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{{Infobox song |
{{Infobox song |
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| name = Not That Funny |
| name = Not That Funny |
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| cover = |
| cover = Not_That_Funny_cover.jpg |
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| alt = |
| alt = |
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| type = single |
| type = single |
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| artist = [[Fleetwood Mac]] |
| artist = [[Fleetwood Mac]] |
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| album = |
| album = [[Tusk (album)|Tusk]] |
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| B-side = Save Me |
| B-side = Save Me a Place |
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| released = February 1980 (UK) |
| released = February 1980 (UK)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://hitparade.ch/showitem.asp?interpret=Fleetwood+Mac&titel=Not+That+Funny&cat=s|title=Fleetwood Mac – Not That Funny|first=Steffen|last=Hung|website=Hitparade.ch|access-date=1 June 2021}}</ref> |
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| format = |
| format = |
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| recorded = 1979 |
| recorded = 1979 |
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| studio = |
| studio = |
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| venue = |
| venue = |
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| genre = [[Post-punk |
| genre = * [[Post-punk]] |
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* [[New wave music|new wave]]<ref>{{cite book|first= Steve |last= Holtje |editor1-first= Gary |editor1-last= Graff |editor2-first= Daniel |editor2-last= Durchholz |year= 1998 |title= MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide |chapter= Fleetwood Mac |publisher= [[Visible Ink Press]] |location= Detroit |page= 434}}</ref> |
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| length = 3:11 |
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| label = [[Warner Bros. Records|Warner Bros.]] |
| length = 3:11 |
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| label = [[Warner Bros. Records|Warner Bros.]] |
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| writer = [[Lindsey Buckingham]] |
| writer = [[Lindsey Buckingham]] |
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| producer = [[Fleetwood Mac]], [[Richard Dashut]], [[Ken Caillat]] |
| producer = [[Fleetwood Mac]], [[Richard Dashut]], [[Ken Caillat]] |
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| prev_title = [[Sara (Fleetwood Mac song)|Sara]] |
| prev_title = [[Sara (Fleetwood Mac song)|Sara]] |
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| prev_year = 1980 |
| prev_year = 1980 |
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| next_title = [[Think About Me]] |
| next_title = [[Think About Me]] |
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| next_year = 1980 |
| next_year = 1980 |
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}} |
}} |
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''' |
"'''Not That Funny'''" is a song by British-American rock band [[Fleetwood Mac]], released in 1980. Composed and sung by guitarist [[Lindsey Buckingham]], it was written as a response to the [[punk movement]] in the late 1970s.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Harr|first1=Douglous|title=Fleetwood Mac – 'Fleetwood Mac', 'Rumours' + 'Tusk' (1975 -1979): Reissues|url=http://somethingelsereviews.com/2016/01/12/fleetwood-mac-rumours-tusk-reissues/|website=Something Else!|date=13 January 2016 |access-date=February 7, 2016}}</ref> The song share some lyrics with "[[I Know I'm Not Wrong]]", another Buckingham penned song that appeared on the ''Tusk'' album.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Weingarten |first=Christopher|display-authors=etal|date=2 May 2022 |title=Fleetwood Mac's 50 Greatest Songs |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/fleetwood-macs-50-greatest-songs-192324/not-that-funny-113647/|access-date=9 November 2023 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref> |
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==Background== |
==Background== |
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"Not That Funny" was derived from an unused Buckingham song titled "Needles and Pins", originally recorded in June 1978. "Needles and Pins" later split into two different songs, "Not That Funny" and "I Know I'm Not Wrong", both of which share the "don't blame me" lyrics found in the [[refrain|chorus]] and the "here comes the nighttime" lyrics found in the [[bridge (music)|bridge]].<ref name="Tusked">{{Cite book |last1=Caillat |first1=Ken |title=Get Tusked: The Inside Story of Fleetwood Mac's Most Anticipated Album |last2=Rojas |first2=Hernan |publisher=Backbeat Books |year=2019 |isbn=978-1-4930-5983-6 |location=Guilford, Connecticut |pages=178–179, 183–184}}</ref> |
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⚫ |
Buckingham performed his vocal part on the ground in a push-up position to achieve the desired vocal take. He also insisted on recording the vocals in a replica of his own personal bathroom, which was installed in Studio D of the LA Village Recorder. Engineer and co-producer [[Ken Caillat]] taped a microphone to the bathroom's tile floor to satisfy Buckingham's request.<ref>{{Cite |
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⚫ | Buckingham performed his vocal part on the ground in a push-up position to achieve the desired vocal take. He also insisted on recording the vocals in a replica of his own personal bathroom, which was installed in Studio D of the LA [[The Village (studio)|Village Recorder]]. Engineer and co-producer [[Ken Caillat]] taped a microphone to the bathroom's tile floor to satisfy Buckingham's request.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/fleetwood-mac-tusk-things-you-didnt-know-896796/|title=Fleetwood Mac's 'Tusk': 10 Things You Didn't Know|last=Reed|first=Ryan|date=2019-10-11|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-12}}</ref> Buckingham played the song on a [[Stratocaster]] guitar and treated the instrument with a variable speed oscillator (VSO). "I just slow the machine down, coming up with a picking part like that, double or triple it and tweak the VSO on either side so that it's slightly out of tune, and the whole thing comes out with all this phasing".<ref name="2015 deluxe">{{Cite AV media notes |title=Tusk (2015 Remastered Deluxe Edition) |title-link=Tusk |others=[[Fleetwood Mac]] |year=2016 |first=Jim |last=Irvin |page=15|type=Liner Notes |publisher=Warner Bros. Records Inc. |id=Publisher Warner Bros #2HS-3350 |location=Los Angeles}}</ref> |
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⚫ |
While released as a single in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, "Not That Funny" was not released elsewhere. Instead, the track's B-Side, "[[Think About Me]]", was issued as the third single in North America. Like the singles from Fleetwood Mac's 1975 [[Fleetwood Mac (1975 album)|self-titled release]], both singles were slightly remixed for radio. While "Think About Me" reached the |
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Some of the electric guitars were detuned and recorded at high speed before being slowed down to 30 [[inch per second|ips]]. The electric guitars were also sent through a tape recorder and [[mixing console]] to achieve a lower pitched, compressed, and thicker sound. The inverse occurred for the acoustic guitars, which were recorded at a slower speed but sped up with the VSO so that the instrument would resemble a [[harpsichord]] or [[music box]]. Buckingham played the acoustic guitars sparingly on the verses but used them more extensively during the bridge and chorus with an [[eighth note|eighth]] and [[sixteenth note]] feel.<ref name="Tusked"/> |
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⚫ |
For the Tusk tour, the band wanted their keyboard tech, Jeff Sova, to play synthesizers on the song |
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For the drums, Buckingham layered several tracks of kick and snare drums and overdubbed [[tom drum]] [[fill (music)|fills]] leading to the [[ostinato#vamp|vamp]]. The vocals were tripled, some of which were sung by [[Christine McVie]]. Fleetwood Mac engineer Hernán Rojas commented that Buckingham often asked McVie to help out with vocals on his songs due to their vocal blend. Buckingham also played the cello setting on a [[Chamberlin|Chamberlin M1]] keyboard to provide additional textures to the rhythm track.<ref name="Tusked"/> |
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==Release and live performances== |
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⚫ | While released as a single in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, "Not That Funny" was not released elsewhere. Instead, the track's B-Side, "[[Think About Me]]", was issued as the third single in North America. Like the singles from Fleetwood Mac's 1975 [[Fleetwood Mac (1975 album)|self-titled release]], both singles were slightly remixed for radio. While "Think About Me" reached the top 30 in both the US and Canada, "Not That Funny" failed to chart at all. Despite the lack of initial success, the song became a live staple at Fleetwood Mac concerts. Played live, the song took on an entirely new arrangement – stretched out to almost nine minutes frequently, the song showcased Buckingham's guitar playing, John McVie's bass playing and featured a solo spot featuring Mick Fleetwood's drumming. "Not That Funny" has been performed on the [[Tusk Tour]], [[Mirage (Fleetwood Mac album)|Mirage tour]], [[The Dance (Fleetwood Mac album)|The Dance tour]], and the [[Fleetwood Mac Live|Live 2013]] tour.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jonze |first=Tim |date=15 December 2016 |title=Fleetwood Mac: Mirage box set review – high-calibre songs that outshine the imitators |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/dec/15/fleetwood-mac-mirage-box-set-review-warners |access-date=14 January 2024|work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Mountain|first1=Lexie|title=Armed with hits, Fleetwood Mac plays with crowd's emotions at Verizon Center|url=http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-04-10/entertainment/bal-fleetwood-mac-at-verizon-center-review_1_lindsey-buckingham-stevie-nicks-audience/2|website=The Baltimore Sun|date=10 April 2013 |access-date=14 March 2016}}</ref> |
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⚫ | For the Tusk tour, the band wanted their keyboard tech, Jeff Sova, to play synthesizers on the song to recreate some of the additional sounds heard on the record. However, this idea was dropped as it was interfering with his stage work. Instead, the only keyboard used on the song was a [[List of Yamaha products#musical|Yamaha console piano]], played by [[Christine McVie]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Doerschuk|first=Bob|url=http://bla.fleetwoodmac.net/index.php?page=index_v2&id=11&c=2|title=From the Archive: Christine McVie - KeyboardMag|website=www.keyboardmag.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710065842/http://bla.fleetwoodmac.net/index.php?page=index_v2&id=11&c=2|access-date=1 December 2023|archive-date=10 July 2015}}</ref> |
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==Critical reception== |
==Critical reception== |
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"Not That Funny" has generally received positive reception. Stephen Holden, a reviewer for ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', compared the production of the track to a beautifully recorded basement tape.<ref>{{cite |
"Not That Funny" has generally received positive reception. Stephen Holden, a reviewer for ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', compared the production of the track to a beautifully recorded basement tape.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Holden|first1=Stephen|title=Fleetwood Mac Tusk Album Review|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/tusk-19791213|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=13 December 1979 |access-date=August 20, 2015}}</ref> Another reviewer from ''Rolling Stone'' pointed similarities in the guitar work between "Not That Funny" and a ''[[Go Insane]]'' track, "Loving Cup".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Connelly |first=Christopher |date=August 30, 1984 |title=Lindsey Buckingham's Tuneful Triumph |url=http://bla.fleetwoodmac.net/index.php?page=index_v2&id=56&c=9 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151230163136/http://bla.fleetwoodmac.net/index.php?page=index_v2&id=56&c=9 |archive-date=December 30, 2015 |access-date=December 31, 2023 |website=The Blue Letter Archives}}</ref> Raoul Hernandez of ''[[The Austin Chronicle]]'' said that "Not That Funny" perfectly demonstrates Buckingham's ability to craft pop/rock songs, and that it reveals the "staleness" of ''[[Rumours (album)|Rumours]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Hernandez|first1=Raoul|title=Live Shots – Music – Fleetwood Mac|url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/music/1997-11-14/518895/|website=The Austin Chronicle|access-date=July 8, 2015}}</ref> In his review of ''Tusk'' for ''[[NME]]'', [[Nick Kent]] described "Not That Funny" as "a [[Cajun music|Cajun]]-style bruising thump-up with a fade-out all too redolent of more ''[[White Album]]'' idiocies."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kent |first1=Nick |title=Fleetwood Mac: Tusk (Warner Brothers) |journal=New Musical Express |date=20 October 1979 |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/fleetwood-mac-tuski-warner-brothers |access-date=8 August 2023}}</ref> In ''Rock of Ages: The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll'', the authors characterised "Not That Funny" as an "anti-pop song that is little more than Buckingham yelling 'Well, it's not that funny, is it?', over and over until his vocal cords fray and shred and finally give way.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ward |first1=Ed |title=Rock of Ages: The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll |last2=Stokes |first2=Geoffrey |last3=Tucker |first3=Ken |publisher=Rolling Stone Press |year=1986 |isbn=0-671-63068-7 |location=New York |pages=578}}</ref> |
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Retrospectively, Marcello Carlin of ''[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]'' described it as a "disturbing" song "on which Buckingham’s near-psychotic guitar and vocal screams approach [[Pere Ubu]] territory."<ref name="Carlin">{{cite web |last1=Carlin |first1=Marcello |title=Cocaine Heights |url=https://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/cocaine-heights-17059/ |website=Uncut |access-date=8 August 2023 |date=1 April 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516120937/https://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/cocaine-heights-17059/ |archive-date=16 May 2022}}</ref> In his piece for ''[[Melody Maker]]''{{'}}s ''Unknown Pleasures'' guide, [[Simon Reynolds]] drew comparison to [[Faust (band)|Faust]]'s "It's a Bit of Pain" (1973), and praised Buckingham's "hornet-in-your-earhole [[fuzz guitar|fuzz]] solo".<ref>{{citation |author1=Simon Reynolds |title=FLEETWOOD MAC, Tusk from ''Unknown Pleasures: Great Lost Albums Rediscovered'' booklet, free with ''Melody Maker'', 1995 [director's cut version] |date=1995}}</ref> David Bennun of ''[[The Quietus]]'' wrote that "Not That Funny" resembles the music of [[Devo]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bennun |first1=David |title=How Fleetwood Mac Invented Goth, By David Bennun |url=https://thequietus.com/articles/21749-fleetwood-mac-rumours-tusk-tango-in-the-night-anniversary-review |website=The Quietus |access-date=8 August 2023 |date=13 February 2017}}</ref> [[Annie Zaleski]] of ''[[The Guardian]]'' has commented that while some of Fleetwood Mac's songwriting peers of the 1960s and 1970s "incorporated dance influences and synthesisers" to varying levels of success, the group's "[[new wave music|new wave]] nod", "Not That Funny", was a "transformative" example.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Zaleski |first1=Annie |title=Joni Mitchell's 80s: how the Canadian songwriter became a fearless, futurist auteur |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/sep/27/joni-mitchells-80s-how-the-canadian-songwriter-became-a-fearless-futurist-auteur |website=The Guardian |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230729031211/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/sep/27/joni-mitchells-80s-how-the-canadian-songwriter-became-a-fearless-futurist-auteur |archive-date=29 July 2023 |date=27 September 2022}}</ref> |
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==Personnel== |
==Personnel== |
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*[[Lindsey Buckingham]] – |
*[[Lindsey Buckingham]] – lead vocal, electric, acoustic, and bass guitars, [[Chamberlin]], drums |
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*[[Christine McVie]] – |
*[[Christine McVie]] – additional vocals |
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*[[John McVie]] – bass guitar |
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*[[Mick Fleetwood]] – drums |
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== References == |
== References == |
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{{authority control}} |
{{authority control}} |
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[[Category:1979 songs]] |
[[Category:1979 songs]] |
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[[Category:1980 singles]] |
[[Category:1980 singles]] |
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[[Category:Songs written by Lindsey Buckingham]] |
[[Category:Songs written by Lindsey Buckingham]] |
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[[Category:Song recordings produced by Ken Caillat]] |
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Ken Caillat]] |
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[[Category:Song recordings produced by Richard Dashut]] |
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Richard Dashut]] |
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[[Category:Warner Records singles]] |
[[Category:Warner Records singles]] |
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[[Category:British new wave songs]] |
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[[Category:American new wave songs]] |
"Not That Funny" | ||||
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![]() | ||||
SinglebyFleetwood Mac | ||||
from the album Tusk | ||||
B-side | "Save Me a Place" | |||
Released | February 1980 (UK)[1] | |||
Recorded | 1979 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:11 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Songwriter(s) | Lindsey Buckingham | |||
Producer(s) | Fleetwood Mac, Richard Dashut, Ken Caillat | |||
Fleetwood Mac singles chronology | ||||
|
"Not That Funny" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1980. Composed and sung by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, it was written as a response to the punk movement in the late 1970s.[3] The song share some lyrics with "I Know I'm Not Wrong", another Buckingham penned song that appeared on the Tusk album.[4]
"Not That Funny" was derived from an unused Buckingham song titled "Needles and Pins", originally recorded in June 1978. "Needles and Pins" later split into two different songs, "Not That Funny" and "I Know I'm Not Wrong", both of which share the "don't blame me" lyrics found in the chorus and the "here comes the nighttime" lyrics found in the bridge.[5]
Buckingham performed his vocal part on the ground in a push-up position to achieve the desired vocal take. He also insisted on recording the vocals in a replica of his own personal bathroom, which was installed in Studio D of the LA Village Recorder. Engineer and co-producer Ken Caillat taped a microphone to the bathroom's tile floor to satisfy Buckingham's request.[6] Buckingham played the song on a Stratocaster guitar and treated the instrument with a variable speed oscillator (VSO). "I just slow the machine down, coming up with a picking part like that, double or triple it and tweak the VSO on either side so that it's slightly out of tune, and the whole thing comes out with all this phasing".[7]
Some of the electric guitars were detuned and recorded at high speed before being slowed down to 30 ips. The electric guitars were also sent through a tape recorder and mixing console to achieve a lower pitched, compressed, and thicker sound. The inverse occurred for the acoustic guitars, which were recorded at a slower speed but sped up with the VSO so that the instrument would resemble a harpsichordormusic box. Buckingham played the acoustic guitars sparingly on the verses but used them more extensively during the bridge and chorus with an eighth and sixteenth note feel.[5]
For the drums, Buckingham layered several tracks of kick and snare drums and overdubbed tom drum fills leading to the vamp. The vocals were tripled, some of which were sung by Christine McVie. Fleetwood Mac engineer Hernán Rojas commented that Buckingham often asked McVie to help out with vocals on his songs due to their vocal blend. Buckingham also played the cello setting on a Chamberlin M1 keyboard to provide additional textures to the rhythm track.[5]
While released as a single in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, "Not That Funny" was not released elsewhere. Instead, the track's B-Side, "Think About Me", was issued as the third single in North America. Like the singles from Fleetwood Mac's 1975 self-titled release, both singles were slightly remixed for radio. While "Think About Me" reached the top 30 in both the US and Canada, "Not That Funny" failed to chart at all. Despite the lack of initial success, the song became a live staple at Fleetwood Mac concerts. Played live, the song took on an entirely new arrangement – stretched out to almost nine minutes frequently, the song showcased Buckingham's guitar playing, John McVie's bass playing and featured a solo spot featuring Mick Fleetwood's drumming. "Not That Funny" has been performed on the Tusk Tour, Mirage tour, The Dance tour, and the Live 2013 tour.[8][9]
For the Tusk tour, the band wanted their keyboard tech, Jeff Sova, to play synthesizers on the song to recreate some of the additional sounds heard on the record. However, this idea was dropped as it was interfering with his stage work. Instead, the only keyboard used on the song was a Yamaha console piano, played by Christine McVie.[10]
"Not That Funny" has generally received positive reception. Stephen Holden, a reviewer for Rolling Stone, compared the production of the track to a beautifully recorded basement tape.[11] Another reviewer from Rolling Stone pointed similarities in the guitar work between "Not That Funny" and a Go Insane track, "Loving Cup".[12] Raoul Hernandez of The Austin Chronicle said that "Not That Funny" perfectly demonstrates Buckingham's ability to craft pop/rock songs, and that it reveals the "staleness" of Rumours.[13] In his review of Tusk for NME, Nick Kent described "Not That Funny" as "a Cajun-style bruising thump-up with a fade-out all too redolent of more White Album idiocies."[14]InRock of Ages: The Rolling Stone History of Rock & Roll, the authors characterised "Not That Funny" as an "anti-pop song that is little more than Buckingham yelling 'Well, it's not that funny, is it?', over and over until his vocal cords fray and shred and finally give way.[15]
Retrospectively, Marcello Carlin of Uncut described it as a "disturbing" song "on which Buckingham’s near-psychotic guitar and vocal screams approach Pere Ubu territory."[16] In his piece for Melody Maker'sUnknown Pleasures guide, Simon Reynolds drew comparison to Faust's "It's a Bit of Pain" (1973), and praised Buckingham's "hornet-in-your-earhole fuzz solo".[17] David Bennun of The Quietus wrote that "Not That Funny" resembles the music of Devo.[18] Annie ZaleskiofThe Guardian has commented that while some of Fleetwood Mac's songwriting peers of the 1960s and 1970s "incorporated dance influences and synthesisers" to varying levels of success, the group's "new wave nod", "Not That Funny", was a "transformative" example.[19]