54

    Release History

    • Rock a Little (1985)
    • “I Can’t Wait”/”Rock a Little”) – International 7″ vinyl single (1985)
    • “I Can’t Wait (Extended Version)/”Rock a Little”/”I Can’t Wait”) – International 12″ vinyl maxi-single (1985)

    References

    Nicks, S. (1985). Interview