You’ve heard the song. That weird, tribal thumping that sounds like a jungle fever dream. It’s "Tusk." But the story behind how Fleetwood Mac with USC marching band Tusk became a reality is way weirder than the track itself.
Honestly, it shouldn't have worked.
In 1979, Fleetwood Mac was the biggest band on the planet. Rumours had sold about 15 million copies by that point. They were swimming in cash, cocaine, and interpersonal drama that would make a soap opera writer blush. Most bands would have just made Rumours 2. But Lindsey Buckingham was, in the words of co-producer Ken Caillat, acting like a "maniac." He wanted something raw. Something bizarre.
The Leg of Lamb and the Empty Stadium
Mick Fleetwood had this vision. He’d been in Europe and heard a brass band marching through a town square. He loved the way the sound moved—the physical weight of it. He decided right then that a regular studio horn section wouldn't cut it. He needed the Spirit of Troy. Specifically, the University of Southern California (USC) Trojan Marching Band.
But you don't just record a 112-piece marching band in a cramped studio.
On a random, sunny Sunday in June 1979, the band headed to an empty Dodger Stadium. They didn't even have to pay for the venue, thanks to a connection with Dodgers player Ron Cey. It was a surreal scene. Imagine 112 college kids in full regalia, a film crew, and the world's most famous rock stars standing on the grass.
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John McVie wasn't even there. He was in Tahiti. To "fill his spot," Mick Fleetwood carried around a life-size cardboard cutout of him all day. You can actually see the cutout in the music video if you look closely.
Recording the Chaos
Lindsey Buckingham had been experimenting with "found sounds" for the track. We're talking about him slapping a leg of lamb with a spatula to get a specific percussive thwack. He also taped microphones to the floor and recorded himself doing push-ups while singing to get a strained vocal tone.
Recording the USC band was a technical nightmare.
- The band had to march while playing to keep time.
- Ken Caillat used shotgun microphones to catch the sound as they moved.
- They were paid $1 each for the session.
- The final track is a "cut-and-paste" job of various takes.
The result? A wall of sound that felt like a riot. It was tribal. It was avant-garde. It was the most expensive rock album ever made at the time, costing over $1.4 million. In today’s money, that’s about $6 million for a double LP that many critics at the time thought was a huge mistake.
Why It Still Matters in 2026
Fast forward to today. Fleetwood Mac with USC marching band Tusk isn't just a classic rock trivia fact; it's a legacy. The USC Trojan Marching Band is still the only collegiate band with two platinum records because of this collaboration (the other was for The Dance in 1997).
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In November 2025, Mick Fleetwood actually showed up at a USC game. He was 78 years old, wearing a golden Corinthian helmet, banging on a drum kit at halftime. The crowd went nuts. It’s basically USC’s unofficial fight song now. Every time they play it, the stadium feels like it’s vibrating.
What people get wrong is thinking this was just a marketing stunt. It wasn't. It was a middle finger to the industry. Warner Bros. was terrified. They wanted another "Dreams" or "Go Your Own Way." Instead, they got a song where someone yells "Tusk!" (which was apparently a slang term the band used for... well, use your imagination) and a marching band blaring through the chorus.
The Technical Weirdness
If you listen to the intro, you hear people talking. That’s actually a loop of about a dozen people from the Dodger Stadium session. The engineers, including Hernán Rojas, even snuck in some Chilean profanities like "Puta la cagó." It’s a chaotic masterpiece of 24-track tape loops and analog grit.
Stevie Nicks famously learned to twirl a baton in high school, a skill she busted out for the video. She later called the recording session "one of the big five experiences of my life." While the album Tusk didn't match the 40-million-plus sales of Rumours, it sold 4 million copies and became a "musician's favorite." It’s the album that influenced bands like Tame Impala and Radiohead decades later.
Real Talk: How to Appreciate the Sound
If you want to actually "hear" the USC band's contribution properly, you have to ditch the cheap earbuds.
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- Find the 1979 Original Mix: The "Super Deluxe" versions are great, but the original vinyl mix has a specific warmth where the brass feels like it’s hitting you in the chest.
- Watch the Video: Look for the moment at 1:14 where Stevie starts twirling. It’s pure, unscripted joy.
- Listen for the Loop: The drum beat is a 15-second loop of tape that ran across the room and around a microphone stand to keep it taut. It never changes. It’s hypnotic.
The collaboration was a "sublime marriage of two completely different worlds," as Buckingham once said. It proved that rock and roll didn't have to stay in the studio. Sometimes, you need 112 horn players and an empty baseball stadium to find the soul of a song.
Actionable Insights for Music Fans:
- Check out "The Dance" (1997) version: Compare the Dodger Stadium recording to the live version they did for their reunion. The energy is different, but the USC band still brings that "wall of sound" power.
- Explore the "Alternative Tusk" release: If you want to hear the tracks before they were polished, the Record Store Day "Alternative Tusk" provides a raw look at Lindsey's home-studio experiments.
- Support the Spirit of Troy: The USC band continues to be a powerhouse in the music world, having performed with everyone from Beyoncé to Olivia Rodrigo. Their history is literally the history of Los Angeles pop culture.
There is no "clean" version of this story. It was messy, expensive, and fueled by a band trying to outrun their own success. But every time that brass kicks in at the end of the song, you realize they were right. Nothing else sounds like it.
Next Steps for Your Playlist: Go listen to the title track of Tusk on a high-fidelity system or good headphones. Pay attention to the layering of the brass—notice how it doesn't just sit in the background but moves across the stereo field. Once you’ve done that, watch the 1979 music video to spot the cardboard cutout of John McVie. It’s a masterclass in how to be a rock star when you’ve completely lost your mind.