Photo: djnaquin67, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Our top 10 Sheena Easton songs list takes a look at a very successful pop artist from Scotland who first made it big in the UK and then eventually in the United States. What many people in the United States do not realize about Sheena Easton is that she’s actually one of the first reality television stars of all time. Her career began as a singer being filmed trying to get a record contract in the UK on the television show The Big Time: Pop Singer. The television show eventually led to Sheena Easton signing with Emi records in 1981. She would instantly become a huge star in the United Kingdom. She won numerous awards including Best Newcomer and Best Female Singer on various award shows in the UK. Not all successful UK acts hit it big in the United States, but the States welcomed Sheena Easton with open arms. Sheena Easton’s first US album entitled Sheena Easton was released in 1981. That same year also saw the release of Sheena Easton’s second album entitled You Could Have Been With Me. A year later the album Madness Money and Music was dropped in 1982.
The producers of the James Bond movies noticed Sheena Easton’s popularity instantly. The legendary James Bond movie series always sought out the most popular singers of the time period to sing the theme song of a new James Bond movie. Sheena Easton’s performance of “For Your Eyes Only,” was most memorable in the opening credits. As the 80s continued on, Sheena Easton continued gaining popularity with some huge hits. Her 1983 album entitled Best Kept Secret spawned a most enjoyable hit single entitled “Telephone.” In 1984, she teamed up with Prince for a track entitled “Sugar Walls,” that was released on her A Private Heaven album. That pairing would eventually lead to the great Prince single “You Got The Look,” which is featured here on our top 10 Sheena Easton songs list. In 1985, Sheena Easton released the album Do You which although did not have a huge hit single, was still an enjoyable record especially for Sheena Easton fans.
In 1987, Sheena Easton released the album No Sound But a Heart. However, most U.S. fans never even knew it existed because it was not released in the United States. No Sound But a Heart eventually found its way onto CD in 1999 being released on One-Way Records. In 1988, Sheena Easton signed a new record deal with MCA records and released her first album for the label entitled The Lover In Me. It was obvious that her signing with a new record company resulted in the company trying to push a new image. Gone was the short hair and in was a long hair sort of Femme Fatale Fitness Diva look that was quite stunning and so incredibly hot. At the time she also began appearing in Bally’s Fitness ads.
The sexy fitness type youthful image continued to be displayed on Sheena Easton’s next album entitled What Comes Naturally which was released in 1991. Interestingly, just a couple of years later in 1993 Sheena Easton pulled a Linda Ronstadt by releasing an album of jazz standards titled No Strings. That album of standards set the stage for her next album which was a return to pop music but with a more adult contemporary style entitled My Cherie. The big-time hits pretty much stopped coming by this time. Her 13th studio album entitled Freedom was released in 1997. That was followed up two years later with the album entitled Home in 1999. The Home album was not released in the United States or pretty much anywhere else besides Japan. Sheena Easton’s final studio album release as of this writing in 2020 was actually released 21 years ago in 2000 entitled Fabulous. It’s hard to believe that it’s been 21 years since Sheena Easton has released a new album.
We hope you enjoy this top 10 Sheena Easton songs list as much as we enjoyed putting it together. There was always something very special about Sheena Easton. When she sang, you believed every word she sung. She had incredible passion in her voice on every song she recorded from the ballads to the pop hits to the dance tunes. We just could not get enough.
# 10 – I Like The Fright
Speaking of passion, we open up our top 10 Sheena Easton songs list with this great deep track from the wonderful Best Kept Secret album entitled “I like the Fright.” When Sheena Easton sang “I’m starting to like it, I like the Fright.,” it simply sent chills through your body. The song was never released as a single, but for us Sheena Easton fans, it was our best kept secret.
# 9 – You Could Have Been With Me
Continuing with our top 10 Sheena Easton songs list we turn to her big-time hit “You Could Have Been With Me.” The song was also the title track of her second album also titled You Could Have Been With Me released in 1981. The song was written by Lea Maalfrid. It became a top 20 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100.
# 8 – Modern Girl
At number eight on our top 10 Sheena Easton songs list, we present Sheena Easton’s debut single entitled “Modern Girl.” The song was released before Sheena Easton’ even had a record deal in February of 1980. Due to the fame that she began to accumulate on the BBC television show The Big Time, six months after its initial release it was issued once again in the UK where it became a top 20 hit. One year later it became a top 20 hit also in the United States
# 7 – The Lover In Me
One of our favorite Sheena Easton albums will always be her MCA Records debut in 1988 entitled The Lover In Me. All hands were on deck for this one. MCA records brought some big-time producers and artists to help out on Sheena Easton’s MCA debut album. This included the artist we all knew and loved as Prince. It also included legendary producer in the making Babyface, plus Jellybean Benitez and Angela Winbush. The song “The Lover In Me,” was produced by LA Reid and Babyface. It’s one of her biggest hits ever in the United States as it hit number two on the US Billboard Hot 100. It also hit number one on the US hot dance single sales charts. It broke the top 20 in the UK on their single charts. This was probably the peak point of her career. MCA really put the promotional machine behind her, surrounding Sheena Easton with great artists, producers, musicians and songwriters.
# 6 – U Got the Look
And speaking of Prince. The classic recording and video “U Got The Look,” may be credited to Prince, but without Sheena Easton there’s no way this song would have been as big as it was. Prince has used many different female musicians and singers on his albums in many different ways, but he met his match with Sheena Easton on this one. She stood toe-to-toe with him on that stage and on record. This was a brilliant pairing that worked so well.
# 5 – For Your Eyes Only
If we had to choose our favorite opening credits scene from any of the James Bond movies, For Your Eyes Only would definitely win very easily. And the reason is clear, Sheena Easton. As Sheena Easton turned and looked at the camera just before she went into the chorus, movie theater audiences gasped at the beauty and passion behind that voice. The For Your Eyes Only soundtrack was an interesting one. Bill Conti who had done the music for the Rocky films was hired to do the music for the James Bond film for For Your Eyes Only. The man did a sensational job scoring the soundtrack and arranging Sheena Easton’s wonderful performance on the title track. The song For Your Eyes Only was a top 10 hit in the United States peaking at number four on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song was a huge hit in Europe hitting number one in the Netherlands, number one in Switzerland, number five in Belgium, number three in Austria and number five in Germany. The song was written by Bill Conti and Mike Leeson.
# 4 – Sugar Walls
The great Sheena Easton single “Sugar Walls,” was released on her 1984 album Private Heaven. It was the second single released from the album behind the lead single “Strut,” which we have also included on this top 10 list and comes in below at number three. Both singles released from the 1984 Private Heaven album became top 10 hits on the US Billboard Hot 100. The song “Sugar Walls,” peaked at number nine, “Strut,” peaked at number seven. As you probably could tell, due to the lyrics, the song “Sugar Walls,” was written by Prince. “Strut,” was written by Charlie Dore and Julian Littman.
# 3 – Strut
See above.
# 2 – Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair)
At close to the top on our Sheena Easton songs list, we take a listen to the great song “Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair).” this was such an incredibly catchy pop song. One that you never got tired of listening to. The song was released on her Best Kept Secret album in 1983. A very heavily keyboard dominated song, “Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair)” became a top 10 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 peaking at number nine. The song also broke into the US Billboard dance disco charts also peaking at number nine. Everyone loved this one.
# 1 – 9 to 5 (Morning Train)
In the number one spot on our top 10 Sheena Easton songs list we turn to quite possibly the biggest hit of her career. The song “9 to 5 (Morning Train),” was released in 1980 on Sheena Easton’s debut album entitled Sheena Easton. The song went straight to number one on the US Billboard Hot 100. It also achieved number one status o then US adult contemporary charts. It hit number one Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Every time you turned on the radio in 1980 you heard this song.
Sheena Easton
You Could Have Been With Me
Madness Money and Music
For Your Eyes Only Soundtrack
Best Kept Secret
A Private Heaven
Do You
No Sound But a Heart
The Lover In Me
What Comes Naturally
No Strings
My Cherie
Freedom
Home
Fabulous
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Top 10 Sheena Easton songs article published on Classic RockHistory.com© 2021
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