You Make Loving Fun

Last updated
"You Make Loving Fun"
You Make Loving Fun FM.jpg
Single by Fleetwood Mac
from the album Rumours
B-side
ReleasedSeptember 1977
Recorded1976
Genre
Length3:36
Label Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s) Christine McVie
Producer(s)
Fleetwood Mac USsingles chronology
"Don't Stop"
(1977)		"You Make Loving Fun"
(1977)		"Tusk"
(1979)

"You Make Loving Fun" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, written and sung by Christine McVie. It was released as the fourth and final 45 rpm single from the band's 1977 album Rumours . "You Make Loving Fun" peaked at No. 9 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became the album's fourth top-ten hit.

Contents

Background

"You Make Loving Fun" was inspired by Christine McVie's affair with the band's lighting director, Curry Grant. [2] "To avoid flare-ups", she told her then-husband and fellow band member, John McVie, that the song was about her dog. [3] The song uses descending seconds in its chord progression. [4] In an interview with the New York Post , McVie remarked that she wanted it to be the third US single from the album, but "Don't Stop" was chosen instead. [2]

Early tracking of the song was done, according to Christine McVie, in the absence of Lindsey Buckingham, which gave her the freedom to "build the song on [her] own". [3] For the February 8 session, Fleetwood was on drums, Stevie Nicks played the tambourine, and Christine McVie played a Rhodes electric piano. John McVie's bass was re-recorded, and Christine McVie overdubbed a Hohner Clavinet, which was fed through a wah-wah pedal. [3] McVie struggled to play the clavinet in tandem with the wah-wah pedal, so Fleetwood got on the floor and operated the pedal with his hands while McVie played the keys of the clavinet. [5] Buckingham arrived at the studio in the late afternoon and chose to play a Gibson Les Paul for the rhythm guitar parts, which was plugged into a rotating Leslie speaker. A Hammond organ was also overdubbed during the recording session, which lasted until six in the evening. [3]

Buckingham wanted accented tom-tom beats in the chorus, but Fleetwood was unwilling to try this idea. Instead, Buckingham played the instrument himself. Producer Ken Caillat remarked that "Lindsey was the accent king. He could accent with guitars, he could accent with toms [and] he could accent with Naugahyde chairs." [6]

During the tracking of the backing vocals, Caillat recalled that Nicks and Buckingham were engaged in "vicious name calling": "The tape would start rolling and they’d sing, 'Yooooooou make loving fun,' just beautiful, two little angels. The tape would stop and they’d be calling each other names again. They didn’t miss a beat." [5]

"You Make Loving Fun" was a concert staple for Fleetwood Mac and was played during every tour that included Christine McVie from 1976 until 1997, a year before McVie's departure from the band and retirement from touring. However, the song was revived for Fleetwood Mac's 2014–2015 tour when McVie rejoined the band, as well as their 2018-2019 tour with new members Mike Campbell and Neil Finn. [7]

Reception

Cash Box said McVie's "magical words are complemented by angelic backing vocals, strident guitar melodies, and the pulsating backbeat reinforced by her own electric keyboard." [8] Record World called it a "light rocker with a compelling love lyric." [9]

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [19] Gold400,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

Cyndi Lauper covered "You Make Loving Fun" in 1984. A non-album single, it was only released in Japan. [20]

The outro for the Bob's Burgers episode "The Helen Hunt" parodied the song as "You Make Plumbing Fun". [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christine McVie</span> British musician (1943–2022)

Christine Anne McVie was an English musician and singer. She was the keyboardist and one of the vocalists and songwriters of Fleetwood Mac.

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References

  1. ↑ Molanphy, Chris (January 14, 2023). "Thinking About Tomorrow Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate . Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  2. 1 2 Furman, Leah (2003). Rumours Exposed: The Unauthorized Biography of Fleetwood Mac. Kensington. pp. 105–106, 133–34. ISBN   9780806524726.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Caillat, Ken; Stiefel, Steve (2012). Making Rumours: The Inside Story of the Classic Fleetwood Mac Album . John Wiley & Sons. pp.  101, 106–110, 195. ISBN   9781118282366.
  4. ↑ Stephenson, Ken (2002). What to Listen for in Rock: A Stylistic Analysis. p.  107. ISBN   978-0-300-09239-4.
  5. 1 2 Bosso, Joe (2022-12-13). ""Christine Started Playing Something She Had Written on the Piano One Day, and it Floored Me" – Fleetwood Mac Rumours Track-by-Track With Co-Producer Ken Caillat". MusicRadar. Retrieved 2023-07-23.
  6. ↑ "Ken Caillat Revisits Rumours". GRAMMY.com. Retrieved July 29, 2015.
  7. ↑ Kenneth Partridge (October 7, 2014). "Fleetwood Mac Relives Past Peaks & Lows at Madison Square Garden Concert". Billboard . Retrieved October 29, 2014.
  8. ↑ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. October 15, 1977. p. 22. Retrieved 2021-12-26.
  9. ↑ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. October 22, 1977. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-02-16.
  10. ↑ "Top Singles - Volume 28, No. 15 & 16" (PDF). Library and Archives Canada. January 14, 1978. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  11. ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Fleetwood Mac" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  12. ↑ "Fleetwood Mac – You Make Loving Fun" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  13. ↑ "Fleetwood Mac – You Make Loving Fun". Top 40 Singles.
  14. ↑ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  15. ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN   0-89820-089-X
  16. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 88.
  17. ↑ "Image : RPM Weekly - Library and Archives Canada". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 2016-10-13.
  18. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (1999). Pop Annual. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research Inc. ISBN   0-89820-142-X.
  19. ↑ "British single certifications – Fleetwood Mac – You Make Loving Fun". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  20. ↑ Cyndi Lauper – You Make Loving Fun, Discogs.com
  21. ↑ "Bob's Burgers S9E12". TV Tropes. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
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