Today’s classic song of the day is a late-70s track with a heavy Fleetwood Mac connection. The song is “Magnet and Steel” by Walter Egan; when it was released in March of 1978, this one-hit wonder reached #8 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #9 on the Cash Box Top 100.
Walter Egan is a New York boy who went to college at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. He started playing guitar and writing songs in 1965, picking up gigs around the Georgetown area and forming a band called Sageworth. When that band broke up, he somehow hooked up with the Fleetwood Mac gang and got Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks to produce his first album, 1977’s Fundamental Roll. His second album, Not Shy, came out the following year and contained “Magnet and Steel.” (Buckingham played guitar and Nicks sang backup on that track.)
Egan says that “Magnet and Steel” was influenced by working (and being infatuated) with Stevie Nicks:
“On the night when Stevie did the background vocals for my song ‘Tunnel o’ Love,’ my nascent amorous feelings toward her came into a sharper focus—I was smitten by the kitten, as they say. It was on my drive home at 3 a.m. from Van Nuys to Pomona that I happened to be behind a metal-flake-blue Continental with ground effects and a diamond window in back. I was inspired by the car’s license plate: ‘Not Shy.’ By the time I pulled into my driveway I had formulated the lyrics and come up with the magnet metaphor. From there the song was finished in 15 minutes.”
“Magnet and Steel” was probably the last most of us heard from Walter Egan, but he continued to be active in the music industry. He’s released more than two dozen albums and at least as many singles over the years, with his most recent album, Cleveland Rocks, currently in production.
So let’s end with today’s daily bonus video of the day, the official music video for Walter Egan’s “Magnet and Steel” from back in 1978. No Lindsey or Stevie in the video, though.
