Song of the Day: 'What About Love?' (Double Play)

 

The '80s were a wonderful time for women in music, with the rebirth of Heart and the introduction of Aimee Mann being two high points. In the mid '80s, each scored a hit with the title "What About Love?" 

Heart, of course, launched a comeback with theirs, a song that was originally recorded -- and written -- by Toronto, which was kind of the Canadian version of Heart. (You may vaguely recall they had a video in heavy rotation on MTV called "Your Daddy Don't Know," which New Pornographers later covered.) The members of Toronto who didn't write "What About Love?" hated it so much that it was shelved, which led to Heart's taking a crack at it. The result was monumental, giving Ann and Nancy Wilson their first Top 10 hit in five years -- launching them into the MTV ages -- which wound up being the first of seven Top 10 singles, including the band's first (and second) No. 1. 

For 'Til Tuesday, "What About Love?" was the lead single off the band's sophomore album, always a fraught time for new bands. After hitting No. 8 with their "Voices Carry" debut, the followup single, "Looking Over My Shoulder," failed to repeat its success, peaking at No. 61 on the Billboard Hot 100. So when the album "Welcome Home" was released the following year, expectations were high for another big hit, only to see "What About Love?" stall at No. 26. 

'Til Tuesday reportedly wanted "Coming Up Close" to be the first single, with Mann telling the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 1986, "I really love 'Coming Up Close' and we did want it to be the first single. But we sort of realized that 'What About Love?' was more immediate," describing it as a "radio song." (I remember "What About Love?" got a lot of air and video play, which definitely made it seem like a bigger hit than No. 26. A quick look at Wikipedia shows it did reach No. 9 on the Mainstream Rock chart, which confirms my recollections.) "Coming Up Close" was released second, peaking at No. 59 on the Hot 100. And though the album was certified gold, it did not live up to the expectations of Epic Records or the band, which broke up after the third album proved even less successful, thus paving the way for Mann's offbeat solo career. 

Song of the Day: 'Without You' by Heart

Covers were rare in the pre-MTV days of Heart. But their gender-clip version of Bad Finger's "Without You" -- which appeared on "Magazine," their second or third album depending on how you count -- was a memorable one.

Song of the Day: 'Magic Man' (live) by Heart ... and More!

As part of my later-in-life promise to continue seeing as many music legends as I can before it's too late, Damian and I caught Heart with special guests Joan Jett and the Blackhearts on Friday at the Prudential Center. To say it was a dream come true might sound hyperbolic. But the collective joy these two acts have brought into my life can hardly be overstated, so suffice to say tears were shed, face muscles hurt (from smiling) and I went home a very happy man. (Also ran into my old friend Tim Anderson and my ex-boyfriend Michael!) 

Kudos to Joan for being fun, accessible and giving the crowd exactly what it wanted. (When she opened with "Do You Wanna Touch Me" we knew she wasn't messing around!) Including her punk cover of the theme from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" only added to the stellar set list, which included "Victim of Circumstance," "Cherry Bomb"(!), "Light of Day," "Fake Friends," "Everyday People," "Crimson and Clover" (complete with Tommy James vocal-warble effects!), the Replacements' (more timely than ever) "Androgynous" and, of course, "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" and the codependent anthem "I Hate Myself for Loving You." 

And then the Wilson sisters took the stage. I had hoped the tour meant they had kissed and made up from their falling out a few years ago -- of course a horrible man is to blame -- but from the looks of things they just had taxes to pay. (They barely acknowledged one another.) Their fraternal frostiness did nothing to chill the mood, though. After opening with an album track -- "Rockin' Down Heaven" from 1980s's "Bebe le Strange" -- they immediately had the crowd eating out their unconnected hands with a one-two punch of "Magic Man" and "Love Alive."

 I wasn't sure how they were going to navigate their 1970s catalog (classic Heart) versus their 1980s comeback catalog (sellout Heart), but they found a nice middle ground. In addition to the aforementioned '70s gems, "Straight On" (cleverly melded into "I Heard It Through the Grapevine"), "Dog and Butterfly" (THE song of my family's 1979 move from Detroit to Phoenix, as it played constantly on the radio when we arrived in the desert), "Little Queen," "Even It Up," "Crazy on You" and "Barracuda" were all included. For fans of their more successful pop era, Ann hit all the right notes on the band's comeback smash "What About Love?" (Did you know it was written by and originally recorded by Canadian Heart wannabes Toronto, but half the band hated it so it was never released until years after Heart made it smash?!) Then Nancy took to the mic to sing lead on "These Dreams," which ironically wound up being their first No. 1 hit. During the encore they did their classic take on "Stairway to Heaven" -- it's so Led Zeppelinesque that Shazam thinks it's the original -- and then their other No. 1, "Alone."

While I'm on Team Classic Heart all the way, even I was willing to concede that they might have thrown the crowd another '80s bone or two -- a couple covers could have been replaced with maybe "Never" and "Nothin' at All." Or if they were insistent on rocking, "If Looks Could Kill" or "Who Will You Run to" would work in a pinch. (I wasn't complaining, though. I loved their versions Yes's "Your Move" and Simon & Garfunkel's "The Boxer.) But I think there was a collective sigh of relief that their last big hit, "All I Wanna Do Is Make Love to You" was left in the rearview mirror. (We can all acknowledge what an embarrassment that was, right? Blame it on Mutt Lange!) The women may still be holding a grudge. But from the reaction of the crowd, the sisters' work has left an indelible mark on music history, something that will be remembered long after they -- and their squabble -- has been buried.

Song of the Day: 'Never' by Heart

In these trying times, it's reassuring to know some things remain the same: It's never good enough. 

Song of the Day: 'Dreamboat Annie' by Heart

Title track from the sisters' 1975 debut album. The song was released as the third single -- even though it had already appeared as the b-side to "Crazy on You." (Remember those days?!) It peaked at No. 42 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 17 on the Adult Contemporary chart, the band's highest ranking on that chart until "These Dreams" hit No. 1 in 1986. (It also went to the top of the Billboard Hot 100.)

Worst Heart tribute band ever?

Song of the Day: 'Crazy on You' by Heart

Ann and Nancy are my pick of the day after word comes that after three years of estrangement -- Ann's husband went crazy on Nancy's twins for leaving a door open and letting the dogs out -- the Wilson sisters are getting back together to perform!

Song of the Day: 'Barracuda' by the Peanuts Gang

Lucy does have an Ann Wilson quality to her.

Song of the Day: 'Barracuda' by Heart

Not at all happy that I didn't get to see the Wilson sisters on their summer tour. 

I HEART This Triple Bill

I nearly died when I heard Heart was touring this summer with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Then I had to sign my last will and testament when I heard Chesp Trick was also on the bill! Now how about adding an actual NYC date? I'd even settle for Brooklyn! 

Ann Wilson Brings Heart and Soul to City Winery

Can't say enough about how incredible Ann Wilson was Wednesday night at City Winery. Kicking off a tour with her just-formed Ann Wilson Thing, the self-described "passion project" is a rock 'n' roll covers band for the ages, tackling singles and album tracks by the likes of Buffalo Springfield, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, John Lennon, Jeff Buckley and more. 

The highlight of the evening for me was her rousing take on the Animals' "We Gotta Get Outta This Place" (or David Johansen's, if you prefer), which brought me to my feet. Wilson, now a 65-year-old newly married mother of two, in fine form following bariatric surgery, has one of those voices that truly qualifies as a gift, a gift that has taken on a bluesier (almost Janis Joplin) quality with age. While it might have been nice to thrown the crowd one Heart bone -- just to remind us how underrated that band she half leads is -- no one left the venue feeling anything but that her full heart was in it.

Song of the Day: 'Straight On' by Heart

I've written about my love affair with Heart HERE. Last night I went to see Ann Wilson's solo project at City Winery. The review's to come. But until then, enjoy this classic from 1978 she wrote with sister Nancy and childhood friend Sue Ennis.

Tweet Nothings

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Song of the Day: 'Even It Up' by Heart

Maybe not their best song, but certainly one of their funnest.

I Feel Love ... Finally

So happy to hear that Donna Summer is finally being honored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She will be posthumously inducted in a ceremony that will air on HBO on May 18, along with Heart (yay!), Rush (yuck), Randy Newman, Public Enemy and Quincy Jones. Read HERE.

Music Box: Heart

The year was 1979 and my family had just packed up everything and moved from Detroit to Phoenix. Along with our earth-tone furniture, bentwood chandelier and ping-pong table came Tom Sowa, a single guy (and fellow Polack) who worked with my stepfather who decided that he too could use a fresh start. Our new Southwestern-style house had four bedrooms -- one for my parents, one for oldest brother Bill, one for baby sister Jennifer and one for my brother Terence and me to share -- but also had a loft that overlooked the living areas, which was accessed by a glamorous spiral staircase. This is where Tom set up residence while he looked for work and a home of his own. Having Tom around was suddenly like having the uncle we never had -- my parents' divorce robbed us of the four paternal ones we actually had, and my mom's estrangement from her family of the one on her side -- and Tom's late '70s persona was fun to be around, as he was always ready to pile us kids into his burgundy Pontiac and take us somewhere, which usually involved going to Woolco to buy records or to the tennis courts to hit some balls. Every time I think of that period of my life, the accompanying soundtrack to the vision of Tom driving his Grand Prix on the sidewalk at Mesa Community College ("it's faster to the courts this way," he explained) is "Dog and Butterfly" and "Straight On" by Heart, which played nonstop throughout the spring of 1979. (It's hard to believe that neither of those singles even cracked the Top 10 the way they completely dominated the airwaves for months.)

How I loved those songs and those girls: Ann, with her jet-black hair and killer voice and Nancy, the gorgeous blonde who rocked as hard as any dude with a guitar. Although it didn't take me long to appreciate their earlier brilliance -- "Barracuda," "Magic Man" and "Crazy on You" -- in retrospect, if Joan Jett was the "rocker chick" I didn't appreciate as much as I might have back in the day, Heart was most definitely the underappreciated "rocker chick band." Although my affection continued into the early MTV era -- "Even It Up" was definitely in heavy rotation back when, although I think most of us could have done without that "City's Burning" video being on 24 hours a day! -- it wasn't long before the Pretenders, Divinyls and X began to consume me, and Heart slipped into what I politely refer to as their "Bette Midler years," where they made a ton of money off of slightly inferior but highly commercial material for which no one could judge them.

As with Joan Jett before my rediscovery, these days I tend to rely on the classic Heart "Greatest Hits" package -- the one showcasing the band's fertile 1976 through 1983 period -- while knowing that I really should delve deeper into this rock 'n' roll band's catalogue, which I'm told has some classic LPs buried in it. A fellow fan also tells me that the women are gearing up for the release of their first album in a number of years, "Red Velvet Car," due out in August.

But until then, let's relive the magic, man:

Something for the ears

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I Don't Wanna Be A Bride Lyrics Vanessa Carlton	Uplifiting Lyrics Tiffany
Still Got It Lyrics Drake	Under Pressure Lyrics Dr. Dre
Take Me Back Lyrics Justin Garner	Slip Away Lyrics Casely
U Don't Like Me Lyrics Lil' Jon	Dream Again Lyrics Nemesis

Get your own here.