Fleetwood Mac - Oh Diane (1982)

Summer 1982 was one of the slowest turnover of Top 40 singles and albums in US music history. The Top 40 hardly changed at all from May to September. When that happens, even really great songs start to sound stale when you are playing for the same nightclub audience night after night. And there were many fabulous songs released for late spring and summer of 1982. But even the best of them eventually became boring ... this bears witness to the fact that popular music only works if it is contiguous and segues from one group of songs to another group in a flowing fashion, week to week and month to month. When things get slow, however, deeper tracks on the albums, as well as tracks from non-charting albums by otherwise great artists, are the way to go.

One of the great albums of the year was from Fleetwood Mac, their first studio 80's album, Mirage, released in June 1982. It would end up being packed with hits, but it took a while for them to take off. It seemed that the first single, "Hold Me," would go on being played as their only hit until Christmas. Songs like "Gypsy" and "Love In Store" were heavily requested but still considered deep tracks until they finally started charting in the autumn.

"Oh Diane" was a track I fell in love with that could have easily been a hit back in the late 1950's when Ricky Nelson was popular. This was real retro, courtesy of Lindsey Buckingham, and I used to give it a lot of play. It is such a perfect little gem. Sadly, the number of people who really cared if I played it or not was not that large. Eventually it was released as a single here in the US in February 1983, but failed to chart. It did reach #9 in the UK Top Ten and #8 in Ireland.

I think "Oh Diane" would be great song for the band to revive as retro is always in and this kind, that sounds like it might have been popular in the late 50's and early 60's, is always most welcome.

[mrg]

The problem with this song is it's not long enough .

[shawniecraig]

One of my favourite songs. Takes me back to those purest of days when love was innocent and decent. When men were men and women were women. We have been so soiled since then. I regret to say.

[diannevenner-kcgu]

As a Dianne i love this tune 😍 i was an 80s teen as well ..love Fleetwood Mac.

[grahamedwards]

Superb song . Fleetwood Mac at top of their game

[veegee]

Heard this long forgotten song today. It was my favorite ❤ How I've missed this gem. Came here to play it on repeat . Love it

[kennethwoodall]

All of Lindsey’s little ditty’s as I call them are fantastic

[grahamedwards]

1982. Heard this . Loved it . Bought it . Like some of 'macs' stuff . This is MY number one choice . Superb song

[pmacz]

Heard this on the radio and had forgotten it was FM! Sounded like The Hollies, or as above the kind of thing Ricky Nelson would have sang. Great tune, love it - and won't forget it's the Mac now!

[MarkusBerner]

Ein tolles Jahr ☺️ das Geburtsjahr von meinem Juwel 💎

[jenplinguist]

Just heard this the first time (that I'm aware of) at Target, and instantly Shazamed it because I recognized his voice, and I love everything he does. It's a great song!! If it had more lyrics it probably would have made top of the charts here, too!

[harryzawodowiec]

Świetnie dobrany film do genialnej piosenki, która pierwszy raz słyszałem w Radiu Kierowców Program 1 Polskiego Radia. A było to gdzieś w okolicach...1987 r. Miałem 7 lat.

[DistrictFire]

Loved it then and now. Even found a new girl coincidentally named Diane. Can't decide to dance slow or fast to it....lots of Mac songs like that.

[grzegorzkorach]

Cudowna piosenka z lat gdy byłem piękny i młody.

[anthonybayern]

Great song and video interpretation - thanks for posting! A hit in the UK at least!

[pcno]

This was my favorite track off Mirage, and there were a lot of good ones. It always sounded vaguely like something from the late 1950s or early 1960s, but I couldn't quite say what. It called to mind Buddy Holly, early Tommy Rowe, Roy Orbison or even Lou Christie, but the backing instruments even sound a little like "The Israelites" by Desmond Decker, which sounded kind of retro to many ears when it came out in 1969. This track is like a 3 minute time warp.

[lisabenneett]

Can you identify the movies or shows these clips came from? I would like to watch...I found the Ashley Judd movie and I really enjoyed it.I would have never found it if not for this video. I also love this song!!

[yuonchong]

1982, my last year at Manchester University.

i don't recognize this as a Fleetwood Mac song. You're right by writing that this is a 1950's -1960's song

[marcuslewis]

What film is the first clip from? Great video

[marioflores]

Hola buen día!
Es de alguna película está canción?