STANDBACK

Marilyn Dennis:

I’m Marilyn Dennis and this is music online. We are live coast-to-coast taking your calls at 1-877-636-TALK. [clip from SOMETIMES IT’S A BITCH] Tonight we welcome Stevie Nicks [clip from TALK TO ME] her history spans thirty years from the exhilarating heights of Fleetwood Mac through an incredible solo career in the 80s and 90s and now seven years after her last record she’s back with “Trouble in Shangri-La”. [clip from TROUBLE IN SHANGRI-LA] If any band epitomized the 70s, it was Fleetwood Mac they captured not only the sound of the era but also the spirit. And if the 70s rock seed was one giant party, they were the hosts. [clip from RHIANNON] But all great parties are followed by a hang over; for Stevie her personal life suffered, but her music never did [clip from STANDBACK]. Her contribution to that era is indelible. [clip from STOP DRAGGIN’ MY HEART AROUND] If Lindsey Buckingham was Fleetwood Mac’s resident genius, Stevie Nicks was its soul. Two decades before Lilith Fair, Stevie’s artistry gave women a true voice, and her influence is part of her legacy. [clip from EDGE OF SEVENTEEN] Now in 2001, many of the artists who learned from her are returning the favor. “Trouble in Shangri-La” features collaborations with Sarah McLachlan, and Macy Gray, and several tracks were produced by Sheryl Crow. [clip from CANDLEBRIGHT] It’s only fitting that today's artists are acknowledging the impact of Stevie’s music, by giving something back to it. The resulting album is like Stevie herself, classic, powerful, timeless and beautiful. Tonight it is my pleasure and honor to speak to Stevie Nicks. And there she is sitting right across from me. It’s good to have you in the room.

Stevie Nicks: Thank you Marilyn.

MD: It’s so good. We’re going to go back right now to April 24, 1995. You wanna go back with me on that?

Stevie Nicks: Sure

MD: Okay. And you’re sitting at the Ritz Carlton in Phoenix, Arizona, and you’re telling Tom Petty that you’re not sure that you can do this on your own anymore.

Stevie Nicks: Well yes.

MD: What do you mean by that?

Stevie Nicks: Well, yes. Actually I really wasn’t telling him that I couldn’t do it on my own anymore, I was, I just sorta was kinda in a rut that I had been in for awhile. And I asked him if when he got to Los Angeles, if he would uh, just like work on a song with me. I didn’t ask him to like write me a song, cuz I knew that would go nowhere. But I, so I just you know, and he basically looked at me and he knew that was a red flag; he just knew that was not a good thing coming from me because the one thing I really don’t like to do with other people is write songs.

MD: Is that right?

Stevie Nicks: Yeah.

MD: That’s just your own thing.

Stevie Nicks: It’s my own thing, and it’s my own project and I’m not a little, little girl with a science project. It’s like I really don’t wanna share this with you, I really need to do this myself. Lindsey and I never wrote together. We, I wrote my songs, I gave them to him, and then he did his magic on them; but he never wrote any of my songs. When I write a song on somebody else’s track, they send me the track, but they don’t come with the track.

MD: Oh okay, interesting.

Stevie Nicks: So they’re not there when I play it, so if I don’t like I don’t have to say I hate your track and hurt your feelings. So, it’s like I can listen to it and say, “It’s not for me”. You know.

MD: Mm hmm, mm hmm.

Stevie Nicks: But, so that’s the only way I really write with other people. So for me to ask him to actually, you know, work with me on a song.

MD: He knew something wasn’t right?

Stevie Nicks: He knew something wasn’t good, yeah. And he basically just said, you know, for goodness sakes Stevie, you, you know, your whole life is about songwriting. It’s the thing you love more than anything. You really gave up everything to be a songwriter. And I think that you know, you just need to get over whatever’s bothering you and go home and start writing songs.

MD: How’d you take that? When, when you walked away?

Stevie Nicks: I took it really well because he’s one of those people, that you know when you respect somebody and you care about somebody, because you just respect them.

MD: Mm hmm

Stevie Nicks: They can pretty much say anything to you. Anybody else. And I’m sure other people had already said to me, like, “Let’s lets get get on with this now.” And I wouldn’t you know I could be defensive, you know.

MD: Right

Stevie Nicks: Or I could be like you don’t really know; you have no idea what it’s like to be me. So that, that comes into it. When somebody like Tom Petty, or now, Sheryl Crow, you know who actually walk out there on the center, center of the stage, and take that microphone and do what I do. When they say something to me, I know they mean it. And I knew it was serious, and I knew that he was right. And something, you know, it just sometimes, it just takes the right person to look at you and say “Really, it’s okay.”

MD: Yeah and so you dug your heels in, and away you went.

Stevie Nicks: I went home and I started writing these songs.

MD: And now we have “Trouble in Shangri-La.”

Stevie Nicks: Yes.

MD: Very good work, wonderful, nice to have you back again too. Not that you ever went away, but it’s just a little bit of a, of a break. “Trouble in Shangri-La” and the description is, from Stevie Nicks.

Stevie Nicks: It’s about you know making it to the top of your field; it’s about making it to Shangri-La, to paradise. And and, finding out that paradise is a lot more difficult than you thought it would be.

MD: Mm hmm.

Stevie Nicks: Because you know look at all the people in paradise, that are totally screwed up.

MD: Mm hmm

Stevie Nicks: Somebody, I mean who fits into my, Robert Downey Jr. fits right into my “Trouble in Shangri-La” concept. When I wrote “Trouble in Shangri-La” it was the same time, it was the last two months of the OJ Simpson trial. It’s not about OJ; it’s about that situation and how sad it was. That somebody could be that famous and beloved and totally blow it, you know.. where he could’ve had the greatest life.

MD: Mm hmm.

Stevie Nicks: And that’s what I, that, it’s that tenuous thing where you can take one wrong step and fall off the mountain. So, when I got that, and I wrote that song, that was the first song I wrote after my talk with Tom. So that was great because then I really felt that you know, now I have my title, now I have my concept. I already had “Love Is,” cuz I had written that a year before, so that, I had the first song and the last song. So now all I had to do is write the middle.

MD: The middle, and then that’s, that’s just a good course for you to take.

Stevie Nicks: Right.

MD: You’re in a complete comfort zone.

Stevie Nicks: Right.

MD: Now you’re under control again.

Stevie Nicks: Because you’ve got something, you know you have some support there. You have the beginning and the end and the name.

MD: Right, I want to tell you that the phone number to talk to Stevie Nicks is 1-877-636-TALK. And we take our first phone call from Charlene. Hi, Charlene.

Charlene: Hi Marilyn.

MD: You want to talk to Stevie Nicks; she’s sitting right across from me.

Charlene: Oh aren’t you the lucky one.

MD: I am, I am, what can we do for you tonight.

Charlene: Well, I just wanted to make a comment. A lot of fans, at uh Rumours.com are fans of Stevie, since Fleetwood Mac. And we love her work, we’ve been waiting for about a year, for this to come out. We knew it was coming…so we wanted to say thank you for bringing out some great music. And we love everything else that you’ve done. And hope that Fleetwood Mac gets back together again, with or without Christine, we’ll be sad if she can’t make it. And um, glad you’re back and great work.

Stevie Nicks: Well thank you soo much, thank you soo much.

Charlene: And I have a 13-year-old daughter, who would like to ask what your favorite album is that you’ve done so far.

MD: Of her own?

Charlene: Yeah, of Stevie.

MD: Of Fleetwood Mac?

Charlene: Of, of Stevie’s.

MD: Good question thank you very much Charlene for the question.

Charlene: Thanks, thanks Stevie.

Stevie Nicks: Charlene, I would have to say, right now, in the place that I am at right now, my favorite album would have to be “Trouble in Shangri-La.” If you’d of asked me on “Bella Donna,” it definitely would’ve been “Bella Donna.” “Wild Heart,” it would’ve still been “Wild Heart.” You know, it’s like, because I’m so involved in the making this record now, that for me of course, I would think it was the best. You know, which doesn’t mean anyone else would think it was the best, but I would think it’s the best because it's kinda like been my whole life for the last several of years.

MD: It's the best because of songs like this. The first song, the first single, is “Everyday.” Little history behind it, before we hear it.

Stevie Nicks: Ok, very quickly. I uh, how I got “Everyday.” I didn't write “Everyday,” so it’s one of the few songs that I do that was completely written by somebody else. Um, I walked by my assistant’s desk and there was a CD with a white cover, and it said “Everyday” on it in red ink. And I walked by several times and looked at it, and this one time I went by I thought. Hmm, “Everyday,” Buddy Holly, okay that’s a good sign, that was a main song in my childhood, that I loved. So Karen, who is, who is, who is this, what is this? And she said it’s a song, somebody sent you a song called “Everyday.” And you know you’re not usually crazy to hear other people’s songs, so you wanna hear this? And we played it, and it was really good. I thought, I could’ve written this song, I actually could’ve sat down at the guitar and written this song. So we called up John Shanks, who was the writer, and went over to his house that day, and recorded the vocal that’s on “Everyday” now. And also played him “Planets of the Universe,” which he said, oh I understand that, I can do that. So it was like John and I were off, then we had, then we did the John and Stevie songs. We had finished the Sheryl and Stevie songs, and went on to the John and Stevie songs. So it was really just an accident that I ever even say “Everyday,” and if I hadn’t have played that song, I wouldn’t have had a producer for the other half of the record.

MD: Wow, cuz he what did four songs for you Stevie?

Stevie Nicks: Yeah yeah.

MD: Well let’s hear it right now, from the album "Trouble in Shangri-La," here’s Stevie Nicks with “Everyday.”

Commercial Break

MD: Well you know those computers there, Stevie, you got a little technical glitch. We just had a talk about computers, Stevie Nicks and I with a hard-core discussion…

Stevie Nicks: Frozen computer.

MD: Yeah, but everything’s okay now, and now from the album "Trouble in Shangri-La," this is Stevie Nicks who’s my guest for the next hour. And the song is called “Everyday.”

EVERYDAY plays

MD: We just love Stevie Nicks, “Everyday” is the name of the song, from the album "Trouble in Shangri-La," in stores right now. Greg is on the line, hey Greg you wanna talk to Stevie Nicks. Are you there?

Greg: Hi.

MD: Hi. You wanna say hello to Stevie? Greg: Hi Stevie.

Stevie Nicks: Hi Greg.

MD: It’s your show Greg, go for it.

Greg: I just want to say I listened to your record, it’s really extraordinary.

Stevie Nicks: Well, thank you, that means everything to me.

Greg: Indeed. Also, particularly vocally you’ve never sounded better. And I know that you recently quit smoking, or at least a couple years ago.

Stevie Nicks: Three years. Greg: Well done. And uh, I was just wondering how you managed to swing that, what your secrets to breaking the cycle was.

Stevie Nicks: I will tell you. I uh, spent, I was gonna quit, me and a friend of mine we were gonna quit. And we went to an allergist doctor. And he said, you just can’t quit, you have to prepare to quit, so take two months and discuss this with your smoking, with your cigarette, who is now your best friend, discuss with your cigarettes how dangerous this thing is, everyday. And whenever a commercial about stopping smoking comes on, turn it up, in surround sound, and if you know the lady that smokes in her neck, watch it every time it comes on. And you know what, so what I did, so I basically said so you’re telling me to, to scare myself to death. And he said, absolutely, scare yourself to death. So I started thinking, now how would I feel if I went to you know like your throat doctor, and he said you have throat cancer. And how would you feel on the trip home? In the car. Walking up to your house, into your house, walk in your bathroom, look at yourself in the mirror, and say I knew this was gonna happen. If I’d a stopped this a couple years ago, I would be okay now, now I’m gonna die. Secondly it was gonna destroy my voice, and I thought you know what I don’t think I could forgive myself if I destroyed my voice. And it is happening, I mean you know, Eddie van Halen, it is happening to people. So it’s not, you just have to scare yourself. And what happened was I took November and December. And the last night of December this was three years ago, the last night, I went around and, you know, cleaned up all the cigarette stuff and put everything, all the paraphernalia, put it all away. And I actually tell you, I think I smoked a carton of Cools that night. And I think, you know like, I, I was sick when I went to bed, I had smoked so much. And when I woke up, I put the patch on and I never smoked another cigarette. And it wasn’t that hard, I, I swear to God, it was pretty easy, because I really had decided that I was afraid of it now.

MD: Yeah that’s great. Greg that’s great advice from Stevie Nicks.

Greg: Thank you.

MD: You’re welcome, thanks so much for your phone call.

Stevie Nicks: Thank you.

MD: Yeah, You know this is not the first time, you had to quit some things. Like you know…

Stevie Nicks: But that was a big one

MD: Oh, that that was a big one because

Stevie Nicks: Smoking was a big one.

MD: When did you start smoking?

Stevie Nicks: Not, see I only smoked for 13 years. I started smoking in 1984.

MD: What made you start smoking?

Stevie Nicks: Because I was starting, I was doing a record and I fired the producer, and moved back to Phoenix to wait for another producer to be finished. And it was like a four-month break, and I was just really bored. And my whole family smokes Cools. And I was there. And I just was bored, and I just started, because everybody else was. And all of a sudden I was smoking. And it was, I couldn’t believe it, because it never was something that I wanted to do. And I really loved to smoke, and so that was really a bummer. And when you decide you’re going to stop something that you really like, that’s really hard.

MD: What about the difficulty that you had with um, with um, cocaine. You’re so forward, you’re so approachable on this Stevie. And I, some people like to hide the fact about alcohol abuse, or drug abuse, or prescription drug abuse. You are very, very approachable on this, I wanna know why, and I wanna know what was the most difficult for you, as far as you know, starting anew.

Stevie Nicks: Well, you see there wasn’t, you know, there, there was the, I call them the coke and brandy days. And that was you know 1975 to 1985, 86.

MD: And you started that, cocaine why

Stevie Nicks: Because everybody else was doing it. I don’t think that Lindsey and I, either of us, would’ve ever, ever done drugs, those kind of drugs, if we had not moved to Los Angeles and gotten into a big rock ‘n roll band. I really don’t think we would’ve, because we really didn’t do any drugs. And we really didn’t even, we didn’t drink, we didn’t have enough money; we didn’t have any money to spend on anything like that. So, I think that, that was you know, that was a difficult thing. Okay, so I went to Betty Ford. Pretty easy, go there, 30 days, and when I walked out of there, I said, “Oh, I am never going back to rehab.” So, this is over for me, and I have never seen it, to this day, since the day I went into Betty Ford. The more difficult thing, was the Klonopin. Klonopin, is a tranquillizer, they used to give it to epileptics, I don’t know why in the world they started it to giving it to other people for nerves. After I stopped doing coke, everybody was worried about me. Of course, and I understood that. And they wanted me to like go and see somebody. If I wasn’t gonna go to AA, and I’m not an alcoholic and I knew it, and I wasn’t gonna go to those meeting if I wasn’t an alcoholic. So I said I’m not doing that, they said then go see somebody. All right just so everybody would leave me alone. And this man said, I think that, you know, to make sure you don’t go back to coke, let’s put you on Klonopin, it will, it’ll calm you nerves. And you know that little bitter angst ridden person that I am, well he saw that, and he mistook that for depression. And I wasn’t depressed, I was fine, I was me, I was Stevie, I was me, I was the girl before 1975. So, what you know what was wrong with that? And that is what I’m trying to tell people, is try to remember that sometimes when things don’t go right that’s just your personality, that’s just you, that’s just your little special parts. These doctors, they want to make the whole world a big flat line. And don’t even talk about how much money we pay to the drug companies, because the drug companies and making gazillions of dollars putting people on drugs they don’t need.

MD: This drug, you would take everyday?

Stevie Nicks: Everyday, two in the morning, and one at night. And you know he just raised my doses, and then he threw in a little Prozac. So then we have the overwhelming feeling of calmness, the overwhelming feeling of wellness, which makes you blah, flat line. So I just retired into my house, stayed at home for eight years basically.

MD: So then what happened, what was the turning point on that?

Stevie Nicks: I gave a baby shower for somebody at my house one day, and we bought a bottle of Lafitte Roschild like 1945. There must have been 20 women there, we all just had a little taste, and that was the last thing I remember about the baby shower. And the next thing I knew, I woke, and I was in my bed, and I didn’t know I was in my bed, so I kinda sat up, and it was in this little tiny bed, it was in this room I was sleeping in. And I kinda fell outta the bed, and I was sitting there on the floor going, what in the world, you know, where am I, what happened? So I walked into the bathroom and there was a little bit of blood on my forehead, and I’m not a girl who likes to injure herself, I’ve never broken any legs. And I just said this is the Klonopin, it has to be, it was like God just tapped me on the shoulder and said it’s the Klonopin go to a hospital. I did, I went right to a hospital, I was there for 47 days, that’s a long time.

MD: You checked yourself in?

Stevie Nicks: Yeah, this was nobody had to you know.

MD: And that was tougher than getting off cocaine?

Stevie Nicks: That was way tougher, that was 47 days and I was really ill. So it’s like you know, so when I got done with that, that was kinda like my, that was what Tom Petty was kinda telling me, you have to get over it, you know. Nobody’s mad at you, everybody understands, the world will forgive you; it’s okay. Because I did a lot of nutty things that eight years, I fired people, and I didn’t write any good music.

MD: In those eight years?

Stevie Nicks: In those eight years, I managed to get “The Other Side of the Mirror” done, which I love, but those songs were written before I went on the Klonopin, so I just slipped by with that. So “Street Angel” was absolutely the Klonopin album, and that’s why it was a terrible, unartistic album, where people said you didn’t twirl. And I didn’t twirl, you stop twirling.

MD: I heard that when you did interviews, you had to promote the album like you really liked it.

Stevie Nicks: It was horrible, you had to look at people and go you know, they’re going you know what about…you, you don’t know what to say. So that was a very depressing experience, and it was a very bad album.

MD: This is a very good album, "Trouble in Shangri-La."

Stevie Nicks: So this is the yin and the yang. This is the absolute best of both worlds now, because now it is good and it’s fun now.

MD: It’s good, you’re so good. So good to talk to. Mike is on the line for you. Hi, Mike.

Mike: Hi Stevie.

Stevie Nicks: Hi Mike.

Mike: How you doing?

Stevie Nicks: I’m good how are you?

Mike: I’m great, it is such an honor to talk to you, I can’t even tell you. I’m such a fan, I flew down to Phoenix, actually, to see your Stevie Nicks and Friends benefit show that you did last fall, and it was the best weekend of my life.

Stevie Nicks: Ah, last September. That was a magical night, huh?

MD: Who was there, who was there?

Mike: We had, you had Lindsey Buckingham, Don Henley, Sheryl Crow, Chris Isaak.

Stevie Nicks: It was great, it was a benefit for my dad for the heart association.

Mike: Oh it was just, it was a beautiful night I have to tell you. Speaking of your friends though, on this, on "Trouble in Shangri-La," which is the best thing I’ve ever heard you do, I have to say. You have a lot of your friends on there Macy Gray “Bombay Sapphires,” which and amazing song, Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, how did all that come about? Did you want a certain sound with these people, or did you just kinda meet them along the way?

Stevie Nicks: The, actually, Sheryl Crow, whole relationship, that was very planned, Sheryl and I really had it planned. We really knew, that Sheryl and I really wanted to build a repertoire, and literally so that someday Sheryl and I could go out on tour by ourselves, and just be the Sheryl and Stevie show, because we are harmony singers and we could do enumerable songs for hours and hours; so that was very planned. The thing with Sarah McLachlan, was one of those incredibly enchanted accidents, where her producer Pierre could not come into the country, he had to re-do his green card or something. So I had to go to um, to Vancouver, and Sarah lives there, and so because they’re best friends, he said what do you think should I ask Sarah if she wants to play piano; and of course, of course. So I got to like go to Sarah’s house and meet her husband, and she played on “Love Is,” so it was like a really bonding week, but it was totally accidental, because if he was able to come to Los Angeles, I would’ve never have gone to Vancouver.

MD: Fate.

Stevie Nicks: Fate. So that was, okay that’s her. Then there’s Macy, Macy was very accidental also, because we’re managed by the same people and I had been looking for that low voice for “Bombay Sapphires.”.. “Too Far From Texas,” is an incredible live track. And Natalie was gone in two days, so that was it, we the vocals were pretty much live. We fixed maybe two or three lines here and there, very little fixing, it was just a great live track.

MD: Wow, wow, what a, just a great round up of people.

Stevie Nicks: And very faded you know.

MD: Yeah right, it’s terrific; what a great story. Thanks for you call Mike, we go to Michelle from New York City. Hey Michelle, hey Michelle.

Michelle: Hey Stevie.

Stevie Nicks: Hi Michelle.

MD: Are you from Attica?

Michelle: Yes, I’m from Attica, NY.

MD: Ok, what’s you question?

Michelle: Oh well first of all Stevie, I just, I can’t even believe I’m even talking to you, this a total dream come true for me. I wanna let you that I think the new album is a true masterpiece and I absolutely love it.

Stevie Nicks: Well thank you so much. I, you know, it just means so much to me, to hear somebody that I actually don’t know out there in the world, you know, who is, who is listening to it, to say that. Thank you so much.

Michelle: I think you’re the greatest writer ever, I just want you to know that.

Stevie Nicks: Thank you, thank you.

MD: Michelle, do you have a question for Stevie Nicks? Go ahead.

Michelle: Yes, yes. I wanna tell you a little story quickly. I’m 31 now, but when I was 20 years old, I was in a bad auto accident, that left me unable to walk, and before my accident I used to dance to your songs, like you did in the video “Gypsy,” all the time. And ever since then I’ve been fighting to make the impossible, possible and get back on my feet again, and to dance like you. And I have to tell you, I’ve come a long way, and you have had a lot to do with it, because I have stood up on my braces and I have taken some steps, and your music has just does so much for me. I can’t even tell you, I’ve got tears in my eyes right now, I can’t even believe I’m talking to you.

(clapping)

Stevie Nicks: Well Michelle, you are just blessed. Thank you so much, thank you so much. And you know what, that’s why I write; that’s why I, that’s why I write songs. So that makes me feel really wonderful. And you know what, you have to just keep dancing, keep practicing, keep doing strength exercises, and just like turn the record up and dance to it.

Michelle: I am. I do. Yes, it doesn’t matter how you dance, as long as you keep dancing.

Stevie Nicks: That’s absolutely true.

Michelle: And I would like you, um, I just wanted to ask you to say hi to my dear friend Gary, who is like your biggest male fan in the world.

MD: Ah, ok Michelle.

Stevie Nicks: All right Gary. Hi Gary.

Michelle: Thank you so much. I love you bye.

Stevie Nicks: Thank you honey. Thank you so much. Ok, bye bye.

MD: That’s so great, what a special call that was. If you’d like to talk to Stevie Nicks, 1-877-636-TALK. Can’t top that, we’ll take a break, we’ll be back right after this.

Commercial Break

MD: You know, in these situations, and they don’t happen very often, I have a better conversation, and interview, when we’re not on the radio, then sometimes when we are. I’m gonna share some of the stuff we just talked about, but first we’re gonna take a phone call with Deborah. She’s from Niagara Falls, NY. Hello Deborah, would you like to talk to Stevie Nicks.

Deborah: Yes, I would. Hi Stevie.

Stevie Nicks: Hi Deb.

Deborah: Um, I just wanted to say, that uh, I’ve been listening to you forever, ever since you’ve became popular; and I even have your Buckingham/Nicks album.

MD: Yeah, yeah; that’s great.

Deborah: I had a, I just wanted to say that a few of your songs, and I know millions of your fans probably agree with me, uh, that there were answers for me in some of those songs; and one of them was “Edge of Seventeen.” And I had lost my mother when I was 13, and there was a verse in there. And this was even before, way before Storytellers. And you know, the line that says, you know, “Suddenly there was no one else standing in the hall.” Oh my gosh.

Stevie Nicks: “With a flood of tears that no one ever really heard fall, at all. I went looking for an answer, up the stairs and down the hall. And did not find [pause] the answer, but I did hear the call, of a night bird.”

Deborah: I had no idea that, that a similar situation happened to you, until I saw Storytellers. Then I got goose bumps, I was like “ahh, oh my god, I know what she’s talking about.” Thank you so much.

Stevie Nicks: Yeah. That was really written about John Lennon, it was right after John Lennon died. And also, I had an uncle that died of cancer, within about three weeks. So, that, and his name was John also. So it was like…you know, it was like, OH my God. So that, and that whole song came flying out because of that.

MD: Thank you Deborah. That’s a great, great call.

Stevie Nicks: Thank you Deb.

Deborah: Yes I just wanted to thank you so much, Stevie, for every one of your CDs that have come out are my favorites too.

MD: Oh that great, big fan!

Stevie Nicks: Thank you so much, you take care.

Deborah: Thank you, you too.

MD: Ok Stevie Nicks, what is your favorite Stevie Nicks song?

Stevie Nicks: Probably my favorite Stevie Nicks song, if I, I mean it’s really, that’s a hard question. But I would probably say that “Dreams” is probably my favorite song. Cuz it’s the one that I, that I , always enjoy doing it on stage, no matter what you know. It’s the song that never gets kicked outta the set.

MD: Mm hmm and when you wrote that song, what was going on at that time?

Stevie Nicks: That was, uh, I wrote “Dreams,” Lindsey wrote “Go Your Own Way.” That was our two different reactions to the same thing that had happened.

MD: You broke up?

Stevie Nicks: Yeah and so his was nasty and bitter, you know, “Packing up, shacking up’s all you wanna do.” Which was totally not true. And you know, and I was like “When the rain washes you clean, you’ll know.” It was like, you know, so that was the difference in Lindsey and my songs. I was like, you know, I was trying to be the, have the Indian philosophy about it, and you know, he was like down right angry. So, but those were the, those were the parallel songs.

MD: Why did you guys break up?

Stevie Nicks: We broke up, because being in that band, was just too difficult to be in a relationship. I mean, I think it’s why Lindsey and I, and Chris and John broke up; the band got so big, so fast, that we were all just like blown away, you know. And it was almost like, this this, we can’t do this, we can’t, this is destroying our business. The business of Fleetwood Mac is being destroyed by these relationships. And we were none of us, willing to give up the band. It was like, “You quit, I’m not quitting.”

MD: Wow, that’s heavy stuff. So, so April 1977. Right?

Stevie Nicks: April 1977, “Rumours.”

MD: “Rumours” comes out right?

Stevie Nicks: Right.

MD: This is when all, but but, prior to that all these arguments were happening.

Stevie Nicks: Right, right.

MD: Come out, two months later, it’s the biggest album. It’s 25 million copies. All the world knows this album. And from that album, come the song “Dreams.” This is Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac, music online.

DREAMS

MD: Oh boy, that brings back a lot of memories of course. Music online with Stevie Nicks. And you know I take a look at the back of this album, and you know I thought who’s that beautiful voice, and there she is. And I went and got my hair cut just like yours. And I didn’t look like you at all, and I was just crying because you have the best rock hair. You have great hair, you got great skin.

Stevie Nicks: And it was totally permed. So, you know, I had the big hair. I can’t do that anymore, cuz my hair will fall out if I perm it. So I’m not, I can’t ever perm it again, so there can never be that huge hair again.

MD: But it was good rock hair.

Stevie Nicks: It was great rock hair.

MD: Yeah, you look beautiful right now. Your skin is unbelievable.

Stevie Nicks: I don’t go in the sun.

MD: That’s it.

Stevie Nicks: That’s what it is.

MD: Ok, well I learned my lesson.

Stevie Nicks: Since I was 30, I’ve been outta the sun.

MD: Really, I’m late on that one too. Ok, fine. 1-877-636-TALK. We’re talking to Stevie Nicks, we have to take a break, we’ll be back right after this.

Commercial Break

MD: Boy, the time’s flying, it’s because we’re having such a good time. Ok Marc, it’s your turn to talk to, is it Stevie Nicks? Yes it is, sitting right across from me. Hey Marc, go ahead.

Marc: Hi Stevie, I can’t believe I’m actually talking to you. I can’t wait to tell my uh, class tomorrow, my grade ones are going to be shocked.

Stevie Nicks: Your first graders?

Deborah: Yeah, no I teach grade one.

Stevie Nicks: And what is grade ones. Like first grade?!

Deborah: First grade, six year olds. They’re gonna be shocked when I tell them, they know you’re my hero. Um, I’m 25 years old, and within the last three years, I was basically introduced to Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks, just through um, your music and things like that. I’ve really gotten into you older stuff, and having following you ever since; do you think that with you new record, um your appeal will continue to go to people of my age and generation?

MD: Bringing in new generations you mean?

Deborah: Yeah.

Stevie Nicks: Of course, I would hope that is what is gonna happen, you know, because I don’t think I songs for people just my age, you know. I think that my songs are really written very much for anybody and at any age, because I try to write them that way, you know. So I, I’m just delighted that, that a whole set of younger people is listening to my music, I mean what could be better? I laugh when I think of the fans that, when I joined Fleetwood Mac, I was almost 28, so I was still 27. So I figured that we had fans that were twenty years older than that, when I was 27, 37, 47. So imagine how old those people are now. So I figure that, that the expanse between the young people and the old people is an amazing, amazing group of people to have listening to my music. So, I hope that people your age will listen to it, you know.

MD: Thank you so much for you call Marc, pleasure.

Stevie Nicks: Thank you.

MD: We’re gonna do a little thing here called “rapid-fire,” but it doesn’t mean it has to be fast, so okay.

Stevie Nicks: Okay.

MD: Leather or Lace?

Stevie Nicks: Song.

MD: Okay, she got me. Boots or shoes?

Stevie Nicks: Boots.

MD: Ok, let’s talk about these boots. I went out and bought another, I bought those, those boots, you had boots. How many pairs of boots did you own?

Stevie Nicks: Bunches.

MD: Oh, and they, they were like leather and the platforms.

Stevie Nicks: And I still have them, and I still wear them, and the same man still makes ‘em. Mr. DiFabritzio, from Los Angeles. Who’s been making shoes for Cary Grant, and all the way back to the movie stars of a long, long time ago, up till now. He’s the famous shoemaker in Los Angeles.

MD: Why did you, why did you choose such high platforms, Stevie?

Stevie Nicks: Because if I was gonna wear that really, really feminine edgy skirt, and the little ballet top.

MD: She’s drawing right now, she’s drawing.

Stevie Nicks: Then I figured how am I gonna make that funky? The only way I’m gonna do that is put a big ‘ol boot underneath it. And then it’ll make the ballet outfit, not a ballet outfit.

MD: Okay, so there you go, there was the answer. Top hat or beret?

Stevie Nicks: Top hat.

MD: Favorite solo song. We know that “Dreams” is your favorite Fleetwood Mac song.

Stevie Nicks: Oh, uhh, uhh, uhh, uhh, uhh. [pause]

MD: It’s like asking who your favorite child is, isn’t it?

Stevie Nicks: It, it is. That one, I don’t think I, see I know that “Dreams” is my favorite Fleetwood Mac thing, but when it comes to my own, I’m not sure which one is the favorite.

MD: Okay, we can go back to that one if you want. Who was the love of you life?

Stevie Nicks: Oh, I can’t even really tell you that? I wish I could, but I can’t.

MD: Ok, fair enough.

Stevie Nicks: I’ll tell you later.

MD: Will ya?

Stevie Nicks: Yeah.

MD: Excellent. First kiss?

Stevie Nicks: When I was uh, about fifteen and a half.

MD: Do you still remember his name?

Stevie Nicks: Absolutely. And I, I honestly feel that I was as in love with him as I have been in love with anybody else for the rest of my life. I mean, at, I , that is why I wrote my first song, because I went out with somebody for a month and a half, at fifteen and a half, you know. And totally fell in love with him, and really fell in love with him, and wrote my first song.

MD: Which was, is, is, is, is it is the guitar song? Your grandfather gave you a guitar right?

Stevie Nicks: Yeah.

MD: What was the first song that was written?

Stevie Nicks: The first song, “I’ve loved and I’ve lost, and I’m sad but not blue. I once loved someone, who was wonderful and true.” This is fifteen and a half years old. “But he loved another, before he loved me. And I knew he still wanted her, it was easy to see.”

MD: That was excellent, he should be pleased to hear that. Do you have a temper?

Stevie Nicks: Yes. I try to keep it in tact, but, if, yes I do.

MD: Do you think you’re sexy?

Stevie Nicks: I think I’m very sexy.

MD: Favorite body part?

Stevie Nicks: Probably, my eyes, I think my eyes. I love my eyes the best.

MD: Yeah, they’re great eyes. Least favorite body part

Stevie Nicks: My hips.

MD: Ha ha. The final one is, sex or sleep.

Stevie Nicks: Depends on who’s with you. Sometimes you’d rather be asleep and sometimes you wouldn’t.

MD: Good enough. Okay, Rose is on the line. Hey Rose. Get me outta this. All right, what what’s your question?

Rose: Actually, it wasn’t really a question, it was more of a comment. But I wanted to say, to Stevie, that um, that for me she is like the ultimate role model for me. I’ve been listening to her since I was twelve years old. And I have never related, like to any other artist, than I have to you. And you’ve helped me through some really tough times. And it’s just amazing to hear, hear you and whatever, I just.

MD: That’s great Rose.

Stevie Nicks: Thank you Rose, I appreciate that. You’re a little sweetheart. I really do appreciate that.

MD: If people don’t think, that people don’t listen to lyrics Stevie, they do, they really do.

Stevie Nicks: They do.

MD: Tell us about from the new album "Trouble in Shangri-La," the song “Fall from Grace.” What’s that all about?

Stevie Nicks: “Fall from Grace,” I wrote on the Fleetwood Mac reunion tour. Because that’s a great place to write, when you’re on tour and everything’s going really well, it’s very exciting; it’s like a big date. You know, it’s like very romantic, very, and you know you’re traveling. And of course, when you’re in Fleetwood Mac it’s a very big deal, so you get the best of everything in Fleetwood Mac. When we go to my solo career, it’s a little cut down, it’s a little cut down.

MD: It’s the discount version?

Stevie Nicks: It’s a little discounted, you know. But the Fleetwood Mac thing is very big, so it’s a very fun place to write. And “Fall from Grace,” was really about um when, Lindsey and Mick and I go up on stage, and how, just how intense it is, you know. And how we do kinda feel like, you know, Queen Elisabeth, Prince Phillip, and Queen Edward, King Edward; oh man, he’s gonna kill me for Queen Edward. Um, it’s such a powerful thing, and when you get up there it’s just so magical and so strong. And so, somehow the poem for “Fall from Grace,” just came outta that.

MD: All right. Well, let’s hear it right now. From the new album, "Trouble in Shangri-La," “Fall from Grace,” Stevie Nicks.

FALL FROM GRACE plays

MD: “Fall from Grace,” wow. Written quickly, sung just powerfully. You love doing that song.

Stevie Nicks: I love doing that song.

MD: You just did it an awards show, just recently.

Stevie Nicks: At the, at the Blockbuster Awards. And we only got to do that because they said we could do a duet. So we picked the duet, they never thought we’d pick to do, because Sheryl didn’t sing on it. So, and it was trippy, but it was a room full of movie stars, Warren Beatty was right in from of me, it was like, I looked at him and that’s it, I’m never looking at the audience again; from then on, I looked straight to the back, and I never saw the audience again. Because it was so nerve racking.

MD: You did a great job, cuz I did see that, I loved it. We have to take a break, we’ll be back, more with Stevie Nicks, coming up.

Commercial Break

MD: Two doesn’t hurt anybody, ha. She’s dancing now. We have to wrap up this interview, but I wanted to quickly talk to you, Stevie Nicks about the status of Fleetwood Mac. So, get us up to date if you will.

Stevie Nicks: The status of the Mac, is that the Mac is coming back. I will follow my "Trouble in Shangri-La" album probably till the end of the year, that’s a good long six, seven months. And then I will probably go in to the studio with them.

MD: You’ve given them seventeen songs already.

Stevie Nicks: Oh yeah, I’ve given them seventeen demos. Lindsey’s happy, he’s very happy with all of them. He’ll, he’ll, he’ll take them and he’ll like mush them all around, and he’ll pick out the great ones. And I leave that to him, because in Fleetwood Mac, that’s what you do, you have to be a part of a team. So, and we will do a record, and we will do a tour again and we’re very excited about it.

MD: Is Christine, gonna be with you, no?

Stevie Nicks: Chris won’t go. And it’s okay because, we have to, we have let her go. She’s moved back to England, sold her truck, her house, her car. So it’s like she’s gone.

MD: Ok. There’s a DVD that you want to talk to me about.

Stevie Nicks: There’s a DV, DVD, surround sound, 5.1 record coming out, which is of “Rumours.” And this, they’re just starting to do this now, and I heard it and it’s so amazing. Because so many things that were played on that record, when you mix it down to stereo-phonics sounds, you don’t hear it. So, in the 5.1, it’s just incredible, and I’m not trying to sell this record, I’m just telling you when I went to hear, because I’ve never heard anything in that, in that 5.1 thing, it blew my mind. It was so precious.

MD: Well, you know you’ve done a wonderful job here tonight. I’m so glad that you came in today. And “Trouble in Shangri-La” is a great, great album. Please come back.

Stevie Nicks: I will absolutely.

MD: We’ll do maybe an hour and a half of discussion.

Stevie Nicks: Absolutely, I’d love to.

MD: I know she will, true to her words. Stevie Nicks, music online. Thank you, all the best.

Stevie Nicks: Thank you