We tend to think of yacht rock as a West Coast thing, but some Southern artists were able to invade that smooth-sounding territory a time or two in the late 1970s. The Atlanta Rhythm Section did just that with the song “Imaginary Lover,” a Top-10 U.S. hit in 1978.
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If you insist that your yacht rock needs to be California-based, it turns out that “Imaginary Lover” indirectly fits the bill. Blame an absent-minded DJ, who briefly and unwittingly turned the song into a Fleetwood Mac lost classic.
From Studio Pros to Headlining Shows
You can consider the Atlanta Rhythm Section more of a musical collective than your typical band. In addition to those playing the instruments, each of whom originally had been utilized as session players at Georgia’s Studio One, there were behind-the-scenes backers who helped to steer their musical activity.
Chief among these was Buddy Buie, who earned success in the ’60s as a pop songwriter and also owned Studio One. Buie turned into the producer and chief songwriter for the ARS, from their leaner years at the start of the ’70s to the second half of the decade, when their Southern soul roots were combined with slicker rock grooves to help them bust down the pop charts.
“Imaginary Lover” is probably their best-known track, and the band has always been cagey about its inspiration. (It was written by Buie and ARS members Dean Daughtry and Robert Nix.) While you could take it literally and say it’s about a made-up sexual partner, it’s likely that the band was referencing masturbation in the lyrics.
That Sounds like Stevie!
“Imaginary Lover” received some unusual publicity right around the time of its 1978 release. The catalyst was a radio station DJ who received a promotional copy of the band’s album Champagne Jam, which included the song. One night, he decided to give “Imaginary Lover” a spin.
The only problem was the record player was set at 45 speed, instead of 33. That meant the track was sped up as it played live for listeners. In a strange twist of fate, the lead vocals of ARS’s Ronnie Hammond sounded, when quickened, just like those of Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac. When audience members heard the song, they began requesting the new Fleetwood Mac tune, and, for a while, the DJ obliged.
The Mac were actually in between albums at the time, only just beginning to conjure some demos for Tusk, which would be released in 1980. Nicks heard about the similarity, tried it herself, and was stunned. As a lark, she even played it for bandmate Christine McVie, who was fooled into thinking it was one of Stevie’s own.
Behind the Lyrics of “Imaginary Lover”
“Imaginary Lover” goes heavy on the innuendo, suggesting Hammond was singing about self-pleasure. The fact the track is quite sultry and mysterious only plays into the notion. When he sings, It’s my private pleasure / Midnight fantasy, it’s hard to draw any other conclusion.
There is a little bit of heartbreak playing about at the edges of the narrative as well. After all, the only reason that the guy in the song needs to go this route is because his real-life trysts always fail him: Imaginary lovers never turn you down / When all the others turn you away, they’re around. The alternative has left him cold: When ordinary lovers don’t feel what you feel / And real-life situations lose their thrill.
Atlanta Rhythm Section soon fell off from those commercial heights, but they remain an active touring outfit to this day. Their biggest hit indulged in a bit of slyness in terms of its message. What the band couldn’t have foreseen is “Imaginary Lover,” thanks to the flip of a switch, would enjoy a strange, if brief, parallel life.
Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images
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