"Would you like to play with my timbales?"

The Belle Of St,Mark Shortberry Strawcake Noon Rendezvous Oliver's House Next Time Wipe The Lipstic Off Your Collar The Glamorous Life 2 Sexy Erotic City

Directed by Sheila E. & The Starr ★ Company

Sheila E Juan Escovedo Eddie Minnifield Karl Perazzo Ken Grey Susie Davis Bejamin Rietveld

Miko Weaver Stephen Birnbaum

Jill Jones Susannah Melvoin Brenda Bennett Novi Novog David Coleman Nick DeCaro Larry Williams

Peggy McCreary Terry Christian Bill Jackson
Prince

@ Sunset Sound, Hollywood, CA

AND THEN CAME THE RAIN

"The Belle of St. Mark" is a song written and recorded by singer/percussionist Sheila E. The Latin-tinged dance song was released in November 1984 in the Netherlands, and in February 1985 in the U.S. and elsewhere. It peaked at #34 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #68 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles Charts in 1985. It reached the top ten in the UK, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, and was an NME "Single of the Week".

The song's lyrics tell of an androgynous "frail but passionate creature," referred to as "he" throughout, but called the feminine "Belle". (Androgyny was a prevalent theme in the music of Sheila E.'s mentor, Prince, and common in pop music of the period), The song implies the Belle is French (viz. the lyrics, "His Paris hair, it blows in the warm Parisian air / That blows whenever his Paris hair is there") but St. Mark is commonly known as a location in Venice, Italy.

The Belle of St. Mark was a frail but a passionate creature
Ebony hair and eyes a deep blue-green
The Belle of St Mark wore clothes that belonged 2 his father
Even though he was only 17

CHORUS:
I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love with the Belle of St. Mark
It tears me apart whenever I hear him cry
I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love with the Belle of St. Mark
And if he doesn't love me I think I'll probably die

U can tell from expressions that he makes public
That he suffers from a badly broken heart
He smiles as he feeds the afternoon pigeons
But he cries as he walks the night streets of St. Mark

CHORUS

The Belle of St. Mark, he don't talk 2 strangers, he's so mysterious
His erotic persuasion provokes me like no other man
The fire I have 4 him is undoubtedly serious
I need 2 make him see that he needs love 2 forget
And if anyone can help him, I can
I can help, I can help U

His Paris hair, it blows in the warm Parisian air
That blows whenever his Paris hair is there
The woman that hurt him surely must have trouble sleeping
Cuz the Belle of St. Mark is a beauty extraordinaire

Oh, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love with the Belle of St. Mark
It tears me apart whenever I hear him cry
I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love with the Belle of St. Mark
And if he doesn't love me I think I'll probably die

Ooh, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love with the Belle of St. Mark
It tears me apart whenever I hear him cry
Ooh, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love with the Belle of St. Mark
And if he doesn't love me I think I'll probably die
And if he doesn't love me I think I'll probably die
And if he don't... I'll die

L 2 R

Bejamin Rietveld - Bass Karl Perazzo - Drums Eddie Minnifield - Saxaphone Sheila E - Vocals/whatever Miko Weaver - Guitar Stephen Birnbaum - Guitar Susie Davis - Keyboards

*not shown

Juan Escovedo - Percussion

Ken Grey - Keyboards

I remember seeing this video late one night and I had no idea who she was.As I watched it,I was thinking that she kinda reminds me of Prince! A female version of him.A few days later,I go to the record store and check out her album.I see that it is "produced by the Starr Company" I knew who that was,lol

OldFriends4Sale said:

Out of all of Prince's female proteges,Sheila E. was the most dynamic.Sexy and very talented.

^ Yes I agree SoulAlive. True, dynamic, sexy and talented.. Sheila E is all that.

The Belle Of Saint Mark, I have never seen this pic sleeve before..

Wow, Sheila E. really looks amazing in that pic..

SoulAlive said:

Out of all of Prince's female proteges,Sheila E. was the most dynamic.Sexy and very talented.

Well of course you might not say Morris Day / the Time was the most sexy or Mazarati or St Paul & Eric Leeds were the most sexy lol

.

I still don't think anyone could top Vanity's sex appeal and charisma out of the women proteges. But I tend to not compare them back then much because I believe they all expressed a certain aspect of Uptown. And it all worked.
.
Sheila E 'lucked out' in a way because if Vanity was still on, Sheila would not have gotten some pretty good songs. And I think Prince didn't focus heavily on the Time's album and promotion, so Sheila E got a lot more attention, with all the projects happening and things being prepared for. 3 Protege albums, 1 movie, Tours, Music galore etc I love how the Glamorous Life turned out. It has a wonderful flow, cohesive theme and look. I wish there were outtakes for this album just 3 would be perfect and 1 more B side.

thedance said:

The Belle Of Saint Mark, I have never seen this pic sleeve before..

Wow, Sheila E. really looks amazing in that pic..

Yes the other one was an image from the album, I prefer the one I posted above. She had a lot of photos taken right before her definative Glamorous Life image

^ thank you OF4S, the info, much appreciated.

You are really making excellent threads, like always, cool...

thedance said:

^ thank you OF4S, the info, much appreciated.

You are really making excellent threads, like always, cool...

U R Welcome

here is the other Belle of St Mark cover

1. The Belle Of St,Mark
2. Shortberry Strawcake
3. Noon Rendezvous
4. Oliver's House
5. Next Time Wipe The LipsticOff Your Collar
6. The Glamorous Life
7. The Glamorous Life (Club Edit)

7.17.1984 @ the ARD Studio in West Germany

1. the Glamorous Life

10.7.1984 on Top Pop

Den Bosch in the Netherlands

1. the Belle of St Mark

2. the Glamorous Life

yes,Vanity was the sexiest but I think Sheila was a better performer than Vanity and Apollonia.She was also a better dancer.Her stage presence was dazzling.

OldFriends4Sale said:

SoulAlive said:

Out of all of Prince's female proteges,Sheila E. was the most dynamic.Sexy and very talented.

Well of course you might not say Morris Day / the Time was the most sexy or Mazarati or St Paul & Eric Leeds were the most sexy lol

.

I still don't think anyone could top Vanity's sex appeal and charisma out of the women proteges. But I tend to not compare them back then much because I believe they all expressed a certain aspect of Uptown. And it all worked.

OldFriends4Sale said:

thedance said:

^ thank you OF4S, the info, much appreciated.

You are really making excellent threads, like always, cool...

U R Welcome

here is the other Belle of St Mark cover

She looks a little like 80's Susanna Hoffs in that pic.

SoulAlive said:

yes,Vanity was the sexiest but I think Sheila was a better performer than Vanity and Apollonia.She was also a better dancer.Her stage presence was dazzling.

OldFriends4Sale said:

Well of course you might not say Morris Day / the Time was the most sexy or Mazarati or St Paul & Eric Leeds were the most sexy lol

.

I still don't think anyone could top Vanity's sex appeal and charisma out of the women proteges. But I tend to not compare them back then much because I believe they all expressed a certain aspect of Uptown. And it all worked.

Apollonia is not even in the equation lol
Yes Sheila's stage presence and persona would be more dazzling.
I wish Vanity 6 had a visible band to interact with, I think that makes a difference too in that Sheila E wasn't out on the stage by herself. It wouldn't have worked without the band synchronized dancing and such. I wish we had more info on the developement of Sheila E as a protege, like we did with the Time and Vanity 6

Sheila E was/is dazzling

OldFriends4Sale said:

Shortberry Strawcake – 4:46 (Sheila E., Jesse Johnson)

A steamy sexy instrumental

Sheila E. – lead vocals, percussion, director Jesse Johnson – guitars

The Starr ★ Company

Shortberry Strawcake was nominated at the 27th annual Grammy Awards (1985) in the category 'Best R&B instrumental performance' (which was won by Sound-System by Herbie Hancock).

Initial tracking took place on 9 January 1984 at Sunset Sound, Hollywood, CA, USA (four days after Oliver's House and The Belle Of St. Mark), and the song was originally intended for Apollonia 6 until Prince began to work with Sheila E. in February 1984, at which time he set the song aside for her. Sheila E.'s percussion was recorded in the first few days of April 1984 at Sunset Sound. Some distorted and backmasked vocals by Prince can be heard in the background of the track, marking the earliest Prince-related release to feature backmasked lyrics (released three weeks before Purple Rain, which also contained some).

-PrinceVault

iZsaZsa said:

OldFriends4Sale said:

Apollonia is not even in the equation lol
Yes Sheila's stage presence and persona would be more dazzling.
I wish Vanity 6 had a visible band to interact with, I think that makes a difference too in that Sheila E wasn't out on the stage by herself. It wouldn't have worked without the band synchronized dancing and such. I wish we had more info on the developement of Sheila E as a protege, like we did with the Time and Vanity 6

Sheila E was/is dazzling

She does a bad (good) Prince impersonation.

Yes she does

SoulAlive said:

I remember seeing this video late one night and I had no idea who she was.As I watched it,I was thinking that she kinda reminds me of Prince! A female version of him.A few days later,I go to the record store and check out her album.I see that it is "produced by the Starr Company" I knew who that was,lol

OldFriends4Sale said:

lol I remember that same sensation

It was really interesting and fun then that proteges popped up, and you had to search the keywords and credits to connect it with Prince.

It was all unique, each one.

I wonder why there wasn't a music video for "The Belle Of St.Mark".I guess there was so much going in 1984 that she probably didn't have time to make one.That song is undeniably catchy and would have been a much bigger hit if it had a music video.

SoulAlive said:

I wonder why there wasn't a music video for "The Belle Of St.Mark".I guess there was so much going in 1984 that she probably didn't have time to make one.That song is undeniably catchy and would have been a much bigger hit if it had a music video.

there was a live video for Belle in Europe, it was recorded in Landover, Md, on the Purple Rain tour.

http://www.dailymotion.co...live_music

Um - this pic scares the hell out of me

Averett said:

Um - this pic scares the hell out of me

Look in to my eyes , your my slave

Guitarhero said:

Averett said:

Um - this pic scares the hell out of me

Look in to my eyes , your my slave

An attempt at a "glamorous" mug shot?

Averett said:

Um - this pic scares the hell out of me

She means business, get out of her way, she's heaing to the glitz and glam of Erotic City and Hollyrock

June 4, 1984 the Glamorous Life w/Sheila E. drops
June 7, 1984 1st Avenue Birthday show with Prince & the Revolution
June 25, 1984 Purple Rain w/Prince & the Revolution drops
July 9th, 1984 Ice Cream Castles w/Morris Day & the Time drops

July 7.29.1984 Purple Rain movie premiere






July 26. 1984

Mann's Chinese Theater Hollywood
6925 Hollywood Blvd.
MTV"Live! Purple Rain Party Movie Premiere

performance by Sheila E.

1.) the Glamorous Life

After a performance by members of the Minneapolis Dance Theatre, Sheila E., Prince’s latest musical find— also rumored to be his new girlfriend—took the stage and performed, followed by Prince and The Revolution, who played three songs.

"Who did you come to see?" or did he ask "What was your favorite part of the movie?"
She replie "Prince"