Now let's be honest...how many people in here thought this was a prince production when they first heard it?

I heard this in the gym a few weeks ago. LMAO.

I at least thought they were from Minneapolis but they're from Michigan I think.

i thought they were from England somewhere...maybe i'm wrong but i always thought they grew up there or something.

JackieBlue said:

Yup they are from Michigan!

missfee said:

When "Oh Sheila" was released I was already familiar with RFTW's previous top 10 R&B hits, "Tonight" and "Deep Inside Your Love" which didn't sound so Prince-like to me. I was however, surprised at how much this single adopted the Minneapolis sound for a band that had no relation to Prince whatsoever.

Was thinking about that track the other day and wondering if there was any kind of folk law story surounding it? It was very very prince eh? ... way too much in fact!

isn't the opening drum pattern and synth riff directly from the Glamorous life, or am I on crack?

i thought it was P the first 3 seconds then that gawd-awful voice came on: "LOIKE THAY OLLWAYS SIGH, WHUTS GUUD FOR THA GOOUSE, IS OLSO GUUD FOR THE GAHNDAH" and i felt betrayed.

glamslamkid said:

Yes. and don´t forget the " ahhdeedeldeedeldeedeeday" line ...or something like that

::pop-lock::

::breakdance::

::putactivatorinhair::

Funny story.....in 2001 when I first got into Prince (late bloomer I am), I heard he was gonna be in Omaha so I burned a mix CD. That Oh Sheila song was inappropriately title as being by Prince. So on this mix CD.....track 9 is Oh Sheila. I laugh at that now because 4 concerts and 25 some albums later I know that it is clearly NOT a Prince song !

I never thought it was by Prince. I liked Ready for the World's other songs and even saw them in concert.

I never thought it was a Prince affiliation. Everyone was doing Prince's sound in the late 1980s except Prince.

Ex-members of the Prince camp such as Andre Cymone, Jesse Johnson, Brown Mark, and Morris Day were still doing that sound as solo artists. Andre Cymone produced Jody Watley with that sound. Jesse Johnson produced Tamara and the Seen with that sound. Brown Mark even produced Lakeside with that sound. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis produced several artists with that sound...the most popular was Janet Jackson.

Newcomers as well as established groups were also using that sound. Ready For The World, Georgio, The Barkays, The Egyptian Lover, The Deele, Pebbles, Chaka Khan, Madame X...just to name a few.

Everyone was using the Minneapolis Sound except Prince....the one that could have blown them all out of the water and showed them how it was really supposed to be done.

vainandy said:

"America" from ATWIAD had elements of the MPLS sound which was released in 1985 along with Oh Sheila.

I didn't know anyone who confused RFTW with Prince.

For awhile the 80s sound was the Minneapolis sound.

missfee said:

Alright now, I'm not going to lie. When this song first came out, I thought it was by P. However, after I listened to it again, I was like nahh.

I remember people thinking that guy was a homo and singing at the begining..

"LOIKE THAY OLLWAYS SIGH, WHUTS GUUD FOR THA GOOUSE, IS OLSO GUUD FOR THE GAHNDAH" OH SAILOR

Chico1 said:

True. Some of my friends back in the day thought he was on the flip side. However, I found him to be sexy as hell back then so I did not care and I had a collection of thier albums alongside the Time and P.

It has been reported that when Sheila E. first heard this song on the radio,SHE thought it was Prince singing about her

RFTW's first two albums were very Prince-influenced.Songs like "I'm The One Who Loves You","Mary Goes Round" and "Baby(Let Me Love You)" sound like outtakes from Prince's 1982/83 period.

missfee said:

When I was little I thought they were too...especially the part where he goes "Just you wait and see"....sounds like a British accent. I would've never guessed Michigan.

AnckSuNamun said:

Same here. It really knocked me out of my socks when I found out they were from Michingan.

Chico1 said:

CinisterCee said:

True story.

DavidEye said:

For real?

I never confused "Oh Sheila" for a Prince song, but once when my cousin and I were riding around in my car, the RFTW song came on. My cousin was like, "Prince!", and I was like, "Uuuuh, nooo, that's not a Prince song.

psychodelicide said:

DavidEye said:

That's just crazy. The drums are very Prince-esque but not as refined. I never even thought it sounded like Prince's voice, and I was like 5!

CinisterCee said:

Their use of drum machines is straight out of the '1999-era Prince sound.The last song on their first album ("I'm The One Who Loves You") sounds like a moody Prince outtake from 1982/83.