Heart, The #76 Artist of the Rock Era, Part One

 "Heart is great...epic!"

"Their music is awesome--one of my favorite bands."

"The group pursued their dreams with talent, energy and passion."

"Heart's songs are magical."

"Amazing talent.  Just pure talent."

"Simply one of the best of all-time."

"Great songs that have substance and lyrics."

"Legendary Rock group."

"Heart really is magic, man."

"Big fan of the legendary Heart."



At #76, superstars that have been at or near the top of the world for four decades.

Guitarist Nancy Wilson told Believer magazine that the moment she and Ann wanted to be rock stars was when they tuned into The Ed Sullivan Show one night:


     The lightning bolt came out of the heavens

       and struck Ann and me the first time we saw 

       the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. 

       My family was living on the marine base in

      Camp Pendleton, California, and we’d

     all gathered around the little black-and-white

      TV at our  grandmother’s in La Jolla.  Most 

      people didn’t have color sets at home back

      then. 

     There’d been so much anticipation and hype

      about the Beatles that it was a huge event,

      like the lunar landing:  that was the moment 

     Ann and I heard the call to become rock                                     musicians. I was seven or eight at the time.

In 1967, bassist Steve Fossen and guitarist Roger Fisher formed a group called The Army and played local gigs near Bothell, Washington.  The group experienced several lineup changes and changed their name to White Heart.  In 1970, they shortened their name to Heart briefly but after lead singer Ann Wilson joined, the band renamed themselves Hocus Pocus.

Mike Fisher, Roger's brother, was drafted into the U.S. military but moved to Canada.  One day when he crossed back into the United States, he met Ann at a Hocus Pocus show.  The two fell in love and Ann followed Mike back to Canada.  Soon, Fossen graduated and decided to move to Canada as well in 1972 and Roger followed shortly after.

The group Heart officially formed with Ann's sister Nancy joining in 1974, and it was not long before Nancy fell in love with Roger.  Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Heart enlisted the help of producer Mike Flicker and session guitarist and keyboardist Howard Leese to record a demo.  Leese soon became a full-time member of the group and Mike Derosier joined as a drummer.  

 

 Heart recorded their debut album at Can-Base Studios.  The investors who backed the studio also financed Mushroom Records.  Dreamboat Annie was released in 1976 and did so well in Canada that it was released in the United States, where it jumped to #7 on the Album chart.  The lead single, "Magic Man" rocketed to #6 in Australia, #8 in the Netherlands and #9 in the U.S.

Dreamboat Annie has gone Platinum and includes the classic "Crazy On You", one of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era* with a peak of only #35.

 

The title song is also underrated at #42.

 

 And, "Sing Child" is a Top Track*.

Mushroom bought a full page advertisement in Rolling Stone magazine showing the bare-shouldered Wilson sisters with the caption, "It was only our first time!".  When a reporter questioned the sisters if they were sex partners after a performance, Ann was so furious she went to her hotel room and wrote the song "Barracuda", and Heart broke its contract with Mushroom to sign with Portrait Records. 

This led to an extended court battle.  Mushroom released the album Magazine, which was only partially finished, in 1977.  A Seattle judge forced Mushroom to recall the album until Heart could remix tracks and add new vocals, and the album was re-released in 1978.

Meanwhile, Heart released the album Little Queen in 1977, and "Barracuda" became a big hit, despite its #11 ranking by Billboard in the U.S., a #2 smash in Canada.

Little Queen has outsold Dreamboat Annie (Triple Platinum compared to Platinum), even though Dreamboat Annie is a better album.  Some of the artists in The Top 100 for the Rock Era* have several hits and some worthy album tracks.  Heart had both the hits and the great album tracks.  The title track of Little Queen is one such example.

 

And, with a peak of #79, "Kick It Out" is one of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.

 

To capitalize on Heart's success, Mushroom released the single "Heartless" from Magazine, a #18 hit in Canada and #24 in the United States.

 

Heart performed at the first Texxas Jam in 1978 in Dallas, Texas before 100,000 people.  Later in the year, the group released their album Dog and Butterfly.  "Straight On" is another underrated tune, #14 in Canada and #15 in the U.S.

 

The album went Double Platinum, but the title song is yet another of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs*, with a peak of just #34.

However both Wilson-Fisher romantic relationships ended;  Roger was voted out of the band and Mike departed within a month after that.  The group carried on, but it was obvious to most that despite the best efforts of Nancy and Leese, Heart sorely missed the guitar wizardry of Roger in the years to come.

 

In 1980, Heart released the album Bebe le Strange, a #5 album that contained the #33 song "Even It Up".  Bebe le Strange was the first album not to reach Platinum status, though it did go Gold.

 

Heart released the double album Greatest Hits/Live, #13 on the Album chart, which contained their singles as well as some outstanding live tracks.  The group promoted the album with a 77-city tour and achieved what the charts said was their biggest hit to date (the #8 "Tell It Like It Is", even though only a novice would say it was better than either "Crazy On You", "Magic Man" or "Barracuda".

 

The album sold over two million copies.  This is the group's amazing cover of "Unchained Melody" by the Righteous Brothers.  

 

Years later, Ann and Nancy told of their love of Led Zeppelin and how they set out to become the female version of Robert Plant and Jimmy Page.  Heart remade "Rock And Roll" from their idols.

Heart's story continues in next post!