In 1986, Sheila spent six months as the opening act for Lionel Richie. I'm just curious: Did anyone here go? Please share some details. What was the setlist for her during those shows? I don't think the mellow Lionel fans would appreciate Toy Box or Erotic City, so I'm wondering if she cleaned up her act a bit for them. And I wonder why no boots of her shows from that tour exist?

Oh, and just in case anyone's interested, here's an old review of one of the concerts, from September 28, 1986, and apparently published in the Oklahoma City newspaper. Two things from this review stand out: Sheila performed Bedtime Story, and she joined Richie at the end to play bass. Interesting.

http://newsok.com/richie-...le/2161197

Richie, Sheila E. Dazzle Crowd

The last time Lionel Richie played the Myriad January 1984 Sheila E. was only noticed in passing: "On percussion, Sheila Escovito," he announced.

She almost stole the show that winter night by slapping bass on "All Night Long," the encore.

Friday night, however, Sheila E. returned to Oklahoma City a star, turning in a sensational warmup performance for Lionel Richie in one of the Myriad's best live draws since Stevie Wonder's knockout performance Aug. 10.

Standout selections from Sheila E's set included "Sister Fate," "Bedtime Story," Prince's "Love Bizarre" and her encore, "Glamorous Life."

Sheila stole the show not only with her singing and drop-dead looks but with her sensational percussion work. Overall, her performance left a large Oklahoma City audience demanding an encore.

After intermission, Richie's Yamaha grand piano rose from the stage on a hydraulic pedestal, as invisible hands clinked out the notes to the haunting ballad "Hello."

Not a soul was on stage.

Lionel's voice was heard, almost drowned by the delerious screams of about 11,000 frothy concertgoers.

Richie took the stage through a trap door apparatus, bringing the shrill welcome to the absolute limit of aural endurance. The crowd remained enraptured _and vocal for the duration of his two-hour set.

He kicked off the concert with "All Night Long," the festive danceable which closed his show two and a half years ago at the Myriad.

The song, a showstopper, brought the house to its feet in record time.

Rarely is an audience as enthusiastic as this one. The crowd was part of the show, adding an extra edge of adrenalin to an already exciting entertainment package.

Concerts don't come any better than this. It was a happening. An event. A healing.

Outstanding early selections in the 18-song set included "Easy," "Running With the Night," "Three Times a Lady," "You Are the Sun, You Are the Rain," and the Academy Award-winning "Say You, Say Me."

The stage, wide as a hockey rink, rose up to elevate the singer some 20 feet above the crowd for "Say You, Say Me." Other times sections would divide, rise up to reveal banks of headlights, et cetera. It was the last word in concert staging and lighting.

Video images of the country group Alabama joined Richie for the new "Deep River Woman," much as Diana Ross' flickering electronic image duetted with Richie in 1984 on "Endless Love." It's still a pretty bizarre trick.

Sheila E. returned to the stage for Steve Winwood's current hit, "Higher Love."

Richie continued his nonstop hit parade with "Penny Lover," "Lady" (a hit for Kenny Rogers) and "Still."

A costume change found Richie in a dayglo orange suit for the final portion of the show, capped with "Dancing on the Ceiling." Although Richie didn't dance on the ceiling, several of his band members did, nonetheless, dangle from wire cables.

I remember this tour but unfortunately,I didn't see any shows.I thought it was cool for Sheila to be touring with Lionel,this time as a performer in her own right.She was expanding her audience.

Interestingly,in early 1986,there were plans for a "Paisley Park Review" tour starring Sheila E,The Family and Mazarati.I guess when those plans were scrapped,Sheila decided to tour with Lionel.

SoulAlive said:

I remember this tour but unfortunately,I didn't see any shows.I thought it was cool for Sheila to be touring with Lionel,this time as a performer in her own right.She was expanding her audience.

Interestingly,in early 1986,there were plans for a "Paisley Park Review" tour starring Sheila E,The Family and Mazarati.I guess when those plans were scrapped,Sheila decided to tour with Lionel.

The video of Sheila playing with Mazarati is hot. Those two acts together (with or without The Family) would have made for a great show.

I remember an interview where Sheila was talking about this tour just before it began.She said something that I thought was funny.

"I'll probably come out during his performance and we'll do a song together,but it won't be a slow duet like "Endless Love",because I know I'll look at him and bust out laughing" "We're just good friends,so it wouldn't be very believable anyway"

I went to this show. I saw it in Madison Square Garden in New York. I also saw a one -off solo Sheila E show in Atlantic City. In fact my avatar is from that show.

IT was actually in support of her 3rd, self-titled album. She came out in all white, with a winter white wool trenchcoat and I think a pants suit or else the white outfit like on the album.

She did songs from teh 3rd album like Love on a Blue Train, Hold Me, as well as the standards.

In AC her encore was Kiss and she had done it better than Prince was doing it at the time.

GaryMF said:

I went to this show. I saw it in Madison Square Garden in New York. I also saw a one -off solo Sheila E show in Atlantic City. In fact my avatar is from that show.

IT was actually in support of her 3rd, self-titled album. She came out in all white, with a winter white wool trenchcoat and I think a pants suit or else the white outfit like on the album.

She did songs from teh 3rd album like Love on a Blue Train, Hold Me, as well as the standards.

In AC her encore was Kiss and she had done it better than Prince was doing it at the time.

I read an article in Rock N' Soul magazine,where they talked about Sheila's rehearsals for this tour.She and her band were practicing the song "Kiss",but Sheila replaced the title word for another word....a four-letter word for the male sex organ

SoulAlive said:

GaryMF said:

I went to this show. I saw it in Madison Square Garden in New York. I also saw a one -off solo Sheila E show in Atlantic City. In fact my avatar is from that show.

IT was actually in support of her 3rd, self-titled album. She came out in all white, with a winter white wool trenchcoat and I think a pants suit or else the white outfit like on the album.

She did songs from teh 3rd album like Love on a Blue Train, Hold Me, as well as the standards.

In AC her encore was Kiss and she had done it better than Prince was doing it at the time.

I read an article in Rock N' Soul magazine,where they talked about Sheila's rehearsals for this tour.She and her band were practicing the song "Kiss",but Sheila replaced the title word for another word....a four-letter word for the male sex organ

Prince and the Revolution though would tear up Erotic City & A Love Bizarre, and I didn't think Sheila E & band did those songs as good even though they mainly used them live in concert.

Is this the same tour we are talking about?

OldFriends4Sale said:

Prince and the Revolution though would tear up Erotic City & A Love Bizarre, and I didn't think Sheila E & band did those songs as good even though they mainly used them live in concert.

The ultimate live version of "Erotic City" for me is the version Sheila performed as part of the opening act on the Purple Rain tour. Same goes for "The Glamorous Life" with the evil laughter at the beginning of the song.

The version of "A Love Bizarre" performed at the Warfield with Prince and the Revolution from the Romance 1600 live video is sooooo much better than the pretty boring album version or any subsequent live versions in my opinion.

OldFriends4Sale said:

Is this the same tour we are talking about?

yep,that's the one

whitesockedfunk said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Prince and the Revolution though would tear up Erotic City & A Love Bizarre, and I didn't think Sheila E & band did those songs as good even though they mainly used them live in concert.

The ultimate live version of "Erotic City" for me is the version Sheila performed as part of the opening act on the Purple Rain tour. Same goes for "The Glamorous Life" with the evil laughter at the beginning of the song.

The version of "A Love Bizarre" performed at the Warfield with Prince and the Revolution from the Romance 1600 live video is sooooo much better than the pretty boring album version or any subsequent live versions in my opinion.

My favorite version of Erotic City was the 1st Ave 6.71984 Birthday show

I loved the whole Glamorous Life project, wish there was more too it, some outtakes and such

whitesockedfunk said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Prince and the Revolution though would tear up Erotic City & A Love Bizarre, and I didn't think Sheila E & band did those songs as good even though they mainly used them live in concert.

The ultimate live version of "Erotic City" for me is the version Sheila performed as part of the opening act on the Purple Rain tour. Same goes for "The Glamorous Life" with the evil laughter at the beginning of the song.

The version of "A Love Bizarre" performed at the Warfield with Prince and the Revolution from the Romance 1600 live video is sooooo much better than the pretty boring album version or any subsequent live versions in my opinion.

To me, the best version of Erotic City is the Prince one from the '84 birthday show. It's just amazing. Sheila and her band pretty much duplicated it, but they didn't quite match its amazing energy or that incredible funky jam that occurs in the last few minutes of the birthday show version. But what I absolutely love about the rendition from Sheila and her band is how they would end the song with the hook from The Glamorous Life. It always makes me wish they would have just gone right into TGL and made a monster mashup of the two songs. Would have been wonderful.

Here's a guy who isn't too big a fan of Sheila's '80s "mean-spirited sexuality."

http://articles.latimes.com/1986-12-11/entertainment/ca-2101_1_lionel-richie

December 11, 1986|CHRIS WILLMAN

Good, good, good , good vibrations. . . . That's what you think of when you consider a concert by Lionel Richie, master of the happy romantic ballad and the humanistic dance single, the one-man "Up With People" of the '80s.

Sleaze 'n' tease sexuality. . . . That's what you think of when you consider a concert by Sheila E., who used to act out one of the most pathetic come-on routines in show business.

Sheila's appearance as the opening act on Richie's current concert tour (which touched down Tuesday at the Forum for the first of three sold-out shows) isn't entirely out of left field--after all, she did play percussion in Richie's band before her solo career began. But the contrast between them does resonate with almost spiritual overtones:

Who will come out on top in this battle of good against nasty--Lionel's power-of-positive-thinking-ness or Sheila's crass eroticism?

Richie promised at the start of Tuesday's show that "the one ground rule is that anything and everything goes," but you just know there won't be any startling surprises with this guy, onstage or off.

...

It was apparent that Richie's radiant good vibes have rubbed off on Sheila E., who emerged in her portion of the show as a consummate entertainer, happily free of some of the tacky and tasteless tactics she resorted to back when she was opening for Prince in the same arena.

Not that she's suddenly become what you would exactly call demure --for a three-song duet with Richie during his set, she did appear in perhaps the tiniest black bra ever designed by man--but she seems to have found the right side of the fine line between playful sensuality and mean-spirited sexuality.

Found a site that lists all the dates of the concerts, just in case anyone is interested. It's sad to see how short the tour for the Sheila E. album was...that really could have been something.


Opening for Lionel Richie (The Outrageous Tour)
18 SEP, 1986 ::::: Phoenix, AZ, USA – Veterans Memorial Coliseum
20 SEP, 1986 ::::: San Diego, CA, USA – Sports Arena
22 SEP, 1986 ::::: Salt Lake City, UT, USA – The Salt Palace
23 SEP, 1986 ::::: Salt Lake City, UT, USA – The Salt Palace
26 SEP, 1986 ::::: Oklahoma City, OK, USA – Myriad Convention Center
27 SEP, 1986 ::::: Kansas City, MO, USA – Kemper Arena
28 SEP, 1986 ::::: St. Louis, MO, USA – The Arena
01 OCT, 1986 ::::: Milwaukee, WI, USA – MECCA Arena
03 OCT, 1986 ::::: St. Paul, MN, USA – Civic Center
04 OCT, 1986 ::::: St. Paul, MN, USA – Civic Center
06 OCT, 1986 ::::: Minneapolis, MN, USA – Met Center
07 OCT, 1986 ::::: Memphis, TN, USA – Mid-South Coliseum
08 OCT, 1986 ::::: Jackson, MS, USA – Veterans Memorial Coliseum -Mississippi Fairgrounds complex
10 OCT, 1986 ::::: Atlanta, GA, USA – The Omni
11 OCT, 1986 ::::: Birmingham, AL, USA – Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center
12 OCT, 1986 ::::: Nashville, TN, USA – Municipal Auditorium
15 OCT, 1986 ::::: Worcester, MA, USA – Centrum
16 OCT, 1986 ::::: Worcester, MA, USA – Centrum
17 OCT, 1986 ::::: Worcester, MA, USA – Centrum
18 OCT, 1986 ::::: Providence, RI, USA – Civic Center
21 OCT, 1986 ::::: Philadelphia, PA, USA – Spectrum
22 OCT, 1986 ::::: Philadelphia, PA, USA – Spectrum
23 OCT, 1986 ::::: Hartford, CT, USA – Civic Center
24 OCT, 1986 ::::: Hartford, CT, USA – Civic Center
27 OCT, 1986 ::::: New York, NY, USA – Madison Square Garden
28 OCT, 1986 ::::: New York, NY, USA – Madison Square Garden
29 OCT, 1986 ::::: New York, NY, USA – Madison Square Garden
30 OCT, 1986 ::::: New York, NY, USA – Madison Square Garden
01 NOV, 1986 ::::: Detroit, MI, USA – Joe Louis Arena
02 NOV, 1986 ::::: Detroit, MI, USA – Joe Louis Arena
03 NOV, 1986 ::::: Pittsburgh, PA, USA – Pittsburgh Arena
05 NOV, 1986 ::::: Hampton, VA, USA – Hampton Coliseum
07 NOV, 1986 ::::: Charlotte, NC, USA – Ovens Auditorium - Charlotte Coliseum
08 NOV, 1986 ::::: Chapel Hill, NC, USA – Dean E. Smith Center
10 NOV, 1986 ::::: Landover, MD, USA – Capital Centre
12 NOV, 1986 ::::: Toronto, ON, Canada – Maple Leaf Gardens
13 NOV, 1986 ::::: Toronto, ON, Canada – Maple Leaf Gardens
14 NOV, 1986 ::::: Toronto, ON, Canada – Maple Leaf Gardens
15 NOV, 1986 ::::: Buffalo, NY, USA – War Memorial Auditorium
18 NOV, 1986 ::::: Rosemont, IL, USA – Rosemont Horizon
19 NOV, 1986 ::::: Rosemont, IL, USA – Rosemont Horizon
21 NOV, 1986 ::::: Hamilton, ON, Canada – Copps Coliseum
22 NOV, 1986 ::::: Richfield, OH, USA – Richfield Coliseum
23 NOV, 1986 ::::: Richfield, OH, USA – Richfield Coliseum
25 NOV, 1986 ::::: Pittsburgh, PA, USA – Pittsburgh Arena
26 NOV, 1986 ::::: Cincinnati, OH, USA – Riverfront Coliseum
29 NOV, 1986 ::::: Biloxi, MS, USA – Mississippi Coast Coliseum
30 NOV, 1986 ::::: Baton Rouge, LA, USA – LSU Assembly Center
02 DEC, 1986 ::::: Austin, TX, USA – UT Frank Erwin Special Events Center
03 DEC, 1986 ::::: Houston, TX, USA – The Summit
05 DEC, 1986 ::::: Dallas, TX, USA – Reunion Arena
06 DEC, 1986 ::::: Tulsa, OK, USA – Convention Center
08 DEC, 1986 ::::: Inglewood, CA, USA – Fabulous Forum
09 DEC, 1986 ::::: Los Angeles, CA, USA – The Wiltern (Jazzvisions w/ Tito Puente & Pete Escovedo (afternoon, not with Richie)
09 DEC, 1986 ::::: Inglewood, CA, USA – Fabulous Forum
10 DEC, 1986 ::::: Inglewood, CA, USA – Fabulous Forum
12 DEC, 1986 ::::: Inglewood, CA, USA – Fabulous Forum
14 DEC, 1986 ::::: Tacoma, WA, USA – Tacoma Dome
17 DEC, 1986 ::::: Oakland, CA, USA – Coliseum Arena
19 DEC, 1986 ::::: Oakland, CA, USA – Coliseum Arena
20 DEC, 1986 ::::: Oakland, CA, USA – Coliseum Arena


Sheila E Tour
30 JAN, 1987 ::::: Atlantic City, NJ, USA – Sands Casino (Copa Room) 10:00 PM
31 JAN, 1987 ::::: Atlantic City, NJ, USA – Sands Casino (Copa Room) 8:00 PM
31 JAN, 1987 ::::: Atlantic City, NJ, USA – Sands Casino (Copa Room) 11:00 PM
01 FEB, 1987 ::::: Atlantic City, NJ, USA – Sands Casino (Copa Room) 8:00 PM

Efan said:

whitesockedfunk said:

The ultimate live version of "Erotic City" for me is the version Sheila performed as part of the opening act on the Purple Rain tour. Same goes for "The Glamorous Life" with the evil laughter at the beginning of the song.

The version of "A Love Bizarre" performed at the Warfield with Prince and the Revolution from the Romance 1600 live video is sooooo much better than the pretty boring album version or any subsequent live versions in my opinion.

To me, the best version of Erotic City is the Prince one from the '84 birthday show. It's just amazing. Sheila and her band pretty much duplicated it, but they didn't quite match its amazing energy or that incredible funky jam that occurs in the last few minutes of the birthday show version. But what I absolutely love about the rendition from Sheila and her band is how they would end the song with the hook from The Glamorous Life. It always makes me wish they would have just gone right into TGL and made a monster mashup of the two songs. Would have been wonderful.

mmmm

.

that time period was not long enough.

.

like the Family, Prince & the Revolution had many of the songs ready for use

like Noon Rendezvous, now I love the GL album cut that simple quiet almost timid rendition, and I LOVE the 6.71984 Birthday show rendition with Prince & the Revolution, with guitar soloing. Steph Sheila's guitarist was pretty good, do you remember if they did any of their live versions like Prince and the Revolution?

OldFriends4Sale said:

Efan said:

To me, the best version of Erotic City is the Prince one from the '84 birthday show. It's just amazing. Sheila and her band pretty much duplicated it, but they didn't quite match its amazing energy or that incredible funky jam that occurs in the last few minutes of the birthday show version. But what I absolutely love about the rendition from Sheila and her band is how they would end the song with the hook from The Glamorous Life. It always makes me wish they would have just gone right into TGL and made a monster mashup of the two songs. Would have been wonderful.

mmmm

.

that time period was not long enough.

.

like the Family, Prince & the Revolution had many of the songs ready for use

like Noon Rendezvous, now I love the GL album cut that simple quiet almost timid rendition, and I LOVE the 6.71984 Birthday show rendition with Prince & the Revolution, with guitar soloing. Steph Sheila's guitarist was pretty good, do you remember if they did any of their live versions like Prince and the Revolution?

Sheila's live version of Noon Rendezvous is pretty similar. She does the "Sitting in a cafe waiting for my baby" part, which I absolutely love. Prince's version is still the best, though. He just absolutely kills it, both in the rehearsal version and in the birthday version. But yeah, Sheila's version is pretty great as well.

Efan said:

Found a site that lists all the dates of the concerts, just in case anyone is interested. It's sad to see how short the tour for the Sheila E. album was...that really could have been something.


Opening for Lionel Richie (The Outrageous Tour)
18 SEP, 1986 ::::: Phoenix, AZ, USA – Veterans Memorial Coliseum
20 SEP, 1986 ::::: San Diego, CA, USA – Sports Arena
22 SEP, 1986 ::::: Salt Lake City, UT, USA – The Salt Palace
23 SEP, 1986 ::::: Salt Lake City, UT, USA – The Salt Palace
26 SEP, 1986 ::::: Oklahoma City, OK, USA – Myriad Convention Center
27 SEP, 1986 ::::: Kansas City, MO, USA – Kemper Arena
28 SEP, 1986 ::::: St. Louis, MO, USA – The Arena
01 OCT, 1986 ::::: Milwaukee, WI, USA – MECCA Arena
03 OCT, 1986 ::::: St. Paul, MN, USA – Civic Center
04 OCT, 1986 ::::: St. Paul, MN, USA – Civic Center
06 OCT, 1986 ::::: Minneapolis, MN, USA – Met Center
07 OCT, 1986 ::::: Memphis, TN, USA – Mid-South Coliseum
08 OCT, 1986 ::::: Jackson, MS, USA – Veterans Memorial Coliseum -Mississippi Fairgrounds complex
10 OCT, 1986 ::::: Atlanta, GA, USA – The Omni
11 OCT, 1986 ::::: Birmingham, AL, USA – Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center
12 OCT, 1986 ::::: Nashville, TN, USA – Municipal Auditorium
15 OCT, 1986 ::::: Worcester, MA, USA – Centrum
16 OCT, 1986 ::::: Worcester, MA, USA – Centrum
17 OCT, 1986 ::::: Worcester, MA, USA – Centrum
18 OCT, 1986 ::::: Providence, RI, USA – Civic Center
21 OCT, 1986 ::::: Philadelphia, PA, USA – Spectrum
22 OCT, 1986 ::::: Philadelphia, PA, USA – Spectrum
23 OCT, 1986 ::::: Hartford, CT, USA – Civic Center
24 OCT, 1986 ::::: Hartford, CT, USA – Civic Center
27 OCT, 1986 ::::: New York, NY, USA – Madison Square Garden
28 OCT, 1986 ::::: New York, NY, USA – Madison Square Garden
29 OCT, 1986 ::::: New York, NY, USA – Madison Square Garden
30 OCT, 1986 ::::: New York, NY, USA – Madison Square Garden
01 NOV, 1986 ::::: Detroit, MI, USA – Joe Louis Arena
02 NOV, 1986 ::::: Detroit, MI, USA – Joe Louis Arena
03 NOV, 1986 ::::: Pittsburgh, PA, USA – Pittsburgh Arena
05 NOV, 1986 ::::: Hampton, VA, USA – Hampton Coliseum
07 NOV, 1986 ::::: Charlotte, NC, USA – Ovens Auditorium - Charlotte Coliseum
08 NOV, 1986 ::::: Chapel Hill, NC, USA – Dean E. Smith Center
10 NOV, 1986 ::::: Landover, MD, USA – Capital Centre
12 NOV, 1986 ::::: Toronto, ON, Canada – Maple Leaf Gardens
13 NOV, 1986 ::::: Toronto, ON, Canada – Maple Leaf Gardens
14 NOV, 1986 ::::: Toronto, ON, Canada – Maple Leaf Gardens
15 NOV, 1986 ::::: Buffalo, NY, USA – War Memorial Auditorium
18 NOV, 1986 ::::: Rosemont, IL, USA – Rosemont Horizon
19 NOV, 1986 ::::: Rosemont, IL, USA – Rosemont Horizon
21 NOV, 1986 ::::: Hamilton, ON, Canada – Copps Coliseum
22 NOV, 1986 ::::: Richfield, OH, USA – Richfield Coliseum
23 NOV, 1986 ::::: Richfield, OH, USA – Richfield Coliseum
25 NOV, 1986 ::::: Pittsburgh, PA, USA – Pittsburgh Arena
26 NOV, 1986 ::::: Cincinnati, OH, USA – Riverfront Coliseum
29 NOV, 1986 ::::: Biloxi, MS, USA – Mississippi Coast Coliseum
30 NOV, 1986 ::::: Baton Rouge, LA, USA – LSU Assembly Center
02 DEC, 1986 ::::: Austin, TX, USA – UT Frank Erwin Special Events Center
03 DEC, 1986 ::::: Houston, TX, USA – The Summit
05 DEC, 1986 ::::: Dallas, TX, USA – Reunion Arena
06 DEC, 1986 ::::: Tulsa, OK, USA – Convention Center
08 DEC, 1986 ::::: Inglewood, CA, USA – Fabulous Forum
09 DEC, 1986 ::::: Los Angeles, CA, USA – The Wiltern (Jazzvisions w/ Tito Puente & Pete Escovedo (afternoon, not with Richie)
09 DEC, 1986 ::::: Inglewood, CA, USA – Fabulous Forum
10 DEC, 1986 ::::: Inglewood, CA, USA – Fabulous Forum
12 DEC, 1986 ::::: Inglewood, CA, USA – Fabulous Forum
14 DEC, 1986 ::::: Tacoma, WA, USA – Tacoma Dome
17 DEC, 1986 ::::: Oakland, CA, USA – Coliseum Arena
19 DEC, 1986 ::::: Oakland, CA, USA – Coliseum Arena
20 DEC, 1986 ::::: Oakland, CA, USA – Coliseum Arena


Sheila E Tour
30 JAN, 1987 ::::: Atlantic City, NJ, USA – Sands Casino (Copa Room) 10:00 PM
31 JAN, 1987 ::::: Atlantic City, NJ, USA – Sands Casino (Copa Room) 8:00 PM
31 JAN, 1987 ::::: Atlantic City, NJ, USA – Sands Casino (Copa Room) 11:00 PM
01 FEB, 1987 ::::: Atlantic City, NJ, USA – Sands Casino (Copa Room) 8:00 PM

well,we all know why the tour for Sheila E. was cut short.She had to begin rehearsals for Prince's Sign O The Times tour,effectively ending the promotion for her own album.

Why wasn't Lionel a guest on her Unsung show? There was a lot about George Duke, and Prince. I don't remember seeing much about the Lionel years on there. I will have to watch it again to make sure.

MadamGoodnight said:

Why wasn't Lionel a guest on her Unsung show? There was a lot about George Duke, and Prince. I don't remember seeing much about the Lionel years on there. I will have to watch it again to make sure.

True. That would have been interesting. Over on the Unsung website, they have a few outtakes that didn't run on the show and in one she talks about Nicole Richie and in another she talks about being on tour with Lionel and how they wanted her to sing Endless Love, but she wouldn't do it. You're right that it's a big chunk to leave out.

Zannaloaf said:

I saw the show. It was awesome. Levi Seacer Jr. Was on guitars and Raphael Wiggins on bass. I think it was actually tighter than the Purple Rain show. I always wondered if Prince pulled her back into the fold because she was getting too much attention without his involvement.

Always wondered how her career might have turned out if she had not joined Prince's band in 1987.The 'Sheila E' album was her strongest album.She could have spent 1987 touring and promoting it.The tour with Lionel was a great idea,to expand her audience.But,like you pointed out,if she had gotten "too big",Prince might have had problems with that.

SoulAlive said:

Zannaloaf said:

I saw the show. It was awesome. Levi Seacer Jr. Was on guitars and Raphael Wiggins on bass. I think it was actually tighter than the Purple Rain show. I always wondered if Prince pulled her back into the fold because she was getting too much attention without his involvement.

Always wondered how her career might have turned out if she had not joined Prince's band in 1987.The 'Sheila E' album was her strongest album.She could have spent 1987 touring and promoting it.The tour with Lionel was a great idea,to expand her audience.But,like you pointed out,if she had gotten "too big",Prince might have had problems with that.

I don't think Sheila was ever going to get too big. She had a niche, and she's always been amazing, but she had some limiting factors. And some of those were self-imposed: It was her idea to take herself out of the spotlight and get behind the drums for Prince.

Efan said:

SoulAlive said:

Always wondered how her career might have turned out if she had not joined Prince's band in 1987.The 'Sheila E' album was her strongest album.She could have spent 1987 touring and promoting it.The tour with Lionel was a great idea,to expand her audience.But,like you pointed out,if she had gotten "too big",Prince might have had problems with that.

I don't think Sheila was ever going to get too big. She had a niche, and she's always been amazing, but she had some limiting factors. And some of those were self-imposed: It was her idea to take herself out of the spotlight and get behind the drums for Prince.

I remember being shocked when I first heard that she had joined Prince's band.Her solo career was doing really good at that point....Romance 1600 became her second gold album,the tour with Lionel was a success,and her single "Hold Me" was rapidly climbing the R&B charts....it looked like was on her way to solo superstardom.I guess she simply got tired of being out in front? I think she was unhappy with the whole' sex' image.Perhaps she wanted people to focus more on her drumming skills?

SoulAlive said:

I remember an interview where Sheila was talking about this tour just before it began.She said something that I thought was funny.

"I'll probably come out during his performance and we'll do a song together,but it won't be a slow duet like "Endless Love",because I know I'll look at him and bust out laughing" "We're just good friends,so it wouldn't be very believable anyway"

Zannaloaf said:

I saw the show. It was awesome. Levi Seacer Jr. Was on guitars and Raphael Wiggins on bass. I think it was actually tighter than the Purple Rain show. I always wondered if Prince pulled her back into the fold because she was getting too much attention without his involvement.

I saw the Madison Square Garden show and the Atlantic City show. Her band was AMAZING!!!

Boni Boyer was on keyboards and vocals. Norbert Stachel was on sax

They did Love on a Blue Train, Someday Ik'm going make you mine if I recall

ANd Sheila has done liver versions of Love Bizarre that are even better than the Romance 1600 live version. Basically she takes that arrangement and adds lot of other parts. It's on the House of Blues Live bootleg.

I was surprised to read that Sheila had toured in a band with Ringo Starr as well. She's had a varied career for sure! I guess she likes being part of an ensemble more than being front and centre.

Missed out on all of that.

Scotsman1999 said:

I was surprised to read that Sheila had toured in a band with Ringo Starr as well. She's had a varied career for sure! I guess she likes being part of an ensemble more than being front and centre.

Sheila was part of Ringo's All-Starr Band for two separate tours (in 2001 and 2003, if memory serves). I believe she's the only person to be in his All-Starr Band twice. I saw both those tours and they were tons of fun.

Efan said:

MadamGoodnight said:

Why wasn't Lionel a guest on her Unsung show? There was a lot about George Duke, and Prince. I don't remember seeing much about the Lionel years on there. I will have to watch it again to make sure.

True. That would have been interesting. Over on the Unsung website, they have a few outtakes that didn't run on the show and in one she talks about Nicole Richie and in another she talks about being on tour with Lionel and how they wanted her to sing Endless Love, but she wouldn't do it. You're right that it's a big chunk to leave out.

Thanks for your response Efan. I didn't know there were outtakes from her Unsung show. I'll watch it.