No Man Shall Fall – Little Sister
Ready And Willing – Litle Sister
Purely as a title, ‘No Man Shall Fall’ can be read in a ‘he ain’t heavy’ kinda way in that it could be a call to pick up your fellow human when they stumble. Or it could be a feel-sorry-for-myself-woe-is-me song bemoaning the fact that nobody could fall in love with the poor singer. But in the hands of the Lonman sisters (Debbi and Jenni) who were better known as Little Sister, the lyric explains further that “no man shall fall/into my heart”.
And speaking of heart, there is undoubtedly a similarity between Little Sister and the American band Heart. Not only are both groups primary members two sisters (Ann and Nancy Wilson in the case of Heart), but they both write great power ballads. ‘No Man Shall Fall’ was described in the SA Rock digest as being “Elegiac and beautiful, soaring singing and guitar work, a song about awareness of wrongs done and a new leaf turning.”.
Starting out slowly with an atmospheric piano and voice, the song quickly builds into that large sound associated with rock ballads and a loud blast of chorus before suddenly dropping back to quiet again, only to build once more. South Africa was not a place where power ballads were easily grown. But the Lonman sisters seemed to have found a fertile patch to plant this one and have reaped a great crop of guitars, drums and emotive vocals. Contrary to the title, I think any man who loves his rock music will fall for this one.
Where to find it:
While No One Was Looking – Little Sister (1999), Gallo, GWVCD9
Ready And Willing – Little Sister (1990), Tusk, TUCD 7
