By now this sort of passed-over obscurity ought to be an unsurprising discovery to anyone still following my extensive peer into every facet of Christine McVie’s discography.
Danny Douma, Robbie Patton, Billy Burnette — these largely forgotten singer-songwriters all crossed her path at some point too, and in most cases wound up sharing credits on McVie hits. So it is with this fellow, Todd Sharp, who’d been lingering on the fringe of Fleetwood Mac circles since his time playing in Bob Welch’s band and contributing to Mick Fleetwood’s Zoo.
That led to co-authoring the first two peppy singles off Christine’s self-titled solo LP from ’84: the feel-good ‘Got a Hold on Me,’ which cracked the Top 10, and the album’s leadoff track, ‘Love Will Show Us How,’ stalling at No. 30 that spring.
As happened with Patton, such assists spurred reciprocation. Two years later, when Sharp cut his appropriately titled MCA debut Who Am I, McVie was on hand to contribute backing vocals. Audibly evident in harmonies for ‘I Don’t Want to Leave You,’ among other tunes, she gets equal billing on the duet ‘We Were Lonely.’
Her involvement didn’t do much for Sharp’s sales; his bid for stardom sank with scarce traces. Had his disc dropped closer to hers, he might have had a chance. By ’86, however, the MTV landscape was rapidly changing: rap was asserting its influence, hair metal was about to be all the rage, and underground rock was gradually rising up to become Alternative Nation.
Not ideal timing for a record that at its best reminds of Richard Marx fronting early Crowded House. Bet I could fool a Neil Finn fan into thinking it’s a rarity if I spun ‘I’ll Never Let You Go’ between ‘Something So Strong’ and ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over.’
Sharp didn’t make another album for 16 years while continuing to work with Rod Stewart, Bonnie Raitt, Steve Winwood and a dozen other famous names. He’s now perhaps best known for his highly regarded line of Todd Sharp Amplifiers, launched in 2016.