LAMONT’S MUSIC NOTES-MAY 14, 2019…FORTY-TWO YEARS AGO HEART RELEASED THEIR 3RD STUDIO ALBUM ‘LITTLE QUEEN’. IF THERE’S EVER ANY REASON, AND I MEAN ANY REASON TO BECOME A HEART FAN, IT’S THIS ALBUM. HERE’S MY REASONING. THE ALBUM PRODUCED A GREAT HEART SONG ‘BARRACUDA’. I LOVE THE SONG, BUT WHEN YOU HEAR THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG, YOU’LL HAVE A NEWFOUND RESPECT FOR THE WILSON SISTERS. THE SONG WAS WRITTEN BY ANN AND NANCY WILSON TOGETHER WITH GUITARIST ROGER FISHER AND DRUMMER MICHAEL DEROSIER. ACCORDING TO THE BAND, THE SONG IS ABOUT THE RECORD INDUSTRY IN GENERAL. IT WAS WRITTEN AT A TIME WHEN THERE WAS FRICTION BETWEEN THE BAND AND THEIR OLD RECORD LABEL.
‘LITTLE QUEEN’ WAS THE FIRST ALBUM HEART RELEASED FOR THE CBS-PORTRAIT LABEL. THEIR OLD LABEL, MUSHROOM RECORDS, SUED THE BAND, AND IN 1978 RELEASE ‘MAGAZINE’, AN ALBUM MADE UP OF MATERIAL HEART DID NOT WANT RELEASED.
THE WILSON SISTERS REVEALED THAT THEY WROTE BARRACUDA IN ANGER AFTER MUSHROOM RECORDS PLACED AN AD IN TRADE PUBLICATIONS IMPLYING THAT THE WILSON SISTERS WERE LESBIANS HAVING AN AFFAIR !
THE SONG FOCUSES ON ANN’S RAGE TOWARDS A PROMOTER WHO CAME UP TO HER AFTER A SHOW AND ASKED HER HOW HER “LOVER” WAS. SHE INITIALLY THOUGHT HE WAS REFERRING TO HER THEN IN-BAND BOYFRIEND
MICHAEL FISHER. AFTER THE PROMOTER(TOOL) REVEALED IT WAS HER SISTER NANCY, ANN GOT PISSED AND WENT TO HER HOTEL ROOM AND WROTE ‘BARRACUDA.’ RUMOR HAS IT THE ORIGINAL TITLE WAS “MOTHER F***ERS” BUT THE NEW RECORD COMPANY ASKED FOR A BETTER TITLE.
NANCY SUBSEQUENTLY CHANGED IT TO ‘BARRACUDA’ COMPARING THE SLEAZY SIDE OF MUSIC TO THE DANGEROUS FISH.
IT MAKES YOU WONDER, WHAT KIND OF PIECE OF SH** WOULD ACCUSE TWO SISTERS OF HAVING SEX TOGETHER TO GET EVEN IN A BUSINESS DEAL !??
GOOD ON YOU ANN AND NANCY WILSON. MAD PROPS ON GETTING EVEN AND WRITING A FANTASTIC ROCK SONG. I ONLY WISH I COULD HAVE HEARD THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF ‘MOTHER F****ER’
HERE’S HEART PERFORMING BARRACUDA IN 1977
