'Tis the season for another '80s music lesson from Kevin Wuench:
With the holidays approaching, it's a tense time for families that don't always get along. Unfortunately one family that isn't quite getting along these days is the Wilson sisters of Heart. Today we hearken back to the '80s when Ann and Nancy were side by side rocking just like in today's video for City's Burning.
It was over a year ago when Heart was on stage when it is alleged that Ann's husband assaulted Nancy's teenage twins boys (sons of Cameron Crowe). The sad rift between the two sisters is now such that they are not even on talking terms according to news reports.
However, back in the early '80s, the Wilson sisters were in tandem even when the hits were not flowing freely. Heart's 1982 album Private Audition sold well, but it only produced one minor Top 40 hit with the out of character This Man Is Mine. The next single City's Burning only charted on the Mainstream Rock Tracks and missed the pop singles chart.
Perhaps the lack of success on the pop chart for City's Burning is because the song is pretty intense as there are parts that Ann does not sing, but screams. The video for City's Burning was typical for Heart in the early '80s with bad special effects – a far cry from Heart's later videos in the '80s that were high gloss and stylish.
As with most families that have conflicts, we hope that things get patched up someday, not just so Heart can resume making music, but more importantly – that two sisters that we've shared 40 years of our lives with and once seemed inseparable are now adrift.