Spanky said:

Belle Of St Mark got a lot of airplay around here. Chart positions are here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_E.

squirrelgrease said:

OMG, it reached 68 on the US R & B chart? I stand corrected

Spanky said:

I said "somewhat successful" dammit. I didn't say "chart topper".

squirrelgrease said:

It was just a linn programming, not the whole song. Not to say that it was the right thing to do but it's not that bad.

In a 1986 interview,Jesse discussed this song,saying that it was to be used on one of the Time albums (probably 'What Time Is It') but since they never used it,he decided to use it for his own album.

Soul live maybe Prince really intended it to be on the Time album
that explains Cloreen Bacon Skin voice

squirrelgrease said:

strangely, it hit the US Top 40....

SoulAlive said:

Ice Cream Castle really could have benefited from another strong cut like this in place of Chili Sauce or If The Kid Can't Make You Come

thebanishedone said:

It was indeed recorded for The Time (2nd or 3rd album i can't remember).

thebanishedone said:

I think Prince gave it to him (his version of Pepe Willie's song) and the producer updated it, hence why they sound alike. Prince's version pre dates Jesse's so that has to be the reason.

The lyrics of Do Yourself a Favor owe quite a lot to Walk On By, by Burt Bacharach

Much prefer P's version: has the vocals higher in the mix, it's longer too.

Probably the most exciting song I discovered on The Work.

errant said:

I remember being a kid in L.A. and calling in to KIIS FM one night during the request hour for "Ice Cream Castles". I must have called ten times and each time they grew more and more irritated and said "Yeah, we'll try to get that on for you. Thank you for the call!"

HAHA, how little did I know the power of payola back then. They were never gonna play that damn song. Fuckers. During the time I first called to the time I fell asleep they probably played the theme from Ghostbusters about twelve times.
[Edited 4/13/10 0:04am]

errant said:

I agree."Chili Sauce" is filler and "If The Kid Can't Make You Come" is just plain silly,you can't take it seriously.A strong,focused tune like "Do Yourself A Favor" is exactly what this album needed.

I'm not fond of the lyrics with those tracks but I love "Chili Sauce" and "If The Kid Can't Make You Come" musically

Am I the only one?

vitriol said:

Actually Prince wrote the song after Jesse's title was announced. Jesse discusses this on Radioscope. Prince wanted him to include the song on Jesse's Shockedlica Album. Jesse declined because he wanted the project to be remembered for the project being a Jesse project and not a Prince project. Prince joke with Jesse on how silly it was to have an album without a title track on it. Prince threatened Jesse he would release it if it was not included on his album. Jesse did not believe him, then Prince released it.

muskiediver said:

Vitriol was talking about DYAF, not Shockadelica. Your stoty is true, though, and it has to be added that Prince sent Shockadelica to one or more Minneapolis radio(s?) BEFORE Jesse released his album, which was tricky because Jesse suddenly looked like he stole the name of his album from a Prince track (to the local people anyway).

To be honest I've listened to both alot and though I love me some Princey I'm going with Jesse's version-just something about his voice on here

databank said

Correct and correct.

I meant P recorded DYAF in '82.

P was said to have Bernie Grundman press an acetate of the song in two days to distribute it to local radios so that Jesse appeared to nick the 'Shockadelica' title from him instead of the opposite which was what really happened.

I'm afraid P is quite a bad loser and his ego couldn't admit that Jesse (or whomever) could turn off his offer to contribute. How dare he!!

vitriol said:

there are asshole moves that make me hate Prince. and there are asshole moves that make me love Prince. this one falls into the latter category there's a fine line between plain old D-bag and a "oh no he didn't " and this one is definitely a funny one.

errant said:

Yeah it's kind of a funny joke, and besides it was only local: it's not as if Prince had had Jesse look like an ass in the whole country. I like that story

^Well, but time passes and nowadays the story is wordly known.

So who, in the end, appears as more of an ass?