For several years in the mid -70's, Heart, a band that got its start in a Bellevue Washington basement, ruled rock and roll radio. Fans came to hear hits like "Barracuda", "Crazy On You" and "Magic Man" and to see two women--sisters--rock out. In the middle of the crowd--riding the sound board--band manager Mike Fisher felt like he was watching a dream come true.
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| Mike Fisher and Ann Wilson |
As a draft dodger living in Vancouver BC, where Heart really took off, Mike Fisher kept a low profile. He has been called the band manager and he's been credited ( on the Dreamboat Annie sleeve) with "Special Direction". Ann Wilson's first great love, Mike inspired the song "Magic Man". At the height of Heart's popularity, Mike and Ann were a couple and so were Nancy Wilson and Mike's brother Roger. Those were great times but the kind of temptation that could blow up Heart's fragile "Brothers Dating Sisters" chemistry waited around backstage after every show. And when the couples broke up so did the band.
As Heart enters the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Mike Fisher granted me his first interview in 30 years.
1001Songs
When you hear "Magic Man" on the radio do you flip the dial or does it take you right back?
Mike ( laughs)
It's always interesting. I always take note of the time because it's always some kind of amazing coincidence and it happens at the craziest times.
1001Songs
What is it like to hear "Magic Man"
Mike
Well. there's just so much history associated with everything that went into that song. It's kind of overwhelming to hear any old Heart song for me so I don't really go out of my way to listen to old Heart music because it's so filled with emotion for me I guess.
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| Ann and Mike |
1001Songs
So what was your role in Heart?
Mike
My role was more like a gardener, an architect or a designer. For me Heart was an artistic creation of mine in a way. Like a master chef creating a fine meal.
1001Songs
So "band manager" doesn't really say it all
Mike
I never aspired to be a label in the music industry. I just had this vision for what those people could become and I was totally fired up and passionate about it. We all were for a long time. So to realize that dream was really incredible.
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| Nancy and Ann Wilson |
1001Songs
Heart was already a big deal in the Vancouver area with Ann singing and your brother Roger on guitar. ( Roger's friend Steve Fossen on bass). How did Nancy join the band?
Mike
She came up to visit Ann and they started playing guitars on the couch and My God! It was like "Nancy's got to be in the band too!" It took a while to convinc her because she was going to school and doing really well. Straight A's or something. And her parents were totally against it. Especially her mom.
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| Nancy and Roger |
I did what I could to help her overcome that resistence and it didn't hurt that she and Roger kind of liked each other. So that's how that came together.
1001Songs
Is that what you mean by comparing yourself to a master chef?
Mike
It's such a delicate balance of egos and artistic creative possibilities and all of those things had to come together and it just took such an amazing coaxing and persuasion and everything to get it just right and then to keep it that way which became harder and harder as the group went along. Eventually being impossible.
1001Songs
What do you remember about the night Heart opened up for Rod Stewart in Montreal (1975)?( Thanks to constant radio airplay in Canada, the Vancouver band walked onstage to a huge enthusiastic audience that seemed to already know their songs)
Mike
That was the day when we realized that we had built the real thing and we were going to take it out and run it on the highway as fast as she would go.
1001Songs
But for a while there...
Mike
It was really incredible when Ann and I and Nancy and Rog --the four of us being brothers and sisters and lovers and companions-- constantly worked together. It's an amazing bond and I don't know that that has really ever happened before in rock music or if it will ever happen again. It's really hard to get harmony in a group of people and that kind of harmony is really amazing.
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| Brothers Roger and Mike Fisher working on "One Vision" project |
So tell me about this project you're doing with your brother Roger
Mike Fisher
We undertook this incredibly ambitious vision of 40 years of music that Roger has written. He never stopped writing music after Heart. He just IS music. And he asked me if I could help him and it was something I always wanted to do and we kept putting it off and putting it off and then a lot of people around me started dying. Including my friends and my parents and I realized I better get started on some of these things I want to do. And It's been a fantastic experience getting together everyday with Rog.
Look for more information about the "One Vision" project, coming out May 18,
at Roger Fisher. Com
Tomorrow we'll ask Roger Fisher to help us listen to three of Heart's most famous songs with fresh ears.
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