The Wild Heart (Live Rolling Stone Photo Shoot Demo Version) - Stevie Nicks

Filmed in 1981 at Annie Leibowitz's studio in New York during a photo shoot for a Rolling Stone cover story, this VHS captures the hypnotic talent and charm of Stevie Nicks at her peak. Breaking off from a make-up session Nicks delivers an impromptu live duet with her off-camera backing singer along to an early demo version of The Wild Heart. This song went on to be the title track of the album she released two years later but somehow the magic and simplicity of this demo was lost in the rewrites and the big studio production. 


Watching this video  it's hard not to feel a sense of melancholy that the innocent quality in her performance here would rarely be seen again. Nicks was on the verge of a transition which would see her become a back-combed, flinty-eyed goth by the mid-1980s. 

But anyway, let's forget all that and remember how it used to be (and for those who really love Stevie Nicks  there's a full five-minute video too. However you might want to avoid the slightly disturbing  gay homage by Gentleman Reg).  

Buy the 1983 album version