"DREAMBOAT ANNIE"...."THE STORY OF HEART"

 I have finally found a way for you to listen while you read....If you click on the VH1 Rock Honors link below you can choose from a list of videos to watch/listen to. Just pick the song, minimize that screen and enjoy the article while you listen to Heart....It plays continuously through the list so just pick a start place and enjoy!!!!

                                                                Heart - VH1 Rock Honors!!

VH1 ROCKS SIN CITY!

"VH1 ROCK HONORS" RETURNS TO LAS VEGAS AND WILL PAY TRIBUTE TO GENESIS, HEART, OZZY OSBOURNE AND ZZ TOP PREMIERING THURSDAY, MAY 24 AT 9:00 PM*

NEW YORK, NY, March 8, 2007 - VH1 pays homage to the legends who influenced the sound of rock with the second annual "VH1 Rock Honors."  This year's celebration will honor the music and influence of Genesis, Heart, Ozzy Osbourne and ZZ Top.  Additional performers, presenters, and special guests will be announced as they are confirmed. Those of you reading this, hopefully you were able to catch the show. All the performances were fantastic

Their great hard rock hits of the '70s made a big dent in pop music, and the enormous popularity of their '80s power ballads gave them a second career. The Wilson sisters have all the elements needed to impress. As one of the 2007 Honorees, they'll take the stage to show just how passionate they still are about tearing through their terrific catalog.

Gretchen Wilson.... It's takes a woman with lots of snarl to adequately salute two ladies like Heart's Ann and Nancy Wilson. That's why they got Gretchen Wilson. The singer turned country music upside down a few years ago, arriving on the scene with a bodacious attitude that took her twanged-out tunes to the top. She's been a Heart fan from the get-go, and at Rock Honors 2007 she connected with the mighty grunge kings from Alice In Chains to salute their Seattle sisters.

Alice in Chains....  Few Seattle bands have roared like Alice in Chains. One of the grunge revolution's key outfits, the group combined Layne Staley's passionate vocals and Jerry Cantrell's outraged guitar with one of the city's heaviest rhythm sections. Staley died in 2002, but with singer William Duvall now up front, Cantrell and associates still rock full-tilt - some say they're harder than ever. They hooked-up with Gretchen Wilson to salute Seattle's own Heart, with Nancy strutting onto the stage a few bars into the song the combination was staggering.

So, before we go any further....Let's prepare you for the journey!!! 

STOP....LOOK....LISTEN.....ARE YOU READY TO ROCK???

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bOgZpWHiyLs

All right, now that you are back and breathing a little harder than when you left.... Let's get straight to the "Heart" of the matter!

The place, the pacific northwest...SEATTLE, WASHINGTON! The birth place of a band named "Heart"!

The daughters of a Marine Corps captain, Ann (born June 19, 1950) and Nancy (born March 16, 1954) grew up in both Southern California and Taiwan before the Wilson family settled in Seattle, WA.

 Throughout their formative years, both were interested in folk and pop music; while Ann never took any formal music lessons as a child (she later learned to play several instruments), Nancy took up guitar and flute. After both sisters spent some time at college, they decided to try their hand as professional musicians, and while Nancy began performing as a folksinger, Ann joined the all-male vocal group Heart.

 Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Heart was actually formed in 1963 by bassist Steve Fossen and brothers Roger Fisher and Mike Fisher; initially dubbed the Army, they later became White Heart before settling on simply Heart at the beginning of the '70s.

Right about the year 1970, Ann Wilson joined "Heart". Not long after, Ann joined the band, the band decided to change the name from Heart to "Hocus Pocus". The reason for them changing the name was they wanted to be more psychedelic. Now, once again due to change, the band changed names, this time they went back to the name "Heart".

 After her arrival in the group, Ann became romantically involved with guitarist Mike Fisher; when Nancy joined in 1974, she in turn began a relationship with guitarist Roger Fisher. Soon after Nancy's arrival, Mike Fisher retired from active performing to become the band's sound engineer.
 After gaining a following in Vancouver, Heart was approached by Shelly Siegel, the owner of the Canadian label Mushroom; augmented by keyboardist Howard Leese and drummer Michael Derosier, they recorded their debut album, Dreamboat Annie, in 1975. 

 Heart had a different line up (in the beginning) then than they did at the time when Dreamboat Annie arrived on the charts. Heart has been around basically since about 1967. Changes, yes many of them, but as we all know that change created a band that this world needed to see and hear.

I have tried to list some of the information here that might help you with some unknown history. This includes a touch of history of the two remaining members which have kept this band's heart beating after many years, Ann & Nancy Wilson...

Here is a brief history of the women who became the voices and driving force of "HEART"!

ANN WILSON...

As a teenager, Ann Wilson performed in such bands as The Mode (1966), The Viewpoints (1966-1967), The Rapunzel (1968), White Seal, A Boy and his Dog, Proof and Ann Wilson, in the Daybreaks(1969) which with this band Ann Wilson put forth 2 45's. One of the 45's had the song called "Through Eyes And Glass", this song was written by Ann along with her sister Nancy who was 12 yrs old when it was written. It is one of the rarest items that one could find of the sisters Wilson. Only approx. 500 copies of each single were made.

Ann Wilson loved to perform as a child from what I have learned through being a fan. Even in the 7th grade Ann Wilson performed in a talent show, dressed up as a clown singing "Swinging Shepard Blues". Ann has always had a love of music in her, and she was a poet at heart as well..In fact, what Ann Wilson originally wanted to do before she ever had her musical career, was she wanted to write and illustrate poetry books. This woman has many talents, and it is a pleasure as a fan of seeing her perform. She is a force to be reckoned with in this musical industry, and always deserves a standing ovation!

NANCY WILSON: 

 Now lets go forth! As time went on, finally the youngest Wilson sister "Nancy", finally joined "Heart". Sisterhood brought together together again. After all those years of playing and singing together as teenagers, they finally were back together. Ann & Nancy have been playing guitar together since Ann was 13 and Nancy was 8. Nancy surpassed Ann in playing the guitar and even was given the nickname of "Whiz Fingers" due to her accomplishments. It was the natural choice to have Nancy in the band. It was the soul and the spirit finally united in harmony and rythmn. This is something that anyone will see and understand when they finally see these two sisters on stage. The first ladies of Rock!

Finally..."Heart" was the biggest club act there was in Vancouver before Dreamboat Annie, and finally they believed it was time to go for a record deal. The band put together a demo and took it into their local canbase. While there they met a man who was a staff producer at the time and his name was "Howard Leese". Howard ended up producing Heart's first demo, then finally became a full time member of the band in 1975.

Now the stage is set...all members present...finally the contract...Heart's first contract was offered to them in January of 1975. Now, here comes Dreamboat Annie..you know all the rest from here to the present. The present day "Heart" has come into being due to many changes in the history of the band. Roger Fisher, Michael Deroiser, Steve Fossen, Mark Andes, Denny Carmassi, and as well as others have made their impact with us leaving their traces of their life and music for us to enjoy, they always will be there in the history, but it is time for life to go forward....

After selling more than 30,000 copies north of the border, Mushroom issued the LP in the U.S. where it quickly achieved platinum status on the strength of the hit singles "Crazy on You" and "Magic Man." In 1977, Heart jumped ship to the CBS affiliate Portrait, resulting in a protracted legal battle with Siegel, who in 1978 released the unfinished LP Magazine on Mushroom shortly after the band issued its true follow-up Little Queen on Portrait. The single "Barracuda" was another massive hit, and like its predecessor, Little Queen sold over a million copies.

After 1978's Dog & Butterfly, both of the Wilson/Fisher romances ended and Roger Fisher left the group. In 1980, Heart issued Bebe Le Strange; following a lengthy U.S. tour, both Fossen and Derosier exited and were replaced by ex-Spirit and Firefall bassist Mark Andes and former Gamma drummer Denny Carmassi. After 1982's Private Audition and 1983's Passionworks slumped, the group was largely written off by industry watchers, and moved to Capitol Records.

In 1985, however, Heart emerged with a self-titled effort that ultimately sold more than five million copies on its way to launching four Top Ten hits...

 "What About Love?," "Never,"  "These Dreams," and "Nothin' at All."

 1987's Bad Animals continued their comeback success; "Alone" was another number one hit, and both "Who Will You Run To" and "There's the Girl" achieved considerable airplay as well.
"Brigade", issued in 1990, featured the number two smash "All I Want to Do Is Make Love to You," as well as the Top 25 hits "I Didn't Want to Need You" and "Stranded." In the early '90s, the Wilson sisters took a brief hiatus from Heart to form the Lovemongers, an acoustic quartet fleshed out by Sue Ennis and Frank Cox; in 1992, they issued a four-song EP that included a cover of Led Zeppelin's "The Battle of Evermore." Heart returned in 1993 with Desire Walks On, on which Andes and Carmassi were replaced with bassist Fernando Saunders and drummer Denny Fongheiser. With 1995's The Road Home, Heart enlisted onetime Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones to produce a live, acoustic set reprising hits like "Dreamboat Annie," "Crazy on You," and "Barracuda."

Heart went on hiatus by the late '90s, as the Wilson sisters concentrated on the Lovemongers, issuing a pair of albums -- 1997's Whirlygig and 1998's Here Is Christmas.

 But Heart wasn't completely silent -- they were the subject of one of the better episodes of VH1's Behind the Music, a pair of best-of sets were issued (1998's Greatest Hits covered their early classics, while their later years were spotlighted on 2000's Greatest Hits: 1985-1995), and their music continued to pop up in movie soundtracks (2000's The Virgin Suicides, among others). In 1999, Nancy Wilson released her first solo album, Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop, and a year later penned the score to her husband Cameron Crowe's hit motion picture, Almost Famous, while Ann Wilson continued to play with others.

 In the summer of 2001, she participated in the "A Walk Down Abbey Road": A Tribute to the Beatles tour, which also featured Todd Rundgren, John Entwistle (The Who), and Alan Parsons (The Alan Parsons Project). Heart returned to active recording for Jupiters Darling, released on Sovereign Artists in 2004.

 All in all, Heart has given us music to remember our youth by, I have no doubt there is a least one song of their's that rings out in your mind and connects you to a special time, situation or person. The incredible talent of the two women that have kept this band in the forefront of rock deserve to be "Honored" they are truly "Queens" in the arena we call "Rock and Roll"