The awful rumour that created one of Heart's angriest songs
- Jan 23
- 6 min read
This album cover was at the centre of a rumour so awful, it pushed Heart to write one of the angriest, most famous riffs in rock history. This is the story of Barracuda.
So, it’s 1977, and the Wilson sisters are in a bad place. Because despite proving themselves as talented, successful musicians, they had fallen victim to a record rep with a big mouth.
But they weren’t going to take it lying down.
The story starts with Hearts first album, 1975’s Dreamboat Annie. It was well received, with fans and critics both applauding the band's musicianship and powerful vocals, and celebrating the rare dynamic of female fronted rock.
It hit No.7 on the charts, and in general there was a lot of buzz around it. Heart had arrived, and they weren’t here to mess around. But one journalist in particular decided not to focus on any of that. He was interested in the cover artwork.
When you look, there is nothing particularly unusual about the alum cover. The band name, and the two Wilson sisters. Well this guy decided there was.
Nancy Wilson told American Songwriter in 2021:
“You know that type; there’s a lot of those kinds of guys in this business. And he was like, because of our album cover where we had bare shoulders touching … “So, Ann, how’s your lover?” And she goes, “Oh, yeah, Mike’s great!” And he goes, “No, no, I mean your sister, haha!”
You know how these sort of nasty rumours tend to pick up speed, and before they knew it the rumour that the two sisters were incestuous lovers was floating around the scene. In one story, they discovered this rumour at a party.
In another, it was after a show. Watch this interview to see Anne explaining what happened:
There wasn’t even any basis to the claim. It was just a stupid rumour. And then the label, in a haphazard attempt to capitalize on the rumour, actually went as far as to circulate an image of the album cover, with the words “It was only our first time” in advertising spots. This came after some nasty royalty negotiations between the band and the label. There was a lot of tension between them.
Imagine being Heart at the time - making their way in the music world, proud of their first album, and ready to become the next big thing in rock. And then some sleazeball tries to drag you down with comments like that. Nancy Wilson told guitar player in 2024:
“To think that this guy would diminish our musicianship and songwriting by reducing us to these sexual objects. The whole thing was so slimy and salacious, and we weren’t having it.”
Unfortunately, it's typical of the kind of misogyny that’s plagued the music industry for decades. These kinds of stories are everywhere.
Another example for Heart is how they were portrayed in the media. People focussed heavily on the sisters' looks, comparing the fact that one was slimmer than the other, instead of talking about the great show they would put on night after night.
Did people do that about male led bands? No. Of course not.
And this was coming from within the record label they actually worked for, Mushroom records.
The band weren’t having it, and their next song turned into a middle finger protest to the whole thing.
The sisters give credit to co-lead guitarist Roger Fisher - yes, they had two lead guitarists - for coming up with that great riff that drives the song.
Fisher brought that riff and a rough outline of the structure into the studio on a little demo tape, and the rest of the band jumped in.
Very soon they had this pumping, powerhouse song with this great heartbeat. But it needed vocals. And it naturally became the perfect vehicle for singer Annie’s frustrations at the music industry.
See, as well as these dirty rumours that they had to deal with - they were also dealing with the general corporate nonsense, too. Despite touring almost all of 1976, the band did manage to find time to start writing and recording for a new album - which was originally going to be called Magazine.
With the help of producer Mike Flicker they’d cut 4 new songs - but they wanted to negotiate their contract before releasing anything. They’d proven themselves on their first album - they deserved a better contract.
The record label, of course, disagreed. They didn’t want to gamble that the band would remain popular. They said they’d rather keep the original contract, even if it meant they didn’t gain anything extra either.
Flicker, who was very loyal to the band, was so angry he quit the label. And the band went with him.
But what this meant was that they’d lost the four tracks they’d written, and had to start over.
Because true to form, Mushroom records decided it would be okay to release the unfinished Magazine album without their permission. And seeing as they weren’t represented by them any more, that meant the songs didn’t belong to them.
Do you ever notice how the way the music industry operates is completely the opposite of your typical rock’n’roll values?
All of this frustration just poured out of singer Annie.
You lying so low in the weeds
I bet you wanna ambush me
You'd have me down, down, down, down on my knees
Now wouldn't you, Barracuda?
You can see exactly what she means. Flicker told Mix in 2024:
“‘Barracuda’ was created conceptually out of a lot of this record business bullshit. ‘Barracuda’ could be anyone from the local promotion man to the president of a record company. That is the barracuda. It was born out of that whole experience.”
Throughout the song she talks about the rumour mill, and the absolute BS the record label pulled.
Smile like the sun, kisses for everyone
And tales, it never fails
No right, no wrong, selling a song, a name
Whisper game
And if the real thing don't do the trick
You better make up something quick
This song was a sign of how musically mature the band were - it was only their second album, but this song is so well put together. There’s nothing wasted or out of place.
It really was them saying: Okay, screw you and your label, we’re the ones that actually make great songs.
Fun fact actually, is that not everyone was so impressed with the song. Heart had been touring with Nazareth, who had a hit with a cover of a Joni Mitchell song: This Flight Tonight.
Nancy has admitted in interviews they may have ‘borrowed’ slightly from that.. And Nazareth weren’t too happy about it. They accused them of stealing their riff. Which is ironic, seeing as they were talking about a cover.
Some people also tried to point out that the song sounded very Led Zeppelin. But that never gathered too much steam.
On the other hand, plenty of people have covered Barracuda, and it’s a classic karaoke song.
However, they didn’t love when republican party candidate Sarah Palin used it as her campaign song. The band were very much not Republican, and very much not amused. Watch this video from 2:34 to hear the band talking about this particular incident:
They were so annoyed that they actually wrote a cease and desist letter. Other than their differing views, it also irritated the band that nobody ever asked permission to use their song or gave any credit.
It was another example of the powers that be thinking they can do whatever they want.
All in All, Barracuda was a huge moment for Heart. They released it as a single for 1977’s Little Queen album, and people loved it.
Even if they didn’t know the story behind it, fans and critics loved that guitar riff, the amazing vocal and the sheer presence of the song.
It cemented Heart as a serious hard rock band, and proved their first album was no fluke. It was soon all over the radio, and became one of the biggest singles of the 70’s, which is no mean feat.
And of course, with two women in the band, it was a great big beacon for women in rock music.
It helped Little Queen to become a big success too. It actually didn’t chart as high as their first effort, but it eventually sold a lot better. It’s triple platinum in the US, and double platinum in Canada.
This is the album that really took Heart global, and Barracuda is one of the biggest parts of it. It’s still at the top of their setlist today, and it’s obviously not going to go anywhere.
And it also just shows that when industry bigwigs and slimy idiots disrespect you, you don’t have to just put up with it.
You can write the biggest song of your career about it instead, and they can read it and weep. I love that.
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