"You Make Loving Fun" | ||||
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Single by Fleetwood Mac | ||||
from the album Rumours | ||||
B-side |
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Released | September 1977 | |||
Recorded | 1976 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:36 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Songwriter(s) | Christine McVie | |||
Producer(s) |
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Fleetwood Mac USsingles chronology | ||||
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"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.
"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]
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]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI) [19] | Gold | 400,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
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]
Christine Anne McVie was an English musician and singer. She was the keyboardist and one of the vocalists and songwriters of Fleetwood Mac.
Rumours is the eleventh studio album by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 4 February 1977 by Warner Bros. Records. Largely recorded in California in 1976, it was produced by the band with Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut. The recording sessions took place in the aftermath of several relationship breakups among the band members in addition to heavy drug use, both of which shaped the album's direction and lyrics.
"Don't Stop" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, written by vocalist and keyboardist Christine McVie. The song was sung by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie, and it was a single taken from the band's hit album Rumours (1977).
"Dreams" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, written by singer Stevie Nicks for the band's eleventh studio album, Rumours (1977). In the United States, "Dreams" was released as the second single from Rumours in March 1977, while in the United Kingdom, the song was released as the third single in June 1977. A stage performance of "Dreams" was used as the promotional music video.
"Gold Dust Woman" is a song from British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac's 11th studio album, Rumours (1977). The song was written and sung by Stevie Nicks and released as a B-side to the "Don't Stop" single and the "You Make Loving Fun" single. The song's title, "Gold Dust Woman", comes from Gold Dust Lane, a street in Wickenburg, Arizona where Nicks spent time as a child.
"Go Your Own Way" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac from their eleventh studio album, Rumours (1977). The song was released as the album's first single in December 1976 on both sides of the Atlantic. Written and sung by Lindsey Buckingham, it became the band's first top-ten hit in the United States. "Go Your Own Way" has been well received by music critics and was ranked number 120 by Rolling Stone magazine on their list of 500 greatest songs of all time in 2010, and re-ranked number 401 in 2021. They also ranked the song second on their list of the 50 greatest Fleetwood Mac songs.
"Second Hand News" is a song written by Lindsey Buckingham. The song was first performed by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac as the opening track of their 1977 album Rumours.
"Songbird" is a song by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac. The song first appeared on the band's 1977 album Rumours and was released as the B-side of the single "Dreams". It is one of four songs written solely by Christine McVie on the album.
"The Chain" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on their 1977 album Rumours. It is the only song from the album with writing credits for all five members.
"Rhiannon" (released as a single under the title "Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win)") is a song written by Stevie Nicks and originally recorded by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac on their eponymous album in 1975; it was issued as a single the following year. The song's U.S. chart peak was in June 1976, when it hit no. 11. The song peaked at no. 46 in the UK singles chart for three weeks after re-release in February 1978.
"Sisters of the Moon" is a song by British-American rock group Fleetwood Mac. It was written and sung by band-member Stevie Nicks and was released in the US as the fourth single from the 1979 album Tusk. The song peaked at No. 86 on the Billboard Hot 100, although it was not released in the UK. The single version of "Sisters of the Moon" is included on the compilation The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac and both the 2004 and 2015 remasters of 'Tusk'.
"I'm So Afraid" is a song written by Lindsey Buckingham for the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac for their tenth album, Fleetwood Mac. The song was intended for a second Buckingham Nicks album, but the album never came to fruition.
"Love in Store" is a song by British-American rock group Fleetwood Mac. The song is the opening track on the 1982 album Mirage, the fourth album by the band with Lindsey Buckingham acting as main producer with Richard Dashut and Ken Caillat. "Love in Store" was written by Christine McVie and Jim Recor and it became the album's third single in the US. Released in November 1982, it went on to peak at No. 22 for three weeks as the follow-up to Top 20 hits "Hold Me" and "Gypsy". It also peaked at #11 on the Adult Contemporary chart. The song features lead vocals by Christine McVie with prominent vocal harmonies by Stevie Nicks and background vocals by Lindsey Buckingham.
The Tusk Tour was a world concert tour by the rock group, Fleetwood Mac. The tour began on October 26, 1979, in Pocatello, Idaho and ended on September 1, 1980, in Hollywood, California. The Live album contained many of the live recordings of songs from the Tusk Tour.
"I Don't Want to Know" is a song written by Stevie Nicks which was first released by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac on their 1977 album Rumours.
"Think About Me" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in March 1980. The song was composed by Fleetwood Mac keyboardist Christine McVie. "Think About Me" and "Not That Funny" were the first Tusk singles released in their remixed form.
"Oh Daddy" is a song written by Christine McVie that was first performed by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac as the tenth song off their 1977 album Rumours.
"Don't Give it Up" is a 1981 song by English singer/songwriter Robbie Patton. It is Patton's first and only Top 40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. "Don't Give it Up" reached #26 in the United States in 1981.
"Not That Funny" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1980. Composed and sung by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, it was written as a response to the punk movement in the late 1970s. The song share some lyrics with "I Know I'm Not Wrong", another Buckingham penned song that appeared on the Tusk album.
"Brown Eyes" is a song by Fleetwood Mac from the 1979 double LP Tusk. It was one of six songs from the album composed and sung by Christine McVie. The song includes uncredited playing from founding member Peter Green.