The 1980s
Private Audition came out in June 1982 and sold only 400,000 copies and peaked at number 25 on Billboard. After 2 platinum albums and a gold, this was seen as a flop and critics and others began to sharpen their knives. They continued to do very well with concert sales, however.
Ever since Nancy had broken up with Derosier, his presence in the band made everyone uncomfortable. So the decision was made that Derosier and bassist Steve Fossen should leave. They would be replaced by Mark Andes on bass and Denny Carmassi on drums, who had played in Montrose.
About this time Nancy's long time friend, Kelly Curtis, introduced her to Cameron Crowe, who was then an up and coming screenplay writer. After a bumpy start which included Nancy being stood up, Cameron and Nancy began dating. He arranged for her to play the role of “Beautiful-Girl-in-a-Car” in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, which he had written. The romance would simmer for a few years before they would marry.
The lackluster performance of Private Auditions led to increased pressure for the band to “rock” on the next album, Passionworks. Drugs became a factor as well. Recalling that time, Nancy has said:
"Everything we did in those years had a white sheen of powder over it. There were only a few people on our crew, or band, who resisted. Cocaine was sprinkled over the albums, the videos, and our lives. Cocaine stripped all the humor out of our music. The videos we made were completely without intentional comedy, but were so serious they had an almost comedic feel."
This album did slightly better, but CBS records was disappointed and dropped them. After the tour was complete, Nancy and Ann began to question if maybe things had played out for Heart or if the band's success owed more to the Fisher brothers than they thought.
Read more about this topic: Nancy Wilson (rock Musician)