Heart (band)
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| Heart | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Seattle, Washington, USA Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Genre(s) | Rock, hard rock, pop rock, folk rock |
| Years active | 1974 – present |
| Label(s) | Mushroom, Portrait, Epic, Capitol, Sovereign Artists, Sony |
| Website | www.heart-music.com |
| Members | |
| Ann Wilson Nancy Wilson Ben Smith Ric Markmann Debbie Shair Craig Bartock |
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| Former members | |
| See: Members and former members | |
Heart is a rock band that came out of Bellevue (a suburb of Seattle, Washington), and Vancouver, British Columbia. Going through several lineup changes, the only constant members of the group are sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson.[1] The group rose to fame in the 1970s with their music being influenced by hard rock as well as folk music. After diminishing in popularity by the mid-eighties, the band created a major comeback in 1985, experiencing further success with their power ballads throughout the rest of the decade. By the mid-1990s, Heart left their eighties sound and went back to their hard rock roots which they continue to play today. They have sold over 30 million albums worldwide.[2]
Heart was ranked #57 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Origins (1963–1974)
The Wilson sisters grew up in Southern California and Taiwan before their Marine Corps father retired to the Seattle suburbs. After attending college they returned to Seattle, with Nancy working as a folksinger and Ann joining a hitherto-all-male local group in 1970. (This group was formed in 1963 by Steve Fossen and Roger and Mike Fisher as The Army. They later changed their name to White Heart, and shortened it to Heart in 1974.) Upon joining, Ann became Mike Fisher's girlfriend, and when Nancy joined in 1974, she became involved with Fisher's brother, lead guitarist Roger.[citation needed][3]
[edit] Success (1975–1982)
The band moved to Canada. [4] After many one-nighters around their new home of Vancouver the group recorded a demo tape with the assistance of producer Mike Flicker and session guitarist and keyboard player Howard Leese. Soon after, Leese became a full time member of the group. The same team then cut the debut album Dreamboat Annie, which attracted the attention of the newly formed Mushroom Records in 1975, a Vancouver-based label run by Shelly Siegel. Upon release in Canada the album sold an impressive 30,000 copies, no doubt benefitting from Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) Canadian content regulations. In the US Siegel released the album first in Seattle, where it quickly sold another 25,000. With two hit singles - "Crazy on You" (#35, 1976) and "Magic Man" (#9, 1976), - Dreamboat Annie eventually sold over a million copies. Songs of this era can be played on Canadian radio to satisfy CanCon content requirements.
By early 1977, the band was able to return to the United States after President Jimmy Carter granted amnesty to Vietnam draft evaders. By this time Heart had broken its contract with Mushroom Records and signed with CBS' subsidiary Portrait, a move that resulted in a prolonged legal battle with Siegel. In retaliation, he released the partly completed Magazine at the same time that Portrait released Little Queen. A Seattle court ruled that Mushroom had to recall Magazine so that the group could remix several tracks and re-do vocals before re-releasing the disc. (They had wanted the album taken off the market completely.)[citation needed]
Little Queen, with the hit "Barracuda" (#11, 1977), became Heart's second million-seller; Magazine and the double-platinum Dog and Butterfly followed suit in 1978. After the 77-city Dog and Butterfly tour the Wilson-Fisher liaisons ended; Roger was fired from the band and Mike was no longer their manager.[5] Roger Fisher formed his own band in the Seattle area. Longtime guitarist Howard Leese and Nancy took up guitar slack, and her childhood friend Sue Ennis helped out on song collaborations. The group then released Bebe le Strange in 1980.
[edit] Comeback (1983–1990)
Following the release of Private Audition in 1982, Fossen and Derosier left the band. Both Private Audition and 1983's Passionworks, (featuring new bassist Mark Andes and new drummer Denny Carmassi), failed to go gold, putting Heart at a career crossroads.
In 1984, Ann Wilson recorded a duet with Mike Reno of Loverboy called "Almost Paradise". The song was featured on the soundtrack of the movie Footloose and hit number 7 on the pop charts. Then, the group’s first album for Capitol, simply titled Heart (#1, 1985), sold five million copies on the strength of four Top-10 hits: "What About Love?" (#10, 1985), "Never" (#4, 1985), "These Dreams" (#1, 1986), and "Nothin' at All" (#10, 1986). By that time, the group had abandoned their earlier hard-rock aspirations to make slick, radio-friendly pop.
In June 1986, Nancy Wilson married journalist, screenwriter, and director Cameron Crowe; she had made a cameo appearance in his movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High in 1982, as 'Girl in Corvette'. Bad Animals (#2, 1987), too, contained a chart-topper, in the power ballad "Alone", as well as "Who Will You Run To?" (#7, 1987), and "There's the Girl" (#12, 1987).
In 1989, Ann Wilson and Cheap Trick's Robin Zander had a #6 hit with their duet "Surrender to Me." Brigade (#3, 1990) became Heart's sixth multi-platinum LP and added three more Top-25 hits to its catalogue, the most notable of which was "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You".
[edit] 1991–1995
Following a 1990 tour, the Wilson sisters put together an informal acoustic group called The Lovemongers with Sue Ennis and Frank Cox; a four-song EP that included a version of Led Zeppelin's "Battle of Evermore" came out in late 1992, and the quartet performed several times in the Seattle area. The Lovemongers released a full-length album titled Whirlygig in 1997.
When Heart re-emerged with Desire Walks On (#48) in 1993, Mark Andes had left the band and Shuyler Deale played the bass. For the group's subsequent tour, Heart was joined by bassist Fernando Saunders and drummer Denny Fongheiser (replacing Deale and Carmassi). The band offered live acoustic versions of its best-known songs on 1995's The Road Home, which was produced by Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones.
[edit] 1996-2001
The pared-down format echoed Heart's low profile in the late 1990s. Of the two sisters, Nancy kept busier, scoring her husband's movies, Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous, and Elizabethtown, and releasing a solo album ("Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop") in 1999. That same year, she and Ann embarked on a tour of their own, the first time that they had done so.
[edit] 2002-Present
In 2004, the Wilsons released Jupiter's Darling, their first studio album as Heart since 1993. It features a variety of songs that include a return to Heart's original sound, as well as a blend of pop and new textures. Stand-out tracks include "Make Me", "Enough", "Oldest Story In The World" and "Lost Angel".
In 2005, the Wilsons appeared on the CMT Music Awards as a special guest of Gretchen Wilson (no relation), and performed the Heart classic, "Crazy On You" with Gretchen. Heart performed again with Gretchen on VH-1's tribute to the band, Decades Rock Live. The special also featured Alice in Chains, Phil Anselmo, Dave Navarro, Rufus Wainwright and Carrie Underwood.
Heart was honored at the second annual VH1 Rock Honors (24 May 2007), and also performed, along with Ozzy Osbourne, Genesis and ZZ Top. This, along with the inclusion of "Crazy on You" in Guitar Hero II and "Barracuda" in the Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock video game, renewed interest in the band.
In September 2007, Ann released her first solo album Hope & Glory.
Both Nancy Wilson and Roger Fisher are currently writing autobiographies, but no publication dates have yet been mentioned.[6]
Heart appeared on Idol Gives Back on April 9, 2008, with Fergie, who sang Barracuda in harmony with Ann Wilson[7].
[edit] Legacy
In addition to their own recording careers, the Wilson sisters have played a key role on the Seattle music scene. Among the groups who have recorded at their Bad Animals studio are R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Soundgarden and Candlebox (all of whom have cited Heart as a major influence)[citation needed]. Heart's Heart: 20 Years of Rock & Roll was the first CD-ROM multimedia biography/greatest-hits package ever released.
[edit] Controversy
When Dreamboat Annie was released in 1976, rumors spread that the sisters were witches. It was said that the album's hit, "Magic Man", was about Satan's seduction of a child.[8] It was also rumored at the time that "Magic Man" was a reference to cult-leader Charles Manson.[citation needed] In a 2002 interview Ann Wilson stated that the song was autobiographical; she was the young girl and Mike Fisher, her first love, was the "Magic Man".[citation needed]
In 1977 Heart's record label, Mushroom Records, is said to have started a rumor that Ann and Nancy were lesbian lovers. The label ran a full page ad in Rolling Stone showing the sisters bare-shouldered and suggestively captioned, "It was only our first time". When a reporter suggested, backstage after a live appearance, that the sisters were sex partners, Ann returned to her hotel room and wrote the lyrics to "Barracuda" to relieve her frustration.[5] The song became one of Heart's biggest hits.
[edit] Members and former members
| Artist | Instrument(s) | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Mike Fisher | Guitar, Engineer, Producer, Manager[9] | 1963–1974[10] |
| Roger Fisher | Guitar (Lead Guitar) | 1963–1979[10] |
| Steve Fossen | Electric Bass | 1963–1982[10] |
| John Hannah | Keyboards | 1970-1974[11] |
| Brian Johnstone | Drums | 1970-1974[11] |
| Ann Wilson | Vocals (Lead Vocals, Backing Vocals, Harmony Vocals), Flute | 1970–present[11] |
| Nancy Wilson | Guitar (Acoustic Guitars, Electric Guitars, Lead Guitar), Mandolin, Vocals, Piano[12] | 1974–present |
| Michael Derosier | Drums | 1975–1982 |
| Howard Leese | Guitar, Keyboards, Synthesizer, Backing Vocals | 1975–1997 |
| Mark Andes | Electric Bass | 1982–1993 |
| Denny Carmassi | Drums | 1982–1993 |
| Schuyler Deale | Electric Bass | 1993 |
| John Purdell | Keyboards | 1993 |
| Denny Fongheiser | Drums | 1994–1995 |
| Fernando Saunders | Electric Bass | 1994–1995 |
| Scott Olson | Guitar | 2002 |
| Tom Kellock | Keyboards | 2002 |
| Ben Smith | Drums | 2002–present |
| Mike Inez | Electric Bass | 2002–2006 |
| Gilby Clarke | Guitar | 2003 |
| Darian Sahanaja | Keyboards | 2003–2004 |
| Craig Bartock | Guitar | 2004–present |
| Debbie Shair | Keyboards & Synthesizers | 2004–present |
| Ric Markmann | Electric Bass | 2006–present |
[edit] Discography
- For a complete list of Heart albums and singles, see Heart discography.
[edit] Heart songs in other media
- For lists of cover versions of individual songs, and of their appearances in other media, refer to the individual pages of the songs themselves. (A list of Heart's songs pages appears at Category:Heart songs.)
Appearances in other media of Heart's songs without their own pages include:
- "No Other Love" is featured in The L Word season 2 (2005).
- "The Heat" is featured in the 1984 movie Up the Creek.
[edit] See also
[edit] References and Notes
- ^ Although Ann & Nancy are the only constant members, Howard Leese played guitars, keyboards, synthesizers and provided backing vocals for 22 years from 1975 to 1997.
- ^ To quote http://www.heart-music.com/bio/bio.asp, they have "to date, yielded sales of well over thirty million albums, with over twenty Top 40 hits and live shows that sell out stadiums whenever and wherever [they perform]".
- ^ The original band was called "Army", without the "The", and played for several years in and around the Bothell, Washington area (North and East of Seattle). They frequently played Bothell High School, Inglemoor High School, Shorecrest High School, as well as many tavern and club venues, and, if memory serves, the "Aquarius Ballroom" - known in the early 1970's as "Parkers Ballroom" (Noted for Marilee Rush and The Turnabouts - who played frequently there on Fridays). Army subsequently changed their name to White Hart (from "Tales From The White Hart" - a collection of short stories by noted Author [the Late] Arthur C. Clarke), and later on, changed the spelling to "Heart". The original band, Army, was very well known in the Bothell - Seattle music scene, along with contemporaries "Stoneman's Cavalry"(Bill Jung's band), "Calliope" (Danny O'Keefe's band), "The Daily Flash", "Adam Wind", "Witness", "Kidd Afrika", and many, many more. The Seattle bands of the 1970's often played at Gold Creek Park, in Woodinville, Washington, an ice-skating arena, converted by owner Chick Dawsey, into a domed concert arena, noted for excellent acoustics. Noted artists performing there included the Allman Brothers.[citation needed]
- ^ The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia: Heart. Canoe/Jam. Retrieved on 2006-09-11.
- ^ a b Refer to the episode of VH1 Behind the Music which follows the career of "the first sisters of Rock & Roll". More information about this episode can be found at - Heart episode
- ^ Roger Fisher discusses forthcoming autobiographies being written by Nancy Wilson and by himself.
- ^ www.americanidol.com/idolgivesback/
- ^ Heart, Dreamboat Annie 1976. Retrieved on 2007-07-18.
- ^ Other than being Roger Fisher's brother and, for a period, Ann Wilson's "boyfriend", it is difficult to verify Mike Fisher's role in the band. Prior to Nancy Wilson joining, he was guitarist for The Army and White Heart. It appears that Nancy took over his role as guitarist, and he ceased his role as a musician, taking on one or more of the role of engineer, producer and manager. There are no musical credits for him on any of the Heart albums. For example, on the Dreamboat Annie album sleeve, he is credited as "Special Direction". In the VH1 Behind the Music interview, Ann refers to him as the group's manager, but there is no other supporting evidence. In an entry dated 22 March 2008 on Roger Fisher's "Questions & Replies" page (http://www.rogerfisher.com/qr.html), in response to the question "I've often wondered how Ann & Nancy wound up with the name Heart when it was your band in the first place?", Roger replies: "The answer is detailed in my book. In a nutshell, when brother Mike was happily with Ann, and Nance and I were happily together, the Heart Partnership was formed. Mike and I, in our wisdom, insisted the girls be given 51% of the rights in the partnership.
- ^ a b c Member of The Army and White Heart 1963–74
- ^ a b c Member of The Army and White Heart 1970-74
- ^ Nancy Wilson also played piano (e.g. On "Raised on You" from 1980's Bebe Le Strange)
[edit] External links
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