Family Man (Fleetwood Mac song)

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"Family Man"
Single by Fleetwood Mac
from the album Tango in the Night
B-side"Down Endless Street"
Released
  • 7 December 1987 (UK) [1]
Recorded1985–1986
Genre
Length4:01
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Lindsey Buckingham
  • Richard Dashut
Fleetwood Mac UK singles chronology
"Little Lies"
(1987) 		"Family Man"
(1987) 		"Everywhere"
(1988)
Fleetwood Mac US singles chronology
"Everywhere"
(1987) 		"Family Man"
(1987) 		"As Long as You Follow"
(1988)

"Family Man" is a song by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac from their 1987 studio album Tango in the Night. The song was written by Lindsey Buckingham and producer Richard Dashut. In the US, the song was released as the fifth single from the album as the follow-up to "Everywhere". It charted in April 1988, and reached No. 90 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.

In the UK, "Family Man" was released as the fourth single following "Little Lies", where it debuted at No. 91 on 19 December 1987. It later went on to peak at No. 54 on 19 January 1988. Additionally, "Family Man" was released as a special limited edition box set comprising the 7" single, plus two prints by the artists Susan Young[2] and Christine Tongue. The 12" included several mixes of "Family Man" as well as the album track, "You and I, Part II".

Like "Big Love", "Family Man" was originally slated to appear on Buckingham's third solo album, although the project later morphed into Fleetwood Mac's Tango in the Night. "Family Man" was nearly complete when Buckingham first presented the song to Fleetwood Mac, although the band "sweetened up" the mix and interspersed some vocal fragments from Stevie Nicks throughout the song's bridge.[3] The song possesses a stepwise ascending harmony and follows a VII-I chord progression.[4]

"Family Man" is also included on the 2002 release The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac.[5] While "Family Man" was not included on the physical release of 50 Years - Don't Stop, it does appear on the streaming service edition of the album, which substituted several songs from the Peter Green era for songs from the Kiln House era onwards.

Critical reception[edit]

Cash Box called it "an engaging dance tune" with "an ethereal vocal and throbbing groove."[6] Alex Henderson of AllMusic labeled "Family Man" as one of the best songs ever written by Buckingham.[7]

Music video[edit]

Promotion for the single was limited, as Lindsey Buckingham, the song's composer, had left the group after the album's release.[8] A video was created mixing previous footage of the band from the "Seven Wonders" video alongside archive footage of American families from the Great-Depression era. The video uses a shorter edit of the album version.

Track listing[edit]

UK 7" vinyl single (Warner Bros. Records W 8114)

  1. "Family Man" – 4:01
  2. "Down Endless Street" – 4:24

UK 12" vinyl single (Warner Bros. Records W 8114 T)

  1. "Family Man" (Extended Vocal Remix) – 8:30
  2. "Family Party" (Bonus Beats) – 4:56
  3. "You and I, Part II" – 2:56

12" US single (Warner Brothers Records 0–20842)

  1. "Family Man" (Extended vocal remix) – 8:30
  2. "Family Man" (I'm a Jazz Man dub) – 8:52
  3. "Family Man" (Extended guitar remix) – 6:26
  4. "Family Party" (bonus beats) – 4:36
  5. "Down Endless Street" – 4:24

Personnel[edit]

Chart positions[edit]

Chart (1987) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart[9] 83
German Top 40 Singles Chart[10] 29
Netherlands Top 40 Singles Chart[11] 23
UK Singles Chart[12] 54
US Billboard Hot 100[13] 90
US Adult Contemporary Chart[14] 23

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Fleetwood mac singles".
  2. ^ "Susan Young Animation". www.susanyounganimation.com. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  3. ^ "The Katz Tapes". Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  4. ^ Moore, Alan (January 1992). "Patterns of Harmony". Popular Music. 11 (1). Cambridge University Press: 87–88. doi:10.1017/S0261143000004852. S2CID 162086782.
  5. ^ Family Man - Fleetwood Mac Song Info AllMusic, retrieved 2021-09-06
  6. ^ "Single Releases" (PDF). Cash Box. March 26, 1988. p. 8. Retrieved 2022-12-21.
  7. ^ "Fleetwood Mac - Tango in the Night". AllMusic. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  8. ^ Ressner, Jeffrey (1987-09-24). "Lindsey Buckingham Leaves Fleetwood Mac". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2021-04-21.
  9. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (Illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. pp. 113–114. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  10. ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts - Offizielle Deutsche Charts". www.offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
  11. ^ "dutchcharts.nl: Discographie: Fleetwood Mac" (ASP). Hung Medien (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
  12. ^ "The Official Charts Company - Family Man by Fleetwood Mac Search". Official Charts Company. 6 May 2013.
  13. ^ "Fleetwood Mac Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  14. ^ "Fleetwood Mac Adult Contemporary Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
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