Released in 1985, "Oh Sheila" was Ready For The World's breakout single, skyrocketing to #1 on the US Pop, R&B and Dance charts. I'm not sure what else to even say, this song RULEZZZZZZZ!!!! It has a very Prince-y sound, which was fine because Prince was one of the biggest stars in music at that time, probably second only to Michael Jackson in fame and popularity. So while Prince was busy attempting to replicate his sound with his shiteous proteges like Apollonia 6 and Jill Jones, and other artists like Jesse Johnson were also freely ripping from the Prince playbook, Ready For The World came along and out-Princed them all... well, not the real Prince, but all the knock-off! (Speaking of, rumors abounded that "Oh Sheila" was about Prince-protege/girlfriend Sheila E, but lead singer Melvin Riley denies this saying it wasn't about anyone in particular.)The video is crude, but how can you criticize a band that also does choreography while playing their instruments?
The band had one more smash, classic slow jam "Love You Down" which hit #1 on the R&B Chart and #9 on the Pop Chart before the band broke up in 1991. (They reunited in 2004 and have released two additional albums.) "Oh Sheila" was covered by Euro dance "group" Angel City as "Love Me Right" (the chorus was dropped in this version). This version hit #1 on the US Dance Chart and actually hit #11 on the UK Pop Chart... the exact peak position that Ready For The World's hit!
Oh... and this song was also covered by... ME! It's one of my karaoke greatest hits!
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