Ann Wilson’s first choice for her ‘Footloose’ duet
Any conversation about 1970s hard rock that does not include a mention of Heart vocalist Ann Wilson is not worth listening to. From the band’s early formation in 1973, Heart pioneered a sound that blended elements of hard rock, metal, and even folk, becoming one of the era’s defining groups in the process. Although the group witnessed various line-up changes throughout the years, Ann Wilson has always been at the very heart of…Heart.
Wilson was among the first women to make strides into hard rock, and her stunning voice fit perfectly within the genre’s conventions. However, her vocal performances also added new layers to the scene, pushing it forward into more diverse avenues and inspiring countless future rock stars in the process. The diverse range of influences held by both Wilson and Heart as a whole meant that the band rarely stayed in one place and, as the 1980s approached, the band were drifting ever closer to pop rock.
Although pop rock gets a bad rap in the modern age, largely due to its commercialism and middle-of-the-road sound, Wilson proved that the genre could still make an impact. The records she sang on during this period, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, gained Wilson an incredible degree of mainstream success, which seemed to open a plethora of doors for her as a performer. One such opportunity which presented itself was the chance to sing on the soundtrack of Herbert Ross’ 1984 classic film Footloose.
In many ways, the soundtrack to Footloose typified the mainstream pop excess of America during the 1980s, featuring the likes of Kenny Loggins, Bonnie Tyler, and Sammy Hagar, among various others. One of the standout moments of the soundtrack came with the romantic song ‘Almost Paradise’, written by Eric Carmen and Dean Pitchford, to be sung as a duet. Pretty early on, the producers highlighted Ann Wilson as the ideal voice for this duet, but the process of recruiting another vocalist seemed fraught with difficulty.
Eventually, Loverboy singer Mike Reno was recruited to sing on the track with Wilson, but he was far from being the first choice. Reflecting on the experience of ‘Almost Paradise’, the Heart vocalist later recalled, “They asked me to sing the song, and they gave me my choice, they said ‘In a perfect world, which man would you like to sing with?’ I went, ‘Paul Rodgers’, without even skipping a beat.”
As rock royalty in his own right, it is no surprise that Wilson selected Rodgers. However, the vocalist was busy forming the short-lived supergroup The Firm during the production of Footloose, so he was never going to be able to appear on the soundtrack. “He wasn’t available,” Wilson recalled, “And then I said ‘Robert Plant,’ and, of course, he wasn’t available. None of the ones I chose were available.”
Eventually, after Wilson’s various suggestions were shot down, the production landed upon Mike Reno, lead singer of hard rock heroes Loverboy, who were experiencing the peak of their commercial success during the mid-1980s. Although Reno certainly had not been Wilson’s first choice – in fact, she suggested several different vocalists, all of whom were unavailable, the pair seemed to work well together on the final song.
“Mike Reno is a great guy and a gentleman,” Wilson later attested. The vocal styles of the pair, along with their hard rock credentials, made them a suitable match-up for the lovey-dovey duet, which became one of the defining tracks on the Footloose soundtrack, even breaking into the top ten in the US singles charts.
