"Never" by Heart

Top 10 Alert!

Song#:  2462
Date:  09/14/1985
Debut:  70
Peak:  4
Weeks:  24
Genre:  Rock



Pop Bits:  Heart got an 80s makeover via their new label, Capitol, and came zooming back with a self-titled album that featured the #10 hit "What About Love." Heart was back on the charts again and this second single from the LP showed that they were going to stick around for a while. The track made it to #2 at Rock while becoming their biggest hit to-date on the Pop chart. It would also help their album break through a crowded chart and finally nab the top spot for a week in December. It would be their first and only album to hit #1.

ReduxReview:  While the big power ballad "What About Love" kept the band's rock roots fairly intact, this single really pushed them into a more commercial pop direction. With hit-making songwriter Holly Knight leading the writing team, there was no doubt that the band was definitely making a bid for chart glory. While they might have been pushed into it by their deal with Capitol, they seemed to give in to the label machinery and even though this is no "Barracuda," the big production and chorus fit them quite well. This song was as radio-ready as you could get and even if "What About Love" had failed, I still think this one would have hit.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  The writing credits for this song go to Holly Knight, Glen Bloch, and Connie. Connie is not actually a person, but a pseudonym for three people - Heart's Ann Wilson and Nancy Wilson, and Sue Ennis. Ennis began writing songs with the Wilson sisters back in 1978 when the trio co-wrote all the tunes for Heart's album Dog & Butterfly. Ennis has continued to work with the sisters on nearly every album since. In the early 90s, the Wilson sisters along with Ennis and Frank Cox formed an acoustic side band called The Lovemongers. They issued an EP in 1992 and then in 1997 recorded a full album of new music titled Whirlygig. A year later they did an LP of Christmas songs called Here Is Christmas. It was reissued later in 2001 under the Heart moniker as Heart Presents a Lovemongers' Christmas.

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