I came across this song in an 80′s compilation on You Tube for today’s entry. I listened to Stevie a lot in college, especially during my junior year. I always seemed to latch onto an artist each year because their music described whatever I was going through at the time. As a result, this was definitely a Stevie year. This track reminded me of a guy I dated for a couple months. He had way too many problems and it was the beginning of a destructive time for me. After things finally ended, all I can remember is listening to this song a lot. I think it described him well.
Stand Back was released as a single in May of 1983 from her second album, The Wild Heart. It went to #5 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and to #2 on the US Top Rock Tracks. Today it has become a staple at her concerts as well as in her Fleetwood Mac shows. It still receives substantial radio play.
Stevie wrote the the lyrics shortly after getting married. She and her husband were driving to Santa Barbara when Prince’s “Little Red Corvette” came on the radio. Nicks was so inspired by the songs uses of the synthesizers, she started writing Stand Back and recorded a demo that night. She later brought it to the recording studio and told Prince how much his song had inspired her. As a result, he came by the studio and added some beats and left soon after. Stevie once described it, “He just got up and left as if the whole thing happened in a dream.”
As a random side note, Jimmy Iovine produced this album. If you watch American Idol, Nicks and Iovine were reunited this year when she came in as a mentor for the contestants.
