"A Love Bizarre" by Sheila E.

Song#:  2536
Date:  11/16/1985
Debut:  84
Peak:  11
Weeks:  23
Genre:  R&B



Pop Bits:  With an assist from Prince, Sheila E. established herself with her #7 debut single "The Glamorous Life," which made her album of the same name a gold seller. Her association with Prince spilled over into her second LP Romance 1600. The first single issued from the album, "Sister Fate," didn't catch on. The song peaked at a minor #36 at R&B while not even reaching the Pop or Dance charts. With that song failing to launch, the label quickly issued out this next single to try and get things going. With Prince helping out on vocals, the jam slowly caught on and eventually became a #1 Dance track while going to #2 R&B. This time around, Pop radio embraced the tune and it nearly made the Top 10 peaking at the dreaded #11. It would be Sheila E.'s last single to get into the Pop Top 40. The hit helped spark album sales and soon it would be a certified gold seller.

ReduxReview:  On the album, this song is a very, very long 12-minute jam. For no real reason. After the main section of the song is done around the 4-minute mark, there is just a lengthy 8-minutes of not much going on. There is some noodling solo work along the way, but there was nothing to warrant such a long end to the tune, except perhaps as album filler because they couldn't get another song done in time. Whatever the reason, it's a total bore. Thankfully, there was a single version which took the monotone jam with it's four-note melody and made it listenable. In reality, there is barely a hint of a song here. However, it works because Prince created a tight jam that was interesting and it sounded unique on the radio. It's certainly fun to groove to for a few minutes, but after that, I lose interest.

ReduxRating:  7/10

Trivia:  Although all the tracks on the album were credited as written and produced by Sheila E. (save for this song, which also credited Prince for writing/production), it was another case of Prince not taking full credit for the work. Of the album's eight tracks, Prince mainly wrote and produced seven of them with input from Sheila E. The only track Sheila E. wrote on her own was the instrumental piece "Merci for the Speed of a Mad Clown in Summer."

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