1983 Stevie Nicks – Stand Back (US: #5)

“Stand Back“ is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks from her 1983 album The Wild Heart. It was released as the first single from the album on May 19, 1983, and went to number five on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and number two on the U.S. Top Rock Tracks chart in August of that year.

The song has been a staple in Nicks’ live shows since its pre-album debut at the US Festival in May 1983, and it has also been included in Fleetwood Mac tour set lists since 1987.

Stevie Nicks has often told the story of how she wrote the song. She wrote it on the day of her marriage to Kim Anderson on January 29, 1983. The newlyweds were driving up to San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara when Prince’s song “Little Red Corvette” came on the radio. Nicks started humming along to the melody, especially inspired by the lush synthesizers of the song, and “Stand Back” was born. They stopped and got a tape recorder and she recorded the demo in the honeymoon suite that night. Later, when Nicks went into the studio to record the song, she called Prince and told him the story of how she wrote the song to his melody. He came to the studio that night and played synthesizers on it, although his contribution is uncredited on the album. Then, she says, “he just got up and left as if the whole thing happened in a dream.”