Track 6 - “Barracuda” by Heart (1977)

From the album Little Queen

Music by Nancy Wilson, Roger Fisher, and Michael Derosier; lyrics by Ann Wilson

Performed by:

Ann Wilson – lead vocals

Nancy Wilson – acoustic guitar

Roger Fisher – lead guitar

Howard Leese – lead guitar

Steve Fossen – bass

Michael Derosier - drums

Highest chart positions - US Billboard Hot 100 - #11; Billboard Year-End Hot 100 - #53

VH1 Best Hard Rock Songs of All Time - #34

So this ain’t the end, I saw you again, today

I had to turn my heart away

Smiled like the sun, kisses for everyone

And tales, it never fails

You lying so low in the weeds

I bet you gonna ambush me

You’d have me down, down, down on my knees

Now wouldn’t you, barracuda?

A couple of weeks ago, in Track #3, I mentioned our family’s move from Brooklyn to Long Island in February of 1980, but focused more on the fall of that year. This time, our musical time machine will stay in February 1980, the actual week we moved into our new house in Holbrook, 50 miles east of Brooklyn. I know I also mentioned how anxious I was to start a new school, make new friends, and live in a new house. Yes, you’ve heard all this before. But let’s go somewhat deeper and talk about that first week on Long Island, and how one song and a radio station helped me adjust and start connecting with my new surroundings.

 But let’s start this trip in Seattle, Washington, more specifically, the suburb of Bellevue. Before Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden, there was Heart. Forming in 1967, first known as The Army, and then eventually White Heart, and finally just Heart, the band is centered on the Wilson sisters, Ann and Nancy. Born in 1950 and 1954 respectively, they were the daughters of a career Marine, and moved around a lot before settling in Bellevue, Washington, just outside Seattle. Influenced by the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, the Wilson sisters gravitated to music, Ann as a singer and Nancy on guitar. In the early 1970’s, Ann answered an ad run by bassist Steve Fossen and guitarist Roger Fisher, who were looking for a singer for their band Heart. Ann joined immediately, and began dating Roger’s brother Mike, who would end up managing the band. In 1975, Ann convinced Nancy to join, and after adding drummer Mike Derosier and guitarist Howard Leese, their lineup was set. Nancy also began dating guitarist Roger Fisher. Yes, the Wilson sisters were now dating the Fisher brothers, and pretty much making all band decisions.  

OK, back to 1980 and how Heart and their song “Barracuda” figure into all this. Back then, the mass exodus from the city to the suburbs had begun, and young families by the thousands were moving to the ‘burbs of New Jersey, Westchester, and Long Island. The schools were supposedly better, there were more open spaces (ha, not anymore), and the perception was that it was a better environment to raise a family. Before any of you faithful city dwellers start bombarding the comments, I don’t necessarily agree with all that and I had nothing to do with the decision to move, so let’s keep going. My mom’s cousin had moved a couple of years before us and we had visited many times, so there was probably some peer pressure as well. Either way, my parents started looking at houses, and it was probably late 1979 that they announced we were moving to Long Island. (When my dad told his NYC colleagues we were moving to Holbrook, their response was, “Where the f*** is that?!?”) I remember my parents telling my brother and I how great it was going to be: a backyard, organized sports leagues, taking a bus to school, trees and birds; I think they thought it was an after-school special. I don’t think my brother realized what was happening; he was only five at the time. But this was a complete rupture of the life I knew and the routines I had. Backyard? I liked playing in the street! Bus to school? No way, walking was better! It was too much change. The only good change I could see was getting to wear sneakers every day instead of the school mandated black lace-up oxfords I had to wear as part of my Catholic school uniform. Other than that, I was nervous about the whole thing and wanted no part of it. However, despite my protests and subtle hints that I would not survive, on February 26th the moving truck arrived, and off we went to our new house.

We moved on a Tuesday. That Friday, after a couple of days of unpacking and settling in, my parents took my brother and I to register for school. We would start that Monday, which meant I had a full 48 hours to worry myself into a stupor about riding a bus to school with kids I didn’t know, and then sitting with most of those kids in a new classroom. So, for most of that weekend I tried to occupy myself and not think about Monday. When I woke up Sunday, my first thought was “I’m going to a new school tomorrow.” Suddenly it was tomorrow. I needed a distraction, so I started unpacking some of the untouched boxes in my room, and I ended up stumbling on a Christmas gift I had totally forgotten about.

My grandparents had given my brother and I each a SONY transistor radio that Christmas. It was black, a little smaller than a brick, with a small speaker, a silver antenna you could extend and a wrist strap. It was also analog, which meant you moved the dial to tune in a station. It even came with an earpiece you could plug into it and listen privately. These were not earbuds, kids; I’m talking one “bud” on a wire that went into one ear. If you watch old movies, you can sometimes see old guys listening to ballgames on their transistor radios with these earpieces. I removed the packaging and put in the batteries that came with it (apparently sometimes batteries were included). I extended the antenna and proceeded to try to find an FM station. Now my knowledge of radio stations back then was limited to what my parents, but mostly my mom, was listening to, whether we were in the car or at home. There was a lot of WKTU (R&B), WNEW (rock) and WPLJ (rock/pop) on in the house back then, so I looked for those. But, since they were NYC stations and we were thousands of light years away in “Holbrook”, I was unsuccessful. Then, as if by magic, something tuned in that was crystal clear; it was a chugging guitar riff I was somewhat familiar with, that I had probably heard in the car or in the apartment in Brooklyn. When I heard the soaring female vocal, I knew that I knew this song; actually, I had heard it many times. So, I put the speaker to my ear, and just laid back on my bed and listened, and a lot of the anxiety of the past week started to go away. Finally, something familiar, and even though I couldn’t remember the name of the song or band, it didn’t matter. What did matter was that I was starting to forget about being nervous, and for four minutes anyway, everything was OK. But the best part of this was what happened next; the song finished, and the DJ came on: “That was ‘Barracuda’ by Heart, on Long Island’s best rock and roll, WBAB in Babylon…”

Well now I had the song title and band, but more important, I had found something to connect me with my new surroundings. Sure, it was a radio station, but it was a start. By complete accident, I had found something I could identify with. In fact, it was the beginning of more than 35 years of listening to WBAB. The first time I heard Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, The Who, and several other artists that would be the foundation for all the music I loved was on WBAB. Yes, I listened to other stations through the years, but it always seemed to come back to the familiar DJ’s and songs that were played from Babylon, on the south shore of Long Island. And where does “Barracuda” figure into this, 40+ years later? It’s still on many of my playlists, and one of the songs I go to when I need a lift, or when I just need something to crank in the car with the windows down. But often I listen to it and just go back to my new room in 1980 and tell that silly nine-year old that things will work out just fine. For the first time, I realized the power of music and despite how corny this sounds, that it could be magic and make things better. The SONY transistor radio? It got used a lot, but I couldn’t tell you what happened to it. Probably lost during a bedroom purge or maybe sold at a garage sale. Funny it’s one of my favorite Christmas gifts ever; I hope my grandparents knew that. The first day at my new school? It went fine, I guess. Eventually, I got used to the bus, my new teacher and my new classmates; heck, the school cafeteria even served pizza for lunch every Friday. I ended up making some friends, but as I mentioned a few tracks ago, I was still the “new kid” in September, so I still had some work to do. But the proverbial band-aid had been ripped off. The move to Long Island ended up being the best thing for our family, so my parents were right (argh). And I ended up finding “Long Island’s best rock and roll!”

Thanks again for stopping by!

Next time…the greatest rock singer of my generation makes his first of two appearances on the list.

P.S.

 Heart has released thirteen studio albums since Little Queen and have sold over 35 million albums over four decades. They’ve influenced generations of musicians, including many grunge era bands from Seattle. From 1985 to 1990, they enjoyed probably their most successful period, releasing three albums in that span. Heart, released in 1985, sold five million copies and had four top-ten singles: “What About Love”, “Never”, “Nothing at All” and the number one hit, “These Dreams.” Their sound during this time had more studio polish than their previous albums, and they adopted a glam look consistent with the 80s. Their next album, Bad Animals, contained the worldwide #1 hit “Alone”, which stayed at #1 for three weeks on the Billboard Top 100. “Alone” was also famously covered by Carried Underwood on her journey to winning American Idol in 2005. Brigade, released in 1990, also went multi-platinum and contained three more Billboard top-25 hits. Through the years, band members have moved in and out of the lineup, including Nancy Wilson taking a break in 1995, but the Wilson sisters have reformed Heart many times, recorded new material and toured.

In 2013, Heart was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by fellow Seattle musician and singer Chris Cornell. The original members of Heart reunited to play “Crazy on You”, and then were joined on stage by Cornell, Mike McReady (Pearl Jam) and Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains) for “Barracuda.” It’s my favorite version of my favorite Heart song, ever.  

Talking about Joan Jett last week and Ann and Nancy Wilson this week got me thinking about bands led by amazing women; here’s a Spotify playlist of some of my favorites through the years. Did I miss any of yours? Leave suggestions in the comments!

See you soon…

 JS

 4/10/2022