"Little Darlin'" by Sheila

Song#:  0839
Date:  12/05/1981
Debut:  89
Peak:  49
Weeks:  9
Genre:  Pop



Pop Bits:  Sheila (real name Annie Chancel) was born in France and she began a successful singing career there when she was just sixteen. For most of the 60s, she sang teen-pop with great success in France and around Europe. That changed in the late 70s when she began recording disco songs in English as Sheila and B. Devotion, which was basically Sheila backed by three male dancers. She did well scoring several hits including a pair of UK Top 20's, "Singin' in the Rain" and "Spacer." As disco faded, she moved to a more pop/rock sound and issued the album "Little Darlin'" This title track became her one and only US pop chart entry. After this album, Sheila returned to singing in French and continued to issue albums in Europe. She left music for a while concentrating on a TV series and other endeavors before returning with a pair of successful LP's in 1998. She continues to record and tour in Europe.

ReduxReview:  I like this song, but Spider's version (see below) is better, mainly because lead singer Amanda Blue's vocals kick the song to another level. If I hadn't heard the original, I'd probably like Sheila's version more as it's well-done and sounds good. But her pop take pales when put next to Spider's rock original.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  Triple Shot!  1) Sheila got her stage name from her first single - a French cover of Tommy Roe's 1962 #1 hit "Sheila."  2) Sheila was one of the most popular of the "yé-yé" girls in France. Yé-yé music was popular in Europe, mainly in the 60s, and was basically pop music mostly sung by girls in their mid-to-late teens. The songs were innocent, yet the girls were naively sexy. The term comes from the English "yeah, yeah." Along with Sheila, France Gall and Sylvie Vartan were some of the biggest stars of yé-yé music.  3) This is a cover version of a song that originally appeared on Spider's 1980 self-titled debut. Written by band members Holly Knight and Amanda Blue, it was not issued as a single. However, they did hit #39 with "New Romance (It's a Mystery)" from the album.

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