Is Sheena Easton Underrated?

[johnm1120]

So I've been kinda getting into some of Sheena's catalog recently, and also noticing her presence on the 80s on 8 countdowns. I never really thought much of Sheena outside Morning Train & For Your Eyes Only tbh until recently. What really stuck out for me was last weekend 80s on 8 ranked Sheena as the #2 female artist of the 80s behind Madonna (#14 overall). I guess the question is, was she really such a big deal in the 80s that has kinda gone under the radar?

[mkarns]

She had a good run of hits in varying styles. Originally a pure pop artist, later she adopted a more R&B style, which she did quite well for a white Scottish lady, collaborating with Prince and LA Reid & Babyface. And she did well with both ballads and uptempo numbers, so yeah, she probably deserves more appreciation.

[Private Dancer]

Sheena Easton was definitely a big deal in the 80s. She wasn't as big as Madonna, Janet, Diana or Dionne Warwick but she was big. She was, at first, the wholesome AC pop girl from Scotland until Sugar Walls. She had a nice string of hits from 1981 to 1989, but she is definitely underrated.

[Ezekiel 23:20–21]

I liked some of her material, mostly because of the Prince association. I like "Strut", "Sugar Walls", "101", and "What Comes Naturally" in addition to those other ones you mentioned.

[🇯🇲 lucy88 🇯🇲]

I grew up listening to her duet with Kenny Rogers, but my all time faves from her are "The Lover In Me" and "Sugar Walls". Such great bops. "Strut" is good too.

[Luckie Starchild]

Sheena's a really good vocalist and was very pretty. She did well and had a good string of hits but yeah, she's underrated.

Madonna and Cyndi Lauper are slightly older than Sheena but they were marketed differently and were able to find greater success with young people/teenagers. Sheena was more of a singles artist than a big live act/album artist.

She's a good performer but her dancing was always pretty bad. BTW, I saw her in London on the West End in 2017 and she still sounded great!

[gonecountry]

Absolutely. She has put out some incredibly good songs and her stuff on the Lover in Me was her best creatively IMO. That said, the "A Private Album" with Strut and Sugar Walls was by far her most commercially successful. She has covered a wide range of music - AC, country, etc. She's had a couple rare misses early on in her career (Machinery is interesting, to say the least) but all-in-all I think she has done pretty good stuff over the years.

101 is by far the hidden jewel in her career. Days Like This, So Far So Good and Ice Out in the Rain were also great "shoulda beens"

[Ling-Ling]

She's definitely underappreciated, an excellent singles artist. She also got more interesting as her career went on, she started standard AC and then phased into a more synth-pop direction and then full on Pop/R&B crossover. Her voice also got progressively better, she had turned into a helluva singer when she finally hit her vocal peak.

Great live vocals aside, she was pretty weak in the stage charisma department, but she KILLED on talk show interviews. She really could have pivoted into more of an actress/TV personality once the hits dried up IMO.

[jenglisbe]

Wow it's wild because I heard her song "Strut" this morning and was thinking how she won Best New Artist but is never really mentioned in either a positive way or a curse way with that award. I then came into the Opinion forums and see this thread. Crazy. While in hindsight Luther Vandross should have won New Artist that year, Easton was ultimately a decent winner as she did have a very solid run in the 1980s as has been pointed out. She obviously had a #1 right away with "9 to 5," and she then had other top 10s like "Strut" and "U Got the Look" with Prince. She also sang a Bond theme and even had a #1 country hit with "We've Got Tonight" and won a Grammy for Mexican-American performance. That's all more than most artists can say.

Mar 4, 2023 11:13:12 GMT -5 gonecountry said:

101 is by far the hidden jewel in her career.

Omg I just saw this was actually written by Prince. I will make it a priority to listen to this when I get a chance!

[gonecountry]

Mar 5, 2023 8:47:09 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Wow it's wild because I heard her song "Strut" this morning and was thinking how she won Best New Artist but is never really mentioned in either a positive way or a curse way with that award. I then came into the Opinion forums and see this thread. Crazy. While in hindsight Luther Vandross should have won New Artist that year, Easton was ultimately a decent winner as she did have a very solid run in the 1980s as has been pointed out. She obviously had a #1 right away with "9 to 5," and she then had other top 10s like "Strut" and "U Got the Look" with Prince. She also sang a Bond theme and even had a #1 country hit with "We've Got Tonight" and won a Grammy for Mexican-American performance. That's all more than most artists can say.

Mar 4, 2023 11:13:12 GMT -5 gonecountry said:

101 is by far the hidden jewel in her career.

Omg I just saw this was actually written by Prince. I will make it a priority to listen to this when I get a chance!

You won't regret it, great song. The video is great too. She really did Prince well.

[getouttamyway]

Sugar Walls is one of my favourite 80s hits.

Can't believe it took one of the funniest X Factor auditions to get to me to discover it.

[HolidayGuy]

I thoroughly enjoy Sheena. Picked up old vinyls of her debut, Best Kept Secret and A Private Heaven recently at the local record shop.

I interviewed her recently, as she performed last night here in the Poconos, Pa. We also got to meet her after the thoroughly enjoyable show. Such a warm, lovely person. Great sense of humor, as well.

[Dielawn]

"The Lover in Me" has got to be the most obscure and least-remembered #2 Billboard Hot 100 Hit ever

[HolidayGuy]

I adore "The Lover in Me." While it doesn't get much in the way of recurrent play or streams, I dunno if it's the most obscure/least-remembered No. 2 Hot 100 hit.

[tekkenguy]

Dec 19, 2023 10:22:44 GMT -5 Dielawn said:

"The Lover in Me" has got to be the most obscure and least-remembered #2 Billboard Hot 100 Hit ever

*We Are the World 25 for Haiti has entered the chat.*

[divasummer]

“The Lover In Me” is probably my favorite by her, but she has many good ones.
Yes, I think she is underrated.
“For Your Eyes Only” is a classic. “Morning Train (9-5)”, “Strut” and “What Comes Naturally” are a few of her others I loved.

[• Господин Умљеновић •]

I know her name and that she is on U got the look.
Not a single song.
But will search now. I love 80's, so ...

[kluen]

I think the interesting thing about Sheena is that her career bounced back and forth several times throughout the 80s.

She was able to go with the trends.

Her 1982 album Madness, Money & Music flopped and she bounced back in 1983 with Best Kept Secret

1985's album Do You flopped again and then bounced back in 1988 with the lover in me

And she's more successful in US than UK

And I think she's more well-known than we think she is.
There are TV shows making references to her.
Like in CBS's TV Series Mom,Christy said something about her work out tape

[weaver]

Aug 27, 2023 16:45:46 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

I thoroughly enjoy Sheena. Picked up old vinyls of her debut, Best Kept Secret and A Private Heaven recently at the local record shop.

I interviewed her recently, as she performed last night here in the Poconos, Pa. We also got to meet her after the thoroughly enjoyable show. Such a warm, lovely person. Great sense of humor, as well.

View Attachment

Wow, we are like neighbors almost lol. I live closer to philly. Which side of Sheena are you on?

[jdanton2]

she was able to have hits at multiple formats which not every has .that includes #1 songs at pop, ac, country and dance clubs and top 10 at r&b.

edit

from Wikipedia .i think Bieber and maybe others have done it since.

Easton became the first and only recording artist in Billboard history to have a Top 5 hit on each of Billboard's primary singles charts: "Morning Train (Nine to Five)" (Pop and Adult Contemporary), "We've Got Tonight" with Kenny Rogers (Country and Adult Contemporary) and "Sugar Walls" (R&B and Dance).

[HolidayGuy]

weaver- I live in the Poconos, so didn't have to travel far to see Sheena. I had hoped she would play the area for a number of years, and, boom, it happened. :) Same with Debbie Gibson recently. Also a great interview/show/meeting experience.