Chapter 62: Radio, Radio (March - December 1979)

30 March 1979

The Rolling Stones - Give Us Some Neck

Released: 30 March 1979

Recorded: January - March and October - December 1978

Producer: The Glimmer Twins

Track listing[1]

Side A

Start Me Up

I Love You Too Much

So Young

Do You Think I Really Care?

Black Limousine

Infekshun

Side B

Claudine

Don't Be a Stranger

When You're Gone

No Spare Parts

Keep Up Blues

The Rolling Stones' follow-up to Some Girls consisted entirely of tracks that were originally recorded during the same sessions, but were later given overdubs in the last quarter of 1978 to sound more contemporary. As usual, there were problems surrounding Keith Richards over his drug use and he was given evaluations by Dr. Anita Stevens, his new psychiatrist. This didn't stop the Rolling Stones from appearing on Saturday Night Live, however, nor did it slow down the release of Give Us Some Neck, which hit #1 in both the United States (for one week in the midst of Bee Gees domination) and the United Kingdom (for three non-consecutive weeks in the midst of the punk rock movement). The two singles off of the album - "Start Me Up"/"Claudine" (#7 UK, #1 US) and "No Spare Parts"/"Infekshun" (#19 UK, #3 US) - were released in March and July, respectively.

Shortly after completing the work on Give Us Some Neck, their last album of the 1970s, the Rolling Stones were once again in the studio working on what was set to be their first album of the 1980s, Emotional Rescue.

13 September 1979

Left to right: Don Bluth, John Pomeroy and Gary Goldman. In 1979, they left Disney to become part of Virgo-Libra Studios under Apple.

For the past few years, Don Bluth, an animator for Walt Disney Productions from 1955 to 1957, and again since 1971, had been working a little side project with several other young animators such as Gary Goldman in his garage over many nights and weekends to try and rediscover the secrets of classical animation that Bluth believed had been lost at Disney. It was inspired by a real-life experience of Bluth when he was living on a farm, and the family cat, who lived in a woodpile nearby, had suddenly disappeared, only to return to the farm several weeks later. Originally considered to be a feature-length film, it was cut down as a short to reduce the risk of padding. Banjo the Woodpile Cat had been pitched to Ron Miller, the studio head of Disney and later CEO, as a potential Disney property, but it was turned down when Miller saw no value in it.

DON BLUTH: "I didn't know what to say after that. Some time later, me and the team of Banjo ended up leaving Disney while they were in the midst of production for The Fox and the Hound, and then, while Toby [Bluth, his younger brother] and I were at a restaurant in New York, who should we come across but John Lennon?" (1997)

JOHN LENNON: "Maddy and I were surprised when we saw these two brothers walking over to us. Appreciative of the company, we talked for a while before the elder brother told us about this little animation he and a team had been working on for the past few years. They didn't have anyone to turn to, and so I recommended that they contact Brian Epstein about their little project to see what could be done." (2001)

The eponymous character from Banjo the Woodpile Cat, the first animated production by Virgo-Libra Studios, released December 1979.

MADELINE KAHN: "Don and his team really poured their hearts into making this project a reality, and they even showed it to us and a few Apple executives to see if it had potential. Judging by Freddie's reaction, who was almost three at the time, it was accepted, and John remarked, 'That'll show those at Disney what real storytelling is all about!'" (1992)

A new subsidiary was soon created under Apple, based in Burbank, California. It was originally going to be called Don Bluth Productions, but because of the involvement of John Lennon and Madeline Kahn in its founding, it was later renamed Virgo-Libra Studios, after their respective astrology signs - Bluth, born September 13, a Virgo, and Lennon and Kahn, respectively born October 9 and September 29, both Libras.[2]

FREDDIE LENNON: "I don't remember much about seeing Banjo for the first time; I was very little at the time, so can you blame me? *chuckles* But mom would tell me that I reacted positively to it. Looking back, it's kind of dated, but it still has its own charm. Around that time, Don Bluth and his team were working on an animated adaptation of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH, to which my parents would often read to me at night." (2012)

12 October 1979

Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks - Sisters of the Moon

Released: 12 October 1979

Recorded: 1978-1979

Producer: Dennis Wilson, Lindsey Buckingham, George Harrison and Ronnie Wood

Track listing[3]

Side A

Angel

Brown Eyes

Storms

Honey Hi

Sisters of the Moon

Side B

Over and Over

Sara

Never Make Me Cry

Beautiful Child

Never Forget

Ever since they had become part of the Apple Records roster back in 1968, Fleetwood Mac had faced many ups and downs. But with Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joining the group in 1975, and then the release of their second self-titled album that same year and later Rumours from 1977, Fleetwood Mac had reached a new peak of popularity. What could possibly go wrong? Well, just about anything, really.

CHRISTINE McVIE: "1976 was a very big year for Apple. Apart from moving from EMI to Warner Brothers, it also marked the beginning of the high of punk music with Elvis Costello, Wreckless Eric, Nick Lowe, Sex Pistols, the like. Even though Rumours was a big success for the label, Lindsey felt rather threatened by what he called 'those damned kids of punk' and was worried that Fleetwood Mac would fall into obscurity." (2002)

Afraid about the possibility of following a formula, Buckingham had wanted to create an album that was nothing at all like Rumours. Luckily for them, Apple had already established a "hands off" policy that would allow its artists, whether it be for music or for film, creative freedom, especially after Brian Epstein's failed attempts at censoring the more controversial moments of Blazing Saddles (the policy was also why Richard Donner was able to maintain his vision for Superman II). The band's drummer, Mick Fleetwood, had suggested that their next album, Tusk, would be a double album and it would be recorded at Apple's recently constructed Studio D.

Christine McVie and Dennis Wilson, circa 1978.

MICK FLEETWOOD: "You could say Lindsey became sort of... controlling. Making the album, or at least, trying to, sort of drove him mad." (1994)

JOHN McVIE: "One day, he'd turn a knob half-circle from where it was to see what would happen, and the next, microphones were duct taped to the studio floor. Nobody but he knew what the hell he was trying to say! Actually, I don't think even Lindsey knew what he was trying say." (2007)

DENNIS WILSON: "Hearing of and witnessing Lindsey's eccentricities for myself, I kept thinking, 'Fucking hell, it's Smile all over again.'" (2001)

Buckingham's behavior was so disruptive that the last straw was when he screamed into Christine McVie's face and, as described by Stevie Nicks, "just left [the rest of the band] standing there in shock while Christine sobbed into her hands." (1979) Due to the constant chaos in the studio, Dennis Wilson, Christine's then-boyfriend, ended up leaving the project altogether, presumably due to bad memories over the recording for the Beach Boys' Smile twelve years prior. But for now, the fate of Fleetwood Mac and the Tusk project were left in the air.

Ronnie Wood recording with the Rolling Stones, 1978.

STEVIE NICKS: "Goodness knows what could've happened to the band after Lindsey's outburst. At the time, Roman Polanski had been caught and arrested for raping a girl, and there were suspicions surrounding Gary Glitter unapologetically defending him. We didn't know if Lindsey would be put on probation or kicked off of Apple altogether, and how that decision would affect Fleetwood Mac. Thankfully, Ronnie and George had come to finish the job Lindsey had started, but not as a Fleetwood album..." (1997)[4]

RONNIE WOOD: "Mick met up with me the week after the sessions for Tusk ended in disaster. Christine was with him, still badly shaken, and they showed me a lot of the material they were working on. I had just finished up recording for both Give Us Some Neck [with The Rolling Stones] and Backless [with The Ladders], but despite the end of 1978 being so busy for me, I agreed to help out, even bringing in George to help finish their project." (2005)

The McVies, Fleetwood and Nicks reunited in Studio D in January 1979, with Ronnie Wood as guest guitarist and both he and George Harrison in the producer's chair. Both Christine and Stevie had each written written enough songs to fill up a whole side of an album, although one of the former's tracks, "Think About Me", would be set aside for a Fleetwood Mac single along with Buckingham's "Walk a Thin Line" as the B-side (#20 US). No longer called Tusk, the album was now tentatively titled McVie Nicks, credited to both singer-songwriters, and with Harrison even choosing to salvage some of the Wilson/Buckingham recordings and reworking them. (Buckingham was not credited as producer until 2004 due to his behavior.)

Split Enz, 1979. Neil Finn is wearing a yellow and black vertical striped shirt.

With far smoother recording sessions, the McVie/Nicks album Sisters of the Moon (#1 UK, #4 US) was finally released in October, credited to McVie Nicks and backed by the single "Sara"/"Brown Eyes" (#7 US) in November. An eleven month tour soon followed with George Harrison initially playing as their guitarist, but afterward, he returned home and was soon replaced with New Zealand singer-songwriter Neil Finn of Split Enz (who had recently put out True Colours), who later joined the band as full-time guitarist following his previous band's collapse in the midst of recording Waiata.[5]

GEORGE HARRISON: "Playing with Fleetwood Mac for a few months on stage was all well and good, but after playing with John, Paul and Ringo at Eric and Pattie's wedding, I got this nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I couldn't keep ignoring it as we got into the 80s. The Beatles had to get back together again." (1997)

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM: "I'm actually surprised that Apple let me stay on despite my behavior that led to Tusk being reworked into a McVie Nicks album. I read that it did very well despite my absence, and I even sent them a congratulatory telegram, though I doubt they actually read it, and I don't blame them for it. I'd done a lot of soul-searching for the next few years, especially after the Polanski scandal, and I realized that I wouldn't go very far with an attitude like the one I displayed in the studio. It wouldn't be for another few years that I was accepted back into the band." (2003)

October 19, 1979

Tom Petty & Mudcrutch - Damn the Torpedoes

Released: October 19, 1979

Recorded: 1978-1979

Producer: Jimmy Iovine and Tom Petty

Track listing[6]

Side A

Refugee

Here Comes My Girl

Even the Losers

It's Rainin' Again

Shadow of a Doubt (A Complex Kid)

Century City

Side B

Nowhere

You Tell Me

What Are You Doin' in My Life?

Casa Dega

Louisiana Rain

With Pete Ham busy recording for newer Highway 61 artists like Cheap Trick and Talking Heads, as well as continuing his work with Heart, he didn't have much time to spare for Tom Petty & Mudcrutch, and so they brought in Jimmy Iovine (known for his work with Bruce Springsteen and Meat Loaf) as their producer for their fourth album. Despite the change of producers, Damn the Torpedoes (named for a famous quote by Admiral David Farragut in the American Civil War) turned out to be the band's biggest success in the 1970s, hitting #1 in the United States for a few weeks and #18 in the United Kingdom.[7] The album's three singles - "Refugee"/"It's Rainin' Again" (#7 US), "Here Comes My Girl"/"Louisiana Rain" (#15 US) and "Even the Losers"/"Casa Dega" (#10 US) - were all Top 20 hits in America as well, adding to the positive critical reception toward the album.

Damn the Torpedoes marked a major leap forward for Tom Petty & Mudcrutch, not just in songwriting, but in production as well. In 2003, it was ranked #313 in Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list, but later ranked at #315 in the 2012 revision.

December 14, 1979

Kal-El/Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) with his biological father Jor-El (Marlon Brando) at the Fortress of Solitude in Superman II, released December 1979.

Released just one year after the original film, Superman II had been filmed alongside it on the same $55 million budget, and was completed after the first film had been released. Superman II was released to a similar critical acclaim and success as the original, raking in $245 million in the box office; not as much as the original, but still a success regardless.

In the cold opening on Krypton, General Zod, Ursa and Non are sentenced to eternal banishment inside the Phantom Zone by Jor-El for insurrection and murder, amongst other crimes. Thirty years later, Superman unknowingly frees the villains from the Phantom Zone when he diverts one of the missiles into outer space as depicted in the first film. Lois Lane suspects that Clark Kent and Superman are the same person, and when they pose as newlyweds to investigate a scam at Niagara Falls, she tricks Clark into confessing that he is Superman. Afterward, Superman transforms himself into a human by exposing himself to red Kryptonian sunlight which removes his powers. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor escapes prison and discovers the Fortress of Solitude, even tracking down Zod and his minions, after hearing of the impending doom they will bring to Earth, who have taken over the White House in Washington D.C..

"Kneel before Zod!" Ursa (Sarah Douglas), Non (Jack O'Halloran) and General Zod (Terence Stamp) infiltrate the White House and confront the President of the United States (E.G. Marshall) in Superman II.

When he hears of Zod's conquest of the world, Clark returns to the Fortress of Solitude to restore his powers, even fulfilling the Kryptonian prophecy of "the father becoming the son", but it is at the cost of sacrificing the remaining Kryptonian energy, rendering the Fortress inoperable. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor teams up with Zod and his minions to find Superman, even using Lois as bait. After an intensive fight in and over Metropolis, Superman flies to the Fortress of Solitude, feigning defeat to the villains. It turns out that he has altered the process to expose Zod, Ursa and Non instead, rendering them powerless while Superman retains his. With the villains defeated, Superman and Lois have a tearful goodbye, realizing that a relationship simply wouldn't work between them, but to undo everything, Superman spins the Earth back in time by a few days, meaning that Zod, Ursa and Non will have never escaped from the Phantom Zone. The ending has since sparked controversy among fans and critics as to whether or not it should have taken place.[8]

When Superman II first came out, it was paired with Don Bluth's Banjo the Woodpile Cat as a double feature, with the latter first playing before the former.[9] The decision was controversial to some people, wanting to go to the movies to see Superman on the big screen again and not some cartoon cat, sometimes wanting to arrive late at the theaters just to skip over the short. However, others didn't mind the double feature, liking the experience of going to see two movies at once for a cheap price. Either way, fans were kept wondering as to which superhero Apple would focus on next, and there was pre-production in place for movies focusing on Batman and Wonder Woman, as well as planning stages for a movie based around the Flash. It would be two years before the next installment of the Appleverse would come out...

Footnotes

1. All tracks are sourced from the 2011 reissue of Some Girls, excluding "Start Me Up" and "Black Limousine" (both first started in 1978 during the sessions for Some Girls) from Tattoo You and "Infekshun" from Ronnie Wood's Gimme Some Neck.
2. In OTL, Don Bluth Productions, later the Bluth Group, went bankrupt in 1984 and the following year, Bluth formed Sullivan Bluth Studios with American businessman Morris Sullivan. The studio then became defunct again in 1995 shortly following the founding of Fox Animation Studios in 1994, which then became defunct in 2000 shortly following the release of Titan A.E.. It was taken over by Blue Sky Studios (founded 1987), which is still active to this day, becoming acquired by Disney in 2019.
3. All tracks are sourced from Fleetwood Mac's Tusk. It was inspired from a project Uncle Dan had done in 2018 in changing the album into a McVie/Nicks album. Credit goes to him for the original concept.
4. This is a reference to an extra scene I had planned concerning Roman Polanski getting arrested for his crimes in 1978 after a failed escape attempt, but never got around to actually writing. This would've sparked an earlier Me Too movement and see the likes of Gary Glitter, Rolf Harris and Jimmy Savile being caught in the act far earlier than in OTL; I intend on including that for the second draft.
5. Something similar actually happened in OTL, albeit in 2018 and with Mike Campbell after the Heartbreakers' dissolution following Tom Petty's death.
6. All tracks are sourced from OTL's Damn the Torpedoes. "Nowhere" can be found on the bonus edition of the album; "It's Rainin' Again" and "Casa Dega" are non-album B-sides also featured on the bonus edition. "Don't Do Me Like That" is left off of the album, having already been featured on 1975's Tom Petty & Mudcrutch.
7. Because Tom Petty is under Highway 61 Records, he does not go through the contractual issues he went through when ABC Records was sold to MCA, and then later signing up to Backstreet Records in OTL. In addition, Damn the Torpedoes was kept off the #1 spot in America by Pink Floyd's The Wall (which will be covered in the next chapter).
8. The synopsis for TTL's Superman II closely follows what Richard Donner had intended in OTL, but has a few changes to reflect on what is to come for the DC Appleverse.
9. In addition to above, Banjo the Woodpile Cat preceding Superman II is this universe's equivalent to Rupert and the Frog Song preceding Give My Regards to Broad Street (in TTL, neither Rupert nor Broad Street are made).

Author's Comments

Not much to say in regards to the Rolling Stones or Tom Petty & Mudcrutch; at the moment, they're carrying on like OTL, and in the former's case, we get one final album from them in the 1970s. As Phase Three will progress, some story arcs will drop from the radar for a while while new ones pop up.

Case in point, the Fleetwood Mac story. As said in the footnotes above, it was inspired by a post Uncle Dan had made back in April 2018, with a bit of dramatic license taken as to why they put out a McVie Nicks album rather than a Fleetwood Mac album. I have this unusual mindset to not throw anything away, hence I did the CSNY solo albums of the 1970s, and even had Fleetwood Mac put out a non-album single instead of a full album. The original story had been written back in February 2019, but I'd given it some tweaks to accommodate some changes made since. Sometimes, a story evolves in a way you never expected them to.

Lastly, I'd love to do more regarding the DC Appleverse. I've got a few ideas in mind as to how the next eight movies will go up to 1985, though I will need help in choosing out actors for who I'd like to appear, who would direct, write, compose music for, how the story would play out, etc.