"Got a Hold on Me" by Christine McVie

Top 10 Alert!

Song#:  1773
Date:  01/28/1984
Debut:  44
Peak:  10
Weeks:  16
Genre:  Soft Rock, Adult Contemporary



Pop Bits:  Having been a member of Fleetwood Mac since 1970, McVie has written her share of songs for the band. Her most fruitful period was after the 1975 relaunch of the band when Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks came on board. McVie wrote eight songs that hit the Pop Top 20 between 1975 and 1988 including the #3 "Don't Stop" and the #4 "Hold Me." With other band members doing their own solo projects in the early 80s, McVie decided to do one as well. Her self-titled LP featured this first single that just made it into the Pop Top 10. It was a bigger hit at AC and Rock where it topped both of those charts. The song would end up being her only solo effort to reach the Top 10.

ReduxReview:  This is just a lovely song. It's a sunny head bopper with a terrific chorus. McVie couldn't have picked a better single to restart her solo career. It doesn't stray too far from the songs she wrote for Mac, but that is okay. The song holds up on its own and it was received quite well. In some ways, I wish this could have been a Mac song produced by Buckingham. I think he would have juiced the tune up a bit and made it rock. However, the production it got gave the tune a relaxed breezy feel that made the song go down easy. It's a bummer that it was her only solo hit, but it was a good, memorable one.

ReduxRating:  8/10

Trivia:  Unlike Buckingham and Nicks, whose recent albums were their solo debuts, McVie's LP was actually her second solo effort. Around 1969, McVie was leaving the UK rock-blues band Chicken Shack and getting more involved with Fleetwood Mac. Before she formally joined Mac, she took a stab at a solo disc and in 1970 released Christine Perfect. Although the album's title seemed like a bold statement (like "Christine is perfect"), it was actually her given name (Christine Ann Perfect). The album didn't do well and failed to chart, but by that time she was on her way with Fleetwood Mac and married to Mac member John McVie. Later in 1976, after Fleetwood Mac hit it big, McVie's debut album was reissued and retitled The Legendary Christine Perfect Album.

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