Happy 45th: Fleetwood Mac, HEROES ARE HARD TO FIND

45 years ago this month, Fleetwood Mac released their ninth studio album, an LP which proved to be the last time the band would feature Bob Welch within their lineup.

Produced by the band and Bob Hughes, HEROES ARE HARD TO FIND hadn’t yet found the band burning up the American charts in a significant manner, but from a commercial standpoint, Fleetwood Mac were nonetheless riding higher than they’d ever ridden up to that point in their career, climbing to #34 on the Billboard 200. It might’ve even managed to rise a few more spots if the LP had delivered a hit single, but the title track was the only song from the album that made it onto a 45, and it didn’t even so much as chart.

(We would humbly submit that things might’ve gone differently if they’d opted to release “She’s Changing Me” instead. Then again, it’s really easy for us to play Monday Morning Quarterback when the Sunday in question happened 45 years prior.)

Of course, any annoyances the band may have had about the lack of a proper hit from HEROES ARE HARD TO FIND were likely forgotten with the next album, but that’s what adding Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks to your lineup will do for a band. As for Welch, he found solo success not long after leaving, thanks to singles like “Sentimental Lady” (a re-recording of a song he first recorded with Fleetwood Mac, of course) and “Ebony Eyes,” so it was a happy ending for everyone.