Sheila E. posted a link to this today on her Twitter, and said, "we rocked Lady Marmalade NEW ORLEANS STYLE 1991 arsenio" Ahh, the days of great late night television.

I thought this was great; I taped it and watched it over and over back in '91. She did rock that song. It was an incredibly Prince-like performance, but it was mixed with Sheila's own style. I also love her look in this outfit; I thought she was hot and sexy.

The very next night, she sang the same two songs that she did on Arsenio (Droppin' Like Flies and Lady Marmalade) on Rick Dees' Into the Night but tweaked the performances slightly. Aside from a BET appearance, I think there wasn't much more promotion for the Sex Cymbal album.

I just saw it on FB. Funny cuz people were dissin' this on the best/worst thread. I loved her take on it from the first time i heard it on my cassette i made off of the 3rd self-titled album. I played it for my roommate in college and he didn't like it either, but I LOVED IT!

I somehow missed these TV performances back in the day but had seen them later on a tape someone made me.

This clip really showcases Sheila's bandleading/showmanship skills which are underrated by the general public.

Is she saying" Jambalaya. . . dirty rice" at the end? (NOTE: I'm from the east coast, so don't laugh!)

GaryMF said:

I didn't know it was "giuchie" until the OP. And I always sang along, "Dirty rats!" But I agree that "dirty rice" makes more sense.

Efan said:

It sounds like Dirty Rats actually but I guessed dirty rice after thinking about it! LOL

What is "Guichie"? Is it Creole?

GaryMF said:

I had to google it. Apparently, it's "French Quarter speak for 'get sex [or vagina] here.'"

Efan said:

I pulled it up on a lyric page and just cut and pasted it.

GaryMF said:

She said, "We're doing it New Orleans style", then chanted "Jambalaya, dirty rice". So yeah, she did. Where else you gonna find good jambalaya and dirty rice? Did you not see her do her best Prince impersonation after the Saints made it to the Superbowl? Girl LOVES New Orleans.

ernestsewell said:

Her mother is from New Orleans, I believe. I think she's said her mother is Creole.

ernestsewell said:

Yeah that's what I thought. It just took me a few years to figure that out.....cuz growing up back East those were not dishes I heard talked about often! LOL!

While we're on this topic, I wonder who arranges the horns? They really take this song to another level.

I wonder if she kinda directs the band and voices what she wants, or if maybe the bass player (I forget his name) makes the arrangements (I think he's the MD or assistant MD often).

I think I read that she wanted to do a Tower of Power song on that album but the weren't available or something so they did this instead. She's good friends with Patti Labelle.

Could you imagine if Patti came out during this..... that would be CRAZAY!

GaryMF said:

Yeah, she says during the interview with Arsenio that she had originally wanted to do "What Is Hip" by Tower of Power but their horn section wasn't available, so she did Lady Marmalade instead. Too bad she didn't get Ms. Patti to do some vocals on the song, either live or on the album.