I became aware of Heart in 1983 through local television. During the 1983/84 television season local station KING channel 5 produced and aired “Rock Entertainment Videos” or REV, which was hosted, nominally, by John Keister. While many know Keister from his stint as the host of “Almost Live” (another program produced by KING) this is where he got his start, it was here I was introduced to him – and he got the gig because he worked at the regional music publication The Rocket.
REV showed videos from national and international bands, mostly “alternative” bands. Then there were the live acts coming through and there would be clips from concerts as well. Some of the videos, a decent portion of the program, were dedicated to local bands. While there was an “alternative” emphasis in the programming, heavy metal was the dominant genre and local bands got plenty of air time as well. This meant for an hour each Sunday viewers would get to see an eclectic mix of rock music, local and national, live and through music video.
Alright, so I more than likely heard a Heart song on the radio before this, with hits like “Barracuda”, “Magic Man” and “Even It Up” getting played on rock radio, it wasn’t until the video for “How Can I Refuse?” was broadcast on REV that I took any real notice. Since Heart was a local band it got quite a bit of attention from the program.
After getting introduced to the band from local television I started paying more attention to Heart as they showed up on the radio. A couple of years later the band would released their 1985 self-titled album, their biggest album in terms of commercial sales, and of course I couldn’t get enough of it. By this time I was living on my own and was able to spend time (and money) checking out more music, both new artists as well as exploring the catalogs of bands I already knew. Heart was one of the bands I explored the catalog of.
My favorite period of the band is the early 80s period, not because that is when I discovered them, but because as I got to listen to full albums by the band in the lat 80s and 90s, those albums were the ones I enjoyed the sound of the most. 1980’s Bebe Le Strange, 1982’s Private Audition and 1983’s Passionworks, to me, represent the band’s creative peak. Starting with 1985’s self-titled album there was the use of outside songwriters (at the instance of the record label) and while they are decent enough songs, they are not quite true to the band’s sound. By the time of 1993’s Desire Walks On the band was fragmented and the creative spark was not as bright, despite having a return to songwriting by the Wilson sisters.
“Alone” from the album The Road Home
Heart would go on hiatus for the next 10 years.
In 2004 Heart released Jupiter’s Darling, and then nothing for quite a while. In 2010 they (at least to me) suddenly showed up with Red Velvet Car. This current batch of albums, including the most recent, 2012’s Fantatic, to my mind, represents the second best period of songwriting and recording by Heart. The Wilson sisters have grown comfortable with their position in rock and roll, and are not out to prove anything.
Sadly I have yet to see the band live.
“The Perfect Goodbye” from the album Jupiter’s Darling