Hold Me (Fleetwood Mac song)

Last updated
"Hold Me"
Holdmefleetwoodmac.jpg
Single by Fleetwood Mac
from the album Mirage
B-side "Eyes of the World"
ReleasedJune 1982 [1]
Recorded1981
Genre Pop rock
Length3:44
Label Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Fleetwood Mac singles chronology
"Fireflies"
(1981)		"Hold Me"
(1982)		"Gypsy"
(1982)

"Hold Me" is a 1982 song by the British-American rock group Fleetwood Mac. It was the first track to be released as a single from the band's thirteenth album Mirage . Written by Christine McVie and Robbie Patton, McVie and Lindsey Buckingham shared lead vocals on the song. The single reached number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100, the band's first to break the top five since 1977.

Contents

Background

"Hold Me" was written by Christine McVie and Robbie Patton. According to Mick Fleetwood in his 1990 autobiography, "Hold Me" was written about McVie's failed relationship with Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys. [2] When McVie presented "Hold Me" to the band, the song was still unfinished, so the band left portions of the song open to develop throughout the Mirage sessions. [3]

McVie said that the incorporation of Buckingham's vocals was unplanned. Patton had previously sung the lower parts early in the composition process. [3] During one of the recording sessions, Lindsey Buckingham suggested that he and McVie perform "Hold Me" as a duet similar to "Don't Stop". McVie and Buckingham sang their parts with the studio windows open over the Paris countryside. [4]

Released in June 1982 in advance of the album itself, the song debuted at number 33 on the US Billboard Hot 100, which up to that point was the band's highest entry on the Hot 100. Previously, their highest debut on the Hot 100 was "Sara", which entered the chart at number 45. [5] It became one of Fleetwood Mac's biggest hits in the United States, peaking at No. 4 for a then-record seven consecutive weeks, [6] from July 24, 1982, to September 4, 1982. Potential higher chart placement was prevented by songs including "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor and "Abracadabra" by the Steve Miller Band, as well as the No. 2 peaking of "Hurts So Good" by John Cougar. [7] "Hold Me" ranked at No. 31 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1982. [8]

In the United Kingdom, "Hold Me" was released in June 1982 and failed to reach the top 75. The song reached number 88 on the Record Business chart and number 30 on the publication's Airplay Guide. [9] It also appeared on the Bubbling Under portion of the Music Week chart, an extension of the top 75. [10] "Hold Me" was eventually re-issued in February 1989 to promote the group's Greatest Hits (1988) package with "No Questions Asked" as the B-side and reached No. 94. [11]

The song is also included on the 2002 US version, and 2009 UK re-issue of the greatest hits album The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac .

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Number One Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [12]

Cash Box said that "the catchy hook, the solid rhythm and, of course, the female harmonies all come together in a package that can't be beat." [13] Billboard called it a "buoyant midtempo love song" and predicted that the single would become a "summer playlist fixture." [14] Sandy Robertson of Sounds labelled "Hold Me" as an "ecstatic, catchy rave-up of slinky repetition" that was one of the two best songs on Mirage along with "Only Over You". [15] Matthew Greenwald of AllMusic praised "Hold Me" as a "gorgeous Christine McVie creation" that "goes to all of the right places at the right times." [16] Paste ranked the song number 16 on its list of the 30 greatest Fleetwood Mac songs. [17]

Music video

The music video for "Hold Me" features the band in a surreal scenario set in a desert, in keeping with the album title, based on several René Magritte paintings. In the video, Christine McVie is in a room surrounded by paintings, using a telescope to search for Lindsey Buckingham in the desert. Buckingham discovers Stevie Nicks lying on a chaise longue and paints a portrait of her. In other scenes, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood are archaeologists, dressed in khaki shorts and pith helmets. They find the desert littered with broken mirrors, which serve as a motif in the video, along with partially buried pianos, electric guitars, bass guitars, and other instruments.

Due to the band members' strained relationships at the time, the video shoot in the Mojave Desert was a "nightmare," according to producer Simon Fields. "[They] were, um, not easy to work with," agreed Steve Barron, who directed the clip. Most scenes feature only one or two band members at a time and the entire band is never seen together. [18]

The shooting of the music video began around 5 a.m. in an effort mitigate the amount of heat exposure in the Mojave Desert. [19] However, this proved to be insufficient. "It was so hot, and we weren't getting along," recalls Nicks. Buckingham was still not over their breakup six years earlier, nor her subsequent affair with Fleetwood. Further, she elaborates, the rest of the band was angry with Fleetwood because he had then begun an affair with Nicks' best friend, causing serious issues for Nicks. [18]

"Four of them, I can't recall which four, couldn't be together in the same room for very long. They didn't want to be there," says Barron. "Christine McVie was about ten hours out of the makeup trailer. By which time it was getting dark." According to Fields, "John McVie was drunk and tried to punch me. Stevie Nicks didn't want to walk on the sand with her platforms. Christine McVie was fed up with all of them. Mick thought she was being a bitch, he wouldn't talk to her." [18]

Track listing

7-inch single (US) (Warner Bros / 7-29966) [20]

A. "Hold Me" — 3:42
B. "Eyes of the World" — 3:41

12-inch promotional single (US) (Warner Bros / PRO-A-1040) [21]

  1. "Hold Me" — 3:42 (both sides)

Personnel

Charts

References

  1. 1 2 "Fleetwood Mac – Hold Me" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  2. ↑ Fleetwood, Mick; Davis, Stephen (1990). Fleetwood: My Life and Adventures with Fleetwood Mac. New York: William Morrow and Company. p. 250. ISBN   0-688-06647-X.
  3. 1 2 Bienstock, Richard (26 September 2016). "Christine McVie on Fleetwood Mac's 'Peculiar' 'Mirage' Sessions, New LP". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 19 April 2025.
  4. ↑ "Ken Caillat Question and Answer Session". 18 April 2016. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  5. ↑ Grein, Paul (19 June 1982). "Chartbeat: U.K. Hits Score in U.S.; Radio Off; Ants Sprayed" (PDF). Billboard. p. 68. Retrieved 2 September 2025– via World Radio History.
  6. ↑ Caulfield, Keith (30 November 2022). "Christine McVie's Top 10 Biggest Hot 100 Hits". Billboard. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
  7. ↑ "Billboard". Billboard . September 4, 1982. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Billboard Top 100 – 1982" . Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  9. ↑ "Top 100 Singles: Record Business Best Sellers" (PDF). Record Business . 5 July 1982. pp. 6, 14. Retrieved 22 August 2025– via World Radio History.
  10. ↑ "Music Week Top 75 Singles" (PDF). Music Week . 10 July 1982. p. 16. Retrieved 22 August 2025– via World Radio History.
  11. ↑ "Official Charts - Fleetwood Mac". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  12. ↑ Adeva (22 March 1989). "Spot the Spin: Fleetwood Mac – "Hold Me" (WEA)". Number One . No. 300. London: IPC Magazines Ltd. p. 42. ISSN   0266-5328. Archived from the original on 2 January 2024. Retrieved 2 January 2024– via Flickr.
  13. ↑ "Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. June 26, 1982. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
  14. ↑ "Top Single Picks". Billboard. 19 June 1982. p. 63. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  15. ↑ Robertson, Sandy (17 July 1982). "Fleetwood Mac: Mirage" . Sounds . Retrieved 25 June 2025– via Rock's Backpages.
  16. ↑ Greenwald, Matthew. "Hold Me by Fleetwood Mac". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  17. ↑ Mitchell, Matt (7 August 2023). "The 30 Greatest Fleetwood Mac Songs". Paste . Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  18. 1 2 3 Marks, Craig; Tannenbaum, Rob (2011). I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution . New York, NY: Dutton. pp.  99–100. ISBN   978-0-525-95230-5.
  19. ↑ Darling, Carly (24 July 1982). "Music Monitor" (PDF). Billboard . p. 30. Retrieved 20 December 2024– via World Radio History.
  20. ↑ Hold Me (US 7-inch single vinyl disc). Fleetwood Mac. Warner Bros. Records. 1982. 7-29966.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  21. ↑ Hold Me (US 12-inch single sleeve). Fleetwood Mac. Warner Bros. Records. 1982. PRO-A-1040.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  22. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 . St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN   0-646-11917-6.
  23. ↑ "Fleetwood Mac – Hold Me" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  24. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6493." RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  25. ↑ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 6524." RPM . Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  26. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 27, 1982" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  27. ↑ "Fleetwood Mac – Hold Me". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  28. ↑ "Fleetwood Mac Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  29. ↑ "Fleetwood Mac Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  30. ↑ "Fleetwood Mac Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  31. ↑ "USA Cashbox Charts Summaries". popmusichistory. Retrieved December 15, 2022.
  32. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Fleetwood Mac – Hold Me" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  33. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  34. ↑ "National Top 100 Singles for 1982". Kent Music Report. January 3, 1983. Retrieved January 22, 2023– via Imgur.
  35. ↑ "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – 1982". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  36. ↑ "Top 100 Singles of 82". RPM . Library and Archives Canada . Retrieved 6 February 2021.

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.