Sugar Walls

"Sugar Walls"
Single by Sheena Easton
from the album A Private Heaven
B-side	"Straight Talking"
Released	December 1984 (US)[1] March 1985 (UK)[2]
Recorded	January 20–21, 1984[3]
Genre	Dance-pop[4] funk[4] R&B[5]
Length	4:01
Label	EMI
Songwriter(s)	Prince (as Alexander Nevermind)
Producer(s)	Greg Mathieson, Prince
Sheena Easton singles chronology
"Strut" (1984) "Sugar Walls" (1984) "Swear" (1985)

"Sugar Walls" is the second single from Sheena Easton's 1984 album A Private Heaven. It spent 16 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, nine of which were in the top 40. It reached number 9 on the Hot 100,^[6] number 3 on the R&B chart^[7] and number 1 on the Dance chart.^[8] The song did not chart in Easton's native UK. The music was credited to Alexander Nevermind, a pseudonym used by Prince.^[9]

"Sugar Walls" was given a special release on 13 April 2019, as a 12-inch single picture disc pressing by RT Industries (Razor & Tie), for 2019 National Record Store Day.

Background

The song title is presumed to be a euphemism for the lining of a vagina, and the general content was considered suggestive enough to qualify the song for the "Filthy Fifteen".^[10][11][12] Although Easton's music video for "Sugar Walls" did not feature any controversial visual content, some broadcasters refused the video airplay because of the sexual imagery of the song's lyrics. Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart and Tipper Gore's PMRC criticised the song when it was first released.^[13]

Prince came up with the track after having been introduced to Sheena Easton through their engineer, David Leonard. Easton was a fan of Prince, and asked Leonard to see if Prince would be willing to work with her after watching her performance on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson". At the time, Prince was working on mixing "Ice Cream Castle" for The Time, but once Leonard told him of Easton, Prince watched her performance of "Hard to Say It's Over" on the show and liked it.^[3]

Prince spent the next day recording the instrumental track and a guide vocal to send to Easton. Prince then supervised the recording of her vocals, and they both enjoyed working together a lot. Their work on this track sparked future collaborations between the two, on Prince's singles "U Got the Look" and "The Arms of Orion".^[3]

Personnel

Credits sourced from Duane Tudahl.^[3]

• Sheena Easton – lead and backing vocals
• Prince – backing vocal, synthesizers, electric guitar, Linn LM-1

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for "Sugar Walls"

Chart (1985)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[14]	87
Canada Top Singles (RPM)	27
Canada Top Singles (The Record)[15]	20
Germany (GfK)[16]	57
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[17]	30
UK Singles (OCC)[18]	95
US Billboard Hot 100[19]	9
US Cashbox Top 100	5
US Hot Dance/Club Play (Billboard)[20]	1
US Hot Black Singles (Billboard)[21]	3

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for "Sugar Walls"

Chart (1985)	Rank
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[22]	100

Popular culture

• The song was covered by Rachel Lester during her infamous audition on the fourth series of The X Factor in 2007.^[23]

See also

• List of number-one dance singles of 1985 (U.S.)

References

1. "Hot 100 Singles Radio Action". Billboard. Vol. 96, no. 51. 22 December 1984. p. 19. ISSN 0006-2510.
2. "Music Week" (PDF).
3. Tudahl, Duane (2018). Prince and the Purple Rain Era Studio Sessions: 1983 and 1984 (Expanded ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781538116432.
4. Breihan, Tom (May 4, 2020). "The Number Ones: Sheena Easton's "Morning Train (Nine to Five)". Stereogum. Retrieved July 19, 2023. Prince, the circa-1984 king of funky dance-pop, took an interest, and he wrote Easton's remarkably horny single "Sugar Walls"...
5. McGarrity, Andre (January 1, 1998). "Sheena Easton". In Graff, Gary; du Lac, Josh; McFarlin, Jim (eds.). MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit: Visible Ink Press. pp. 190–193.
6. "Sheena Easton". Billboard.
7. "Sheena Easton". Billboard.
8. "Sheena Easton". Billboard.
9. "Sheena Easton sets a Billboard chart record when "Sugar Walls" becomes a Top 10 R&B hit". History.com. Archived from the original on 8 March 2010. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
10. "Sheena Easton: She's Got the Look - 1424 - Gay Lesbian Bi Trans News - Windy City Times". Windycitymediagroup.com. 3 May 2006. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
11. "Philadelphia Inquirer: Search Results". archive.is. 2013-07-28. Archived from the original on 2013-07-28. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
12. "Rock Lyrics Seem Less Objectionable During A Campaign - Chicago Tribune". Articles.chicagotribune.com. 1987-11-25. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
13. Jennings, Thom (25 September 2014). "JENNINGS: Sheena Easton, Three Dog Night highlight weekend". Niagara Gazette.
14. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
15. Nanda Lwin (1999). Top 40 Hits: The Essential Chart Guide. Music Data Canada. ISBN 1-896594-13-1.
16. "Sheena Easton – Sugar Walls" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
17. "Sheena Easton – Sugar Walls". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
18. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
19. "Sheena Easton Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
20. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974–2003. Record Research. p. 86.
21. Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–2004. Record Research. p. 180.
22. "1985 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 97, no. 52. December 28, 1985. p. T-21.
23. "Simon Cowell Calls THIS The Worst 'X Factor' Audition". 24 April 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2022.

External links

• "Sheena Easton - Sugar Walls" music video on YouTube