Rich Engler

Half an hour before going on stage at the Academy of Music in New York City, for the first time ever, Elmer loses his voice.

Cliff insists that the band go on and play anyway without Elmer.

After limbering up with some karate moves, Cliff goes on stage to address the increasingly hostile crowd.

He takes the microphone and calls for silence.

Cliff Davis claimed to own the rights to the band name Fleetwood Mac, which meant, in his mind, he could put anybody he wanted on stage and call them Fleetwood Mac.

Elmer watches from the sidelines as the band is forced to take the stage and play a 45-minute instrumental set.

And he starts to realize something.

Across the pond, Mick Fleetwood has started giving statements to the press, saying things like... We're the real Fleetwood Mac, yeah, for sure.

Mick Fleetwood practically signed them up to do this tour, and now they're stuck.

Cliff is already forging ahead after the NYC show.

To keep the band out of legal trouble, he renamed them.

They're now the new Fleetwood Mac.

But the bad press continues to follow them wherever they go.

Articles calling the band members phony, faceless, masquerading unknowns.

As the band moves west, gigs start to get canceled left and right.

People call in complaining, asking for refunds.

The Deputy Attorney General of Idaho even files a lawsuit after their show.

At one show, they lose power.

The new Fleetwood Mac shares stages and holds their own against rock legends like Kiss, Leonard Skinner, Joe Walsh.

Sure, there are the occasional boos and people shouting, where's Mick?