This is probably my favorite Sheila B-side. It's a jam that really shows off her percussion skills, and I love the guitar work here. Fairly recently, I noticed something I hadn't heard before: It seems to repeat the drum machine beat of The Glamorous Life (or at least it sure sounds like it to me...if you go about 7:50 into the extended version, you can hear it come in, similar to what's in the full-length version of TGL).

This is probably something that everyone else has been hearing for years.

Give it up for this song if you love it!

Efan said:

This is probably my favorite Sheila B-side. It's a jam that really shows off her percussion skills, and I love the guitar work here. Fairly recently, I noticed something I hadn't heard before: It seems to repeat the drum machine beat of The Glamorous Life (or at least it sure sounds like it to me...if you go about 7:50 into the extended version, you can hear it come in, similar to what's in the full-length version of TGL).

This is probably something that everyone else has been hearing for years.

Give it up for this song if you love it!

Prince is obviously responsible for the bass and sped-up guitar in the xtended part.

I know I'm not supposed to, but I'm bumping this thread. It wouldn't kill you all to show a little love for this awesome song.

I love Save The People, in fact I think it's one of the best songs Sheila has ever recorded, and easily the best from her Romance 1600 era. Such a shame that it wasn't included on the Japanese "Glamorous Club" EP, I would have gladly traded that for the "Belle Of St Mark" or "Sister Fate" 12" versions.

Still can't believe there has never been a Best Of album for Sheila, probably because of the whole Prince-WB situation, which is a shame because almost every 80's act (with all due respect to Sheila) has at least one Best Of album available. I also think WB just doesn't really care, nor does Sheila who imo just gave up on her solo career in 1987 by joining Prince's band.

Anyway, I would definitely put "Save The People" on a Sheila E Best Of, but until Prince and WB sort things out, I don't think one will be released soon and that's also the reason an outside reissue label such as BBR, Reel or Funkytown Grooves probably won't be able to license the songs from Warner

i haven't heard this song, i'll have to take a listen...

I have always loved this extended jam. It has one of the baddest breakdowns with the rhythm guitar and slap bass in the middle. That Bass is FUNKY! But check this out - there is a good chance that Prince did not play on this record - I know I used to think he did because it cops his style in some ways. In some ways, it's very Sheila's band, especially with Roland synth instead of the Oberheim. The writing credits on the actual 12" are her band members - I remember that. The lead guitar is definitely not Prince and there's a great chance that the rhythm guitar is also done by Stephen Birnbaum, her guitar player at the time (he's in the Romance 1600 VHS video concert). I just looked up the writing credits at ASCAP, and I see now that the bass would have been played by Benny Rietveld - her bass player at the time. The ASCAP publishing royalties for this song are split between ESCOVEDO SHEILA and RIETVELD BENJAMIN ERIK. Hard to believe this is not a Prince song huh!

plymouthavenuenorth said:

I have always loved this extended jam. It has one of the baddest breakdowns with the rhythm guitar and slap bass in the middle. That Bass is FUNKY! But check this out - there is a good chance that Prince did not play on this record - I know I used to think he did because it cops his style in some ways. In some ways, it's very Sheila's band, especially with Roland synth instead of the Oberheim. The writing credits on the actual 12" are her band members - I remember that. The lead guitar is definitely not Prince and there's a great chance that the rhythm guitar is also done by Stephen Birnbaum, her guitar player at the time (he's in the Romance 1600 VHS video concert). I just looked up the writing credits at ASCAP, and I see now that the bass would have been played by Benny Rietveld - her bass player at the time. The ASCAP publishing royalties for this song are split between ESCOVEDO SHEILA and RIETVELD BENJAMIN ERIK. Hard to believe this is not a Prince song huh!

Prince didn't write it and Sheila's musicians indeed play on it (including bass and guitar on most of the track), but Boris Fishpaw (whose research can be trusted 99,99%) did put the song's extended version in his list of songs involving Prince under "production only", with no further details (i take it there's an edit version as well, with no Prince involvement?). That led me to listen to it again and while Prince isn't responsible for bass and guitar all over the track, it sounds really obvious that the slap bass and sped-up guitar are him. I can't SWEAR it, Boris' comment could mean Prince only mixed the song for all i know, but even after listening to dozens of MPLS sounding 80's records, there are things that only Prince can do no matter how good the copycats, and this bass/guitar part just is that

[Edited 8/3/10 4:56am]

whitesockedfunk said:

Still can't believe there has never been a Best Of album for Sheila, probably because of the whole Prince-WB situation, which is a shame because almost every 80's act (with all due respect to Sheila) has at least one Best Of album available. I also think WB just doesn't really care, nor does Sheila who imo just gave up on her solo career in 1987 by joining Prince's band.

Anyway, I would definitely put "Save The People" on a Sheila E Best Of, but until Prince and WB sort things out, I don't think one will be released soon and that's also the reason an outside reissue label such as BBR, Reel or Funkytown Grooves probably won't be able to license the songs from Warner

I agree,it's a shame that there isn't a Sheila E. or The Time 'Best Of' CD by now.I'm betting that Warners would be open to this idea,but Prince is the one who is stopping it from happening For the Sheila E. set,they could add all the hits,B-sides,key album tracks and even throw in a few unreleased goodies,like "Girl Power".

...

[Edited 8/4/10 0:06am]

Good stuff..........

Of course I'd go for a 2cd-set with all the b-sides, unreleased stuff and trimmings, but if I had to choose songs for a 1-CD set only I'd include the following:

1) The Glamorous Life (album version)

2) The Belle of St Mark (album version)

3) Too Sexy

4) Noon Rendezvous

5) Oliver's House (album version)

6) Sister Fate (album version including the intro)

7) A Love Bizarre (Part 1 & 2)

8) Hold Me

9) Love On A Blue Train

10) Koo Koo

11) Faded Photographs

12) Funky Attitude (Ford Fairlane soundtrack version)

13) Sex Cymbal (remix version)

14) Droppin' Like Flies

15) Save The People

This would just about fill 80 minutes which is why I wouldn't include the full Love Bizarre because it would take up too much space. The full Glamorous Life album version, however, is essential

databank said:

That led me to listen to it again and while Prince isn't responsible for bass and guitar all over the track, it sounds really obvious that the slap bass and sped-up guitar are him. I can't SWEAR it, Boris' comment could mean Prince only mixed the song for all i know, but even after listening to dozens of MPLS sounding 80's records, there are things that only Prince can do no matter how good the copycats, and this bass/guitar part just is that

[Edited 8/3/10 4:56am]

I just listened to it again and I don't think Prince is playing on it. FYI, the guitar is not sped up at all on this song. There are some high parts but they're not sped up like Prince has done so well on songs like the 12" of Hello. Also, the rhythm part is played on a Stratocaster - not a Hohner Tele, which was Prince's signature rhythm guitar. Steph Birnbaum plays a Strat and I think it is him playing the rhythm specifically in a "Prince" style on purpose - he throws the right chords in there. Honestly, the bass playing just doesn't sound like Prince's playing - he has a unique style. This is a different style of Funk playing and a different sound/bass guitar than I've ever heard Prince use on any other record. A good example of Prince's guitar & bass playing from the exact same time frame is his work on the LP version of A Love Bizarre. It has the tele rhythm guitar, the sped up tele guitar work and his own style and sound of bass playing. The guitar and bass on this song are totally different than on Save The People. Don't get me wrong, I thought Save The People was all Prince for the longest time (and I bought that 12" as soon as it was released 25 years ago). But eventually I started hearing the differences as well as seeing the credits and publishing attributed to others. At this point, I would say it is almost for sure not Prince playing on Save The People.

I am curious about Boris' note that this is Prince on production but not playing. Save The People is not mentioned in the Per Nielsen books. Can we get Boris to comment more on Prince's role on this song and/or find out more about how he knows?

plymouthavenuenorth said:

databank said:

That led me to listen to it again and while Prince isn't responsible for bass and guitar all over the track, it sounds really obvious that the slap bass and sped-up guitar are him. I can't SWEAR it, Boris' comment could mean Prince only mixed the song for all i know, but even after listening to dozens of MPLS sounding 80's records, there are things that only Prince can do no matter how good the copycats, and this bass/guitar part just is that

[Edited 8/3/10 4:56am]

I just listened to it again and I don't think Prince is playing on it. FYI, the guitar is not sped up at all on this song. There are some high parts but they're not sped up like Prince has done so well on songs like the 12" of Hello. Also, the rhythm part is played on a Stratocaster - not a Hohner Tele, which was Prince's signature rhythm guitar. Steph Birnbaum plays a Strat and I think it is him playing the rhythm specifically in a "Prince" style on purpose - he throws the right chords in there. Honestly, the bass playing just doesn't sound like Prince's playing - he has a unique style. This is a different style of Funk playing and a different sound/bass guitar than I've ever heard Prince use on any other record. A good example of Prince's guitar & bass playing from the exact same time frame is his work on the LP version of A Love Bizarre. It has the tele rhythm guitar, the sped up tele guitar work and his own style and sound of bass playing. The guitar and bass on this song are totally different than on Save The People. Don't get me wrong, I thought Save The People was all Prince for the longest time (and I bought that 12" as soon as it was released 25 years ago). But eventually I started hearing the differences as well as seeing the credits and publishing attributed to others. At this point, I would say it is almost for sure not Prince playing on Save The People.

I am curious about Boris' note that this is Prince on production but not playing. Save The People is not mentioned in the Per Nielsen books. Can we get Boris to comment more on Prince's role on this song and/or find out more about how he knows?

You obviously have more technical knowledge than i do so i'd tend to follow you on this

The part i was referring to is the one that starts at 3:40 and ends at 4:32. Bass and guitar really sound like Prince IMO but i really can't make a difference between a strato or a hohner so... ^^

I have no clue what Boris meant: he also credits Prince for "production only" on Too Sexy, which led me to think Prince mighta programmed the Linn on this one (he clearly doesn't play anything else on it). Prince might also have been responsible for some drum programming on Save The People. Or as i already said if he didn't play on them at all, it can only mean that he did the mix and possibly some editing (what else?).

I'd love Boris to clear that, too

databank said:

Prince didn't write it and Sheila's musicians indeed play on it (including bass and guitar on most of the track), but Boris Fishpaw (whose research can be trusted 99,99%) did put the song's extended version in his list of songs involving Prince under "production only", with no further details (i take it there's an edit version as well, with no Prince involvement?). That led me to listen to it again and while Prince isn't responsible for bass and guitar all over the track, it sounds really obvious that the slap bass and sped-up guitar are him. I can't SWEAR it, Boris' comment could mean Prince only mixed the song for all i know, but even after listening to dozens of MPLS sounding 80's records, there are things that only Prince can do no matter how good the copycats, and this bass/guitar part just is that

[Edited 8/3/10 4:56am]

I don't think there is an edited version of the song, but I could be wrong about that. The b-side to the 45 of Sister Fate was an instrumental version of SF, so an edited version would have had to go elsewhere.

If Prince worked as producer here, then I'm going to assume it was his idea to sample the drum pattern from The Glamorous Life on Save the People...but I could be wrong about that too.

Efan said:

databank said:

Prince didn't write it and Sheila's musicians indeed play on it (including bass and guitar on most of the track), but Boris Fishpaw (whose research can be trusted 99,99%) did put the song's extended version in his list of songs involving Prince under "production only", with no further details (i take it there's an edit version as well, with no Prince involvement?). That led me to listen to it again and while Prince isn't responsible for bass and guitar all over the track, it sounds really obvious that the slap bass and sped-up guitar are him. I can't SWEAR it, Boris' comment could mean Prince only mixed the song for all i know, but even after listening to dozens of MPLS sounding 80's records, there are things that only Prince can do no matter how good the copycats, and this bass/guitar part just is that

[Edited 8/3/10 4:56am]

I don't think there is an edited version of the song, but I could be wrong about that. The b-side to the 45 of Sister Fate was an instrumental version of SF, so an edited version would have had to go elsewhere.

If Prince worked as producer here, then I'm going to assume it was his idea to sample the drum pattern from The Glamorous Life on Save the People...but I could be wrong about that too.

Yeah you are right about Sister fate's instrumental being the 7'' b-side. I thought maybe another country's version might have an edit of STP but there probably isn't since i never saw such a thing anywhere

What Prince did on these 2 songs will remain a mystery until Boris clears it for us

databank said:

The part i was referring to is the one that starts at 3:40 and ends at 4:32.

Hands down my favorite part of the song - I used to play just that section over and over and over (actually probably starting it at about 3:09) ...

whitesockedfunk said:

Of course I'd go for a 2cd-set with all the b-sides, unreleased stuff and trimmings, but if I had to choose songs for a 1-CD set only I'd include the following:

1) The Glamorous Life (album version)

2) The Belle of St Mark (album version)

3) Too Sexy

4) Noon Rendezvous

5) Oliver's House (album version)

6) Sister Fate (album version including the intro)

7) A Love Bizarre (Part 1 & 2)

8) Hold Me

9) Love On A Blue Train

10) Koo Koo

11) Faded Photographs

12) Funky Attitude (Ford Fairlane soundtrack version)

13) Sex Cymbal (remix version)

14) Droppin' Like Flies

15) Save The People

This would just about fill 80 minutes which is why I wouldn't include the full Love Bizarre because it would take up too much space. The full Glamorous Life album version, however, is essential

Excellent tracklist! I like the inclusion of "Faded Photographs",which I consider one of Sheila's strongest songs.

SoulAlive said:

Excellent tracklist! I like the inclusion of "Faded Photographs",which I consider one of Sheila's strongest songs.

Thanks Soulalive, "Faded Photographs" is one of my favorites as well. However... I stupidly forgot to include "Holly Rock"! Aargh! Now everything won't fit on a single cd anymore... so I guess the Best Of will just have to be a 2cd set

whitesockedfunk said:

SoulAlive said:

Excellent tracklist! I like the inclusion of "Faded Photographs",which I consider one of Sheila's strongest songs.

Thanks Soulalive, "Faded Photographs" is one of my favorites as well. However... I stupidly forgot to include "Holly Rock"! Aargh! Now everything won't fit on a single cd anymore... so I guess the Best Of will just have to be a 2cd set

Yeah,"Hollyrock" would be a smart choice,since it's so hard to find elsewhere.

SoulAlive said:

whitesockedfunk said:

Thanks Soulalive, "Faded Photographs" is one of my favorites as well. However... I stupidly forgot to include "Holly Rock"! Aargh! Now everything won't fit on a single cd anymore... so I guess the Best Of will just have to be a 2cd set

Yeah,"Hollyrock" would be a smart choice,since it's so hard to find elsewhere.

It should be the extended version of Hollyrock, though.

Efan said:

SoulAlive said:

Yeah,"Hollyrock" would be a smart choice,since it's so hard to find elsewhere.

It should be the extended version of Hollyrock, though.

Yep

Better than a 2 CD best of, i'd rather have a collector's edition for each album, with all the mixes and b-sides and a few unreleased tracks.

This will likely happen sooner or later, when Prince gets his masters back or maybe if he manages to make a deal with WB. This material is still "young" from a historical point of view, and Prince goes farther into his iconic status every year (french medias almost talk about him as if he was a living god whenever he plays here in France). Eventually there will be a wide audience for everything he ever touched musically.