In the UK, "Family Man" was released as the fourth single following "Little Lies", where it debuted at No. 91 on 19 December 1987. It later went on to peak at No. 54 on 19 January 1988. In the US, the song was released as the fifth single from the album as the follow-up to "Everywhere" in March 1988, and reached No. 90 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Background
Similar to "Big Love", "Family Man" was originally slated to appear on Buckingham's third solo album, although the project later morphed into Fleetwood Mac's Tango in the Night. "Family Man" was nearly complete when Buckingham first presented the song to Fleetwood Mac, although the band "sweetened up" the mix and interspersed some vocal fragments from Stevie Nicks throughout the song's bridge.[2] The low voice on "Family Man" was sung by Buckingham, who achieved the effect by slowing down the tape speed.[3] The song possesses a stepwise ascending harmony and follows a VII-I chord progression.[4]
When asked about the song's subject matter, Buckingham said that song did not relate to domestic life and was instead about a willingness to contribute within a group context. He discussed how the lyrics related to his attempts at fostering a productive working environment in Fleetwood Mac where he could provide assistance to the rest of the group and enable them to participate in the creative process.[5]
Release
"Family Man" was released as a special limited edition box set comprising the 7" single, plus two prints by the artist Susan Young[6] and Christine Tongue. The 12" single included several mixes of "Family Man", which were developed by Arthur Baker.[7] One of those mixes, titled the "House Mix", reached number 29 on the Music Week Dance Singles Chart.[8] In the United Kingdom, the 12" single was appended with "You and I, Part II", whereas the 12" inch single issued in the United States was a non-album song written by Buckingham titled "Down Endless Street", which also appeared as the B-side of the 7" single.[9]
"Family Man" entered the UK singles chart at number 91, which Music & Media labelled as a "rather disappointing" debut.[10] During the song's fourth week on the UK singles chart, "Family Man" reached its peak position of No. 54.[11] "Family Man" also received airplay in other European countries, including Germany, where it peaked at No. 29 in January 1988.[12][13] That same month "Family Man" reached No. 19 on the European Airplay Top 50 chart published by Music & Media.[14]
In March 1988, "Family Man" was released as a single in non-European countries, including the United States.[9]Radio & Records mentioned in its 8 April 1988 publication that 57 percent of reporting United States adult contemporary radio stations included "Family Man" in their rotation.[15] The following month, "Family Man" peaked at No. 23 on the BillboardAdult Contemporary chart.[16]
"Family Man" is also included on the 2002 release The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac.[17] While "Family Man" was not included on the physical release of 50 Years - Don't Stop, it does appear on the streaming service edition of the album, which substituted several songs from the Peter Green era for songs from Kiln House onwards.
Critical reception
In his "Rock Over London" column, Graham Dene was critical of the decision to release "Family Man" as a single in Europe, saying that "Warner Brothers have skillfully avoided the extremely catchy 'You And I' and the new US single 'Everywhere'; they have not even gone for Isn't It Midnight. Instead, we get the considerably less memorable 'Family Man'".[18]Music & Media wrote that the song's "very keen production and a crystal clear acoustic guitar contribute to the song's addictive and slowly pushing drive."[19]Cash Box called it "an engaging dance tune" with "an ethereal vocal and throbbing groove."[20] Writing for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis thought that Buckingham's "unsettled twitchiness" was evident in the "staccato vocals of 'Family Man.'"[21] Alex Henderson of AllMusic labeled "Family Man" as one of the best songs ever written by Buckingham.[22]
Music video
Promotion for the single was limited, as Lindsey Buckingham, the song's composer, had left the group after the album's release.[23] A video was created mixing previous footage of the band from the "Seven Wonders" video alongside archive footage of American families from the Great-Depression era. The video uses a shorter edit of the album version.[24]
Track listing
UK 7" vinyl single (Warner Bros. Records W 8114)
"Family Man" – 4:01
"Down Endless Street" – 4:24
UK 12" vinyl single (Warner Bros. Records W 8114 T)
↑ Buckingham, Lindsey (1987). "Fleetwood Mac". Off the Record (Interview). Interviewed by Turner, Mary. Event occurs at 7:31–8:45. Archived from the original on 1 July 2018. Retrieved 9 August 2025.
↑ Roubin, Olivier; Ollivier, Romuald (1 April 2025). Fleetwood Mac: All The Songs. New York: Black Dog Leventhal Publishers. p.486. ISBN978-0-7624-8630-4.
↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrateded.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. pp.113–114. ISBN0-646-11917-6.
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