Rock Hall Anniversary: Heart’s Dreamboat Annie

From examiner.com: By 1975, Heart was one of the most popular bands in 1970’s Canada. And that year, they released their debut album Dreamboat Annie. The album was produced by Mike Flicker (who would go on to produce the band’s first five studio albums), and was released on the Canadian independent label, Mushroom Records.

Dreamboat Annie would contain three tracks, which would go on to become rock staples; “Magic Man”, “Crazy on You” and the title track (sliced into three tracks, with the near-four-minute reprise closing the album). Other key tracks include “Soul of the Sea”, “White Lighting and Wine” and “How Deep it Goes”.

Sales of Dreamboat Annie were initially slow, but soon picked up with the release of the single, “Magic Man”, which led to an opening spot for a Rod Stewart concert in Montreal. But the album truly exploded, when it was finally released in America in 1976, where it peaked at number seven on the charts. “Crazy on You” and “Magic Man” became Heart’s first top forty hits, peaking at number 35 and 9 respectively. The album reached platinum status in both the U.S. and Canada.

But as Dreamboat Annie rode the charts, a chain of events would occurred, which would end Heart’s association with Mushroom Records. First, Heart struggled to renegotiate with the label for a bigger royalty rate, prompting them to sign with Portrait Records (sister label of Epic Records). Then Mushroom released the Magazine album, which contained incomplete tracks and outtakes. The album was recalled by Heart, but would be released again in 1978, to fulfill a contractual obligation for a second album.

But perhaps the biggest event that ended the association between Heart and Mushroom, was the mocked up photo in a full-page ad in Rolling Stone (similar to the Dreamboat Annie cover). With the caption, “It Was Only Our First Time”, it suggested that Ann and Nancy Wilson were incestuous lesbian lovers, which of course infuriated the Wilson sisters, and later led to the signature “Barracuda”.