The song reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and topped the BillboardAdult Contemporary and Rock Tracks charts for four and two weeks, respectively.[1] In the 10 March 1984 edition of Billboard, Paul Grein noted that it was the first time any member of Fleetwood Mac had achieved a number one hit on the Adult Contemporary chart.[2] In 1985, "Got a Hold on Me" received a most-performed-song citation at BMI's 33rd annual award dinner, which commemorated songs licensed by BMI that received heavy airplay in 1984.[3]
Synthesizers on the track were played by Steve Winwood,[1] while the guitars were played by Todd Sharp (the song's co-writer) and McVie's Fleetwood Mac bandmate Lindsey Buckingham.[4] George Hawkins handled some of the song's background vocals.[5] Sharp recalled that he wrote the song with McVie section by section over the course of thirty minutes and had identified the song's commercial viability upon hearing the first verse.[6] McVie stated that the song's subject matter was fictional, saying that "at the time I wrote it, no one did have a hold on me."[7]
The video for the song was produced by Jon Roseman and directed by Mike Brady.[8] Shot in both black-and-white and color, it is a pseudo-performance video showing Christine McVie in a mansion-like room singing at her piano while a backup band appears in silhouette shadows on the walls around her.[9]
Personnel
Christine McVie – lead and backing vocals, keyboards, percussion
