Yes Ann and Nancy Wilson in their heyday were a force to be reckoned with! They were hugely popular at Rock Radio during the release of their self titled Album “Heart” They were a staple at Radio especially after making the determination to go all in with MTV and their more mainstream rock sound. With this release “Heart” they cracked the Top 10 with multiple tracks and for the first time had a #1 Billboard hit with “These Dreams” This ballad propelled them as Ann is quoted as saying to me…”beyond our wildest dreams”. The band was touring during this time and came to the Oakland Coliseum on this Sold Out tour. I was invited backstage for a meet & greet. Little did I know at the time, that the radio promoter had brought bottles of Champaign back stage. When I was talking to the sisters, the promoter pulled out flutes and proceeded to pour us all glasses to toast this achievement of having gone to #1 on the Billboard charts that day. This was the bands first #1 and we all enjoyed the opportunity to share in this massive achievement. A photographer was on hand and the photo showed a delighted Ann and Nancy Wilson in a celebratory mood. This party happened preshow, so by the time the band hit the stage, they were in rare form.
Thin Lizzie and Phil Lynott
I was invited to a Thin Lizzie show at The Warfield theater. It was early in my career and a friend asked me to go with her. I was a huge fan and could not refuse. She said she had backstage passes and wanted to get there early. The Warfield backstage is under the stage. We hung out for a while and realized the band was doing a sound check. Charlotte had obviously been here before and knew the way, she grabbed my hand and said follow me as she led me to a private stage door and up this tiny metal spiral staircase onto stage right. It popped us right up onto the stage. After a blistering sound check Phil Lynott came right over to us, kissed Charlotte who then introduced me. She had met him before, and he knew she was coming. Clearly he was interested in hanging with her. I made my way back to the backstage area where I chatted with Neal Schon of Journey who was hanging… Neal later joined Thin Lizzie for a few songs during their amazing set. It was a brief and simple meet, but little did we know that a few years later, Phil would pass from complications from pneumonia at age 36...
Iggy Pop opening for The Cars
I was invited by a friend in the business to see Iggy Pop on his Blah Blah Blah tour open for The Cars at the Oakland arena in the late 80’s. I had a pair of tickets so I asked my wife to go with me and I told her that I had Back Stage passes for Iggy Pop. She was cool with it but was not as keen as I was. When we arrived there was a green room stage right set up for the greet and meet. There were probably about 20 of us. Iggy slid into the room with his manager and came right up to Nancy and I first. I introduced myself and Nancy and Iggy with his steel blue eyes was completely dialed into us. I asked him about his early days and how I had seen him at The Old Waldorf run across the table tops and cut himself with a broken bottle. We dished about the state of music and where he thought it was going. He said he was digging on The Clash recently and a few other bands. It was a great conversation and then he moved along to meet others…We stayed and had a beer all the while waiting for everyone to finish their conversations and then something incredible happened. Iggy came right back over to me and said Hey Ric and Nancy, how are you seats. I said we were all good… he had a sharpie in his hands and I rarely did this in those days but I asked him to sign something for me, he leaned over and signed Nancy’s plain white T Shirt she had on. He Thanked us for coming and exited. What struck me the most about him, was that he made the rounds at the Greet and Meet , made an effort to come all the way back around and over to me and had remembered who we were by name and made contact again to make sure we were all set for the show. Remarkable experience.