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Not That Funny: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 12:38, 6 November 2023

"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]

Background

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.^[4] 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".^[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.^[6]

For the Tusk tour, the band wanted their keyboard tech, Jeff Sova, to play synthesizers on the song in order 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.^[7]

Critical reception

"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.^[8] Another reviewer from Rolling Stone pointed similarities in the guitar work between "Not That Funny" and a Go Insane track, "Loving Cup".^[9] 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.^[10] 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."^[11]

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."^[12] 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".^[13] David Bennun of The Quietus wrote that "Not That Funny" resembles the music of Devo.^[14] 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.^[15]

Personnel

• Lindsey Buckingham – guitars, vocals, keyboards
• Christine McVie – piano
• John McVie – bass guitar
• Mick Fleetwood – drums

References