For me, this is one of Sheila's (and Prince's) most hypnotic songs. I love the breakdown after the guitar solo, and the hook is creamy. Ya likes, org?

I love, love, love it. I have tried very hard to figure out what is being said backwards in this song but have not been able to do it. I'd love to know.

Luckily, the song is incredibly enjoyable if you just listen to it forward, as Prince intended.

Always was and is one of the funkiest tracks Prince ever layed down.

I LOVE this jam.

Efan said:

Someone was gonna post the backwards lyrics a while back. I don't know whatever happened to that.

Taurus said:

I don't think anybody could figure them out. They're buried really deep. You can understand a snippet, but that's about it.

I started a thread about it here, but it didn't take off.

Over on Housequake a while back, LeGrind posted this portion of the lyrics that he was able to make out:

"Yesterday, I had a dream
I had a dream that love you gave me
You're giving me these.... (Unsure on last word)
Leave me in a fever"

But as someone else pointed out in that thread, Prince played his recorded voice through his guitar and then put it on backwards, so it's incredibly difficult to make out.

I think it will go down as one of those unsolved lyrical mysteries, like the last line of the first verse of "Gotta Stop [Messin' About]."

OOOOO~ LOVE THAT CUT!
Thanks for the memories!
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!
love,
Lolly

Wow! I thought all along that this was (just) Prince scatting along with the guitar. Makin' me wanna go listen to the song all over again. I wonder how to separate the vocal line and run it through Amadeus Pro.

Efan said:

I remember Sheila rocking the shit outta this as the opening number on her Sex Cymbal tour... With the house lights down, the band found their groove for a minute or so and then Sheila appeared outta nowhere in a white suit with black shades playing a black guitar... too sexy.

Jude418 said:

Wow!

First, was there really a "tour" for Sex Cymbal? I remember she was on Arsenio Hall but then never heard about any dates. I was in either New York or Chicago at the time.

I wish this was on video somewhere.

Was Sheila really playing the guitar? Cuz she has said she only really plays "James Brown chords" on guitar.... (i.e. rythm) or was she doing some lead licks? (we won't mention the SNL Love BIzarre performance where I hate to say it I don't think she was even playing)

I remember on the PR tour Shortberry Strawcake opened the show..... it was awesome.

I heard Jesse wrote or played on this though. Is that true?

GaryMF said:

Hey, Gary, nice to see you back here!

Yeah, that SNL guitar thing was embarrassing. It looks like the guitar is not plugged in. You can see Sheila yelling at somebody offstage and shaking her head about the guitar not being live, and then she just fakes playing it (and doesn't fake it too well). I'm guessing she had some kind of guitar solo planned, maybe something Prince showed her to do. Sadly, it was not to be.

I didn't know about the Sex Cymbal tour either. As far as I knew, she did Arsenio and then the Rick Dees show the next night. That's all I saw; maybe she did a few dates on the west coast as well?

Efan said:

Hey! I've been around just not posting that much

Hmm I have to go back and watch that SNL performance. I don't remember her yelling at anyone. But that night in 1985 was my birthday and I remember I was in college and didn't have a tV and went to the basement of my dorm to watch it and it was a huge surpriuse and birthday present that Sheila was on SNL!!!

I wonder what she wouldn've played cuz I've heard her say she only plays some rhythm guitar. (Though she played violin as a kid ....so maybe she could play some licks on guitar).

THe biggest surprise for me was at he Family Jamm during the Family's set, she snuck in the back during Mutiny and was on keyboards!!! When I met her a few moths later I aksed her about that, and she was surprised anyone saw her back there. I asked what she was playing (since I play some keyboards) and was like "Oh I don't know...organ?" . She is so cool.

BTW I didn't know about Rick Dees (then again I didnt' even know he had a show). I would like to see that to complete my collectin of "live" Sheila performances .

GaryMF said:

Yeah, Rick Dees had a show called Into the Night. Sheila was on it the day after Arsenio, iirc. I used to have it on tape, but I lost it over the years. I wish I could find it again. Sheila did pretty much what she did on Arsenio. She came out and did the Sex Cymbal rap while some guy she was dancing with unbuttoned her shirt, revealing a shiny metal bra. She then "rode" the guy while she finished her rap, then jumped over to the band (and timbales) to launch into "Droppin' Like Flies." She did the interview with Rick Dees, who asked her who keeps the bra shiny, and she joked about a Mr. Buffer in back. For her second song, she did "Lady Marmalade," and it was killer. She was in a different outfit; I remember it being very colorful. During it, she pulled the whitest white guy out of the audience to dance, which he couldn't do very well, and she walked away from him slightly annoyed. She finished by sliding on the stage several times. There's a brief recap for you. God, I sound like an obsessed fan. But I must've watched that tape a million times, so it's kinda burned into my memory.

The SNL thing comes right after she gets the guitar. I just watched it again, and I guess she doesn't really yell so much as shake her head and look mad. It's right after she gets the guitar and tries to play it, and right before she sings, "America! That's what we are..."

Jude418 said:

Oops, I guess I overstated that performance as a tour. Sheila played a show at the Oasis Club in San Jose in support of Sex Cymbal and a friend saw her in LA a few nights later. Maybe that was it as far as dates? I'm curious now, because the set was a couple hours long and had multiple costume changes. The finale of "America" went on for like 20 minutes -- just seemed like a show that she was taking on the road.

Is it sad or funny that a few of us here are just as goofy as the Prince fams with our appreciation of Sheila? I too remember staying up for that SNL, getting all geeked because "Holly Rock" was extended by a whole 10 seconds or somethin... but I was more upset about the attempt at a slide on small stage than the guitar "playing."

Anyway, whats the word on that new Escovedos release?

LollyPopLife said:

I still swear up and down that Prince placed this track on her album. It is actually a Prince track

Jude418 said:

I've tried to convince my friends that it's endearing.

IAintTheOne said:

I assume he did. He did the whole album, as far as I know, with Sheila just taking over the main vocal track (and even that is greatly assisted by Jill in many places). Since there aren't any vocals on Shortberry Strawcake, except for the backward ones we talked about earlier, I don't think Sheila is on the album version of this track at all.

Someone like BorisFishpaw or Langebleu could give an authoritative answer, but I think Sheila's big musical contributions to the album came with the percussion on the title track and Oliver's House. The other thing I've never been able to figure out, or never seen explained definitively, is if Sheila did indeed cowrite Noon Rendezvous. The shared credit between Girlsongs and Chocheat Music in the copyright makes it seem as if that is one track she actually helped write.

Efan said:

Sheila's percussion is all over the album. Of course most noticably on the title cut and Oliver's House but I'm pretty sure Shortberry has some pretty cool syncopated percussion parts that are definitely Sheila's touches. I have to go back and listen but from memory I think there is some very typical "Sheila" cymbal work and maybe cowbell and timable in there.

Jude418 said:

I believe I"ve read that this is around the time she had health problems (i.e. the collapsed lung) which is why the tour never happened. I would guess it was supposed to be a tour given what you saw but unfortuantely she had to cancel.



Believe it or not, I got into Prince BECAUSE of Sheila. I mean I was aware of 1999 and Little Red Corvette, but I bought Sheila's album first the summer of 1984 and went to the PR tour to see Sheila!!! Then when I saw the Prince concert it turned me into a Prince fan. I still prefer to see Sheila in concert because 1)it's much rarer and 2) i find her much sexier which is odd because i'm gay!
[Edited 1/2/09 11:51am]

Ditto for me... When she was all "Don't you wanna be my bitch?" I was like "Yes please."

Also, a question for GaryMF and Efan -- Which female artists of today do you groove on or believe come close to the stage presence and performance level of Sheila?

Jude418 said:

Ditto for me. Sheila was almost my beard through high school.



I can't think of anybody current who I enjoy as much as seeing Sheila live. There are plenty of old-school women I love for different reasons. But I can't think of anybody whose playing brings me as much happiness.

Jude418 said:

Are you kidding? There are no artists--female or male---of today who can compare to Sheila or Prince! Seriously.

Now don't attck me, but I do love Mariah (though she is really more of a 90's artist).....but I would never compare her stage presence or performance level to Sheila. Mariah has a musical gift with her voice and songwriting ability but my bf (who loves Mariah more than I do) and I always laugh that Mariah just stands there on stage and barely moves

ANyway..... that said, it's sad that today's music "stars" are not really artists.

ANd please do not even get me starte dont get me started on Beyonce. Yes she gives her performances her all but I don't think she has the same type of talent or appeal as Sheila. (and I don't lke her voice).

I feel ya... I live for LIVE music but few female acts have moved me lately. Nikka puts on an ok show, and I still try to catch Teena, Erykah or Chaka when they roll through, but I'm yearning for someone fresh... Or maybe we should just chip in 3-ways to meet Sheila's quote for a private gig!

Jude418 said:

Now you are talking!!!! I had a big "b-day" 2 years ago and I told my bf i wanted him to book Sheila or Miss Patti and he was like "you are tripping!".

That would be my dream to hae a private concert with Sheila and her band. (and let me sit in on keyboards for Glam life!)

BTW I have to say I love Teena too and I saw her in Bermuda 2 years ago (my 2nd time seeing her) and she ROCKED THE HOUSE! it was on a Sheila level. THough she doesn't have hte same "sexy" factor for me that Sheila does. It's weird a lot of people dissed her for "copying" P{rince's style and mannerisms, which I can understand, but I think she actually pulls them off better if that makes any sense.

And in the last 10 years or so she has developed more of her own style anyway.

Actually, I wish SHE WOULD just stand there and sing -- I cringe when she attempts a choreographed move... She's probably my favorite recording artist though. I think Mariah is pretty underappreciated as a song writer and record producer... but I dont know why she releases the weakest tracks as singles from each album??
[Edited 1/2/09 14:30pm]

... and the scary thing is that I probably remember the old-school choreography from it!

Jude418 said:

I'm in! Let's hook it up!

I think I've got that choreography down too. When she kicked the cymbal, I was ecstatic. I thought that was the sexiest damn move.

Totally makes sense. Its a shame that, for whatever reason, Sheila or WB couldnt get some momentum behind Sex Cymbal. I think she was at a peak performance level and the timing would have been right to cross her over into that 90s pop/rnb market. I guess she was ready to move on with the ETrain project but I would have loved another latin-funk album around the time everyone was gushing over Ricky Martin and JLo.

Efan said:

Hey, I'm not kidding about this. I would totally $ave up for it.

Or lets keep our eyes open for a Conga Room date!
[Edited 1/2/09 14:58pm]

Jude418 said:

Neither am I! ALthough I think a serious private concert would be in the 10's of thousands, depending on how much of band, travel etc.

In terms of the choreography, I was gonna say "what about the cymbal kick" but y'all beat me to it!

I watched my Romance 1600 tape this weekend to check out Susie Davis' "keytar" at the finale of Glam Life..... long story short, I recently scored one on Ebay which I thought would be imposisble because it's been out of production since the 80's and EXTREMELY rare (it's the Yamaha KX5) and goes for over $1,000 but I got a 2nd chance offer from someone who had one in great condition and sold it to me for a great price.

So while y'all do the choreography, I can rock out with my Yamaha keytar and dance next to you! but you gotta show me the steps!

Jude418 said:

I told my bf about this thread at dinner (he usually rolls his eyes when I mention this board or talk about Sheila ...even though I dragged him to the Family Jamm and Sheila stood on his chair!)....

Anyway....I was telling him what I said about Mariah and how she can't really dance. Then in the Chinese restaurant, sitting in the banquette.... he started doing a dead on imitation of Mariah's "choreography" to "Honey" which she does over the Puffy rap. It was insane..... because he has her facial expression totally down! The funny thing is....even with her limited range of motion, and the fact that she stops singing while she "dances", and that she only does 3 "moves".... she still has to hand the mic to someone else while she attempts it!!!

But we love her and as he put it.... "She don't NEED to dance....she can SAANG!"

And co-sign on Mariah's songwriting and weird singles. Mariah doesn't get enough respect or attention for her songwriting and musicianship (although she's not helping that much lately with her recent albums or clothing choices )
[Edited 1/2/09 20:30pm]