UKNY for December 4
Christine McVie at New York's MSG on October 6, 2014 (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
Tonight's "UKNY" at 11 will spend some time with the songs of Christine McVie, who passed away on Wednesday. Since this is a one-hour show, I can't possibly get to most of Christine's songs that I'd love to play, but I will touch on four that I've always been fond of — including one that received a sprawling remix from British duo Psychemagik a dozen years ago this month.
McVie was the true heart of Fleetwood Mac and one of Britain's — and the world's — best songwriters. However, her understated style, her preference to be part of a band rather than a solo star, and the era's ease with shoving most female artists to the sideline, denied her much of the credit she was due.
Her lyrics — as on the exceptional "Why" from 1973's Mystery to Me (my absolute favorite McVie song)— often favored the light of inner strength and hope over melancholy, but there was still a twist, a fleeting glimpse of pain (as on the very last line of "Why," the yearning "Why don't you love me?"). That savvy balance between simplicity and complexity was McVie's secret weapon — and it's why songs like "Don't Stop" or "You Make Loving Fun" still have the power to take your breath away, no matter how many times you've heard them.
It's why her death hits so very hard; her songs were the soundtrack to our lives. And she was a genius songwriter.
In addition to Christine McVie, I'll also have new releases from New Zealand's Soaked Oats and Fazerdaze, plus London-based Ezra Collective, Maya Jane Coles, Sorry, and Mandrake Handshake.
That's "UKNY," Sundays 11 p.m.-midnight, on 90.7FM, streaming online, and in the Archives after broadcast.
Songs played:
1. (Dunedin, NZ) Soaked Oats, “The Way It Works,” Working Title
2. Ezra Collective feat. Kojey Radical, “No Confusion,” Where I’m Meant to Be
3. (UK-US) George Fitzgerald feat. Panda Bear, “Passed Tense,” Stellar Drifting
4. Mandrake Handshake, “Vitamin Sunday,” The Triple Point of Water EP
5. Supershy, “Don’t let Go,” single
6. (London, UK-Bronx, NY) Maya Jane Coles feat. Moxie Knox, “Freefall,” single
7. Fleetwood Mac “Everywhere (Psychemagik edit),” single, original on Tango in the Night
8. Langkamer, “Hamlet,” Red Thread Route EP
9. (Auckland, NZ) Fazerdaze, “Thick of the Honey,” Break! EP
10. (Toronto, CA) Jasmyn, “Crystal Ball,” In the Wild
11. Sorry, “Key to the City,” Anywhere But Here
12. Christine McVie, “And That’s Saying A Lot,” The Legendary Christine Perfect (aka Christine Perfect)
13. Fleetwood Mac, “Did You Ever Love Me,” Penguin
14. Fleetwood Mac, “Why,” Mystery to Me
