‘Tusk’ by Fleetwood Mac – Classic Hit or Miss

"Tusk" is a song by Fleetwood Mac from the 1979 double LP of the same name. The song reached #8 on the U.S. charts, #6 in the U.K. and #3 in Australia and Canada. It was one of the first songs to be released using a digital mixdown from an original analog source.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. Producers Richard Dashut and Ken Caillat hence created a drum-driven production.

The single was recorded live together with the supporting video at Dodger Stadium (without an audience) in Los Angeles, California in collaboration with the University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band. The performance was also filmed for the song's music video. 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.

The band's part would both set a record for the highest number of musicians performing on a single and earn the marching musicians a platinum disc. Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood presented it to the Trojan band on October 4, 1980 during a game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, this time in front of a huge crowd.

The single was released with two different picture sleeves in many territories: The first featured the black and white picture of a dog 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 very limited promotional 12-inch version, featuring mono and stereo versions, was also released to US radio stations