Tango in the Night

Tango in the Night
Studio album by Fleetwood Mac
Released	13 April 1987
Recorded	November 1985 – March 1987
Genre	Rock
Length	43:37
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Lindsey Buckingham, Richard Dashut
Professional reviews
Allmusic link Robert Christgau (B+) link
Fleetwood Mac chronology
Mirage (1982) Tango in the Night (1987) Behind the Mask (1990)

Tango in the Night is an album by the British-American band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1987. It spawned the singles "Big Love", "Everywhere", "Little Lies", "Seven Wonders", "Family Man" and "Isn't It Midnight".

The album was a top 10 hit in the US, and it reached no.1 three times in the UK between 1987 and 1988, eventually selling over 2.5 million copies there. This was the final studio album released by the line-up of Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood, before Buckingham's departure from the band in the summer of 1987 for a 10-year hiatus. This line-up did however reconvene in 1997 for a tour and the live album The Dance.

Recording actually began in the winter of 1985, and, as would often be the case thereafter, started out as a collection of Buckingham's songs intended for solo release. Having involved Fleetwood and both McVies in his project, it was agreed in 1986 to broaden the sessions to a Fleetwood Mac album–the only problem being that the fifth member, Stevie Nicks, had completed a lengthy tour for her 1985 album Rock a Little, only to check into the Betty Ford Clinic in the autumn of 1986 for cocaine addiction.

As Mick Fleetwood recalls in his autobiography, the band were in their 'worst shape' during the 'Tango' sessions–Fleetwood himself was entering the worst excesses of his own cocaine and alcohol addiction, John and Christine McVie were both experiencing their own problems with alcohol, and, having completed a successful treatment for cocaine addiction (expiclitly referred to in the track "Welcome to the Room...Sara"), Nicks was now beginning an eight year dependancy on the tranquilliser Klonopin, ironically prescribed to ward off any risk of a relapse back into cocaine abuse, but which rendered her 'distant and spaced out'. As a result, Nicks would put in relatively little studio time in the 'Tango' sessions, with most of her input being recorded in early 1987. In order to give the album more of the 'Fleetwood Mac' sound, she provided extra backing vocals to several tracks at the eleventh hour.

With a massive amount of pressure being placed on Buckingham to keep the project focused and moving forward, things came to a head shortly after the album's release when the guitarist announced his departure from the band on the eve of the 'Tango Tour' in 1987, amidst now infamous violent arguments that broke out between himself and Nicks at Christine McVie's house. Following Buckingham's departure, two musicians were brought in to replace him–Rick Vito and Billy Burnette–who proceeded to complete all of the 'Tango Tour' in 1987-1988 with the band.

Aspects of the troubled 'Tango' episode are frankly revealed in interviews with all members of Fleetwood Mac, old and new, in two BBC documentaries: Fleetwood Mac at 21, first aired in the UK in 1988, and in Rock Family Trees, which was produced in 1996.

The cover art for the album was a painting by Australian artist Brett-Livingstone Strong which was hanging in Buckingham's home, a homage to the 19th Century French painter Henri Rousseau, emulating his colourful jungle theme works such as The Snake Charmer and The Repast of the Lion.

Track listing

1. "Big Love" (Lindsey Buckingham) – 3:37
2. "Seven Wonders" (Sandy Stewart, Stevie Nicks) – 3:38
3. "Everywhere" (Christine McVie) – 3:41
4. "Caroline" (Buckingham) – 3:50
5. "Tango in the Night" (Buckingham) – 3:56
6. "Mystified" (C. McVie, Buckingham) – 3:06
7. "Little Lies" (C. McVie, Eddy Quintela) – 3:38
8. "Family Man" (Buckingham, Richard Dashut) – 4:01
9. "Welcome to the Room... Sara" (Nicks) – 3:37
10. "Isn't It Midnight" (C. McVie, Quintela, Buckingham) – 4:06
11. "When I See You Again" (Nicks) – 3:47
12. "You and I (Part 2)" (Buckingham, C. McVie) – 2:40

Credits

Fleetwood Mac

• Stevie Nicks – vocals
• Lindsey Buckingham – guitar, vocals, percussion and drum overdubs
• Christine McVie – keyboards, synthesizer, vocals
• John McVie – bass guitar
• Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion

Production

• Producers: Lindsey Buckingham, Richard Dashut
• Arranged: Lindsey Buckingham
• Engineer: Greg Droman
• Additional engineering: Lindsey Buckingham
• Cover concept: Lindsey Buckingham, Richard Dashut
• Cover painting: Brett-Livingstone Strong
• Cover photo: Greg Gorman
• Art direction: Jeri Heiden

Certifications

Charts

Album

U.S. Singles

References

1. ^ Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA): Certification Results
2. ^ Bundesverband Musikindustrie: Gold/Platin-Datenbank
3. ^ The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community
4. ^ The Bpi
5. ^ http://www.riaa.com