By Kevin McClintock
Globe Staff Writer
JOPLIN, Mo. —
A rock band’s tenure at the top of the charts is hardly a steady ride; rather, it’s a journey often marred by inclines and drops, stall-outs and sudden accelerations.
At least that’s how Nancy Wilson, one of the two famed Wilson sisters comprising the rock band Heart, summed up their 30-plus year career during a recent interview.
Their longevity, she said, was “hard won.”
“They say in the music business the average lifespan of a rock band is five years, so we’ve had a few natural lifetimes,” Wilson said with an ironic chuckle. “The first five years went by and then we (slowed), but we muscled our way back.”
Ann and Nancy Wilson, the “black and blond-haired” Wilson sisters, will be performing live on Sunday at Downstream Casino, the final concert of the popular summer outdoor concert program.
The band embraced hard rock “at its core” during the 1970s, pumping out distinctive hits such as “Barracuda,” “Crazy on You” and “Magic Man.”
In the 1980s, with the advent of the so-called hairbands and uber-popular MTV, they altered their look, style and music to stay ahead of the wave, and pumped out popular, chart-topping power ballads such as “Alone,” “Never,” “What About Love?” and the No.1 “These Dreams.”
From 1984 to 1988 the sisters of Heart were MTV and VH1 darlings, complete with their famous one-legged kicks in their popular videos.
“We had to change,” Nancy said of their 1980s success. Stylistically, musically, it was a far cry from the raw, sexy and ever angry “Barracuda” of 1977.
“But it worked,” Nancy said with a chuckle.
To date, Heart has sold more than 35 million albums and was recently ranked No. 57 on VH1’s “100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock.” The sisters appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in ‘77, were featured in two Guitar Hero games and have been featured in “Glee.”
And through it all, with so many albums out and even a new one, “Red Velvet Car,” released just last month, she still describes the two of them as “sensitive, artistic beings.”
But it was hurt and anger that led to their first, signature hit song. In early 1977, just three years after Nancy joined Ann up in Canada where Heart first gained fame, a rumor surfaced that the two sisters were lesbian partners. When a reporter asked Ann about the rumor, she immediately returned to her hotel and inked the lyrics for “Barracuda.”
The song, Nancy said, “was a reactionary song; a rebellious song. We were shocked and angry and so misunderstood. But I’m glad it happened that way.”
Why?
“Anybody lucky enough to make it in this business has got to be stronger and more resilient and thick-skinned then you’ll ever know,” she said. Back then, “we were pretty na•ve.”
The Wilson sisters were one of the first female musicians with true artistic muscle within an industry dominated by men. Their success, in fact, helped influence other women in the hard rock and heavy metal genres, including Lita Ford and Pat Benatar.
“It’s cool we were able to carve out our little, original-sounding niche,” Nancy said.
Being able to work with her sister was a blessing in disguise. Egos usually doom a friendship between two musically-talented friends. But that didn’t happen between the two musically-talented sisters.
“I think if I had been the only girl in a band I wouldn’t have survived,” she said. With big sister Ann right beside her at every step, “there was always another woman to talk to. That really helped us (both) out.
“It’s probably a good thing we’re both military brats because we still feel like we’re fighting for a good cause out here; that we’re armed with our guitars” and still making great, meaningful music.
Details: Gates at The Venue open at 6:30 p.m. and the show promptly begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $60, $40 and $20. Call toll-free at 1-888-396-7876 or go online at www.downstreamcasino.com for more information.
