Best National Comeback Act

Fleetwood Mac

Two decades ago, Rolling Stone writers voted the Sex Pistols the best band of 1977. But when its annual "Best of" issue hit the streets, a more prettier band graced the magazine's cover. Editor Jann Wenner, who had founded the "underground" paper on the drug-laced streets of San Francisco, had joined the "beautiful people"; and no band in history (save perhaps the Eagles) represented the excesses of the music industry better than Fleetwood Mac, who had spent the previous year touring and selling millions of copies of their "tell all" autobiographical Rumours LP.

Thinking back to those days (with a clear head), there were few songs as wonderful as "Go Your Own Way" and the group didn't earn the same disdain as a Rod Stewart or Peter Frampton, perhaps because there were more members to get sick of. When they chose to go the experimental route with Tusk, thus costing their record company millions of sales, we even applauded them and took their Mick Fleetwood-guided direction as a polite nod to the avant-garde underground. Then the group slowly went their separate ways. Stevie Nicks found some success as a solo artist (as did Fleetwood). By the end of the '80s, it seemed as if the group who had originally formed to play electric blues had run their course.

Then, in perhaps his worst choice of judgment yet, then candidate-Bill Clinton chose "Don't Stop" as the theme song for his 1992 presidential campaign, and the group's best-known line-up reunited for his inaugural bash. The appearance rekindled record sales, and after a few years of haggling and the softening of old wounds, the Rumours reunited to re-record their greatest hits for MTV and VH-1. The results sold millions of CDs, and a subsequent tour sold millions of tickets. Just as they did, we tried to fool ourselves into thinking we were years younger, but we had one thing in our favor -- no one had to listen to us hit the wrong notes like Lindsey Buckingham.

-- Brian Goslow