I really love discovering "new" Prince-associated music for the first time--especially when it is good. Although, of course, this album isn't new, I've never heard it before (with the exception of one song I remember from the radio years ago). I picked it up today at the record store. I have to say--I really love this album and, although Prince isn't credited except for a special thank you at the end of the album credits, his thumbprints are definitely on some of these songs. So, far I love every song on it--it is really making my afternoon.

I think out of all the female Prince associates, he has always had a special chemistry with Sheila E. when it comes to performing--even until recently. I saw them in concert last year and there was a real chemistry and joy in making music on stage...until the time they fell out. Too bad. I would love to hear more collaborations from these two ultra-talented people...

Pride and the Passion and Love on a Blue Train are my jams!

That whole album is awesome. Except for Koo Koo, which I never liked that much. But the rest of it kicks ass.

Efan said:

Pride and the Passion and Love on a Blue Train are my jams!

That whole album is awesome. Except for Koo Koo, which I never liked that much. But the rest of it kicks ass.

I actually love KooKoo.

You and I have such different tastes within the same genre.

chocolate1 said:

Efan said:

Pride and the Passion and Love on a Blue Train are my jams!

That whole album is awesome. Except for Koo Koo, which I never liked that much. But the rest of it kicks ass.

I actually love KooKoo.

You and I have such different tastes within the same genre.

Well, I do kind of like the 12-inch version of Koo Koo...

I bought this on cassette when I was a kid, back in 1987. I later bought the CD and have always loved this album. I'd have to say, "Koo Koo" is my fave track.

My absolute favorite Sheila E album, and favorite associated artist album ever.

It never gets old and I can listen to it from start to finish without wanting to skip a single song.

Love it!

It's a cracking LP, and really benefits from not being a fully Prince produced album - I say that as a huge fan of Sheila's albums.

This is Sheila's best album.It's a strong,consistent album with many highlights.To be honest,I was pissed that she became Prince's drummer around the time when this album was released.It prevented her from focusing on her own great album,and promoting it aggressively.This album had at least four or five potential singles!

"Faded Photographs" is my favorite song.It's a powerful rock/pop number with a great chorus and strong vocals throughout.Shame on Warners for not releasing it as a single.

"Love On A Blue Train" is even better than "A Love Bizarre".It's a fun,playful funk number with naughty lyrics and a kickass extended jam session at the end.Yet another great tune that deserved to be a single.

"Hold Me" was a smart choice for the first single.It's a sultry,steamy slow jam and Sheila sounds really good,vocally.R&B radio turned it into a Top 10 smash.

"The Pride and The Passion" is reminscent of "The Glamorous Life".It's another interesting tale about a woman who can't seem to let her guard down and allow herself to fall in love.

Really,every song here is very good.While I enjoy the two albums that came before it,I think of Sheila E. as the definitive Sheila E. album.

Efan said

That whole album is awesome. Except for Koo Koo, which I never liked that much. But the rest of it kicks ass.

I think of "Koo Koo" as the weakest track on the album I don't know why it was released as a single.It's funky,but it lacks a strong hook/chorus.

The punchy,catchy "Faded Photographs" would have been a better single choice,imo.

It's called Sheila E. not Sheila.

ANd I guess we can all agree on the fact that it became a cult-classic by now

SoulAlive said:

Efan said

That whole album is awesome. Except for Koo Koo, which I never liked that much. But the rest of it kicks ass.

I think of "Koo Koo" as the weakest track on the album I don't know why it was released as a single.It's funky,but it lacks a strong hook/chorus.

The punchy,catchy "Faded Photographs" would have been a better single choice,imo.

It's funny u'd say that because at the time it was perceived at the album's When Doves Cry or Kiss or Housequake, i.e. THE minimalist song that was a typical Prince signature song, with what it implies of weirdness. I still find it superior to the 4 other Prince tracks on the album for that veryreason: it's much more original and creative.

NouveauDance said:

It's a cracking LP, and really benefits from not being a fully Prince produced album - I say that as a huge fan of Sheila's albums.

I agree the first two albums are very Prince-heavy,but on this album,Sheila is allowed to branch out a little and establish her own musical identity,especially on "Hold Me" and "Faded Photographs".

Does anyone have any clue as to why the album: Sex Cymbal is not available on iTunes?

[Edited 8/20/12 4:53am]

funkylust said:

Does anyone have any clue as to why the album: Sex Cymbal is not available on iTunes?

[Edited 8/20/12 4:53am]

Most likely because it bombed at the time so WB don't make it a priority.

Are Romance 1600 and Sheila E. on iTunes?

databank said:

funkylust said:

Does anyone have any clue as to why the album: Sex Cymbal is not available on iTunes?

[Edited 8/20/12 4:53am]

Most likely because it bombed at the time so WB don't make it a priority.

Are Romance 1600 and Sheila E. on iTunes?

Yeah they are... but it doesn't cost anything to have them sitting there does it? I mean thats the beauty of digitial distribution, no inventory, no overhead.... I know it bombed but I think thats partly because she fell ill around that time... A shame. Good memories for me.. I love the 12" of that track... so 1991!

for me,Sex Cymbal was a mixed bag.It has some great moments,but there are several mediocre tracks as well.

but when it's good,it's really good: "Cry Baby" is a wonderful,Prince-influenced slow jam."Whatcha Gonna Do? is a nice remake of an old Azteca song (with some new lyrics),and the title track is cool too,although I prefer the funkier remixes to the more glossy album version.

SoulAlive said:

for me,Sex Cymbal was a mixed bag.It has some great moments,but there are several mediocre tracks as well.

but when it's good,it's really good: "Cry Baby" is a wonderful,Prince-influenced slow jam."Whatcha Gonna Do? is a nice remake of an old Azteca song (with some new lyrics),and the title track is cool too,although I prefer the funkier remixes to the more glossy album version.

The Droppin Like Flies live performance on Arsenio Hall show on YouTube is.. well... something...

funkylust said:

databank said:

Most likely because it bombed at the time so WB don't make it a priority.

Are Romance 1600 and Sheila E. on iTunes?

Yeah they are... but it doesn't cost anything to have them sitting there does it? I mean thats the beauty of digitial distribution, no inventory, no overhead.... I know it bombed but I think thats partly because she fell ill around that time... A shame. Good memories for me.. I love the 12" of that track... so 1991!

I love this album deeply too, but just imagine how MASSIVE the catalogue of an old major record company such as WB and all its sublabels must be, it has to take years to put everything online, so I'm quite sure it'll be there eventually, but it's obviously not a priority for them. And yeah it does cost something to pay people to rip stuff and put it online.

What is very interesting in the fact that Romance 1600 and Sheila E. are there is that it means that Prince does NOT own the masters of these albums, most likely because Sheila's contract with WB predates the creation of Paisley Park. Is Pandemonium on iTunes as well? Any other Paisley Park album?

databank said:

funkylust said:

Yeah they are... but it doesn't cost anything to have them sitting there does it? I mean thats the beauty of digitial distribution, no inventory, no overhead.... I know it bombed but I think thats partly because she fell ill around that time... A shame. Good memories for me.. I love the 12" of that track... so 1991!

I love this album deeply too, but just imagine how MASSIVE the catalogue of an old major record company such as WB and all its sublabels must be, it has to take years to put everything online, so I'm quite sure it'll be there eventually, but it's obviously not a priority for them. And yeah it does cost something to pay people to rip stuff and put it online.

What is very interesting in the fact that Romance 1600 and Sheila E. are there is that it means that Prince does NOT own the masters of these albums, most likely because Sheila's contract with WB predates the creation of Paisley Park. Is Pandemonium on iTunes as well? Any other Paisley Park album?

Pandemonium

and yes fair enough i guess they have to dig out the masters out of the WB vault, give them a spray and wipe and upload the files to iTunes

SoulAlive said:

NouveauDance said:

It's a cracking LP, and really benefits from not being a fully Prince produced album - I say that as a huge fan of Sheila's albums.

I agree the first two albums are very Prince-heavy,but on this album,Sheila is allowed to branch out a little and establish her own musical identity,especially on "Hold Me" and "Faded Photographs".

Yes, and also on "Wednesday Like a River," which I think is an incredible gem on that album.

databank said:

SoulAlive said:

I think of "Koo Koo" as the weakest track on the album I don't know why it was released as a single.It's funky,but it lacks a strong hook/chorus.

The punchy,catchy "Faded Photographs" would have been a better single choice,imo.

It's funny u'd say that because at the time it was perceived at the album's When Doves Cry or Kiss or Housequake, i.e. THE minimalist song that was a typical Prince signature song, with what it implies of weirdness. I still find it superior to the 4 other Prince tracks on the album for that veryreason: it's much more original and creative.

I see what you mean, but I disagree. It doesn't have the wild creativity of those songs (and it especially doesn't have an undeniable hook--which all of those songs definitely do). To me, the big reason the Sheila E. album didn't blow up bigger (or at all, really) is because it was a really good album that did not have that one strong achor song--like a more hard-hitting funk song (a la Glamorous Life or Love Bizarre).

At the time it came out, was that album just a contract-filler for Sheila? When it was released, there was very little promotion, she didn't even do a video for the lead single, and I don't think any magazine (certainly not Rolling Stone or Spin) even bothered to review it.

Efan said:

databank said:

It's funny u'd say that because at the time it was perceived at the album's When Doves Cry or Kiss or Housequake, i.e. THE minimalist song that was a typical Prince signature song, with what it implies of weirdness. I still find it superior to the 4 other Prince tracks on the album for that veryreason: it's much more original and creative.

I see what you mean, but I disagree. It doesn't have the wild creativity of those songs (and it especially doesn't have an undeniable hook--which all of those songs definitely do). To me, the big reason the Sheila E. album didn't blow up bigger (or at all, really) is because it was a really good album that did not have that one strong achor song--like a more hard-hitting funk song (a la Glamorous Life or Love Bizarre).

At the time it came out, was that album just a contract-filler for Sheila? When it was released, there was very little promotion, she didn't even do a video for the lead single, and I don't think any magazine (certainly not Rolling Stone or Spin) even bothered to review it.

Sheila just couldn't manage to promote the album because she chose to focus on her role as Prince's new drummer on the SOTT tour, and didn't have time to promote her new album. It was definitely not a contract filler, it's just that she had started to work on it when she became Prince's new drummer and she had to cope with both things happenin' at the same time and she made choices. There was supposed to be a 4th album on Paisley Park after that, but she eventually decided that the new material Prince was writing for her wasn't what she wanted, and she moved on.

funkylust said:

databank said:

I love this album deeply too, but just imagine how MASSIVE the catalogue of an old major record company such as WB and all its sublabels must be, it has to take years to put everything online, so I'm quite sure it'll be there eventually, but it's obviously not a priority for them. And yeah it does cost something to pay people to rip stuff and put it online.

What is very interesting in the fact that Romance 1600 and Sheila E. are there is that it means that Prince does NOT own the masters of these albums, most likely because Sheila's contract with WB predates the creation of Paisley Park. Is Pandemonium on iTunes as well? Any other Paisley Park album?

Pandemonium

and yes fair enough i guess they have to dig out the masters out of the WB vault, give them a spray and wipe and upload the files to iTunes

So WB owns Pandemonium as well...

Mmmh... The Masters Wars are coming soon and it's gonna be da bomb to watch the show

Efan said

At the time it came out, was this album just a contract-filler for Sheila? When it was released, there was very little promotion, she didn't even do a video for the lead single, and I don't think any magazine (certainly not Rolling Stone or Spin) even bothered to review it.

I remember People magazine's review.They complained that "Sheila doesn't even play drums on this record" and that her voice is "non-descript"

It's a shame that this album didn't get the promotion and attention that it deserved.I guess that,because she had become Prince's drummer,that's where her main focus was.

databank said:

Efan said:

I see what you mean, but I disagree. It doesn't have the wild creativity of those songs (and it especially doesn't have an undeniable hook--which all of those songs definitely do). To me, the big reason the Sheila E. album didn't blow up bigger (or at all, really) is because it was a really good album that did not have that one strong achor song--like a more hard-hitting funk song (a la Glamorous Life or Love Bizarre).

At the time it came out, was that album just a contract-filler for Sheila? When it was released, there was very little promotion, she didn't even do a video for the lead single, and I don't think any magazine (certainly not Rolling Stone or Spin) even bothered to review it.

Sheila just couldn't manage to promote the album because she chose to focus on her role as Prince's new drummer on the SOTT tour, and didn't have time to promote her new album. It was definitely not a contract filler, it's just that she had started to work on it when she became Prince's new drummer and she had to cope with both things happenin' at the same time and she made choices. There was supposed to be a 4th album on Paisley Park after that, but she eventually decided that the new material Prince was writing for her wasn't what she wanted, and she moved on.

Yeah, it would have been tough for her to fully promote the "Sheila E." album while simulteaneously doing all the Prince tour stuff (although she did do a few concert dates for the album). Still, they could have released more singles and videos from it. What I mean by lack of promotion for it is that everything seemed to be lacking even minimal effort: For example, the cover of the "Hold Me" single is the same as the album cover. (Also: I really love the b-side, "The World Is High," but I am not even sure I hear Sheila's voice anywhere on it). The cover of the "Koo Koo" single is blurry and out of focus.

She could have made a video for "Hold Me." A video for "Love on a Blue Train" seems to exist, as well as the alternate mix, so that could have been put out there, but it wasn't.

A fourth album would have been fun, and based on "Girl Power," I would guess it would have been fairly similar to "Sheila E." I wish more recordings from that project would surface, if they exist.

SoulAlive said:

This is Sheila's best album.It's a strong,consistent album with many highlights.To be honest,I was pissed that she became Prince's drummer around the time when this album was released.It prevented her from focusing on her own great album,and promoting it aggressively.This album had at least four or five potential singles!

While I enjoy the two albums that came before it,I think of Sheila E. as the definitive Sheila E. album.

I felt the same way, the whole Revolution split, shrunk Prince's Purple Kingdom

There were some really cut loose songs on this one, and the opening single Hold Me was on the charts for a long time

Efan said:

databank said:

Sheila just couldn't manage to promote the album because she chose to focus on her role as Prince's new drummer on the SOTT tour, and didn't have time to promote her new album. It was definitely not a contract filler, it's just that she had started to work on it when she became Prince's new drummer and she had to cope with both things happenin' at the same time and she made choices. There was supposed to be a 4th album on Paisley Park after that, but she eventually decided that the new material Prince was writing for her wasn't what she wanted, and she moved on.

Yeah, it would have been tough for her to fully promote the "Sheila E." album while simulteaneously doing all the Prince tour stuff (although she did do a few concert dates for the album). Still, they could have released more singles and videos from it. What I mean by lack of promotion for it is that everything seemed to be lacking even minimal effort: For example, the cover of the "Hold Me" single is the same as the album cover. (Also: I really love the b-side, "The World Is High," but I am not even sure I hear Sheila's voice anywhere on it). The cover of the "Koo Koo" single is blurry and out of focus.

She could have made a video for "Hold Me." A video for "Love on a Blue Train" seems to exist, as well as the alternate mix, so that could have been put out there, but it wasn't.

A fourth album would have been fun, and based on "Girl Power," I would guess it would have been fairly similar to "Sheila E." I wish more recordings from that project would surface, if they exist.

I believe Scarlet Pussy was supposed to be on her 4th but Prince pulled it for a Bside of his

Love the Sheila E album and the look, she was working her Sheila E(album look) near the latter half of the Parade era and a lot of it she wore for SOTT,

I believe the 1 legged pant piece was also

the baggy pants look Prince work ie the tan/peach colored pants Sheila was wearing already

the suits with buttons (Parade/SOTT) with ruffled shirts, leather/jean jackets with jeans and heels

This was a bittersweat period, I wish she would get with the band from back then and tour this album

Produced and arranged by Sheila E. In association with David Z., except *Produced and arranged by Prince

1. "One Day (I'm Gonna Make You Mine)" – 4:47 (Prince)*
2. "Wednesday Like a River" – 3:25 (Sheila E., Constance Guzman, Levi Seacer, Jr.)
3. "Hold Me" – 5:04 (Sheila E., Constance Guzman, Eddie Mininfield)
4. "Faded Photographs" – 4:11 (Sheila E., Constance Guzman, Samuel Domingo, Boni Boyer)
5. "Koo Koo" – 3:24 (Prince)*
6. "Pride and the Passion" – 4:05 (Prince)*
7. "Boy's Club" – 3:56 (Prince)*
8. "Soul Salsa" – 3:08 (Sheila E., Levi Seacer, Jr, Norbert Stachel)
9. "Hon E Man" – 3:22 (Sheila E., Constance Guzman, Levi Seacer Jr.)
10. "Love on a Blue Train" – 5:33 (Prince)*

[Edited 8/21/12 11:09am]

[Edited 8/22/12 6:46am]

Ahhh MS. E! Love it

nursev said:

Ahhh MS. E! Love it

Gonna play this one again on my afternoon off--right after Vanity's Skin on Skin.