Fleetwood Mac - Tango in the Night (1987)

Tango in the Night is Fleetwood Mac’s 14th studio album.

Release

Warner Bros. Records released Tango in the Night on April 14, 1987. The album reached No. 7 on Billboard Hot 200 Albums, spawning five singles in the U.S., four of which reached the Billboard Top 40: “Big Love” (5), “Seven Wonders (19), “Little Lies” (4), and “Everywhere” (14). By the end of the year, Warner Bros. released “Family Man,” which also charted, reaching No. 90. In Europe, Warner Bros. exclusively issued a sixth single “Isn’t It Midnight.”

In 1988, the RIAA certified Tango in the Night double platinum for the shipment of two million units to U.S. retailers, with worldwide sales close to five million.

In 2017, Rhino Records remastered and reissued Tango in the Night with a deluxe edition.

Songs

Demo, Alternates, B-Sides

You and I, Part I (B-side of Big Love) 3:09
*Book of Miracles (B-side of Seven Wonders) 4:32
*Ricky (B-side of Little Lies) 4:27
*Down Endless Street (B-side of Family Man) 4:29
*Special Kind Of Love (Demo) 2:53
*Seven Wonders (Early Version) 4:34
*Tango In The Night (Demo) 4:41
*Mystified (Alternate Version) 3:27
*Where We Belong (Demo) 2:52
*Juliet (Run-Through) 5:04
*Isn’t It Midnight (Alternate Mix) 3:39
*Ooh My Love (Demo) 3:52
*You And I, Part I & II (Full Version) 6:26

^{*From Tango in the Night: Demos, Alternates And B-Sides (2017)/The Alternate Tango in the Night (2018)}

Editor’s Pick: ‘Isn’t It Midnight’

Tango in the Night benefits from Christine McVie’s reliable pop craftsmanship. Her songs are the most memorable on the album and temper the mixed offerings from Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. McVie’s best contribution is “Isn’t It Midnight,” a pop-rock gem that boasts a great hook and standout guitar solo from Buckingham, one that recalls Rumours anthem “Go Your Own Way.” While listeners are never hard pressed to hear McVie singing songs about love and romantic desire, she raises the bar in “Midnight,’ delivering her most sensual lyrics since “Brown Eyes” (from Tusk): “Isn’t it midnight on the side of the world? / Do you remember the face of a pretty girl?”

Stevie on her Klonopin addiction

“What started happening was that if I didn’t take it, my hands started to shake. I felt like I had a neurological disease or Parkinson’s. I started not being able to get to Lindsey Buckingham’s house on time, and I would get there and everybody was drinking, so I’d have a glass of wine — don’t mix tranquilizers and wine. Then I’d sing horrific parts on his songs, and he would take the parts off. I was hardly on Tango of the Night, which I happen to love.”