Tag: pop music

This batch is a pretty interesting mix, including a classic, a new song released on a live album, a Heart song that they re-recorded themselves, a cover song originally performed by another favorite artist of mine, and two title tracks, one of which if from a controversial album. As we crack the Top 25, there’s quite a mix of songs, but more and more of the classic Heart hits will soon start to show up.

#25 Magazine – Magazine (1977/1978)
written by Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson

After the huge success of Dreamboat Annie, Heart began recording songs for their follow-up album. However the band had a major falling out with their record label, Mushroom Records, over an offensive full-page ad that the company ran in Rolling Stone Magazine (it was eventually to become the inspiration for the song Barracuda.) Recording sessions for the new album stopped after the band and their label were unsuccessful in re-negotiating their contract, with only five unfinished songs recorded. While keeping the group under contract, Mushroom was not interested in releasing a second Heart album. The band’s producer, Mike Flicker ended his relationship with Mushroom. Their contract stipulated that Flicker would be the producer of all Heart recordings, so the band took the position that since Mushroom was unable to provide the services of Flicker they would be free to sign with another label.

The change in labels prompted another legal battle between Heart and Mushroom Records, who were suddenly very eager to release a second Heart album. Still in possession of the five unfinished studio recordings, as well as unreleased live tracks recorded in 1975, Mushroom had them remixed by the band’s recording engineer, but without the presence of any group members, and released the album without the band’s permission in the Spring of 1977, at the same time Heart was in the studio with Portrait Records preparing the Little Queen album. Unhappy with the unpolished studio performances and the inclusion of the live recordings, the group took Mushroom to court to have the 1977 release of Magazine removed from the market. The Seattle court ruled that Mushroom had to recall the album, but the terms of the settlement required that Heart provide a second album for Mushroom. Heart chose to fulfill this obligation by finishing the previously released songs to a quality of their satisfaction. The official version of Magazine was released in 1978 (after Little Queen), and despite the troubled past, the album climbed to #17 on Billboard’s Top 200 albums.

The title track of the album is a great song that I call Heart channeling early Elton John, both musically, and lyrically. The story, reminiscent of the Carpenters’ hit, Superstar tells the story of a young girl who falls in love with a rock & roll star she sees in a magazine and never moves past it to develop her own relationships, believing that the two will eventually be together.

I love the dreamy, nostalgic feel of the verses, and who it contrasts with the funky groove of the chorus. You will see this funk rock feel underlying many of my favorite Heart songs that appear higher up on this list. The song also features some beautiful interplay between Nancy’s acoustic and Roger Fisher’s electric guitars, with added layering with some fantastic piano work from Howard Leese. As always, drummer Michael Derosier adds some terrific fills and creative beats to bring the whole thing together. Ann’s vocals are gorgeous, of course; more subdued for the most part until she really lets look on the third verse. Also, the attitude she tosses around in the chorus is fantastic. I also want to mention the really great background vocals supplied by Ann, Nancy and Howard, a staple of the band that is often overlooked. They really augment Howard’s nifty synthesizer solo as well. I’ve included the studio version from the 1978 release, as well as a live version that’s fun to listen to.

#24 Little Queen – Little Queen (1977)
written by Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Roger Fisher, Michael DeRosier, Howard Leese, Steve Fossen

And now we get to the album Little Queen, the first album by Heart I experienced, and in many ways, the one that I measure all others by. This is the album that spoke to my geeky fantasy-reader, fanboy, but it also satisfied by need for some kick-ass rock & roll. It also touched the burgeoning teen-aged romantic in me.

For this seminal album’s first appearance in the top 40 we go straight to the title track. (Funny story, I used to get so confused about Heart and Queen, because the radio were playing Heart’s Little Queen, and Queen’s Killer Queen at the same time. Too many queen’s out there!) Little Queen is an interesting song, a mid-tempo rocker with that funky undertone that I mentioned earlier. There’s a fantastic swagger to this song, and it just underscores the ground-breaking nature of these incredibly talented women taking hold of rock & roll and making it their own. Highlighting Ann’s vocals, as well it should, the song allowed her to play of the chunky, open, 70’s guitar work beautifully. It would be remiss of me to not mention Michael DeRosier’s incredible drumming — it adds so much, and honestly, I only started to notice it consciously when i was listening to these songs again to prepare for this list. Then there’s that great change-up midway through the song, were everything slows down and Ann lets loose vocally buoyed by the Nancy and Howard’s backing support before jamming back into the main grove to close things up.

Lyrically, the song seems quasi-biographical, telling the story of a woman thrust into the spotlight, and uncertain about how she feels about it. At the same time, she knows that fame is fleeting and she needs to make her mark while she can. It’s a great song, lyrically, with lines like, “Always running after time, catching your fancy with rhyme, shining on the front page again,” and “Your crown was tight and heavy on your head, but still you danced and you sang, all night he telephone rang, and music kept on playing from your pen.” I love the use of the second person point of view too. While early Hearts songs did have a twinge of adolescent female romanticism, Ann’s world-view and experience was changing with their success and her lyrics were maturing as well.

Little Queen was released as the follow-up single to Barracuda, but it didn’t do as well, peaking at #62 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Below is the studio version lifted from the album, as well as a kick-ass live version from California Jam 2 that features an extended, two-minute intro featuring some lovely electric and acoustic guitar interplay before kicking into the jam..

#23 Sweet Darlin’ – Bebe le Strange / Beautiful Broken (1980/2016)
written by Ann Wilson

On Bebe le Strange each of the Wilson sisters took a turn pretty much writing and performing a song of their own, a bit of a symbol of their taking over complete creative control of their music after the departure of Michael and Roger Fisher, who they were each involve with creatively and romantically for years. Nancy came up with the bluesy piano number, Raised On You which came in at #39 on this list, while Ann offered a gorgeous piano ballad called Sweet Darlin’, the highest charting song from Bebe le Strange to appear on my list. The song was an all-female production, with Ann, Nancy, and Sue Ennis on acoustic guitars, but Ann handled everything else, including all vocals, bass guitar, piano, alto flute, and drums. I love how the alto flute sounds like a keyboard in the bridge.

The original version is pretty straight-forward and simple, highlighting Ann’s gorgeous vocals. In 2016, for Heart’s latest studio album, Beautiful Broken, the band offered a few new songs, and reworked some of their older songs for a new audience. This version of Sweet Darlin’ has more complex instrumentation, and was inspired, I think, by a live recording the band did with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall, adding some gorgeous, sweeping strings, and turning it into more of a band, rather than a solo performance. I actually love both versions very much, and couldn’t beside between the two, but I love how the original is earnest and sweet, while the recent recording reflects the maturity and wisdom the band no doubt feels after nearly 40 years had past.

I’ve included three videos for this song. Naturally the original version from Bebe le Strange is represented, as is the re-recording from Beautiful Broken. The video version was recorded live back in 1980, which was a lovely treat, as Ann really shows her stuff vocally while playing the piano. This woman can sing… and write a damn good song too.

#22 (Up On) Cherry Blossom Road – The Road Home (1995)
written by Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Amy Sky

Here’s a curious one to end up so high on my list. In 1995, Heart released a live album that features an acoustic club performance in their home city of Seattle. The album featured stripped down versions of many of their hits, as well as a few covers, and a couple of new, previously unreleased songs, including (Up On) Cherry Blossom Road, which the Wilson sisters wrote with Amy Sky (who also co-wrote Voodoo Doll). This song is a great song for Heart to perform, because it’s got great acoustic guitar interplay between Nancy and Howard Leese, and features a fabulous, rootsy, Mama Earth vocal from Ann Wilson. I love the full sound Nancy gets out of her acoustic guitar for the intro, and the way she bends the strings to get that down & dirty feel so appropriate for the song.

There’s nothing mysterious about the lyrics of this number, about a young woman (you could probably still call her a girl) who loses her virginity over the summer to a bad boy who has moved on. Now she longs again for his touch, even as she hates him for this desire he has kindled within her. Ann sings it with passion and power, and you really feel it. A studio version has never been recorded, but here is a great video clip from the concert.

#21 Black on Black II – Desire Walks On (1993)
written by Lisa Dalbello, Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson

The sixth of seven songs to appear in my Heart Top 40 from Desire Walks On has a special place in my heart a it is a cover version of Black on Black by Dalbello, an artist I greatly admire. While Heart was moving back towards recording more of their own compositions, it only makes sense that they would pull out another one of Dalbello’s songs to cover, given the power and range needed to sing them. (Dalbello will appear again on this chart a little higher up). But Black on Black II is a great choice for Heart to morph into a kick-ass rock & roll number — shrill, demanding, dark, although Heart rewrote some of the lyrics to take it further away from the religious context and made it a bit more universal, but safer. Black on Black II was the lead track released to radio from Desire Walks On, but not as a single. It did remarkably well though, climbing to #4 on Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.

According to Dabello who wrote the song, Black on Black is about the concept that everything that isn’t controlled absolutely has a counteraction. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, but everything else has something that counteracts it. Pleasure/pain, the sacred/the profane, ice/fire all counteract but black on black is absolute. Her version of the song uses religious imagery and Heart’s version uses military imagery, but both are based on the same overall concept. Given the scandals in the Catholic church these past 20 years or so, I do feel that Dalbello’s lyrics resonate more strongly, but Heart’s still have power. What’s interesting about Black on Black is it was first recorded by Dalbello for the 9 1/2 Weeks Soundtrack, and when she included it on her album she, it was a different version, moving toward a more rock & roll feel, which Heart then continued with for Black on Black II.

For your video pleasure, I’ve included the studio version lifted from Desire Walks On (on which Dalbello lends her backing vocals), but also a smoldering live performance by Heart on the David Letterman Show. Finally, for comparison, I’ve included Dalbello’s version of Black on Black II on Top of the Pops. I love both versions, and love how each artist brings their own take to the song.

#30 – My Crazy Head, Desire Walks On (1993)
written by Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Sue Ennis

Blending the acoustic with the electric in true Heart fashion, My Crazy Head is another standout from the Desires Walks On album; the fourth song to appear in the Top 40 from what is unquestionably the best of the Capitol Years albums, despite it not performing that great commercially. With an incredibly catchy chorus, Ann wanted it released as the first single, but in a hold-over from the “hit-maker” deal the band had signed with Capitol Records, they were forced to release Will You Be There in the Morning as the lead single. Cut form the same cloth as All I Wanna Do Is Make Love To You both were written by Mutt Lange, and his contract with Capitol required that anything he wrote had to released as a lead single. Interestingly enough, the band had moved on from treacly power-ballads and the song peaked at #39.

Lyrically, My Crazy Head is a bit disappointing; basically a love song, but with a slight twist about the relationship enabling her to get out of her own crazy head. There’s nothing really outstanding about the track, but it’s a tuneful stand out that sticks in my crazy head every time I listen to it.

#29 – Lost Angel, Jupiters Darling (2004)
written by Nancy Wilson

After Desire Walks On, Heart took a ten year break from recording before returning in 2004 with their thirteenth studio album, Jupiter’s Darling. This album was a definite return to their rock & roll roots, with a sprinkling of ballads and deft acoustic work thrown in . It also featured the addition of lead guitarist/producer Craig Bartock who remains with them to this day. Jupiter’s Darling sees Nancy Wilson taking a bit of creative control, producing with Bartock, and writing a hefty number of songs with Bartock as well, and on her own. She also sings lead vocals on five songs… definitely a record. And while Nancy has a perfectly lovely voice, why would you bother when you’ve got Ann Wilson on hand?

Jupiter’s Darling is a solid album, I like it well enough, but most of the songs don’t stand out enough to compete with the other tunes in my Top 40. All that is, save one. Lost Angel is a really lovely song, written by Nancy on her own, and as she says, is “a bit like a prayer.” I’ve got to hand it to Nancy, despite writing the song on her won, she was wise to let Ann take care of the powerful vocals. The song starts with Nancy’s gentle, rootsy, acoustic intro setting the tone for the first half of the song. When the second verse kicks in, so do the power chords and the drums, pushing Ann’s soaring vocals even further out front.

I love the pre-chorus, where Ann sings about birds bringing feathers of peace. It’s reminiscent of some of the balladry from Dreamboat Annie, yet sung from a place of road-weary experience, rather than the innocence… even naiveté of a band just starting out. Then toward the end, we get a little more Nancy’s truly exceptional guitar playing. It’s a heart felt song that avoids cheesiness, and almost sounds like it could be something lifted off a Bruce Springsteen album. Check out the studio and live versions below.

#28 Voodoo Doll, Desire Walks On (1993)
written by Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Amy Sky, John Capek

Ann and Nancy have worked with Canadian avant-garde rocker, Dalbello, and recorded her songs. Desire Walks On sees them working together again, and I can’t imagine it’s a coincidence that after working with her, the Wilson sisters wrote Voodoo Doll. It’s dark, mysterious, drum-heavy sound is so reminiscent of Dalbello’s stellar Baby Doll from her 1987 album, She. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so I would call this more of an homage than plagiarism, because the songs really are remarkably similar.

The opening borrows some heavy industrial sounds acting as the drum beats, and the song is more keyboard heavy that your usual Heart number. Ann and Nancy harmonize great on this song, and Ann’s lead vocals are powerful, seductive and really just perfect for the song. It’s nice to see Heart branching out to try something different, and for me it’s one of the best songs on the album.

#27 Perfect Stranger, Private Audition (1982)
written by Ann Wilson, Sue Ennis

Heart is most well-known for their rockers and their great blend of electric and acoustic sounds, but they’ve got some great ballads too, some of which are rooted in folk. Perfect Stranger is powered by Nancy’s lovely, gentle 12-strong acoustic guitar work, layered with some strings arranged and conducted by Howard Leese.

I particularly love how the bridge builds with Ann and Nancy harmonizing to a really powerful third chorus, where Ann lets loose and alters the lyrics just slightly that is a nice story-telling twist and builds the emotion at the end. Some might think the song is fairly straight-forward, but I find it very melodic, and keeping with that early Heart sound.

#26 How Deep It Goes Dreamboat Annie (1975)
written by Ann Wilson

#26 marks the first of three songs to appear in my top 40 from the band’s debut album, Dreamboat Annie. The band was based in Vancouver, Canada at the time, and was recorded there and released in Canada in mid-1975. The album did very well in Canada, selling 30,000 copies in the first couple of months. It wasn’t released in the States until early 1976, where it was first released in Seattle, where the band hailed from originally, and played some club gigs before moving to Canada. It took off and quickly sold another 25,000 copies. The label took their time releasing it city by city and when their first single, Crazy On You hit, the album took off.

How Deep It Goes was written by Ann Wilson, and was the first single released in Canada. It didn’t do well, so they quickly followed up with Magic Man which was a hit. Talk about innocence, but with a complexity of musicality that was emblematic of beauty and talent behind Dreamboat Annie. The rolling piano parts, the gorgeous orchestration, Ann and Nancy’s acoustic guitar interplay, all serve to turn a simple love song into an intricate, musical chamber piece.

Ann’s voice is the picture of sweetness in the studio recording. Crystal clear, perfect pitch, filled with emotion. I’ve also included a live version of the song recorded in 2007 and taken from an album where the band performed the entire Dreamboat Annie life in concert. You can hear how Ann’s voice has aged and weathered over the years, but it’s just as clear, and more powerful than ever. It’s a song that Ann wrote in a different time, a different world, before their career took off and they went through the nasty rock & roll industry, the ups, the downs and everything in between. Listening to this song certainly transports me to a different time, in my mother’s living room, listening to this amazing, female-fronted rock band, opening my mind to a new kind of music. How deep it goes, indeed.

#35 – Alone, Bad Animals (1987)
written by Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly

For many, this is Heart. This is the band that ruled the videowaves with a power ballad that topped the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks. And while hit is not my Heart, no one, certainly not could deny the way Ann Wilson owned this song so completely that it didn’t even matter that they didn’t write it. Listening to this song sends chills up and down your spine; not because it’s a particularly good song — it’s a fair to middling song at best — but that voice. Yes, it was Nancy’s tits and ass wagging all over the video, humping her guitar (it was an excruciatingly embarrassing time for the band, even as they attained immense popularity) but you couldn’t deny that Ann Wilson was the star of this song.

Alone was the first single from their ninth studio album, Bad Animals. It peaked at #2 on Billboard’s Top 200 albums in the summer of 1987, and was certified triple-platinum in 1992. Honestly, I thought this song would land much higher on my list of favorite Heart songs. I mean, Ann really does sound incredible. But honestly, the song is pretty lame, and all I really get out of it is the thrill of Ann letting loose. It’s the first of four songs from Bad Animals to appear on my list, which is actually pretty good. Heart only spawned two in my Top 40, and the follow-up, Brigade doesn’t appear at all. (Come on, it’s claim to fame was All I Wanna Do is Make Love to You. There’s really not much more to say about Alone, so here’s the video and we’ll move on.

Okay, and listening to this live version with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra does bring tears to my eyes.

#34 – Desire Walks On, Desire Walks On (1993)
written by Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Sue Ennis

Desire Walks On is a really interesting album. It was the first album that Heart decided to take back creative control after three albums worth of 80’s hit-making. They got rid of the big hair and cleavage busting outfits, and they wrote most of the songs. Sadly, the album didn’t do that well, peaking at #48 on the Billboard Top 200, and only yielding one Top 40 hit, Will You Be There (In the Morning) which only made it #39. Still, for me, it was like a breath of fresh air. Heart was on the way back. The Heart that I loved. And while Desires Walks On was a somewhat schizophrenic album, it has the distinction of being the album with the most songs in my Top 40 songs by Heart!

Anchoring my list, you’ve already heard that hard-rockin’ Rage at #40, and now the title track comes in at #34. A propulsive hard-rocker with layered synths, Desire Walks On is straight-forward rock & roller that brings the power back to Heart, but doesn’t quite capture the attitude of their early days. What it does do is bridge their 80’s rock with a return that something that feels like it belongs to them. It features scorching vocal by Ann, a funky bass line and some great rock guitar licks.

#33 – This Man is Mine, Private Audition (1982)
written by Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson, Sue Ennis

Private Audition is a curious album. I remember thinking it was a very underrated album, and one of my favorites, but when I went back to listen to it again in preparation for creating this list, I found several of the songs I remembered liking didn’t hold up very well. It’s actually a pretty uneven album (although still considerably better than its follow-up, Passionworks. Private Audition, their 6th studio album, spent 14 on Billboard’s Top 200, climbing to #25. It was the final album to feature bassist Steve Fossen and dummer Michael Derosier. There was only one single released off the album, and it was a pretty unusual choice to kick things off.

This Man is Mine did make the Top 40, climbing to #33 on Billboard’s Top 100, but it was very different from past Heart successes. I remember hearing it for the first time, and really liking it, but thinking, wow, I don’t know if I would have guessed that was Heart if I hadn’t known beforehand. I wonder if they were encouraged by the success of their previous single, Tell It Like It Is, which made it all the way to #8, and was their highest charting single to date. This Man is Mine was a homage to the Supremes, and a frankly embarrassing video was made to accompany the release. Fortunately, it wasn’t played very much. I loved the songs low-key vibe, Nancy’s slapping bass and electric guitar stylings, and, of course, Ann’s terrific vocals. Out of respect to the Wilson sisters, I am not including the video… just the audio track below.

#32 – Ring Them Bells, Desire Walks On (1993)
written by Bob Dylan

If you’re going to do a song that you didn’t write yourself, going with Bob Dylan is probably a safe way to go. Ring Them Bells, another cut from Desire Walks On has a spiritual quality that on first glance might seem to be an odd choice for Heart. Then they turn it into a trio, with Ann, Nancy and Lane Staley from Alice in Chains, and somehow it all comes together. With Ann’s voice powerfully anchoring the song, it’s a nice way to showcase Nancy without having her carry the entire thing, Staley’s gruff, strong vocals add a nice counterpoint and the three blend together surprisingly well on the chorus.

What’s lovely about this song is how it highlight’s Ann’s incredible vocal prowess from the point of view of restraint. While you can hear Nancy and Layne turn on the power and emotion in their parts at the appropriate times, Ann’s vocal parts are so effortless and natural; nothing seems strained or put on. She is right there in the song and it flows naturally, so when she does occasionally unfetter her voice and let it loose it seems as effortless as breathing, and as thrilling a a ray of light breaking through cloud cover.

#31 – Never, Heart (1985)
written by Holly Knight, Gene Black, CONNIE

If What About Love the first single from their 1985 Heart album put them back on the track of commercial success by hitting #10 on Billboard Hot 100, (it’s sitting at #59 on my personal list of Heart songs), then Never solidified their comeback by climbing all the way to #4, marking the first time that Heart earned consecutive top ten entries, and the first time a Heart album generated two top ten singles. It’s also the second and last song from that wildly successful album to show up here. As part of the barrage of song written by hit makers external to the band, as mandated by their new label, Capitol Records, Never is at least co-written by Holly Knight and Gene Black along with CONNIE, which is a pseudonym for Ann, Nancy and songwriting partner Sue Ennis. Holly and Gene were from the band Device, and Holly was pumping out hits for the likes of John Waite, Pat Benatar, and Tina Turner. Holly got her start in the band Spider — probably my favorite band that few people have heard of from the early 80’s.

It’s hard not to like Never with it’s upbeat melody and Ann’s playful vocal delivery. The video is nice enough, again putting the focus on Nancy’s prancing about (in fact the video starts with a shot of Nancy wagging her butt at the camera), but not so obviously trying to hide the fact that Ann isn’t a waif. In fact, I think Ann looks at her best in this video. I’ve also included a live version from 2010 that offers a look at what Heart would have done with the song if left to their own devices, bringing a “rootsier” approach, as quoted by Nancy. Still, it’s a great song, and probably a song that others could have done justice to as well, but Heart certainly makes it pretty memorable.