By 1983, the musical landscape into which Sheena Easton had emerged only three years previously, was rapidly changing. A wealth of exciting and inventive synth pop bands dominated the UK airwaves, and emerging artists such as Duran Duran and the Eurythmics were having top ten hits on both sides of the Atlantic. The launch of MTV in 1981, coupled with the rising popularity of VCRs, meant that promotional videos became an important part of how an artist projected themselves and their music.
Sheena Easton’s fourth album Best Kept Secret represented her first steps towards redefining herself. Shrewdly she enlisted the services of producer Greg Mathieson – fresh from two huge International successes with Toni Basil’s ‘Mickey’ and Laura Brannigan’s ‘Gloria’ – and Jay Graydon. The album further consolidated Sheena’s success in America, and repositioned her with a more youthful, contemporary sound, but sadly it did little to revive her commercial fortunes in the UK.
The first two singles from the album are a case in point. ‘Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair)’ ascended to #9 in the US Billboard charts (her biggest solo hit since ‘For Your Eyes Only’) and earned Sheena a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. ‘Almost Over You’, a beautiful ballad featuring a lovely vocal by Sheena, became another US top thirty hit. However, in the UK both singles stalled outside the top 75, (#84 and #89 respectively) and not even jetting back to the UK for an interview and performance on Russell Harty’s prime-time show was enough to secure Sheena’s tenth solo UK hit – at least not yet…
Best Kept Secret has its moments, including a spirited cover version of Doug Parkinson’s ‘Let Sleeping Dogs Lie’ and Dusty Springfield’s ‘Just One Smile’, the mid-tempo pop/rock of ‘Devil In A Fast Car’ and the power ballad ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’, but, out of all Sheena’s early albums, it was the one I found it hardest to warm to initially. I missed Christopher Neil’s production style, and the synth heavy approach on Best Kept Secret seemed a little generic at times, with only Sheena’s excellent vocals lifting the songs out of the ordinary. I fully accepted that Sheena’s sound needed to evolve, adopt a younger and fresher approach, and Best Kept Secret does that job admirably. It’s a good album with some good tracks on it, and I have grown to appreciate it more with time, but it remains the album I am least engaged with emotionally.
By contrast, 1984’s A Private Heaven, also produced by Greg Mathieson, is an absolute belter! It became the first of Sheena’s albums not to chart in the UK, which is entirely the UK’s loss as it is one of the best albums of Sheena’s career.
A Private Heaven marked a conscious effort to, in Sheena’s words, ‘keep it young, spiky and aggressive’. Mathieson fought her corner to procure edgier songs with a younger feel, resulting in an album that was sexy, provocative, melodic, and danceable. Musically it was spot on, with heavy percussion and a brass section giving the album an organic feel, energy, and dynamism that its predecessor sometimes lacked. Lead single, ‘Strut’ – co-written by Charlie Dore and brought to Sheena’s attention by her former producer Christopher Neil – is irresistible and magnificent. It was deservedly a US top ten hit, earned Sheena another Grammy nomination, and was a feisty repudiation of male sexism and the objectification of women.
‘Sugar Walls’, written by and featuring Prince under the pseudonym Alexander Nevermind, was provocative and considered suggestive enough to form part of the PMRC’s ‘Filthy Fifteen’, which saw Sheena rubbing shoulders with the likes of Judas Priest, Motley Crue, and The Mary Jane Girls on their list of objectionable lyrical subject matter. If UK viewers were startled to see the Sheena Easton they thought they knew duetting with Prince on ‘U Got The Look’ a few years later, then the roots of that go back to this song.
A Private Heaven also had strength in depth. Tim Scott’s ‘Swear’ was an unexpected choice for a cover version but Sheena put her own stamp on the song. Future hit maker Robbie Nevil receives a co-write on ‘You Make Me Nervous’. Toto’s Steve Lukather contributes ‘All By Myself’, whilst Greg Mathieson teamed up with Trevor Veitch to create two of the album’s standout tracks: the ebullient ‘Hungry Eyes’ and the classy and sassy pop/ funk groove of ‘Back In The City’. Boosted by a US tour and a series of smart, glamorous promotional videos, A Private Heaven became Sheena’s most successful album in the USA, reaching #15, selling over a million copies and yielding two top ten singles.
If you are a lover of all things Sheena, then these latest reissues from Cherry Pop are a joy, not only for the coloured vinyl and artwork, but also because A Private Heaven is expanded to a double album, with selected remixes, flip sides, bonus tracks, and a previously unreleased alternate version of the gorgeous Paris song ‘Have You Ever Been In Love’. If you are new to these albums then they represent a fascinating snapshot of Sheena’s evolution as an artist and contain some of her biggest hits on the Billboard charts. Dive in and discover the great tracks that all but her hardcore UK fans missed out on.
- Review by David Waterfield.
- Best Kept Secret is available now via Cherry Pop.
- A Private Heaven is released via Cherry Pop on 31st May 2024.
- Official Website | Facebook | YouTube Channel
Track List:
Best Kept Secret:
Side A
1 Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair)
2 I Like The Fright
3 Almost Over You
4 Devil In A Fast Car
5 Don’t Leave Me This Way
Side B
1 Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
2 (She’s In Love) With Her Radio
3 Just One Smile
4 Sweet Talk
5 Best Kept Man
A Private Heaven:
Side A
1 Strut
2 Sugar Walls
3 Hungry Eyes
4 Hard To Say It’s Over
5 Swear
Side B
1 Love And Affection
2 Back In The City
3 You Make Me Nervous
4 All By Myself
5 Double Standard
Side C
1 Strut (Dance Mix)
2 Letters From The Road
3 Hungry Eyes (Remix)
4 Straight Talking
5 Sugar Walls (TV Mix)
Side D
1 Swear (Dance Mix)
2 Fallen Angels
3 Sugar Walls (Long Version)
4 Have You Ever Been In Love (Alternate Version)
