Stevie Nicks - "Stand Back"

(Debuted June 4, 1983, Peaked #5, 19 Weeks on the Chart)

If you want an example of a synthesizer-based 1980s song, you can never go wrong using this one. Influenced by Prince's "Little Red Corvette," Stevie Nicks was on her her way to her honeymoon when that song came over the air. She began humming the melody and soon wrote out some lyrics. She even managed to get His Royal Badness to come into the studio a short time later and lay down the synthesizer line uncredited. It was one of those songs that has a great deal of energy: from the moment it starts up, it just blows away anything in its path. And that has just as much to do with Nicks' performance as it does with Prince's.

A #5 pop hit, it managed to hold its own against the elements of age much better than many of the electronic-based synth tunes of its era. It has also become a concert staple by Nicks since its debut in 1983, as well as a frequent performance by her band Fleetwood Mac since 1987. It's become one of her signature tunes, despite the fact that it wasn't solidly in the general category of Nicks' library. In short, the driving beat is as solid as any she's ever fronted, and that says a lot.

Stevie Nicks - "Rooms On Fire"

(Debuted May 6, 1989, Peaked #16, 14 Weeks on the chart)

During the Summer of 1989, I was dating a girl named Valerie. It was a short relationship, though; she was a free spirit that couldn't be contained and it was silly for me at that age to try. She looked a little like a red-headed version of Stevie Nicks (in fact, she looked an awful lot like the shot of Nicks on the back cover of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours LP), and since "Rooms on Fire" was the current Nicks hit during our time together, I immediately think of her when I hear it.

"Rooms On Fire" was the only single from Nicks' The Other Side of the Mirror LP to hit the pop charts. It peaked at #16 and was #1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart as well. With lyrics that seem to be purposely opaque and partially biographical, it was comparable to much of Nicks' material, both solo and with Fleetwood Mac. However, the album was panned by critics. Nicks was fighting a tranquilizer addiction at the time (in fact, she has said in interviews that she has no memory of the tour she took to support this album), so that might account for the seeming decline in her musical output.

That said, I like the song. I liked it then, and it brings back memories that are good ones from my teen years, which weren't always a bowl of cherries. I haven't seen Valerie in over 20 years, so the song is a little like running into an old friend after a long time apart. That is always a good thing.