As any heterosexual guy who grew up in the 1970s can tell you, maybe the toughest fantasy sex choice that could be made was whether, if given the choice between Heart‘s Wilson sisters, you would sleep with Ann or Nancy. Which one of Charlie’s Angels you’d sleep with was another challenging question, but with a trio to choose from (not including the Fourth Angel, Cheryl Ladd) most guys could at least feel like they were making some progress toward a resolution by eliminating one.
Some of you may remember how the conversation started in schoolyards, lunch rooms, and ballfields across America:
Q: Ann or Nancy Wilson?
A: [Pause]
Sometime in the mid-1980s Townsman chickenfrank finally determined the appropriate answer to this delicate question, an answer we’ll term the Wilson Choice:
A: BOTH!
Despite the juvenile, sexual backstory to this RTH Glossary term, the Wilson Choice can be applied to other challenging issues in rock ‘n roll. Think of the implications of the Wilson Choice in settling the following longstanding rock-nerd question:
Q: The Residents’ Duck Stab or Buster & Glen?
A: Wow, tough one…I’ll have to make the Wilson Choice.
The Wilson Choice does not excuse us from making rock’s hard choices. It is not an excuse for an old-fashioned cop out.
Should a fellow rock nerd ask for your Beatles or Stones credentials, you are obligated to declare honestly whether your tastes are rooted in The Beatles or The Stones. Similarly, should you be asked to declare your favorite period of The Stones, Brian Jones era or Mick Taylor era, you cannot add the Ron Wood era to the mix, quickly eliminate the Wood era, and then declare a Wilson Choice between Brian and Mick eras. This is rock ‘n roll, not Charlie’s Angels!
In hindsight, both. At the time: Ann all the way. Nancy has those sharp features that reminded me too much of the girls in the smoking section I was afraid of. There was also a credibility problem: until their mid-80s rebirth I really had no indication that Nancy played anything more than Mick Guitar.
Kudos, Mod, for the development of a great phrase. I actually used it in the staff room at work on Friday. I’m going to try to start working it in to conversation as much as possible now and will wait to see how long it takes for someone to ask me what the hell I’m talking about.