1979 single by Fleetwood Mac
"Tusk" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac from the 1979 double LP of the same name. The song peaked at number eight in the United States for three weeks, reached number six in the United Kingdom (where it was certified Silver for sales of over 250,000 copies), number five in Canada, and number three in Australia. Lindsey Buckingham wrote the song and is the lead singer on the track.
The single was released with two different picture sleeves in many territories: the first featured the black and white picture of producer/engineer Ken Caillat's dog Scooter snapping at a trouser leg, the same as that used for the album cover, whilst the second featured a plain cover with the same font as the album cover but without the dog picture. A limited promotional 12-inch version, featuring mono and stereo versions, was also released to US radio stations.
A slightly different mix of the track appeared on the retrospective four-disc compilation 25 Years – The Chain in 1992.
History
Looking for a title track for the as yet unnamed album, Mick Fleetwood suggested that they take the rehearsal riff that Lindsey Buckingham used for sound-checks.[2] Fleetwood recalled that the band played the riff the same way every night with the intention of developing it further in the studio.[3] Producers Richard Dashut and Ken Caillat then created a drum-driven production. They took Buckingham's 16-track recording and transferred it to a 24-track tape on a Studer. The drums were then dampened to eliminate unwanted overtones.[4] Buckingham stated that "We found a 15-second section we liked and made a circular loop of two-inch tape that went across the room. We let it run for ten minutes and put the song over it."[5]
In addition to the standard drum kit, Fleetwood Mac also experimented with different found sounds on the song, including a Kleenex box and lamb chops.[6] Fleetwood originally tried to slap the side of his leg for a desired percussive effect, but he instead purchased a leg of lamb from the butcher and hit the food with a spatula. This overdub was ultimately unused for the final recording.[7] Additional noises included animal sounds, whips, bottles clinking, and screams. Engineer Hernán Rojas also recorded some Chilean profanities, including the phrase "Puta la cagó".[4][8]
At the request of Mick Fleetwood, the band recruited the University of Southern California's Trojan Marching Band to play on the single. The idea of incorporating a brass band into "Tusk" came to Fleetwood after he was awakened by a local brass band playing outside during a vacation in Barfleur.
I saw the entire village dancing in the streets. They were following the band...I grabbed the remainder of my bottle of Beaujolais from the night before and went down to join in...That joyous, irresistible cacophony is what I heard when I listened to that loop of the riff
A mobile studio was installed in Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium to record the marching band.[9] One hundred twelve members of the USC band were present on the recording.[10] Caillat expected the marching band to be stationary during the recording session, but was informed by director Arthur C. Bartner that the band exclusively played while marching for the purpose of timekeeping, so Caillat used shotgun microphones to record the marching band as they moved.[11][4] Some recorded footage of the session made it into the song's music video.[12] John McVie was in Tahiti during the Dodger Stadium recording, but he is represented in the video by a cardboard cutout carried around by Mick Fleetwood and later positioned in the stands with the other band members.[13] The music video also features Nicks twirling a baton, a skill that she learned in high school.[14]
While the band was mixing "Tusk", a variable speed oscillator (VSO) was used to align the USC Trojan Marching Band's recording with Fleetwood Mac's "cacophony tape" of sound effects.[11] Fleetwood also overdubbed a reversed cymbal crash to transition out of the drum solo, which was recorded at a different tempo compared to the rest of the song.[4] During a game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on October 4, 1980, Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, and Mick Fleetwood presented the Trojan Marching Band with a platinum disc for their contributions on "Tusk".[15]
Reception
Billboard described Tusk as "an eerie combination of vocals and a heavy percussion track." Billboard suggested that it was "not as accessible" as other Fleetwood Mac songs and that it was more difficult to "get a handle" on the hook.[16] Cash Box said it "may mystify some with its droning drum beat, the inclusion of the USC Marching Band and dissonant break" but it has a mesmerizing quality."[17] Record World called it "a unique departure" for the band and said that "The drum-led rhythm and chant-like vocals merge into a thick tribal dance."[18] Reviewing Tusk for Rolling Stone, Stephen Holden called the song Buckingham's "most intriguing" contribution to the album, deeming it "an aural collage that pits African tribal drums, the USC Trojan Marching Band and some incantatory group vocals against a backdrop of what sounds like thousands of wild dogs barking", and calling it Fleetwood Mac's equivalent to the Beatles' "Revolution 9" (1968).[19]
Retrospectively, Marcello Carlin of Uncut described it as a "collision between Sousa marching band and free jazz/tribal drumming workshop", and wrote that along with Public Image Ltd's "Death Disco", it was "the most avant-garde hit single of 1979."[20] In his piece for Melody Maker's Unknown Pleasures guide, Simon Reynolds called the single a "daft little ditty" that highlighted the "not-right" aura of the parent album, and wrote that its "mock tribal rhythms, peculiar 'found sounds' in the back of the mix that sound like a restive mob, and pompous, punctilious horns" are comparable to Faust's quirkier material, such as "The Sad Skinhead" (1973).[21] He added that it was a "'novelty' hit, and doubtless by dint only of the blind-loyalty of the fans."[21]
Emily St. James of The A.V. Club called it Fleetwood Mac's "weirdest hit" as well as one of their best, describing it as "a work of strange savagery, overlaid with jungle sounds and a thudding, endlessly repetitive drum riff that drives everything that happens in the song." She added: "It's a song at odds with itself, the various voices all tugging at the tune in different directions until everything unites when the vocalists scream the song’s title, an enigmatic moment that means… what, exactly?"[22] Rolling Stone writer Ryan Reed agreed it was "an odd choice for a lead single", describing it as "a nervous, jittery Buckingham sing-along with a mysterious title, an out-of-nowhere drum freakout, and only a handful of lyrics, with the bone-dry tom-toms mixed louder than the whispered vocals. Then there are the interjections of the University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band".[23]
