This week we’re featuring songs about specific types of men. Today’s classic man song of the day is about a “Magic Man,” as performed by Heart.
Heart was led by sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson from Seattle. Ann played guitar, Nancy sang. They were a phenomenon back in the mid-70s, female hard rockers in what was traditionally a testosterone-laden landscape. In the early ’70s, Ann Wilson had followed her boyfriend Michael Fisher across the border to avoid the draft. Michael’s brother Roger was playing in a band called White Heart (originally named Hocus Pocus), and in 1972, Ann joined Roger’s band. They shortened their name to just Heart in 1973 and Ann’s sister Nancy joined the band in 1974. (Along with the Wilson sisters, the other members of the band at the time were Roger Fisher on guitar, John Hannah on keyboards, Steve Fossen on bass, and Brian Johnstone on drums.)
Now based in Vancouver, Heart got a recording contract with Mushroom Records, a Canadian label, and released their first album, Dreamboat Annie, in September of 1975. Well, they released it in Canada, anyway. After “Magic Man” was released as a single in Canada and the band began drawing big concert crowds, Mushroom decided to release the album in the U.S. It ended up selling more than a million copies, including more than a few copies to guys in my college dorm.
“Magic Man” was written by Ann and Nancy together. It’s about a young girl being seduced by an older man and was supposedly at least partly autobiographical, about Ann’s boyfriend (later band manager) Michael Fisher. The single was released in Canada in June of 1975, before Dreamboat Annie hit the shelves. In the U.S., “Magic Man” wasn’t released as a single until a year later, in June of 1976, after the single “Crazy For You” had achieved big-time chart success. “Magic Man” was equally successful stateside, hitting #9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #7 on the Cash Box Top 100. (The single got a re-release in Canada at the same time, peaking at #26 on the Canadian charts.)
Heart was, and is, by all accounts, a terrific live band, led by Nancy’s powerhouse vocals and Ann’s ferocious guitar playing—which you can see in today’s daily bonus video of the day. It’s Ann and Nancy Wilson and Heart performing “Magic Man” live in 1977 during the Little Queen Tour. We listened to a lot of Heart and Dreamboat Annie in our dorm that year.
