They Said 'These Dreams' Is Just Not a Heart Song

‘200 Greatest 80s Rock Songs’ Book Excerpt

Frank Mastropolo

Capitol

Sisters Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson are the basis of Heart, whose 1986 “These Dreams” became the band’s first №1 hit. With music by Martin Page and lyrics by Bernie Taupin, who was taking time off from working with Elton John, “These Dreams” was turned down by Stevie Nicks and Kim Carnes before it was offered to Heart.

“We were at Ann’s house listening to cassette after cassette after cassette of outside writers, songs that we might want to try as a Heart song,” Nancy told Yahoo! Entertainment.

“And the guy that was the producer we were working with that day said, ‘This is a really beautiful other kind of song. It’s not a hard song, by any stretch of the imagination, but it’s a beautiful song.’ And so we heard this demo, and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I love this song. I need to sing this song. I need it! I need this for me!’

“And they were like, ‘Nah, that’s not going to work out . . . No, no, no, no, no, we’re not gonna do that song. It’s just not a Heart song.’ And so I said, ‘Please, please, please, please. I gotta do this!’”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41P8UxneDJE

Nancy won out but on the day the group was to record a demo of “These Dreams,” Nancy felt ill. “I had a cold the day I did the mock vocal, which turned out to be used on the final vocal because it has that great raspy sound that everybody liked,” Nancy recalled in Classic Rock Revisited.

“It became our first №1 single, which was kind of weird for Ann because she had been the lead singer this whole time, even before I was in the band. Here comes the little guitar player with a №1 single. The management guys said, ‘Whatever we say next time, just do the opposite.’”

Frank Mastropolo is the author of 200 Greatest 80s Rock Songs, part of the Greatest Performances series. For more on our latest projects, visit Edgar Street Books.