Songoftheday 9/29/13 - She wears a long fur coat of mink even in the summer time, everybody knows from the coy little wink the girl's got a lot on her mind...

Sheila E. - "The Glamorous Life"
from the album The Glamorous Life (1984)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #7 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 16

Today's Song of the Day is by singer and percussionist Sheila Escovedo, who was a chip off her father Pete's block, and at a young age was working with jazz and soul greats like Lionel Richie and Herbie Hancock. After hooking up with Prince in the late 70s, she became a longtime collaborator, and arguably the most talented of his stable of women side-acts. Sheila released her first solo album, The Glamorous Life, in 1984, and the title track became her first and so far biggest hit to date. It was written by Prince and produced by himself with Sheila, but the percussion fury and her subdued vocals are what stole the show. This song was originally to be recorded by Prince's Purple Rain squeeze, Apollonia, but thankfully Sheila made it timeless, with a little help from Larry Williams' amazing sax solo...

"The Glamorous Life" topped the dance chart in the US in August of 1984, while reaching the top ten on both the pop and R&B charts as well in October. It still proves to be monster of a record, one that could fill the dance floor without any fancy remixing tricks.

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..and here's Sheila and the band rocking it out at the American Music Awards in 1985..