The Wild Heart and the Case of the Third Single

bwboy · #1 09-22-2023, 03:42 PM

I finally got around to listening to the Wild Heart Deluxe Edition that came out years ago, and it brought to mind what’s been debated here before- what should have been the third single besides Nightbird? I thought a list of pros and cons would be the way to go for the possibilities.

Beauty and the Beast-
Pros: one of my favorites. It’s beautifully performed with an impressively restrained vocal, gorgeous music and lush production.

Cons: too slow for radio; too long for radio.

I Will Run to You-
Pros: written by and performed with Tom Petty.

Cons: Tom may have tried too hard with this one; it’s obvious he wrote it specifically for Stevie, yet despite her fine vocal, he outshines her here.

Gate and Garden-

Pros: um… well, I don’t [I]hate[I] it, but…
Cons: it really rambles, especially from about the middle to the end.

What are the pros and cons of the other songs that might have made for a more successful third single?

On Ice · #2 09-23-2023, 08:59 AM

I would've gone with Nothing Ever Changes- although it is dragged down a bit but Stewart's not so helpful synth which takes the wind out of the underlying rock tone of the song. Still, I think it could've worked in the fall of '83 and charted higher than Nightbird which just wasn't catchy enough for radio beyond the die hard fans. Now, All the Beautiful Worlds with a single edit may have been interesting!

Gate and Garden may have gotten through with it's gorgeous vocal although cheesy lyrics.

Macfan4life · #3 09-24-2023, 05:11 AM

In 1983 I was expecting I Will Run To You to be the third single. I dont know if the record company did not want to people to think Stevie was so dependent on Tom or something. Her vocals on the album are great but I Will Run To You they seem a little out of whack.

They had great options for a third single:

Enchanted - its basically the same song as Bob Segar's Even Now which went to #11. It has the same musicians playing produced by Jimmy. When I hear Even Now on the radio, I sing Enchanted to it. Roy's piano and Russel's drumming is pretty much the same. Maybe they feared it was too similar to be released as a single. Enchanted is even the same syllables as Even Now. Take a listen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-3uDjxUD68

I Will Run To You- it definitely would have charted but another duet with Tom maybe was not what the record company wanted as a single. Lets be real, its no SDMHA and a fairly basic and not very creative or catchy.

Nothing Ever Changes - it would have solidified Stevie's rock chops since the song was already getting rock airplay.

Anything would have been leaps and bounds better than the dreaded Nightbird with the dreary keyboard intro. In fact, its possible they could have had a 4th single off the album like Bella Donna. But I believe Stevie was getting hard to work with after the Wild Heart release. Her drug addiction really accelerated after her Joe Walsh stint. She was in no shape to be recording videos or doing promos. I have always believed Modern purposely released third singles from both Wild Heart and RAL to kill the album and call it a day. She was in another world then.

GypsySorcerer · #4 09-25-2023, 03:44 PM

Agreed on "Nothing Ever Changes." It's upbeat and features one of her best opening lines of any song.

I don't think any of the others are very good choices. I'd probably take "Violet and Blue" if it had been included on the album. So many excellent Stevie songs were relegated to soundtracks...

WatchChain · #5 09-25-2023, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

I have always believed Modern purposely released third singles from both Wild Heart and RAL to kill the album and call it a day. She was in another world then.

This is an interesting assessment. I have always wondered what Modern Records was thinking when they released "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You" as the 3rd single from Rock a Little.

There is absolutely no way that radio would play that song. It was dead on arrival.

This began the era of the record company urging Stevie to record songs by outside writers like Holly Knight, Billy Steinberg, Tom Kelly and Diane Warren. The Wilson sisters in Heart were enjoying a huge comeback during this era - unfortunately, Heart had to record "hit" songs by the outside writers listed above to make this happen. The #1 single "These Dreams" was pitched to Stevie first. What if that had been the third single from Rock a Little? Would we have a different story?

Macfan4life · #6 09-26-2023, 04:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WatchChain

This is an interesting assessment. I have always wondered what Modern Records was thinking when they released "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything For You" as the 3rd single from Rock a Little.

There is absolutely no way that radio would play that song. It was dead on arrival.

This began the era of the record company urging Stevie to record songs by outside writers like Holly Knight, Billy Steinberg, Tom Kelly and Diane Warren. The Wilson sisters in Heart were enjoying a huge comeback during this era - unfortunately, Heart had to record "hit" songs by the outside writers listed above to make this happen. The #1 single "These Dreams" was pitched to Stevie first. What if that had been the third single from Rock a Little? Would we have a different story?

For RAL I think it was very true. Her management was already trying to strong arm her into rehab. She barely got through the tour. Her videos for the album were a mess and she was late or cancelling shoots. There would be no video for the third single. The tour was over and it was time for her to get to rehab.

bwboy · #7 09-26-2023, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

For RAL I think it was very true. Her management was already trying to strong arm her into rehab. She barely got through the tour. Her videos for the album were a mess and she was late or cancelling shoots. There would be no video for the third single. The tour was over and it was time for her to get to rehab.

I don’t know, I just can’t imagine a record company deliberately trying to NOT sell one of their records. Having a hit third single would have only helped sell the album, it certainly wouldn’t have kept her out of rehab. I love HAEWAFY but agree it wasn’t the best idea for a third single, but then again, what would have been? I like most of the songs on RAL, but I see no obvious songs besides the first two singles that jump out for radio. As far as not filming a third video, that was typical of Stevie and FM.

vermicious knid · #8 09-30-2023, 04:55 PM

I like Nightbird a lot, and I think with some improvements could have avoided having any detractors. The very beginning is a bit underwhelming, and I think the dreamy sound at the beginning of Sable on Blond is what should actually have been the beginning of Nightbird. The drums and keyboards and the background oohs and aahs. The early versions of Sable on Blond didn't even have that sound, so it seems they could have easily used it on Nightbird instead.

Jondalar · #9 09-30-2023, 09:36 PM

Nightbird was the only viable third single and did make the top 40. I Will Run To You was played a lot on rock radio, but not enough to be officially released. It did manage to hit 35 on the mainstream rock chart and that was just from radio airplay. Petty original wrote Insider for Stevie’s album but then decided he liked it too much so kept it. I Will Run To You was sort of his throw away. It was a nice song but not good enough. I think though it was her fourth single from the album and like I said it did manage to chart from radio play on the Billboard rock chart even though it was never officially released.