10 tracks · 40 min
Dreamboat Annie is the debut album by American rock band Heart. It was released in the United States on February 14, 1976 through Mushroom Records. It contained three hit singles which became staples on FM radio. Producer Mike Flicker helped the group to polish their sound and obtain a recording contract with the label. The album was recorded on an Ampex MM1000 16-track tape recorder (which formerly belonged to United Western Recorders) at the Can-Base Studios in Vancouver, BC, which were later renamed to the current Mushroom Studios. It was the first major hit album recorded there. Dreamboat Annie was released following the success of the second single. The album cover was designed by current Emily Carr University of Art and Design communication design instructor Deborah Shackleton Heart's first radio success earned them a spot opening a Montreal concert for Rod Stewart in October 1975. More Canadian airplay soon followed, due in part to the fact that Heart's recordings qualified for Canadian content broadcast requirements. The album sold an impressive 30,000 copies across Canada in its first few months.
Mushroom then formed a US division and released Dreamboat Annie on Valentine's Day 1976 in the Seattle area, where Heart's members had lived and played before relocating to Canada in the early 1970s. The album was played by Seattle stations KISW and KZOK and promptly sold another 25,000 copies in the local area. The group and their label then began working together to build success for the album city by city. According to Flicker, this was part of a plan to convince record distributors that Mushroom had a hit record, so that the album would get national distribution.
