Crazy on You

"Crazy on You" is the guitar-driven debut single from the female-fronted (Nancy and Ann Wilson) rock band Heart's debut album Dreamboat Annie, released in 1976. Starting with an acoustic guitar intro, the song turns into fast-paced rock song that was the signature sound of the band in their early years. "Crazy on You" attracted attention both for the relatively unusual combination of an acoustic guitar paired with an electric guitar, and the fact that the acoustic guitarist was a female – a rarity in rock music during that time. According to co-writer/guitarist Nancy Wilson on an episode of In the Studio with Redbeard (which devoted an entire episode to the Dreamboat Annie album), the rapid acoustic rhythm part was inspired by The Moody Blues song "Question".

The song's lyrics tell of a person's desire to forget all the problems of the world during one night of passion. During an interview on Private Sessions, Ann Wilson revealed the song was written in response to the stress caused by the Vietnam War and social unrest in the United States in the early seventies.

"Crazy On You" became the band's first commercial hit, peaking at #35 on the charts in the summer of 1976. Despite its modest chart, "Crazy on You" remains as one of Heart's signature tunes and is still a staple on U.S. classic rock radio stations. In late 1977, Mushroom Records re-released the single with the same catalog number and B-Side. This re-release peaked at #62 on the Hot 100 in early 1978. In the Netherlands it reached number two on the singles chart in March 1977. The single's B-side, "Dreamboat Annie", was later released on its own as an A-side.

Chart performance

Original release

1978 Re-issue

Covers and appearances

• It is featured in 1981 Ralph Bakshi film American Pop.
• It is featured in the Shaun White snowboarding video "The White Album".
• It is featured in the 2006 video game Guitar Hero II.
• It is featured in the 2007 film Juno, and is mentioned in the credits. However, it does not appear on the soundtrack.
• CBS used the guitar riff from this song when going to a commercial break on its NFL coverage during the 1980 NFL season.
• You Can't Do That on Television uses samples of "Crazy on You" and "Magic Man" in the 1983 Classical Music episode.
• The soundtrack of the 1999 Sofia Coppola movie The Virgin Suicides features "Crazy on You" and "Magic Man". In the movie, "Crazy on You" is played in the first kiss scene between Lux Lisbon (Kirsten Dunst) and Trip Fontaine (Josh Hartnett).
• The soundtrack to the 2001 movie A Knight's Tale features "Crazy on You", although the song did not appear in the movie itself.
• The 2004 Eminem song "Crazy in Love" samples the chorus of "Crazy On You."
• It is featured in the 2004 movie Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.
• Heart performs it in the season finale of the second season (2005) of the Showtime drama The L Word.
• Blitzen Trapper covers this song on the 2007 Bridging the Distance compilation.
• Carly Smithson performed "Crazy on You" on Season 7 of American Idol during the top 20 performances. Her version was released for download from the iTunes store on February 28, 2008.
• The Decemberists performed a cover on their Hazards of Love tour, with Becky Stark and Shara Worden singing main vocals.
• In 2010, the opening guitar riff was used by Chrysler in a commercial for the Dodge Charger.
• In 2010, the second episode of The Good Guys featured the song in a scene in which a date between Jack, played by Colin Hanks, and dirty cop Kiersten, played by Lauren Stamile, turns violent.
• The hard rock band Picture Me Broken covered "Crazy On You," and its version became available on iTunes as of June 2011.

References