like the army." She motions a jabbing finger at her watch: "It was regimented. The rock'n'roll lifestyle did have its perks but it wasn't all limos and parties in the early days."

Fleetwood Mac in the late 70s.

Yet when the lineup's self-titled first album became a hit, it brought with it money, a jetset lifestyle and ever- increasing tensions in the band. As the group came to record its follow-up, Rumours, both couples in the band found their relationships unravelling.

"We were cool onstage," Nicks says. "But offstage everybody was pretty angry. Most nights Chris and I would just go for dinner on our own, downstairs in the hotel, with security at the door."

As McVie explains: "John and I used to be civil – 'What key is this in? Whatdo you want me to do on this song?' – but Stevie and Lindsey were fighting all the time. Very volatile. Their relationship still is an ongoing battle."

The band had various ways of dealing with the tensions, one of which was through the nostrils. "It wasn't like we woke up one day and everybody had bowls of coke on the tables," Nicks says. "It was a gradual thing."

It was also a glamour thing. In Sausalito, California, where the two women were based during the recording of Rumours, McVie recalls the paraphernalia on offer fondly: "You could go to these shops and buy these little beautiful coke bottles that you wore around your neck – gold, turquoise, all sorts of colours with diamonds and a little spoon. So Stevie