Joe Walsh on his romance with Stevie (2012)

[Macfan4life]

An older interview but Stern just released the video on youtube. Joe is sober here. He appeared many times on Stern and in the early days he would be so bombed drunk and I believe he passed out in the studio once.
Anyway, I think most of use heard this interview before. Clearly Stevie was more into the relationship than Joe. He says he loved her as a sister. LOL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_VZflpTsbU

[UnwindedDreams]

When he says she’s good at crafting a song does he mean she’s good at writing lyrics?

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by UnwindedDreams

When he says she’s good at crafting a song does he mean she’s good at writing lyrics?

I think so. He told how his song writing was very scattered with lyrics on multiple pieces of paper. She probably put them all together and added some of her magic. Its funny because she is not credited anywhere on the album. Keith Olsen produced it though. It looks like another extra curricular activity she was involved in instead of working on her own record. She was working on Joe's album, she was touring with Tom and then with Heart instead of her own tour rehearsals or shooting videos. It seemed she was everywhere except where she really needed to be in 1985. The song Confessor is a fantastic song and a favorite of mine. But the rest of the album got trashed by critics and pretty much flopped. The song has such great lyrics that I wonder if that's Stevie's hand.

[WatchChain]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

she was touring with Tom and then with Heart instead of her own tour rehearsals or shooting videos. It seemed she was everywhere except where she really needed to be in 1985.

Very interesting! I did not realize that Stevie had toured with Heart and done some guest spots on their 1985 tour. Any idea how long or in what capacity she was on the road with Ann and Nancy? What songs did she sing on?

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by WatchChain

Very interesting! I did not realize that Stevie had toured with Heart and done some guest spots on their 1985 tour. Any idea how long or in what capacity she was on the road with Ann and Nancy? What songs did she sing on?

I should not have used the word "toured." She basically tagged along the west coast with Heart in late 1985. The Wilson sisters wrote in their book that Stevie took them to her house in Arizona after a show there. They thought they were big partiers until they were with Stevie who shocked them at the amount of blow she could do. I think she did a few concerts in CA too. It was only West Coast. Here is a video of both Stevie and Grace Slick being introduced and singing on What About Love. But you can barely hear Stevie. Maybe she did not know the words

The point I was trying to make was she was everywhere except taking an interest to her own music. Poison got to record their debut album in her studio unknowing to her because she paid for it and never showed up. She was crashing Wham concerts, Heart concerts, going to Australia with Tom while AWOL from Talk To Me video shoots and tour rehearsals. The party was much more important than her music or career at that point. She had a highly anticipated album that was 1 year over due. Once released she did no promotion of her own album and was involved in everyone else's party.


The photo from video actually may be from the concert since it looks like Heart's bassist in the background.
From Oakland, CA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOnv2HZAGHA

[WatchChain]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

Poison got to record their debut album in her studio unknowing to her because she paid for it and never showed up. She was crashing Wham concerts, Heart concerts, going to Australia with Tom while AWOL from Talk To Me video shoots and tour rehearsals. The party was much more important than her music or career at that point. She had a highly anticipated album that was 1 year over due. Once released she did no promotion of her own album and was involved in everyone else's party.

This fits perfectly with my memory. I remember buying the "Rock a Little" album on the day of its release. At the time, MTV was all the rage. Any artist MUST have a video for the first single in heavy rotation. For several weeks, Stevie had a hit single with NO video. THEN, the "Talk to Me" video finally premiered on MTV after the single had already peaked and was falling back down the charts. The "I Can't Wait" video was released almost immediately after (which was obviously filmed on the same soundstage as the prior video with almost no direction or thought).

It was also customary to launch the tour to support the album very soon after the release. "Rock a Little" was released in November 1985, and the tour launched the following year on April 11 in Houston, Texas.

The "Rock a Little" singles did ok, peaking at #4 and #16 respectively. The 3rd single bombed. If Stevie would have put more energy and thought into promoting the "Rock a Little" album, it would have been bigger. Heart's career comeback was SOARING at the time.

The most hilarious thing I learned is that Stevie paid for time in a recording studio, and then failed to show up. Her life was clearly spiraling out of control.

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by WatchChain

This fits perfectly with my memory. I remember buying the "Rock a Little" album on the day of its release. At the time, MTV was all the rage. Any artist MUST have a video for the first single in heavy rotation. For several weeks, Stevie had a hit single with NO video. THEN, the "Talk to Me" video finally premiered on MTV after the single had already peaked and was falling back down the charts. The "I Can't Wait" video was released almost immediately after (which was obviously filmed on the same soundstage as the prior video with almost no direction or thought).

It was also customary to launch the tour to support the album very soon after the release. "Rock a Little" was released in November 1985, and the tour launched the following year on April 11 in Houston, Texas.

The "Rock a Little" singles did ok, peaking at #4 and #16 respectively. The 3rd single bombed. If Stevie would have put more energy and thought into promoting the "Rock a Little" album, it would have been bigger. Heart's career comeback was SOARING at the time.

The most hilarious thing I learned is that Stevie paid for time in a recording studio, and then failed to show up. Her life was clearly spiraling out of control.

There was a video here about a year or so ago from youtube with Poison's first producer. Poison had no money and it was a gamble to let them record in the studio for fear she could show up. Her absence from a studio she rented allowed them to record their first album. She really had no focus. Bella Donna, Wild Heart, OSOTM all summer releases with summer shows (she was on tour with Tom in summer 1981 before her tour). RAL was a winter release and then the tour started when the album was almost off the charts almost a half year later. I can only imagine how fearful her management was when RAL was going on the road.
There was that other story here about a year ago of that sound tech that was in the studio only for HAEWAFY. Everything was set up in the studio and they had to wait all day and night for her to show up. They had to turn the air conditioning to freezing. She finally showed up around 11pm in a big fur coat. She hung out in the studio and then sent some crew member to some 24 hour market to buy bread and lunch meat. She then made sandwiches for everyone at 1 am. Who wants to eat lunch meat from a 24 hour market at 2 am?
You are correct. Talk To Me was already in the top 20 by the time the video was released. She failed to show up for the initial shoot. In her video recaps, she said she does not like to watch music videos of herself because she sees how high she was. I think she looks fine in all her videos except I Cant Wait. She looks high in that one. There are segments in If Anyone Falls she looks high too. Her exact word were "Why could I have not laid off the drugs and tequila for a few days before the shoot"
My opinion is her record company purposely killed both The Wild Heart and RAL by releasing a third song that would not chart. They knew they could never get another video from her in that state. So lets move on.

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

He says he loved her as a sister. LOL

I was going to comment this in the Unexpected FM thread, but since I found this thread about the interview, and I agree with the LOL, here it goes. Not only the phrase As a Sister, but his eyes while answering, made me laugh.

Unexpected cause I just opened YouTube looking for news videos, and this short appears as a suggestion. It is part of the original video this thread is about.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tw4lyxe6H0w

[Macfan4life]

Originally Posted by Villavic

I was going to comment this in the Unexpected FM thread, but since I found this thread about the interview, and I agree with the LOL, here it goes. Not only the phrase As a Sister, but his eyes while answering, made me laugh.

Unexpected cause I just opened YouTube looking for news videos, and this short appears as a suggestion. It is part of the original video this thread is about.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tw4lyxe6H0w

She definitely loved him but their relationship was more toxic for her. She already was a major cocaine addict but touring a summer with the biggest alcoholic and drug addict in rock really accelerated her decline. She could not even complete an album over 2 years and eventually had to be forced to enter rehab just 3 years after the Wild Heart tour and her romance to him ended. Joe did not hit the wall until many years later. Joe was a frequent guest on Stern in the late 80s/early 90s and he would actually pass out drunk in the studio. It was in the morning too. But Joe did get clean and sober by the mid 90s. Did he not say that they had to end to relationship because they were going to kill themselves on drugs.

[HomerMcvie]

The reunification of The Eagles forced him to get sober. He wasn't welcome unless he got sober. Don Felder and Irving Azoff drove him to rehab.